Though I didn’t follow Dancing with the Stars last season due to disinterest in the roster (contrasting being glued to the set during the Kristi Yamaguchi season), Dancing apparently has - brilliantly - figured out a way for there to be a little something for everyone.

People just posted on the new roster, which includes:

Love dramas: Singer Jewel competing against rodeo star husband Ty Murray, two-time Dancing champ-turned-country-singer Julianne Hough competing with country singer boyfriend Chuck Wicks, and real-life pro couple Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff competing against each other with their respective celebrity partners

Athletes: Shawn Johnson (gymnastics), Lawrence Taylor (football)

Singers: Belinda Carlisle, Lil’ Kim

Actors/TV personalities: Denise Richards, David Alan Grier, Gilles Marini, Steve-O (from Jackass), Nancy O’Dell (Access Hollywood)

League of his own: Apple computer co-founder Steve Wozniak

I don’t know several of these people - or care about many of them - but Dancing has effectively lured me in. Most notably, I’ll need to tune in to see how the adorable Shawn Johnson does in ballroom heels after going barefoot in the gym for so long, whether Denise Richards can go classy instead of trashy, and how tech dude Steve Wozniak will fare outside the Apple comfort zone.

OK, I know that in my limited posts over the last month I’ve dedicated a lot of air time to figure skating, but what can I say? ‘Tis the season! I promise there’s more non-skating pop fodder to come, but meanwhile, I had to share this link.

It never ceases to amaze me when I get emails directly following particular posts, and I pretty much nearly peed my pants when I was contacted about the opportunity to interview Kimmie Meissner after posting about the paltry advanced coverage of the US Figure Skating Championships.

I chatted with Kimmie Meissner via phone on Friday, January 30. She was absolutely lovely and it was wonderfully fun to interview her. I could hardly believe that: a) my life as a blogger proved the ultimate connection to the figure skating elite; and b) my hands were shaking so much in excitement when I picked up the call from this down to earth 19-year-old.

CLICK HERE to read the interview.