Morrow: More 'Dancing' for K-town stars

WATE Photo

Tearsa Smith

WATE Photo

Tearsa Smith

The casting call has already gone out for the second edition of "Dancing with the Knoxville Stars."

Confirmed for the cast so far are three anchors - a first for the event - with WATE's Tearsa Smith, WBIR's Abby Ham and WVLT's Allison Kropff on board. Call it the Lori Tucker Effect. After the WATE, Channel 6, anchor won "Dancing with the Knoxville Stars," a benefit for Children's Hospital of East Tennessee, last year, she left a lot of eager local TV news personalities wanting to follow her.

The 2010 "Dancing" is set for Thursday, April 1. A venue for the event has not been announced yet.

Also on slate for the second edition are Knoxville-bred comic Leanne Morgan, the Knoxville News Sentinel's Lola Alapo and, reportedly, WATE consumer advocate Don Dare, the only male agreeing to do the show so far.

The evening is spearheaded by radio station WWST-FM, 102.1 (Star 102.1) as part of its annual efforts to raise money for the hospital. Last year's event was considered a huge success, raising more than $30,000 in one night.

The 2009 cast included chef Carol Scott, who was also a local contestant on Fox's "Hell's Kitchen"; WWST morning personalities Kim Hansard and Frank Murphy; Knoxville-based Olympic athlete Dee Dee Trotter and WBIR, Channel 10, host Beth Haynes.

Each star gets 10 free dance lessons and is paired with a local professional dancer.

n Visiting. Gail Simmons of "Top Chef" will be a guest at Blackberry Farm in Walland during the weekend of Aug. 13-15. She'll be conducting a workshop for guests at the inn on how to objectively critique food.

n Returning. "Friday Night Lights" will be back for a fourth season April 30 on NBC. A fifth - and possibly last season - is in production now. The fourth season introduces four new cast members while many of the original cast members who played high school students have been written out.

Sci-Fi drama "V" will return March 30 on ABC. The series will pick up where it left off in the fall; "Glee," one of Fox's most critically-acclaimed series, is on the schedule again starting April 13.

n Practice. "American Idol" season six finalist Melinda Doolittle begins rehearsing for her role as narrator in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" set for the Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge.

She'll make her debut on the stage March 1, and will be featured for the following six weeks.

Terry Morrow may be reached at morrowt@knoxville.com or 865-342-6445. His blog can be found at http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/telebuddy/.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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