Dancing with the Stars All-stars pairs announced

From Access Hollywood: The “Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars” pairings have been revealed and some former favorites have been teamed up once again and other stars will strut their moves in the ballroom with a new partner.

Five repeat couples will get a second chance to shine again:

– Season 3 winner Emmitt Smith & Cheryl Burke

– Season 4 runner-up Joey Fatone & Kym Johnson

– Season 8 finalist Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani

– Season 11 finalist Bristol Palin & Mark Ballas

– Season 12 runner-up Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Cheryl Burke has three of her former stars returning for “All-Stars.” Season 8 runner-up Gilles Marini will dance with Peta Murgatroyd and Season 2 winner Drew Lachey has been paired with Anna Trebunskaya.

Other new couples include:

Season 1 winner Kelly Monaco & Val Chmerkovskiy

Season 4 winner Apolo Anton Ohno & Karina Smirnoff

Season 5 winner Helio Castroneves & Chelsie Hightower

Season 8 winner Shawn Johnson & Derek Hough

Season 10 contestant Pamela Anderson & Tristan MacManus

One final returning “Star” chosen by the audience – Kyle Massey (Season 11), Sabrina Bryan (Season 5) or Carson Kressley (Season 13) – will have his or her pair revealed on August 27 on “Good Morning America.”

“Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars” debuts Monday, September 24 on ABC.

Australia: Marriage equality in South Australia?

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill

Following last week’s announcement by Tasmania that would introduce legislation legalizing gay marriage,  South Australia’s premier has signed on as well:

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill told a rally in Adelaide he would legislate for gay marriage at a state level.

On the steps of Parliament House, Mr Weatherill said he would support a Greens bill and allow Labor MPs a conscience vote.

“People should be entitled to express their own identity in any way they wish and the law shouldn’t become a barrier to prevent them from doing that,” he said.”So, from my perspective, it’s a simple question of the dignity of the individual. People should be entitled to express their identity in any way they wish and the law shouldn’t get in the way.”

Forward, kids. Keep moving forward.

Backstage view from Olivia Newton-John at Chicago’s Market Days

A collection of pics of Olivia Newton-John performing at Chicago’s “Market Days”.

A reports coming in that the crowd was insane!  Olivia and her backup singers Marlen Landin, Steve Real and Matt Zarley look like they had a great time too… 🙂

Click the pics for a larger view. Will post more as they come in.

Thanks to Mindy Verson for sharing her pics!

I love that you can see Michael in his white shirt offstage right

Olivia with Steve Real

How about that crowd?
End of Summer Night with Steve Real, Matt Zarley singing backup

Former half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, will not speak at GOP Convention

There are “other voices to speak at the convention.”

Sarah Palin’s statement via FoxNewsInsider.com:

“…Everything I said at the 2008 convention about then-candidate Obama still stands today, and in fact the predictions made about the very unqualified and inexperienced Community Organizer’s plans to “fundamentally transform” our country are unfortunately coming true. This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I’m excited to hear them. As I’ve repeatedly said, I support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in their efforts to replace President Obama at the ballot box, and I intend to focus on grassroots efforts to rally Independents and the GOP base to elect Senate and House members so a wise Congress is ready to work with our new President to get our country back on the right path. This is imperative. As President Clinton said in 2008 while candidate Obama and lapdogs in the media were thrashing his wife’s record and reputation, this is “…the biggest fairy tale.” For the sake of America’s solvency and sovereignty we must close this nonsensical book in November…”
– Sarah Palin