New pics. Chelsie enjoying her free time:



And finally, Chelsie with whip 'n' boots?

'Dancing With the Stars': Chelsie Hightower cracks the whip

Last season on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," ballroom dancer Chelsie Hightower had to help stoic cowboy Ty Murray transition from a rodeo bull rider to a paso doble matador, and this season is turning out to be just as much of a challenge.

For the ninth cycle of the reality-competition show, which launched Sept. 21 (performances are on Monday nights; results are on Tuesdays), the 20-year-old is partnered with 21-year-old snowboarder Louie Vito.

"They like to give me the ones that have no dance experience at all," says Hightower. "But that makes it fun, taking someone and completely molding them from scratch, turning them into a dancer."

Vito just may make the 2010 U.S. Olympic team heading to Vancouver, Canada - if he doesn't become one of the show's many casualties.

"He's in pretty good shape," Hightower says. "We keep stretching and making sure that we're taking care of our bodies and listening to our bodies. We're trying to stay as injury-free as possible."

Since both Hightower and Vito live in Utah, and Hightower has five brothers who are snowboarders, the two have a lot in common. But Vito can still be a lot to handle.

"He's definitely entertaining," Hightower says. "There's never a dull moment with Louie. He's always doing some crazy thing. He's super ADHD, so as much as it drives me nuts that I can't get him to focus, he cracks me up so much.

"He's really fun to have around. On top of that, he also works hard."

Asked how she keeps Vito focused, Hightower says, "Just yelling at him. Nothing specific, just telling him to shut up. It gets to him sometimes, but I'll keep with that one."

Right now, Hightower and Vito are working on a dance that we haven't seen yet on this fall's competition.

"We're doing a rumba this week," Hightower says. "I love rumba; it's so sensual. Louie's actually doing well, surprisingly. He's doing the hips well and stuff. Of course, he loves being close, and he loves being able to touch each other."

But fear not, Hightower can handle that as well.

"I got my whip. I can crack it."

There might even be a little crush there.

"Maybe," Hightower says. "Possibly. Louie's awesome. We have fun together."

If you missed last night's SYTYCD5 show, you missed a lot. Yes, Ade and Melissa were eliminated, but for this author, the real pleasure was in seeing Chelsie in both of her Emmy-nominated dance sequences, "Bleeding Love" with Mark and "A Los Amigos" with Joshua.

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS. MORE DETAILS LATER...

SYTYCD was nominated for an all-time high 5 Emmy Awards today.

Most significantly, TWO of those were for dance sequences including Chelsie:

"Bleeding Love" - A Hip Hop Routine
Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo
Danced By: Mark Kanemura and Chelsie Hightower

It's time to pop a bottle of bubbly for So You Think You Can Dance. This morning the best dance show on television got some great news courtesy of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, in the form of five Emmy nominations. The majority of the nominations, of course, came in the category of Best Choreography, where SYTYCD dominated that other dance show. Out of six nominations, four came from So You Think You Can Dance. While the show has had pieces nominated for Emmy's before, this is the most nominations the show has ever received in the category. The show's fifth nomination came in the form of recognition for Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special (non-prosthetic). And no, I am not making up that category.

The four nominated routines come from Season Four of So You Think You Can Dance, from four different choreographers. Three of the nominations should come as no surprise to those of you who watched last season, as they were three of the most memorable dances: Bleeding Love, Mercy/The Door, and the Adam & Eve piece. Rounding out the nomination is the pleasant surprise of "Los Amigos," a steamy sharp tango choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance alum Dmitry Chaplin. While we were shocked that "No Air" didn't make the cut, we couldn't be more thrilled with the nominations and the deserved attention that So You Think You Can Dance and it's talented choreographers are receiving. The nominations lend extra credence to Debbie Allen's astute comment from last night that, "This isn't a competition, it's a conversation. This show is truly evangelizing dance like nothing else has, nothing. Nothing. Nothing."


Here's a refresher on the amazing, deserving dances that were honored with an Emmy nomination this morning.

"Bleeding Love" - A Hip Hop Routine
Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo
Danced By: Mark Kanemura and Chelsie Hightower




"Mercy" (The Door) - A Contemporary Routine
Choreographed by Mia Michaels
Danced By: Twitch and Katee Shean



"Adam and Eve" - A Contemporary Routine
Choreographed by Tyce Diorio
Danced By: Jessica King and Will Wingfield



"Los Amigos" a Tango
Choreographed by Dmitryi Chaplain
Danced By: Joshua Allen and Chelsie Hightower