New Dancing with the Stars 6 Cast Announced: Will the Women Rule?

The new cast of Dancing with the Stars cast was announced tonight on Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, and, as usual, it's quite the eclectic group!

Here's the list (with professional partners in parenthesis):

Actress Marlee Matlin (Fabian Sanchez)
Magician Penn Gillette (Kym Johnson)
Broadway actress Marissa Jaret Winokur (Tony Dovolani)
Talk show hot Adam Carolla (Julianne Hough)
Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (Mark Ballas)
Actor Christian de la Fuenta (Cheryl Burke)
Tennis player Monica Seles (Jonathan Roberts)
R&B singer Mario (Karina Smirnoff)
Actor Steve Guttenberg (Anna Trebunskaya)
NFL star Jason Taylor (Edyta Sliwinska)
Actress Shannon Elizabeth (Derek Hough)
Actress Priscilla Presley (Louis Van Amstel)

At first glance, I'd say the women have the advantage -- I'm guessing Yamaguchi will have the technical skills thanks to her years in skating, Winokur has tons of performance experience, and Matlin will have the mature elegance that Dancing voters seem to love.

In terms of the guys, Mario has some fancy footwork, but his experience is in the R&B field, while de la Fuenta is gorgeous -- but can he dance? Taylor could surprise (as athletes Emmitt Smith and Apolo Anton Ono have in the past), but as much as I love Monica Seles, it's hard for me to imagine her having the grace it would take to win this competition. As for Gillette, Carolla and Guttenberg -- forget about it, they don't have a shot.

What do you think of this motly crue? Any early favorites?

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