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Steve Wozniak To Appear On Dancing With the Stars

Posted by CmdrTaco on Mon Feb 09, 2009 08:51 AM
from the he-sure-gets-around dept.
Redpill82 writes "It has been confirmed that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will be a contestant on the new season of Dancing with the Stars starting on March 9. Did ABC determine that ratings were low with the technology community? I know I'll be interested in seeing how far Mr. Wozniak goes in the competition."
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  • by Dystopian Rebel (714995) * on Monday February 09 2009, @08:54AM (#26782477) Journal

    - he is famous engineer (I will never be famous)
    - he is a talented engineer (I will never be talented)
    - he built revolutionary products (I write Perl scripts)
    - he's a member of the Segway Polo team (I have a folding bicycle)
    - he gets to dance close with a hot woman on television (Mom, what's for breakfast?)

  • After your breakdancing stint, our geek dancing ratings have plummeted!

  • The guy plays Segway polo, he has to be nimble on his feet. I suggest he stays away from those Hawaiian shirts, though.

    • Uhm, no. The electronics in the segway do all the work. Its hardly more than an outside video game. Possibly less physically demanding than a good game of Wii tennis.

      • Re:Segway polo (Score:4, Insightful)

        by JBMcB (73720) on Monday February 09 2009, @10:09AM (#26783441)

        "The guy plays Segway polo, he has to be nimble on his feet."

        How on earth did you interpret that statement in any way other than light sarcasm?

        • by dwarg (1352059)

          This guy has some intense personal hatred of Woz (I suspect he was molested by an Apple II), he's been been flamin' all over this thread.

              • Re:Segway polo (Score:5, Informative)

                by SteveWoz (152247) on Monday February 09 2009, @11:33AM (#26784955) Homepage

                BitZtream is not off base. I was very athletic in school with letters and trophies and all. 15 years ago I could run a marathon. After a spinal injury I have not kept in good shape and I let my weight go too, so this will be hard for me. But it's not about dancing. It's about ratings and attracting viewers. You never know what pranks I might find a way to pull on the show.

                I don't mind it when people treat me badly. I wish I had no fame and no money, and I do my best to limit both. But I'm not cool enough to turn down the producers to DWTS. By the way, I had never seen the show until I watch a DVD last night.

                • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                  by dwarg (1352059)

                  Yes, but you still haven't explained why your Apple II molested poor BitZtream. ;p

                  Seriously though, my comment was in reference to the numerous comments BitZtream has left on this thread attacking you. A lot of people try to deify those people that come first, or at least are given credit for getting there first, so I understand the temptation to attack them to compensate for it, but doing so is even more asinine than deifying them. I don't need to pee all over myself in deference to you, but I see no reaso

                • by flaming error (1041742) on Monday February 09 2009, @12:33PM (#26786007) Journal

                  > You never know what pranks I might find a way to pull on the show.

                  May I suggest:
                    - change the judges' score cards from decimal to hexadecimal
                    - redirect Denise Richards' votes to Lenny Goodman
                    - a performance art representation of big-endian vs little-endian
                    - surreptitiously replace NFL Linebacker Lawrence Taylor's musical selection with "Never Gonna Give You Up"

  • I wonder if it will involve the Segway... ...we know it won't involve Kathy Griffin...

  • by William Robinson (875390) on Monday February 09 2009, @08:58AM (#26782511)

    Bill: You won't believe Steve is such a good dancer.

    (Ballmer jumps on stage for monkey dance)

    Bill: Oh, forgot to mention, I was talking about Wozniak.

    • by elrous0 (869638) *
      It's best for the judges that Balmer not be in it anyway. Unless they're quick enough to dodge chairs, they're better off without him.
  • My guess... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MikeRT (947531) on Monday February 09 2009, @09:02AM (#26782559) Homepage

    Either really well or really badly. My hunch is that it won't be in between.

    • Re:My guess... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by FlyingBishop (1293238) on Monday February 09 2009, @09:15AM (#26782683)

      I do a lot of ballroom dance, and it's a pretty common occupation for engineers to be fantastic at.

      Really, who would be fantastic at a social skill that hasn't truly been in vogue in half a century except nerds?

