Next Dancing With The Stars - Four Pros Will Be Cut

From examiner.com:

Although “Dancing With the Stars” doesn’t premiere until March 22nd, details are slowly beginning to leak out about season ten. Four professional dancers out of last’s season’s crew of 16 will be eliminated before the season even begins. Plus, the buzz continues to grow that Paula Abdul may be added as a fourth judge on the hugely popular reality competition series.

Many of the professional dancers don’t even know if they’ll be returning for season ten. That’s because the number of teams is being reduced by 25%. Last year, 16 stars began season nine. This season, only 12 stars will compete. That means 4 of the 16 dance professionals from last season will not return. The dancers don’t yet know who’s on the chopping block. Louis Van Amstel recently tweeted that the pros will learn their fates on February 8th. He said, “Only 20 more days before I find out about season 10 of DWTS. Hopefully I’ll be back.”

The following 16 professional dancers competed last season, but four will not return:

Alec Mazo
Dmitry Chaplin
Louis Van Amstel
Anna Trebunskaya
Edyta Sliwinska
Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Anna Demidova
Jonathan Roberts
Mark Ballas
Chelsie Hightower
Karina Smirnoff
Tony Dovdani
Cheryl Burke
Kym Johnson
Derek Hough
Lacey Schwimmer

The stars and their partners usually begin practicing several weeks before their first dance on “Dancing With the Stars.” That means rehearsals should begin in a month or so. As usual, the new slate of contestants will be announced live on “Good Morning America” during the week of March 1-5.

In more news, it’s been widely reported that ABC has offered Paula Abdul a $1 million development deal, if she agrees to appear on “Dancing With the Stars.” There is some speculation that Abdul has been asked to compete. However, if she accepts ABC’s offer, she will more likely become the fourth judge, joining Len Goodman, Bruno Tunioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

With years of choreography and dance experience, Paula Abdul would certainly have the know-how to offer constructive criticism. On the other hand, if she competes, ABC will face backlash from fans that already complain about an unfair advantage due to previous dance experience. This happened to Mya, although Donny Osmond ultimately defeated the singer during last season’s finals.