‘Dancing with the Stars 23’ spotlight: Where Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Allison Holker stand
Season 23 of “Dancing with the Stars” will be starting up before long this month, and in this edition of our daily spotlight series we’re looking at a contender who certainly has been around a stage: Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. There is typically a notable musician on just about every season of the show, and this time it’s his opportunity to shine.
So will some of that natural rhythm and presence in front of an audience translate to the ballroom? That’s what we’re going to try and figure out. One thing we do like is that boldness to wear that pink suit!
Claim to fame – Singer, songwriter, and record producer with multiple Grammys and BMI Awards under his name. His music is perhaps most known from the eighties and nineties, and he does have something to promote given his first solo album in years, “Return of the Tender Lover,” came out in 2015.
Partner – Allison Holker. She is returning after a season off, which came as a result of her maternity leave. She has worked with musically-inclined stars before (see Andy Grammer), so she on paper is well-qualified to teach him to translate music into dance.
Strengths – He’s been around the music industry for decades, and as a result of that has natural instincts as to how to entertain the audience. He’s also the sort of person who is used to collaboration, so he’s not going to spend his days and nights in the ballroom telling Allison what to do.
Weaknesses – Babyface may also have many decades of habits from performing that don’t translate well to ballroom dance, and he may have to shake that. Also, at 57 it is naturally going to be harder to learn routines than it would be for someone who is thirty years younger. There’s a reason that many past winners tend to be younger.
Prediction – Is there a huge cross-section of his fans and show viewers? Since the cast announcement his name hasn’t exactly received a lot of buzz, so unless he can be a surprise a la Wanya Morris, we don’t think he is someone with a particularly long life this season. Think gone within the first third of the competition.
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