  • I assumed they would have gone with the Master of Dance: Balmer [youtube.com]

    Then again, they really might like their chairs there.
    • It's not the disappearing chairs that kill you, it's the chairs that decelerate in front your head that kill you.

      But on a related note, I heard Ballmer would keep throwing chairs at anyone who complains, frowns, cries, screams, throws eggs, sleeps, or just didn't clap his hands in beat with his "Developers! Developers! Developers!". Maybe if we install a crash test dummy in the audience, and give Ballmer enough chairs, he'll keep throwing chairs and forget to release Windows 7.

      Just an idea.
  • by Cornwallis (1188489) * on Monday February 09 2009, @09:08AM (#26782619)
    If so, please notify me when Carly Fiorina does a spread in Playboy.
  • Offhand I think they're hoping for a William Hung moment...

  • Don't get me wrong, I have all respect and admiration for St. Woz. But this is a guy who converted his basement to a cave, complete with stalactites and stalagmites, and when hunkered down amidst them looked every bit a Neanderthal in t-shirt and jeans. He doesn't look much different now than he did in the picture in TIME the above came from. I hope they intend for his appearance to be comic relief because that's what I think it'll end up being.

    • I don't think most of the people watching the show will even know who he is, so it might pan out.
  • by Fr05t (69968) on Monday February 09 2009, @09:16AM (#26782699)

    a Stephen Hawking and Kenny Baker duo.

  • Sharks? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Migraineman (632203) on Monday February 09 2009, @09:26AM (#26782805)
    Perhaps the dance floor can open to reveal a pool full of sharks. Or maybe, Woz and Steve-O can dance in a Jackass-esgue showdown. (No really, Steve-O is one of the contestants.)
  • watched Dancing, this is enough to make me watch it up until they vote him off...

  • by Peter Cooper (660482) on Monday February 09 2009, @09:35AM (#26782893) Journal

    In the original UK show (that Dancing With The Stars is derived from) last year, "Strictly Come Dancing", they had a rather old and none-too-thin political correspondent called John Sergeant [bbc.co.uk] on the show. No idea why, but the reaction to it was a bit of a surprise.. more people tuned in, and people really got behind the guy even though his dancing wasn't too good.

    He got through week after week just because of the overwhelming number of public votes. I guess people really love a cute (old) underdog. And.. so perhaps it'll go with Woz. People like to see regular joes (as much as Woz is a regular joe) rather than glossy celebs all the time. Perhaps Woz will resonate with America the way John did with us.

    (John eventually quit the show because he thought he was taking the attention away from those who could actually dance well each week.)

    • by Hognoxious (631665) on Monday February 09 2009, @09:57AM (#26783253) Homepage Journal

      I thought he quit because the panel kept bitching about the public voting for him?

      Pretty stupid, if you want the winner to be based on skill rather than popularity then just have professional, expert judges decide. Of course that loses the opportunity to rake it in from all those premium rate calls.

  • if they keep lowering the bar like this, pretty soon everyone can call themselves stars. i think they should changed the title to
    "dancing with some people who's names you think you know but aren't sure why."

    • Re:star? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by rickb928 (945187) on Monday February 09 2009, @10:38AM (#26783897) Homepage

      Lowering the bar?

      You don't watch the show, do you? How much lower do you go than Cloris Leachman? Oh, wait, Lance Bass? No, wait, Jophn O'Hurley? Wait, he was actually good, he was robbed.

      How about Tatum O'Neal, Tucker Carlson, Jerry Springer (woo baby), Paulina Porizkova (who hid the hanger in her dress very well thank you), Floyd Mayweather, Penn Jillette, Rocco DiSpirito (who?), some of the turkeys from past seasons.

      I kinda hope he gets hooked up with Edyta. She hardly wears any clothes, can in fact make a frog look good in the Tango, and usually gets through the first fiew weeks. Since Julianna is taken, he might as well have fun.

