I Recognize 50% of the Stars on Season 14 of Dancing With The Stars

The "Stars" who will be dancing on Season 14 of ABC's Dancing With The Stars were announced this week.

Season 14?

Seems like only yesterday this unlikely hit show hit the airwaves.

With each season's who is dancing announcement, the stars become less and less known to me.

Ironically I recognize all the names of the professional dancers paired with the "Stars".

Of the "Stars" I know  Melissa Gilbert, Jaleel White, Martina Navratilova, Jack Wagner, Gavin DeGraw and Gladys Knight.

I recognize more of the names than I realized, actually recognizing 50% of the "Stars".

The other 50%, Sherri Shepherd, Donald Driver, Maria Menounos, Roshon Fegan, William Levy and Katherine Jenkins are totally unknown to me.

Jack Wagner, 52, I came to know years ago, in the last century, when I was recovering from a surgery and watched soap operas. He was on General Hospital playing Frisco Jones. Frisco will be dancing with Anna Trebunskaya.

Melissa Gilbert, 47, used to be a little girl on Little House on the Prairie. A show I never watched. Melissa will be dancing with my favorite pro, Maks Chmerkovskiy.

Gavin DeGraw, 35, is a song writer/singer. I like his songs. The one about his dad being a prison guard is very catchy. Gavin is paired with one of my other favorite pros, Maks' ex-fiance, Karina Smirnoff.

Martina Navratilova, one of the oldest among the "Stars" at 55, is one of my favorite ex tennis players. She is also known for being a tennis player who publicly let it be known she prefers to play off court with girls rather than boys. But, for DWTS Martina will be paired with a boy, Tony Dovolani.

Gladys Knight, the oldest of the "Stars" at 67, used to be a real Pip. Gladys is paired with my favorite Irish ballroom dancer, Tristan MacManus.

Jaleel White, better known as Urkel, is now 35. Time flies. Urkel will be dancing with Kym Johnson. I hope he is amusing and does well.

That takes care of the "Stars" whose names I know.

Now for the unknowns (to me).

Donald Driver, 37, plays football for the Green Bay Packers. He will be dancing with Peta Murgatroyd.

Roshon Fegan, the youngest "Star" at 20, is one of those ubiquitous Disney Channel Stars whose show I've never seen and whose channel I've never dialed in to. Roshon  will be dancing with one of my favorite perky pro blondes, Chelsie Hightower.

Katherine Jenkins, 31, is a Welsh singer. Does she speak English? Katherine is paired with one of my least favorite pros, the hyperactive, Mark Ballas.

William Levy, 31, has a good American sounding name. However, William was born in Cuba before coming to America where he somehow has become a superstar of Mexican telenovelas, on Univision, averaging 45.7 million viewers per episode. Much higher ratings than Dancing With The Stars gets. William is paired with the pro superstar, Cheryl Burke. No word on whether William speaks English.

Maria Menounos, 33, is an Extra host, whatever that means. She is paired with another of my pro favorites, Derek Hough.

That leaves Sherri Shepherd, 44, a cohost on The View, paired with Maks' brother, Val Chmerkovskiy. Val lacks his brothers amusing personality. At least from what we've seen so far.

So, there you go, the first "Stars" of Dancing With The Stars for 2012.

The two hour premiere of Season 14 of Dancing With The Stars is Monday, March 19 8/7C.

I don't know if I will be watching.