Dancing With the Stars Buzz Meter

This Australian's Got Talent

Here's something you might not have known: There are many different versions of "Dancing with the Stars." Right now, the competition is heating up in Australia, where big names are strutting their stuff.

The names may not be of the household variety to folks outside Australia, but one competitor is about to make a big splash on the Web. Gerrard Gosens, an adventurer and three-time paralympian, recently wowed audiences with a flawless waltz. What made the dance so impressive? Mr. Gosens is blind.

Gosens and his partner glided across the dance floor without missing a step, and, in the process, pushed lookups on "gerrard gosens dance" into breakout territory. Among the people watching the performance was Gosens mother, Carol O'Brien. In an interview with NewsMail, Ms. O'Brien explained that her son has a condition called aniridia "in which he was born without irises and lost his sight completely at age 14." Not surprisingly, Mum was quite proud of her boy. "I was amazed at him, he had a really nice rhythm."

You can see that rhythm for yourself below...

Follow Buzz Log on Twitter

DWTS: A Woman Scorned, an Olympian Threat, and "Sex" Appeal

Normally, any man who starts off a season of "Dancing with the Stars" with groin tendinitis should have the automatic sympathy vote.

But Gilles Marini, who had graphically described his pain as like dancing "with a knife next to your thing," faces two great forces. Shawn Johnson pulls in the indestructible Olympic youth vote, while triple-threat Melissa Rycroft is a "Bachelor" woman scorned, as well as a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader with ballerina training. 

Dance-wise, no Olympian finalist has ever lost, although the watercooler bets are on Marini. Online sympathy could mean a victory for Rycroft, despite her pessimism: Her performance night lookups are 22 times more popular than her competitors combined.

The crazy-close results for this likable crew come Tuesday. As to what the winner can look forward to, read AP's alum round-up.

She Just Feels Like Dancing

Kim Kardashian may get a second chance at dance. The celeb, who was kicked off  "Dancing with the Stars" last week, thinks she deserves to show her high kicks once again. According to Jezebel the ex-contender was "inconsolable" after being booted.

Now that fellow contestant Misty May-Treanor is out after suffering an injury during practice, Kardashian wants back in. When asked to comment if she would consider it, the ex-contestant told ABC, "If they ask me to, I'm available."

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the reality show star is available for a reason: After performing what USA Today called a "lackluster rumba," she underwhelmed the judges with the third lowest score. That combined with the disappointed audience vote led to her ouster.

Of course, fans and foes of Kardashian should keep in mind this is only the stuff of rumor, for now. But with May-Treanor out with a bad Achilles tendon, it's possible viewers of the show may again see Kardshaian's Dancing with the Stars Achilles heel.

We Are Citizens, Hear Us Roar

For years, political pundits have been wringing their hands over dismal voter turnout. Now, with the most energized Democratic presidential primary race in decades, they've been nagging the candidates to wrap up their show, for the good of the party.

Well, the voters aren't ready to stop voting. In poll after poll, citizens are saying that they want their say. If the record turnouts haven't clued in political observers, this might: Searches for "register to vote" this year have more than doubled those in 2006 and 2007 combined.

People love their suffrage, whether it's choosing a president or anointing a celebrity. Speaking of which, two reality shows wrapping up this week have built their success on supersizing the democratic process. Forget the milquetoasty appeal of "one person, one vote."'ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and FOX's "American Idol" welcome ballot-box stuffing with the glee of a penny-ante dictator.

Yes, the ABC ballroom competition does temper voters' passions with the judges' more measured expertise, like a pop-culture echo chamber of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The FOX singing contest, on the other hand, injects steroids into its audience's voting muscle—although unlike its creative progenitor, "Pop Idol," the judges winnow the hopefuls down to 12 before America gets to dial in.

That these two shows dominate this week's voting-related queries doesn't speak less of people's more sober civic duties, not even the negative campaigning that occupies the number one slot below. Instead, as the recent spike for "clinton supporters count too" underscores, it shows that the impulse to stand up and be counted shouldn't be counted out too soon.

DWTS: Who's Taking the Lead

A test of wills, pirouettes, and groin-first slides across a slippery dance floor marks this sixth outing of "Dancing with the Stars." The Baltimore Sun went so far as to call the ABC series "one of the two largest and most influential stages in American pop culture," thanks to its sex appeal, broad outreach, and built-in diversity.

Weighty words, but the sentiment is echoed in Search. Every single state in the union except one checked out “DWTS” online. The exception? North Dakota, which perhaps has been preoccupied by a mummified dinosaur.

Fans clearly enjoy watching their old favorites return to the spotlight, as well. Take Steve Guttenberg. Among the 12 competitors, the Police Academy actor's searches spiked the fastest. Fans of the show also sought the scoop on "jason taylor divorce," "how old is priscilla presley," "priscilla presley plastic surgery" (a query that first surfaced after her startling appearance on "American Idol"), "kristi yamaguchi brett hadican," "shannon elizabeth american pie," and "marlee matlin biography."

Here are top 12 competitors ranked by their performance in Search. Expect a shuffle soon when talent trumps nostalgia.