Las Vegas Weekly

October 19, 2009 · 5:53 AM

DWTS preview: Jackson tribute; Donny fights for safety

By Robin Leach

Donny Osmond, Kym Johnson and Marie Osmond onstage at the Flamingo.

Photo: Harrah's

Right on the heels of celebrating their Flamingo headline show Donny & Marie Osmond’s first anniversary, Donny has no time for rest as he once again faces the judges on Dancing With the Stars tonight and tomorrow. Donny admits that he now has bruises all over his body from this week’s tough dance rehearsals with partner Kym Johnson.

We’ll provide our spoiler alert story tonight monitoring how Donny and our other favorite Kelly Osbourne do in the competition after last week’s surprise elimination of our UFC hometown hero Chuck Liddell. Donny says that after the run on DWTS is over, he plans on taking his wife for a full R&R trip to Hawaii.

Tomorrow on the results show, Kym and Kelly’s partner Louis Van Amstel will be two of the 16 professionals honoring the late King of Pop Michael Jackson with a ballroom dance tribute choreographed by Cheryl Burke to continue throughout the results show. LaToya Jackson will be on the side of the dance floor to watch the production numbers as guest correspondent for Access Hollywood. She said: “It’s going to be wonderful -- and fabulous. I’m so excited, and I think Katherine (Jackson, the family’s matriarch) will love to see it because she is such a fan of the show also. She watches it all the time.”

Cheryl, who was recently eliminated with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, explained why she designed the tribute after Michael’s five American Music Award nominations last week. “He was a huge influence for me in my dancing career, and I think a lot of professional dancers would say the same. There’s a lot of pressure on me because I know his family will be watching, and I don’t want to let them down.” Three of Michael’s songs will be used covering eras of his career.

As always, Vegas DeLuxe will have photos from the dance floor tomorrow with the judges’ scores and who is likely to face the axe -- plus again on Wednesday morning with the dance tribute photos.

Remember that in one week, I’ll be the emcee for the celebrity star presentation to Joe Jackson at Brenden Theatres in the Palms. After George Maloof and Johnny Brenden have made the official presentation to the patriarch of the Jackson family, Joe will host the first advance screening of Michael’s new movie This Is It edited by longtime associate Kenny Ortega from footage shot of the pop superstar in rehearsals in L.A. before his death, some in front of the world’s largest high-definition, 3-D video screen of steel girders of a New York skyscraper skyline.

Kenny gave talk show host Oprah Winfrey a sneak peek at the film and told the TV titan that they were just eight days from leaving for London and ready for debut three weeks later before Michael’s death on June 25: “It was his project with a real purpose. There was no hint whatsoever of drug abuse,” Kenny said. “He was at fighting weight ready to dance. I saw fatigue at times, and he had sleepless nights, but there was always an ample supply of healthy foods in the fridge, and we looked after each other like a family looks out for each other. He’s bigger than life in This Is It. He was the man. He didn’t just work through a show -- he was the conductor.”

Kenny told Oprah that he saw Michael, who was fine, exactly 14 hours before his death.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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