Dancing king
Source: cincypost.com
By: Rick Bird
2/23/06

Drew Lachey among finalists

Tidal wave, roller coaster, wild ride.

Those are the adjectives that keep coming up when College Hill native Drew Lachey talks about his eight-week run on ABC's hit "Dancing With the Stars." Final competition takes place tonight.

The show, with "B" list celebrities in a ballroom dancing competition, is frivolous fun for those watching at home, but it has been physically and emotional draining for the stars. Lachey says it's been a seven-day work week, at least five hours a day practicing since the show began.

"It's a lot of fun, but my body's definitely telling me that it's glad that it's over. It's sore. It's tired," Lachey said from Los Angeles this week. "It's like you get hit by this wave and you get knocked down by this dance. You come up for air and feel like you're getting your bearings again and all of a sudden 'boom,' another week comes and you got to learn another dance."

Lachey and his professional dance partner, Cheryl Burke, compete for the "Dancing ..." crown in a two-hour special at 8 tonight (Channel 9). The competition: professional wrestling diva Stacy Keibler and football great Jerry Rice.

The leggy Keibler is probably the favorite with her statuesque, graceful style. But it's hard to predict since the judges' scores are combined with viewer voter. And that may explain why the less than graceful Rice was a surprise to make the final three.

"He's got a fan base that won't quit. He's been getting consistently poor marks from the judges, but is still staying around," Lachey said. Drew and Cheryl's scores, along with Keibler's, have been so nearly perfect that they haven't had to rely on fan voting to carry them.

Lachey, of course, has his own fan base, from his days with boy band 98 Degrees. He says his old Cincinnati friends have been "getting out the vote" and holding viewing parties for the show, usually at McFadden's downtown.

"I know they've been getting all their friends at work to vote. They've been having parties. I get phone calls every Thursday before and after telling me good luck and then knocking the judges," he said.

Drew's more famous big brother, Nick, has been seen on the show in the studio audience almost every week cheering Drew on. Drew says Nick's there for moral support.

"No, he's not offering any tips," Drew said with a laugh. "He's just there rooting, being supportive. He just says, 'Keep up the good work.' "

The family tips come from Lachey's wife, Lea, a choreographer. The two met at the School for Creative and Performing Arts and were married in 2000 in Cincinnati. Lea is pregnant with the couple's first child, due the end of March, which, Drew says, has upped the tension level as well.

"She could go any day at this point. So, I'm already on baby duty. Every time my phone rings, I check to see if it's her. I'm definitely juggling a couple things right now."

Drew said the grueling week for the "Dancing" contestants begins immediately after the live Friday results show, when they find out they haven't been eliminated. That night they get next week's dance assignments and check out the music list. His partner, Cheryl, immediately begins to work on the choreography.

"We practice Saturday afternoon and into the evening and try to get as much of it together as possible, then fine-tune it the rest of the week. Saturday is the real miserable day. It's a lot of crunching dance steps and trying to get your brain wrapped around it."

Judging by rehearsal clips that producers show -usually the falling down, klutzy moments - viewers are left wondering how these dancers can even get it together by Thursday. "The night before the show," Drew said, "it starts to make sense to your body."

Tonight's finals will have the three couples doing two routines - repeating their favorite one from the competition and coming up with their own free-style dance. Lachey thinks that's where he and his partner can outshine the technically perfect Keibler.

"It's kind of a look into what our dance personalities have become. We're going to do something to just entertain people. Do it so it looks like fun. That's what our strengths have been. I may not be as technically sound as people like Stacy, but I think people enjoy watching us more."

ABC has scheduled a two-hour results show for 8 p.m. Sunday, instead of Friday, which must compete against the closing Olympic ceremony on NBC. The show has averaged some 17 million viewers and Drew figures producers must know what they are doing to go with the seemingly bloated finale.

"They've been killing in the ratings, beating the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I guess they feel pretty confident they can beat the closing."

While it's Drew's chance to take center stage, Nick and Jessica's divorce filings have kept the "Newlyweds" couple in the entertainment headlines. Drew says it's a private matter and he won't comment on the divorce.

Last week reports on court filings noted Nick was reserving the right to ask for spousal support from Simpson. It was inaccurately reported in some accounts that he was actually asking for it.