There are many contestants officially lined up to join the impressive lineup of stars who previously donned the fancy costumes and took part in Dancing with the Stars, ABC’s hit reality series. While the entire list of contestans can be found over at Zap2it, I want to point out the people who are pretty well guaranteed to perform well based on past expectations.
Mel B of The Spice Girls – The Spice Girls tour hype is growing, and her fame is perhaps the biggest amongst the female viewers the show craves. She’ll be a voting force, and by all logic should be able to dance. I know she’s gained weight, but she’s likely already been in training for the reunion tour anyways. She’s a contender. Plus, her partner is fan favourite Maksim.
Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) – Les Moonves at CBS says that he still receives mail telling him to bring back Dr. Quinn, so I think that Jane Seymour might be a strong force with some of the older viewers that the show also brings in despite its flashy nature.
Cameron Mathison (All My Children) – Didn’t they learn their lesson in Season One when Kelly Monaco beat John O’Hurley and a riot ensused? Soap fans are a devoted, devoted bunch: just imagining his voting bloc considering it consists of young female supporters, and I think he’ll be paraded into the Semi-Finals at the very least.
Rounding things out: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Boxer), Wayne Newton (Performer), Mark Cuban (Billionaire), Jennie Garth (90210), Josie Mavan (Who?), Marie Osmond (Singer), Albert Reed (Model/Surfer), Helio Castroneves (Nascar Driver).
Dancing with the Stars premieres its fourth season (Has it been that many? Yikes.) on September 24th with the first of three shows that week.
Cultural Learnings 
Helio Castroneves is an IndyCar driver in the IRL not a NASCAR driver. There’s a huge difference.
Admittedly, Keith, I was going off of the news story I read: they, clearly, didn’t fact check. And well, to be honest, I didn’t care enough about Helio Castroneves enough to do it myself.
That said, it changes the dynamic: a Nascar driver might have had a chance, an IndyCar driver is screwed.