‘Dancing with the Stars 16’ spotlight: D.L. Hughley and Cheryl Burke
Every season on “Dancing with the Stars,” there are a few professions that they always like to obtain for the cast: actors, comedians, sports figures, reality stars, and sometimes people from the political world. With D.L. Hughley, they have a little bit of a triple threat in that he can act, he’s extremely funny, and he actually has worked in the past as a political commentator. However, we do expect him the latter one at the door in order to focus more on the dancing.
But can D.L. dance, and will there be enough of a fan base to support him after some time away from the spotlight? Leading up tot he premiere in just under two weeks, these are the two questions that we have in our head the most concerning him.
Partner – Cheryl Burke. If there is one thing that helps Hughley straight out of the gate, it’s that while some other stars have new pros with smaller followings including Sharna Burgess and “So You Think You Can Dance” standout Lindsay Arnold, he has someone who has been on almost every season of the show.
Strengths – As an actor and entertainer, we expect Hughley to use this to his advantage to survive the opening weeks. While he’s not someone who has been in the headlines lately save for a few guest-hosting gigs here and there, he at least has done nothing particularly controversial that will get him in trouble straight out of the gate. We expect Cheryl to be a key force in his success for the first few weeks, and then after that it will be about whether or not he is a good dancer.
Weaknesses – Unfortunately, we have no idea about whether or not Hughley can dance. He is also a day away from turning 50, and there are clearly some things that he cannot do that some of the younger male dancers like Jacoby Jones may be able to pull off. This requires him to more with his charisma, and also forced him to have to mobilize his fan base week after week.
Prediction – The best comparison that we see for Hughley right now is David Alan Grier, another comedian / actor who went on the show around the same stage. He entertained audiences for a while, but was gone during the fifth week. His partner was Kym Johnson, who was also fairly popular at the time.
What do you think we are going to see from Hughley this season? Be sure to vote in the poll below, and you can check out some other “Dancing with the Stars” spotlight articles by heading over to the link here.
Photo: ABC