      I expect Lil' Kim to be gone quick - hip-hop is anthema to the judges, since it's the antithesis of ballroom, especially Mr. Crankypants, Len. L.T. will suprise us, but he's gone by week 5. Denise Richards, Shawn Johnson, Belinda Carlisle (who should have taken this gig just to lose weight like so many others, and Nancy O'Dell are my favorites. There are, however, always suprises. Woz could come off as the Jerry Springer of this season, obviously in over his head, but a gamer. If he enjoys it, gives his all and doesn't let the bastards get to him, he'll be entertaining and get votes.

      Now to arrange an outage on the WoW system on Monday nights. Or just message everyone to SMS in and vote. It shouldn't be too hard to hack the voting, eh? This isn't Ohio, I know, but...

      ps - This is how the D-listers get up to the C-list. And how non-celebs have a little fun in front of millions. Kathy Griffin *w i s h e s* she could get on this show. We will probably see all of N'Sync, BSB, NKOTB, Menudo, and and at least one Pussycat Doll here some day. Ugh. then the entire Baltimore Ravens backfield. Harrr...

      • Re:star? (Score:4, Informative)

        by R2.0 (532027) on Monday February 09 2009, @03:04PM (#26788865)

        A quibble regarding Cloris Leachman. From Wikipedia:

        "Cloris Leachman (born April 30, 1926) is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight primetime Emmy Awards--more than any other female performer--and one Daytime Emmy Award. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show."

        Yes, she's well past her prime physically, but she was (and is) quite talented. And telling John Stamos she was going to strap on her Oscar and fuck him with it qualifies her for comedy legend, right there.

  • "I know I'll be interested in seeing how far Mr. Wozniak goes in the competition."

    I know I won't.

  • "I know I'll be interested in seeing how far Mr. Wozniak goes in the competition"

    maybe he'll get to second base! w00t! vicarious victory for nerds everywhere!

  • by Markvs (17298) on Monday February 09 2009, @10:25AM (#26783669) Journal
    (Yes, I've been playing with the infinite improbability engine... thus my fiance!)

    Anyway, I've now seen a few seasons of DwtS. MOST of the time, it's a pretty enjoyable show even with the cheese factor being set to "Gouda". However, last season (the 7th) was regarded as weak by most of the viewers, as most of the stars were "C list" at BEST.

    Compare the names on the lists, and DwtS w/ Woz just looks a lot more watchable...

    Season 7:
    Jeffrey Ross (Stand Up Comedian)
    Ted McGinley (Actor)
    Kim Kardashian (Reality TV Star)
    Misty May-Treanor (Olympic Beach Volleyball Champion)
    Rocco DiSpirito (Celebrity Chef)
    Toni Braxton (Grammy Award Winning Singer)
    Cloris Leachman (Oscar Award Winning Actress)
    Susan Lucci (All My Children TV Star)
    Maurice Greene (Olympic Sprinter)
    Cody Linley (Hannah Montana Star)
    Lance Bass (Former 'N Sync Star)
    Warren Sapp (Super Bowl Champion NFL Football player)
    Brooke Burke (Model and TV Host)

    Season 8:
    Belinda Carlisle (Singer in The Go-Go's)
    David Alan Grier (Actor and Comedian)
    Jewel (Singer-Songwriter)
    Shawn Johnson (2008 Olympic Gymnast)
    Lil' Kim (Grammy Award Winning Rapper)
    Gilles Marini (Actor)
    Ty Murray (Rodeo Athlete)
    Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood Co-Anchor)
    Steve-O (Jackass and Wildboyz Performer)
    Denise Richards (Actress)
    Lawrence Taylor (Retired NFL Linebacker)
    Chuck Wicks (Country Singer)
    Steve Wozniak (Apple Co-Founder and Philanthropist)
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by slyn (1111419)

      Steve-O and Steve Woz should get in a dance off during the show to see who gets the rights to the name Steve.

  • You know what... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by scubamage (727538) on Monday February 09 2009, @12:03PM (#26785481)
    I may hate the show, but I wish him well. Ever since I met him at an ATI mixer, I have to admit the guy is pretty groovy. He's classic early Silicon Valley, and has a great (if not a little overbearing) sense of humor - just like every other geek I grew up with. Here's hoping he wins and makes geek the new pink. Kick some arse Steve!