Dancing with the Stars

Season Premiere Monday, September 12 at 8:00 p.m., ET; Results Show, Wednesday, September 23 at 8:00 p.m., ET

"Dancing with the Stars the Results Show," Premieres Tuesday, March 17

An all new cast of celebrities hits the dance floor on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" with the highly anticipated two-hour season premiere, MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009 (8:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on ABC. Season Eight introduces us to 13 new stars, including the youngest competitor to date, an NFL legend, a computer icon, a female rapper, three music artists and a "Wildboy." Additionally, "love is a battlefield" when, for the first time, three real life couples take the ballroom floor. Husband and wife Ty Murray and Jewel compete for bragging rights, while newly engaged professional dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff go head to head. To top it off, country crooner Chuck Wicks teams with girlfriend and two-time "Dancing with the Stars" champ Julianne Hough.

Following is the schedule for Season Eight (dates and times subject to change):
* "Dancing with the Stars," two-hour performance show, MONDAYS, MARCH 9 (8:00-10:02 p.m., ET) through MARCH 30
* "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show," one-hour, TUESDAYS, MARCH 17 (9:00 - 10:02 p.m., ET) through MAY 12
* "Dancing with the Stars," 90-minute performance show, MONDAYS, APRIL 6 (8:00-9:32 p.m., ET) through MAY 11
* "Dancing with the Stars," one-hour performance show, MONDAY, MAY 18 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET)
* Season Finale, TUESDAY, MAY 19 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET)

"Dancing with the Stars" returns with new surprises and all the elements viewers have come to know and love, including the Kids Ballroom competition. "Macy's Stars of Dance," which features some of the most renowned dancers and choreographers of our time, will also be back on "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show," along with its hugely popular "Design a Dance" competition. "Design a Dance" is sponsored by Macy's and made its debut last season. In addition, couples will once again take part in a team dance, group dance and face-off, as well as perform the Argentine Tango and East Coast Swing, a first in the series. And in an exciting new twist, the bottom two couples facing elimination will "Dance Off" to determine who is dismissed in the first weeks of competition.

Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the "Dancing with the Stars" performance shows. AT&T subscribers may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" and entering the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (standard text message rates apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.

Hosted by Tom Bergeron ("America's Funniest Home Videos") and Samantha Harris ("The Insider"), the celebrities will perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by renowned Ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Americas. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade and Matilda Zoltowski are co-executive producers. Alex Rudzinski directs. "Dancing with the Stars" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound and Spanish audio via SAP.

About BBC Worldwide Americas:
BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide Americas, with headquarters in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and Miami, brings together all of BBC Worldwide's businesses in the North and South America region. The company exists to maximize the value of the BBC's assets for the benefit of the UK license payer and invests in public service programming in return for rights. The company has six core businesses: Channels, Sales and Distribution, Content and Production, Home Entertainment, Digital Media and Magazines. Under these businesses fall two key brands in the U.S. - digital cable channel BBC America and a bi-coastal production arm responsible for the smash hit Dancing with the Stars for ABC.