Laila Ali's dance last week with her professional dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy was smoking h-o-t, and she and Maks are going strong. She recently took a break from rehearsals to sit down with AOL editor Kelly Woo about her "all-important costume decisions, post-'Dancing' plans and Joey Fatone's silly 'Star Wars' dance."
Why did you sign up for 'Dancing with the Stars'? It just looked so interesting to me. It looked like so much fun -- the glamour and the glitz of dancing. I'm always boxing, so this seemed like a great thing to try.
How much do you practice every week?I practice for five hours a day, and that ends up being about 20 hours a week. You have to do it!
How long does it take you to learn a dance? Do you learn it right away and then just tweak it? [My partner] Maksim [Chmerkovskiy] comes in the first day and choreographs the piece, teaching me step by step. That usually takes two days, learning the actual routine, and the last three days we actually work on perfecting and learning the routine correctly.
Does Maksim decide the theme and song, or do you get some input? The show gives us a song and then if we just hate it, they will give us something different. But, for the most part, we're stuck with what they give us. Max actually comes up with the choreography. Lately, I've been getting more involved because when the judges don't like something, if they didn't like the choreography or whatever, they seem to always point at me and blame me. So I said, "I might as well get involved, I'm going to be taking the blame anyway."
What kind of input do you usually have? Max is a dancing purist but, you know, he's been on the show for three seasons and he's never won. I think the key to winning is make this more of a show, to have a story line, not just steps. People see that I can dance, so we need to give them something more exciting -- the wow factor -- so we're working on that.
Do you have any choice in your costumes? Some of the costumes can get pretty crazy. Oh yeah! All of us get to say what we want our costumes to look like. I'm 100 percent involved in that. I pretty much design the costume and then the designer on the show makes it happen.
Do you have a certain style that you like to follow? No, I pretty much always ask. What does this dance need? This is a Cuban dance, I'll look at some Cuban dresses and then I'll kind of just go off of how they look, tweak it and make it my own.
The judges have been hard on you recently. Do you feel like you're held to a higher standard than some other contestants, like Heather Mills? The judges actually haven't been that hard on me. They haven't said anything rude or crazy to me. One week we did the tango, they loved our dance, they thought it was a great performance. But there are rules, and Max's choreography broke the rules. We broke apart too soon in our dance, when we should have held ourselves together. So that wasn't a big deal to me; it was just the rules. All it does is make me want to get more involved and make sure that when we come out there, the judges enjoy our performance.
How much do you interact with the other contestants? The other contestants and I see each other pretty much the day of the show, on Monday. We have to come to the studio for camera blockings and fittings, but we don't see any of the dancing from the other couples until it's actually time to do the dance.
Are you all buddies? Oh, yeah. Everyone gets along real well.
What has been your favorite dance personally? My favorite dance, I would have to say, would be the mambo, which I did and I actually won that week. Once I got the steps and I got really comfortable doing the dance and my confidence just showed up on the dance floor. I think the Latin dances will be my best dances.
Why do you think that is? Because you can be sensual and sexy and move your hips, you're not stuck in a frame like you are for the quick step and the fox trot. I can really break away from Max and really put my own flavor on it. And that's what makes my dancing unique. I don't have him to cover up my dancing. Let me be seen, let me move my hips, let me be sexy. And I think people like to see that.
Do you think, as an athlete, you have an advantage in the competition?I wouldn't necessarily say I have a big advantage. The main advantage of being an athlete is that we're used to working hard, we're used to taking criticism and taking instruction. While we're learning I don't have to worry about getting tired, having to sit down, it's more a mental issue. I think Joey [Fatone] has the biggest advantage. He can dance, he's used to coming up with routines, he can go out there and be comfortable. He knows what people want to see, so he has the biggest advantage over anybody.
Joey did that 'Star Wars' dance. What did you think of it?I think Joey always wants to be a showman. He's kind of silly and he likes to have fun. He likes to bring that into the dances. I don't know what the votes are; some people might think it's silly and not like it. I think showmanship is very important. You only have a minute-and-a-half to do your routine, and it's about coming with something new and fresh and he's definitely been doing that.
Your fiancé, former NFL player Curtis Conway, was on the show last week and he was joking about keeping you and Maksim apart. What is his reaction to you being on the show?Curtis, my fiancé, is having a fun time watching me dance. He doesn't really like me boxing, he'll be happy when I'm done. So he's glad that people get to see the fun side to me and get to see the side that he sees all the time outside of boxing. He wants me to win the competition. He gives me an honest opinion, and if he thinks that it wasn't up to my full potential he'll let me know. It's great.
Are you guys going to do a tango at your wedding? We're deciding that now. Whatever we do, we're going to have to take some lessons because people are going to expect us to put on a performance at our wedding.
Will you keep dancing after the show is over? No, I won't. I'm not a dancer. All I know is what Max teaches me. People are like, "Well at least you'll know how to fox trot." But I only know that one routine and once we move on to the next dance, it's kind of erased out of my mind.
What is your plan after the show? Do you plan to continue boxing? Right now, I'm looking into different charities I can get involved with. I'm really trying to develop myself in the lifestyle and fitness world. I just shot a
boxing cardio workout DVD
with Sugar Ray Leonard, which is in stores now. That will be the start of going into that whole lifestyle and fitness arena because that's what I'm interested in, that's what I know. People always ask if I want to act. I'm just not into the celebrity acting thing. I really respect the craft of acting and it's not really my high point. Right now, it's just not my focus.
