Las Vegas Weekly

September 2, 2009 · 6:30 AM

Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond begins Dancing With the Stars work

By Robin Leach

Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson rehearse for Season 9 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

Photo: Jana Cruder/ABC TV

Odds-makers are already tipping Flamingo headliner Donny Osmond to win the new season of Dancing With the Stars. His pro partner is Kym Johnson, who is returning for her seventh season.

Today, Vegas DeLuxe has the first photos here of Donny and Kym working out at their grueling six-hour daily practice sessions. Donny will commute back and forth from Las Vegas to Los Angeles so as not to interrupt his nightly shows with sister Marie Osmond at the Flamingo -- where they are now booked through 2012. However, some of the continuing weekly dance rehearsals will be filmed at the Flamingo and at Tony Delgado’s dance studio here in Summerlin.

Season 9 of ABC’s top-rated show will kick off this year over three nights, with the increased cast of 16 competitors showing their first fancy footwork on two-hour live telecasts on Sept. 21 and 22. Then on the third night -- Sept. 23 -- there will be the first results show and the first elimination. The following week, it will revert to the usual two-hour live show Monday, with the results show in a one-hour broadcast on Tuesday. However, very shortly after that, there will be three weeks of tough, back-to-back shows with dramatic double eliminations each time to make the number of contestants more manageable.

Hometown hero and UFC fighter Chuck Liddell and Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter Kelly, who is a Las Vegas regular, also are competing this season. Vegas Deluxe will follow their progress live on each night’s telecast and post photos of their dance floor skills the next morning.

Donny captured the hearts of millions as a member of the Osmonds and when he teamed with his sister (and former DWTS contestant) Marie as the youngest co-hosts in primetime history on The Donny & Marie Show, also on ABC. Donny has 20,000 Twitter followers and millions more in their fan club, so his voting bloc will be very supportive as the season progresses.

During his near five-decade career, Donny has been a singer, musician, Broadway and film actor, talk show and game show host, bestselling author and even a champion racecar driver. Now stepping into new shoes, he’s set to become a champion dancer!

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.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter HERE.

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