Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars – Another Mirror Ball for Apolo Anton Ohno?

It doesn’t matter if he’s competing in the Olympics or on Dancing With the Stars, Apolo Anton Ohno shows us what Commitment, Focus and Perseverance look like!

Last week 23 million people watched Dancing with the Stars and saw Apolo Anton Ohno and his partner Karina Smirnoff dance the Viennese Waltz to a tender Rascal Flats song about a woman battling cancer who only feels safe in the arms of the man she loves.

“He holds her close and for a moment she’s not scared,” says Apolo before the performance. “I am going to have to get to a place where I can show emotions I’ve never shown before.”

Jane Seymour: A Connection That Transcends Time

By Marsala

Jane Seymour - Up Close and Personal with Marsala Rypka Royal Wedding Mania has gripped America and ardent fans are anxious for newsy details about anything and everything that has to do with the historic day when Prince William takes Kate as his Princess Bride this coming Friday April 29, 2011.

Jane Seymour, the official British correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, has been happy to oblige – reporting on speculation about the wedding gown designer, the chic custom-made hats for the ladies attending the wedding, the royal carriage ride from Westminster Abbey, the kiss on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, the wedding ring forged from Welsh gold, the tiara, and on and on.

Seeing Jane in London so often this past week reminds me of the interview I did with her in 2007 about six weeks before she appeared on Dancing with the Stars We had a special connection at the time that we spoke. We were two daughters commiserating about the health of our ailing parents. My father who had bladder cancer died ten days after that interview, and Jane’s mom, who had recently suffered a stroke, passed away while Jane was on DWTS about ten weeks later. In my mind there will always be a heartfelt connection that links Jane Seymour to the last few precious days I had with my dad.

Priscilla Presley: Always Evolving

By Marsala

We may know things about peoples’ lives, but that doesn’t mean we know what’s in their hearts or understand the journey they’ve been on. That is true for all of us, but especially celebrities who are the subject of so much hearsay and gossip. That’s why it’s important to remember that speculation isn’t fact and rumors aren’t the truth and both can be destructive.

Take Priscilla Presley for instance. The public knows her as the only wife of Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll” and the mother of their only child, Lisa Marie Presley, who was once married to Michael Jackson. But what else do we really know about her?

I Could Have Danced All Night

By Marsala

From the moment I started watching Dancing with the Stars, I imagined what it would be like to gracefully waltz across the floor, do a sultry Tango or be the matador’s object of desire in the racy Paso Doble.

I’d always wondered if someone like me with two left feet and no rhythm could learn to dance other than in her dreams. I clung to my lame excuses until I interviewed Jerry Rice who told me how stepping out of his comfort zone and trading his football cleats for ballroom dance shoes was one of the best things he’d ever done.

Season after season I watched DWTS and I was thrilled when I also had the chance to interview Apolo Anton Ohno, Jane Seymour, Gilles Marini and Priscilla Presley for Luxury Las Vegas Magazine.

When each of them told me what a life-changing experience Dancing with the Stars had been for them, I knew it was time to discard my self-limiting beliefs that I was too old, too out of shape, too inhibited and too klutzy. I was ready to give in to total abandon and embrace this new adventure.

I knew that like anything in life, there were different levels of professionalism. I knew that if I was going to undertake this artful pursuit, I wanted to learn from the best in Las Vegas. I wanted to find my own Derek Hough, Mark Ballas or Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Gilles Marini: Don’t Judge This Book By Its Cover!

By Marsala

Celebrity Scribe Marsala Rypka interviews Gilles Marini How many times do we make the mistake of judging a book by its cover? How many times do we make assessments and draw incorrect conclusions about people simply because of the way they look, the way they talk, what they do for a living, yada yada yada?

Such is the case with Gilles Marini.

In case you don’t recognize the name, he’s the guy in the 2008 “Sex and the City,” movie. The guy with the gorgeous face, the fabulous washboard abs, and the oh-so-naked tush. The movie created quite a bit of buzz for Gilles, who plays Dante, the Casanova who lives next door to Samantha, (played by Kim Cattrall) who is voyeuristically delighted by his sexual prowess. Ooh là là!