I’m sure most of you saw the premiere of Dancing with the Stars last night. Derek Hough is paired with Lil’ Kim and they led off the show with a Cha-Cha-Cha to a Janet Jackson song called “Nasty.” Download MP3 on Amazon Derek and Lil’ Kim received a score of 21 for their cha-cha-cha. The call in number for Derek and Lil’ Kim is 800-VOTE4-01 (800-86834-01) and the text number for AT&T subscribers is 3401.

Julianne Hough is paired with Chuck Wicks. Julianne and Chuck performed a Waltz to the song “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley Download MP3 on Amazon. They received a score of 20 for their waltz. The call in number for Julianne and Chuck is 800-VOTE4-06 (800-86834-06) and the text number for AT&T subscribers is 3406.

If you didn’t vote last night, then please vote for Julianne and Derek next week.

Marriann and myself apologize for not being able to keep this up to date. Marriann has been extremely busy moving to Nashville and then a number of different family issues to deal with along the way. Seems like the job of mother never ends.

I talked with Marriann today and we’re thinking about working out a way for Marriann to possibly record a quick audio “podcast” about Derek and Julianne. I would then post the audio for everyone to enjoy. We’ll see how that goes and if it works out the way we’d like it to work out.

Marriann is very excited for the next season of Dancing with the Stars. I’m sure everyone saw the Dancing with the Stars couples. Derek is paired with Grammy Award winning rapper Lil’ Kim. Julianne is paired with country singer (and boyfriend) Chuck Wicks.

Should be another exciting season of Dancing with the Stars. Hopefully Marriann and myself will have time to share some interesting details on the life of Derek and Julianne.

Mark Ballas Jr. is almost like another son to Marriann and so we had to get a picture of Mark while we were there. Also, when Derek and Julianne’s Grandma saw Cloris she had to have a picture of her to remember the occasion.

Many of Julianne and Derek’s fans have been interested to know if Chuck and Shannon were at the Dancing with the Stars finale. Hopefully this post will answer that question for you.

I (John) have been assisting Marriann with this website (read more here) and it just so happened that my wife and I were going to be in Southern California on the night of the finale. Marriann was very gracious and said that we could come backstage on the show and possibly get in to see the finale. The following 2 pictures were taken by Marriann of my wife and I with Chuck and Shannon.

They were both very nice to us. We had a nice little conversation with Chuck and Julianne and Chuck looked very cute together. Shannon Elizabeth looked wonderful. Near the end of Derek and Brooke’s dance at the finale, I glanced over to where Shannon was sitting and she was beaming. It was a very sweet moment that the cameras didn’t catch, but was really quite wonderful.

Sorry to borrow Marriann’s blog for a moment, but I thought that fans of Derek and Julianne would enjoy the pictures and would need to know why my wife and I were in the pictures. My only regret was that I wasn’t able to get a picture of Julianne with Chuck and Derek with Shannon. I’m sure Marriann will post some of those in the future.

Thanks Marriann for giving us a once in a lifetime opportunity to be at the finale.

As promised (although a little late), here are a few of the pictures from backstage before the Dancing with the Stars finale.

More pictures to come from behind the scenes. A couple pictures a day for the next few days should be good, right?

Don’t forget to enter to win a signed copy of Julianne’s Holiday CD. We’ll be giving them away really soon. You might as well go out and buy the CD now. If you win the contest, then you can just give the CD to someone you love as a nice Christmas gift.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving was great. We have another day to go to the indoor gocarts, La Reve, and a birthday party for Julianne’s sister Marabeth at the Palazzo in Vegas with the family and People magazine.

I am very proud and was so excited to be at the show this week after flying in from Nashville and Driving to California from Vegas to see Derek Dance and take the trophy tuesday night.

Derek unfortunately could not be with us for Thanksgiving. His rigorous schedule is keeping him so busy. Tuesday night Derek flew on a private plane to New York for Good Morning America and some other talk shows the following day.

He flew back from NY to CA Thanksgiving day and has to be in the studio friday to rehearse with the band and start rehearsing to go on tour with dancing with the stars. His schedule is up at 4 AM, meeting, talking and playing for the radio stations. Then, that night performing for dancing with the stars, and then play at a venue with his band after the show for a couple of hours. Then, start the next day, up at four and same schedule for 5 days a week for two months. I’ll see him either in Vegas or in Nashville.

I’ll start uploading a few pictures from backstage on Dancing with the Stars later tonight or tomorrow.

It’s been quite a while since Marriann or myself have been able to post. We’re both going through moves of our family and so it’s been quite busy. Enough with the apologies.

I talked with Marriann today and she had a number of comments about Julianne’s elimination on the show last night. Obviously Marriann was sad to see Julianne eliminated, but she kind of saw it coming considering the scores they received. Marriann told me that Julianne was just sad for Cody since Cody had been working so hard. However, both Marriann and Julianne are cheering on Derek and Brooke and hope they take home the trophy.

Marriann also wanted to share a few thoughts about Brooke. She told me she thinks Brooke is a really hard worker and very serious in her approach to the competition, but still a mom. Marriann is excited to see Derek and Brooke perform in the finals and thinks they have a very good chance.