Do you think that people recognize you more thanks to the show? Definitely. There are 23 million people watching 'Dancing with the Stars' every week. That's way more people than have ever watched me fight. I have a limited audience in comparison to 'Dancing with the Stars' in female boxing. A lot of people are seeing me for the first time. It would probably to imagine me actually fighting now; they know me as Laila on 'Dancing with the Stars.' It's cool though. It's great and it's going to work out for the better because people are seeing me in a different light.
Photo from ABC.
No word on if they will continue on ABC's hit dancing competition Dancing with the Stars, but in the meantime judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli have a new show in the works. It's some sort of reality competition featuring dancing singers based on a BBC hit, Dance X.
Special Double Issue: NASCAR's Crazy Season! We have the inside track on racing’s wild year, including the dirt on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s departure from the family team. 
How dare The View involve Maks in their petty disputes! People magazine reports that as Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck were having it out onstage last week, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Laila Ali, of Dancing with the Stars fame, were waiting backstage, feeling awkward. Well, and I guess Joey and Kym were there too:
COVER STORY 
I'll miss you, Maks! At least he made it all the way to the end. Sigh. How much longer till we get to see sparkles and see through shirts (and that's just on the men)? It was an eventful week, full of outstanding performances. Wouldn't you agree this was the best finale ever? I'd say so.
'NSYNC fans go two little hellos during Joey's performances. If it was a ploy for votes, it worked on me. In the cha-cha, we got the marionettes from No Strings attached (I couldn't help but think that the ruffles weren't doing Joey any favors, by the way). In the freestyle, we got the little stomping/lasso move from the choreography to It's Gonna Be Me. I know, I have issues. I think their freestyle was the best DWTS performance I have ever seen.
Maks and Laila Free Style - Yes! The Kid n' Play! Thank you, Laila, for ripping Maks' shirt off (twice). I didn't know I had been waiting for it all season until it actually happened.
Why do I love Maksim Chmerkovskiy so much (and yes, I am showing off the fact that I can spell his name)? I generally don't like the bad boys. I'm going to need to think about this. I might need some therapy.
COVER STORY 
DENISE RICHARDS
Mario shares his day with In Touch
I have two words to say about last night's results show for Dancing with the Stars: Center Stage. Ever since that kick ass performance by Maks and his brother to Canned Heat, I have felt like watching that movie four times in a row. What's that? Karina and some other chick were dancing with them too? Oh, I didn't notice them. I watched it three times, even with all the head flicking by Maks.
TV Guide focuses on Dancing with the Stars this week and even includes the opinions of the judges on the final five. Only the pieces on Joey and Laila are included online. For Joey, who has lost 25 pounds, Carrie Ann Inaba says he is a true performer: "He knows how to switch it on and off. Sometimes I think he overrelies on his humor, which could hold him back in the long run because that can get tired."
The sparkly, sequined and sometimes ultra-tight costumes on ABC's hit show Dancing with the Stars are almost their own contestant, and as much time is spent on the costumes as dance rehearsals.
This was the first week of Dancing with the Stars that I have been upset with America's choice on who went home. Does anyone think Billy Ray Cyrus should still be there? Or is this a Vote for the Worst kinda thing? Maybe he's got the Tween vote since he's on the Disney show Hannah Montana? Who the heck knows.
Can you believe it's been seven years already since the family drama Party of Five came to an end? Neve Campbell, who played the middle child Julia on the drama, is finally returning to television in a three-episode arc starting tonight on NBC's Medium.
To tide you over until my Dancing with the Stars post for this week (which will no doubt be hee-larious), I thought I'd share some behind the scenes info kindly provided by our dear People magazine. Because I know your gossip reading time is limited by jobs and other silly little things, I pulled out all the best from this article. And no, I didn't cut out anything that Maksim said (mostly I just cut Leeza Gibbons...).
MELANIE BROWN
Former Dancing with the Stars contestant Mario Lopez and his former professional partner Karina Smirnoff seem to be still plugging along in the romantic sense, though still not admitting to any relationship. The couple were at the 4th annual Triumph for Teens Awards Gala in Beverly Hills last night.
You know why people like Dancing with the Stars (other than the silly costumes)? Because it's freaking fun. It's easy to get jaded about reality TV, but Dancing with the Stars just embraces its cheesiness and goes with it. Plus, the stars really try hard (even Billy Ray, in his sad, sad, way).
Seems former Dancing with the Stars contestant Heather Mills is a little too fast with her fingers. British police have warned the 39-year-old ex-model to stop dialing 999 (their equivalent of our 911) for non-emergencies. A senior officer recently told the British press that Mills was calling the police up to 4 times a day for things like photographers following her.
Laila Ali's dance last week with her professional dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy was smoking h-o-t, and she and Maks are going strong. She recently took a break from rehearsals to sit down with AOL editor Kelly Woo about her "all-important costume decisions, post-'Dancing' plans and Joey Fatone's silly 'Star Wars' dance."
I called Joey Fatone as the winner of Dancing with the Stars waaaay back when this season started. I got a little worried last week when I couldn't help but agree that he looked pretty feminine during his performance (couldn't Kym see it?). But, I think he will be back this week with a vengence. In fact, I'm sure of it! 
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