EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Dancing With The Stars - Radar Goes Behind The Scenes At Premiere
Sept. 21 2010, Published 9:50 a.m. ET
Monday's season premiere of Dancing With The Stars showed us this cycle is going to be a good one, and we exclusively caught up with many of the celeb dancers for their thoughts after getting their feet wet in live competition on the ballroom floor.
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Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, who received a low 15 points on the night for his cha-cha-cha, said he's on the show so people can see his "vulnerable side" and perseverance in that he's trying his hardest to win, despite his Jersey Shore commitments limiting him to less practice time than his competition.
Disney star Kyle Massey, whose cha-cha-cha earned him a solid 23 points, said he got into the competition to have fun.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba seemed particularly impressed by one of the younger competitors in this season's crop of dancers: "I love them; I love Bristol Palin, she can shimmy she can shake, she has undulations, I see why she's a baby's mama."
Comic Margaret Cho, whose gold winged outfit malfunctioned a tad during her 15-point Viennese dance, said she experienced a whirlwind of emotions while out on the floor, a sentiment echoed by singer Brandy (23 points).
The jocks were out in full force as well, as hoopster Rick Fox (22 points) joked that his former LA Laker teammate Kobe Bryant encouraged him to "make it do what it do," while former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner (19 points) said his goals for the ballroom were no different from those he had on the gridiron: to get out on the field and impress.
Singer Michael Bolton (16 points) said that while he's used to performing, the dance floor is an "alien arena" to him.
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The biggest story of the night, however may have been the debut of Jennifer Grey, whose Viennese dance -- dedicated to her Dirty Dancing castmate, the late, great Patrick Swayze -- made for the night's highest score with 24 points, sending the message that nobody's keeping Baby in the corner this season.
"It just feels good to be alive," she said.
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Dancing With The Stars' eleventh season continues on ABC Tuesday at 8/7c.