Surprise! Dancing with the Stars revealed an  inner competition within the competition that is even better than the “young stars competition” they’ve had in previous seasons!

The show is looking for the next generation of DWTS  Professional dancers! They are starting with Six Dancers and every week America gets to vote for their favorites! The dancers are paired in couples, but we are supposed to vote for our fave individual dancer.

Every week the male and female dancers with the lowest scores will be eliminated (much like So You Think You Can Dance).

The dancer with the most votes at the end of the competition wins a guaranteed “professional” spot on the next season of Dancing With the Stars.  I love that the fans get to pick the pros this time! Although, their decision to use Julianne, Derek, Lacey, Dimitri and Chelsea in the past few years has been right on the money!

The only catch of this competition is….well, you know what the competition really means right? At least one of our beloved pros is leaving next season. Hence needing a new one.

If I had to guess, it’s going to be Julianne. Rumors were flying at the end of last season that she would not be returning for Season 8 because she wants to pursue her music—but she did!

Anyway, the competion should be fun. Here’s a break down of who is in the running:

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Couple 1 Cha-cha-cha: “Damaged” Danity Kane

Afton DelGrosso, National Ten Dance Champion, US National Latin Finalist

Loved her sister Ashley when she was on the show and loving Afton too. Think she would be a great ball of spunk and fire—a lot like Lacey actually.

STATS:
Style: Ten Dance
Nationality: American
Based in: Las Vegas, Nevada
Status: Not currently competing

Brent Borbon, Emerald Ball Amateur Open Latin finalist

Feeling him a little. I think he has a fun quality. Although he does come across really, really young which doesn’t lend itself well to the “professional” title. I like my leading men of the ballroom to be a little more grown up. I can see him being the star of So You Think You Can Dance! Actually, now that I think about it, he reminds me a lot of Dominic from a few seasons ago. Hmm.

STATS:
Style: International Latin
Nationality: American
Based in: Las Vegas
Status: Not currently competing

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Couple 2 Viennese Waltz: “Weekend in New England” Barry Manilow

Anna Demidova, USA Dance National Standard Champion

Bruno called her dazzling and I agree. But I think it was because of her glittery jewelry. I think her  lines and moves were incredible—especially that ending spin thingy. But, it just seemed so fake and overdramatic. It felt like two actors playing dancers in a B-movie instead of dancers really connecting on the floor

MORE ACHIEVEMENTS:
International Grand Ball 10 Dance Champion
2 Time U.S. Youth International Standard Champion

STATS:
Style: International Standard
Nationality: Russian
Based in: Los Angeles
Status: Not currently competing

Mayo Alanen, US Rising Star Smooth Champion

Well, this Mayo is a little too slick and smooth for my taste. (Come on, someone had to make that pun!) He scares me. He looks like a really fake Ken doll. But creepy looking. He was a good leading man-dancer but ew. I shall name him, Plastic Slime because I felt slimy after watching him.

MORE ACHIEVEMENTS:
International Standard Formation Champion in Blackpool
Rising Star Smooth Champion at the Ohio Star Ball
Open Smooth Champion at Captial Dancespot

STATS:
Style: American Smooth/International Standard
Nationality: American
Based in: New Jersey
Status: Currently competing with Lisa Vogel

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Couple 3 Rumba: “Stop and Stare” One Republic

Snow Urbin,, US Latin Youth Champion

But if you are a dance fanatic like me, you probably instantly recognized her from SYTYCD! That’s right, she was on Season 1 but she was ousted in the third round. However, her legacy lingered throughout the seasons:  she is the iconic dancer in their opening montage.

Back to DWTS: She’s a hot blonde bombshell! If it is Julianne that is leaving the show, well, then, gimme Snow as her replacement! Okay, not really. No one could replace Julianne in my world. Snow actually reminds me a lot of Kim Johnson.
DWTS Clips (big thanks to Rickey.org who compiled them!)
Snow – Audition
Snow solo – Ma Ya Hi
Snow solo – And She Said
Snow solo – Lambada
Snow – Hip Hop (with Ryan Conferido)
Snow – Quickstep (with Jamile)
Snow – Hip Hop (with Allan Frias)
STATS:

Full Name: Snejana Urbin

Style: International Latin
Nationality: Russian
Based in: Los Angeles
Status: Not currently competing

Genya Mazo, UK Amateur Latin Rising Star Champion

You may recognize his flair since his brother Alec won DWTS Season 1! The judges loved this routine but I personally thought that they were not in sync. It looked like they were competing with each other and I didn’t like it!

ACHIEVEMENTS:
U.K. Amateur Latin Rising Star Champion
Ohio Star Ball Amateur Latin Champion
Emerald Ball Amateur Latin Champion

STATS:
Style: International Latin
Nationality: Russian
Based in: Los Angeles
Status: Not Currently Competing

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Stay tuned! This is sure to be a fun few weeks!

*stats & achievements  sections compiled with a lot of help from AOL Message Boards.

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!

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