On a different note, Marriann and I are putting together a contest with a few special giveaways just in time for the Holidays. Check back soon for details of the contest.

Finally, you’ll have a chance to see Derek at one of the Dancing with the Stars tour dates and locations.

Note from John: I previously posted some things that are the same as this post, but Marriann gives some more details about it all.

Well, I spent most of the day yesterday getting my tires changed. I was going to change them three trips ago. Traveling back and forth from Vegas to L.A. for Dancing with the Stars does a number on the wear and tear of the car.

This friday in People magazine, Julianne will be talking about her endometriosis with pictures of her and her puppy (I’m in there too). Her puppy has been on antibiotics but after three weeks it seemed the medicine was also making her tummy hurt.

For all the animal lovers, which all the Hough kids are! You might be interested that we put Julianne’s puppy on a different brand of dog food. We are giving her vitamins and it has really seemed to help.

I was so proud of Derek and Brooke. They looked great Monday night. Derek choreograghed two dances one for Brooke and one for the team. He did a great job in both dances. I loved the blue costumes for the paso. And amidst all the teaching and practices, Derek spent two weeks every night after practice to decorate Shannon’s house for a Halloween party and scavenger hunt. The decorations were amazing. Lasers, smoke, spider webs, hanging skeletons, D.J. and dancing, it was a great success. Derek loves holidays. I always made holidays and birthdays a big deal. It’s fun to see the tradition carried on.

I am going to the results show tonight. I’m hoping to have dinner with Derek after the show. He is so busy after the show he goes to the studio with the band and works on their album that will be released in March. The band will be going on tour in December promoting the album. I am so excited. Their music has a very unique sound that distinguishes them from other bands. They are great musicians. Derek’s schedule is so busy but he loves what he does.

Julianne and I watched the show on T.V. Julianne thought the dance was great and beautiful. I loved the dress Brooke was wearing. After the result show, the dancers get their new music for the next week and they (Derek) design the costume they will be wearing usually that same night. The wardrobe team works 24 hrs. around the clock until Saturday. The dancers and Stars come for a fitting and Sunday they make any adjustments for Monday and even Monday they sometimes are making last minute alterations. I Salute the wardrobe team because they really work hard on a limited budget. I sew and I appreciate their work!

Til next time!

Sending pictures soon.
Marriann

WOW!

I originally drove from Las Vegas to see a couple of the Dancing with the Stars shows in Hollywood, but because of various things I have stayed five weeks. It has been so wonderful to be here with not only Julianne but Katherine, and Derek. It would have been very hard if I would have been in Vegas watching the show and find out that Julianne had to be run to the E.R. I am so glad that I was here in L.A. with Julianne when it happened.

Julianne is only 20 years old. But she has been all over the world. She has had many good and bad experiences and is very independent. Although she is very independent and is used to taking care of herself, it has been great to be mom and do all the things that moms do.

Julianne is so touched by the response of all the fans. I would like to thank all those who have expressed their concerns for her.

Today was the first day she has really been back to herself. She is a tough cookie! I have seen her compete and run off the floor exhausted and sick and then keep competing. Basically being an athlete, very busy schedules, flying red eyes and singing or dancing the same day Julianne has a high threshold for pain. In fact, that is one of the reasons her doctor was concerned about doing the surgery now instead of later.

She might continue suffering and more serious problems may arise. Julianne had a cyst on her left ovary that was removed. She had smaller endometrium cysts other places and her appendix was inflamed and had attached itself to her right hip with a lot of scare tissue that was removed. We are grateful to her doctor for being so thorough and competent.

Julianne’s wish and why she was so candid on T.V. is that her experience will bring an awareness to women to take better care of themselves and get the treatment they deserve instead of living with pain they might think is normal, and that left untreated could cause other complications.

Thank you all for your support. Julianne will be back on the show in another week. Stay tuned to the result show next week for a surprise that Julianne is so excited about.

Sorry, I haven’t kept current, but I’m sure you understand. When I get back to Vegas I have a ton of pictures I want to get on the web site.

Lots of love!

Being mom for now,
Marriann

I visited with Shirley and her mother at the monday night show. Shirley and Corky Ballas were the coaches that Julianne and Derek lived with and trained in ballromm dance while they were in London.

I took Shirley to see Julianne’s dog, a Cavalier King. In London the Cavalier King was the Royal dog for the King and Queen.

Julianne was up late last night practicing for the results show for this coming Tuesday. She will be singing her new single and dance with Derek and Mark.

I am so excited! Alot of her family will be there to support her.

Julianne is a little anxious and excited, which goes to show that even though she is used to performing a lot, she still gets anxious and wants everything to go well. So don’t give up when things get hard or a little scary. If you are prepared you will not fear and it helps you get stronger for the next time.

I loved watching “The Never Ending Story” with my kids when they were young. In the movie it says “Be Confident!” Having a glimmer of light and hope is what keeps life exciting and worth living. A life of challenges, and lots of experiences.

Til the next time.

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