Bruno Tonioli

STARTING STEPS: 49, from Ferrara, Italy. Dancer (Elton John's 1983 "I'm Still Standing" video) and choreographer (for Ella Enchanted's Minnie Driver).
FANCIEST FOOTWORK: "I like a lot the tango."

"This show is high-class. Celebrities don't come on and eat bugs and show their butt. They learn something."

Carrie Ann Inaba

STARTING STEPS: 37, Honolulu-born. Brief career as a singer in Japan, In Living Color Fly Girl, dancer for Madonna and actress (Fook Yu in Austin Powers in Goldmember).
FANCIEST FOOTWORK: Not ballroom. More into hip-hop moves.

"I get a lot of, 'Oh, you're the Simon Cowell of the bunch.' But I'm just being honest!"

Len Goodman

STARTING STEPS: 61, London native. British dance champion in the 1970s, now an instructor.
FANCIEST FOOTWORK: Fox-trot and rumba.

"Unless you have ballroom danced, you cannot imagine how difficult a job these stars have.... I would love to see someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger performing."