'Dancing with the Stars' Fantasy Cast

All summer long, we have been bombarded with rumors about which washed up star will return to the public consciousness, even for the briefest of moments, by donning high heels and feathery boas on Dancing with the Stars. We don't have to wait too much longer because the season 7 cast will be officially announced next Monday morning. But before that happens, I'd like to indulge my fantasy a little bit and present you with my dream cast.

Every season of Dancing with the Stars has some mix of athletes, actors and actresses, singers, entertainers and models, all re-emerging from varying degrees of semi-obscurity, and I suspect that season 7 will be no different. For my season 7 fantasy, I have come up with four different categories: athletes, movie stars, TV stars, and various and sundry.

Athletes have proven that they can do extremely well on Dancing with the Stars. The athletically gifted have taken home four out of the six mirror ball trophies that the show has awarded. For every hopelessly awkward Monica Seles, there are two high-achieving football players or skaters who can shake their hips as well as the pros. I offer three athletes who I think would sparkle and shine on the dance floor.

Brandi Chastain

Who could forget the image of soccer player Brandi Chastain ripping off her shirt and sliding to her knees after scoring the fifth penalty kick, securing the American women's victory over China to win the World Cup in 1999. I suspect that this iconic image has stuck around, lurking somewhere in the back of our consciousness, which would give her an edge in voting on Dancing with the Stars.

Chastain, who is now 40, explained at the time that her celebratory moment as “momentary insanity,” as nothing more and nothing less than simply the joyful realization that “this is the greatest moment of [her] life on the soccer field.” This un-self-consciousness and willingness to bare one's inner passions and joy in a physical manner are precisely what you need to be a good dancer. Dancing with the Stars would be lucky to get Chastain.

Picabo Street

Picabo Street, 37, won an Olympic silver medal in 1994 for downhill skiing and dominated the international skiing scene for the next several years, which included an Olympic gold in 1998 in Nagano. She was a crowd favorite during this time for her absolute fearlessness. Unfortunately, she suffered a terrible injury, shattering her femur and mangling her knee during a World Cup race in Switzerland, just 30 days after her victory in Nagano, and eventually retired from skiing in 2002.

The public has heard very little of Street since then, but she's actually been keeping herself quite busy. She is a spokesperson for the National Children's Alliance, which provides awareness and advocacy for victims of child abuse, and has started her own foundation to help provide financial assistance for children to achieve their dreams.

Maybe, though, the best reason for Picabo Street to be on Dancing with the Stars is her awesome name. She might possibly have the best name of any professional athlete out there.

Rob Dyrdek

This star of MTV's reality show Rob and Big would be the perfect way for Dancing with the Stars to break into a younger, hipper demographic. Let's be honest here, there is a stigma attached to watching Dancing with the Stars if you are not a middle-aged woman. But Rob Dyrdek is one endearingly goofy dude, and he would bring a refreshing attitude to the show and help stave off staleness. I would expect that his chances of success on the show would be pretty good. This 34-year-old has got the coordination and fearlessness of an extreme athlete, plus the aggressive drive of a successful entrepreneur. It's a hard combination to beat.

The real cast of Dancing with the Stars season 7 will be revealed when the official announcement is made on the morning of Monday, August 25 on Good Morning America. The three-night season premiere event begins on Monday, September 22 on 8pm.

See the rest of the Dancing with the Stars Fantasy Cast:
The Movie Stars