Because it's the 10th anniversary of Dancing With the Stars, the Mirror Ball trophy given to the winning couple this season will be gold instead of silver.
Perhaps that bodes well for gymnast Nastia Liukin and her ballroom dance partner, Derek Hough.
After all, Liukin, 25, who grew up in Plano, has a track record of capturing gold. "I told Derek, 'You have five silver Mirror Balls. I think it's time you get a gold one.' "
That's the extent of the trash talk you'll hear from Liukin, who won five medals, including gold in the all-around competition, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Liukin finds it hard to be overly confident, because she's a novice taking a crash course in ballroom dancing.
The two-hour Season 20 premiere is at 7 p.m. Monday, March 16, on ABC (Channel 8).
Liukin discussed her chances last week by phone from New York, where she is a junior at New York University, majoring in sports management.
What compelled you to sign up for Dancing With the Stars?
I've been a huge fan of the show for a long time. One of my very good friends, and somebody I really look up to, Meryl Davis (who won an Olympic gold in ice dancing at the 2014 Sochi Games), competed two seasons ago and she won the Mirror Ball.
When I got the opportunity, I thought at first that it wouldn't work out. I'm a full-time student and school is really important to me. This has been a big goal of mine, to graduate from NYU, so I didn't want to take a semester off.
But it worked out that my partner could be Derek Hough, who's doing the New York Spring Spectacular with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. So I could stay in New York, rehearse with Derek and fly to LA once a week for the show. It's a lot to take on, but I'm always up for a challenge.
How strong are your dance moves?
Ballroom dance moves are completely different from the way I was used to moving in my floor routines. There's a lot of muscle memory from 20 years of gymnastics that I have to adjust. And I'm doing it in shoes. As a gymnast, I'm used to being barefoot.
So it has actually been quite a struggle, having to relearn everything.
Can you drop any hints about what your first-night dress will look like?
I'm not allowed to say what I'm wearing. It's kind of a big reveal. But there has definitely been a lot of discussion about it. Derek and I are creatively behind the whole process, and we talk to the costume department day-in and day-out to figure out what's best for me.
I can say this: I want my costumes to represent me as a person. I think it's important to stay true to myself.
Will you have friends and family in the audience to cheer you on?
My family and my boyfriend will all be coming out to LA for the first show. Just like in gymnastics, it's nice to have all of my people there supporting me. But hopefully there will also be a lot of people watching on TV and voting for me.
Have you scouted the competition? What do you think your chances are?
I know who the other cast members are, but I've been in New York the whole time, so I haven't seen anybody else's dance moves. I think it's going to be very competitive, but I don't have a specific couple that I'm like, "Oh, we need to watch out for them." I guess we'll find out on Monday.
As for my chances, winning would be amazing, but that's something I've got to keep in the back of my mind. For now, I'm just excited about this journey. I'm excited to get to know Derek. I'm excited to get to learn how to dance.
David Martindale, GuideLive Contributor
