ABC ANNOUNCES THE CELEBRITY AND PROFESSIONAL PAIRINGS FOR THE NINTH SEASON OF "DANCING WITH THE STARS," PREMIERING ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 ON ABC

Season 8's Professional Dancer Competition Winner Anna Demidova Makes Her Debut

Four Previous "Dancing with the Stars" Champions - Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Derek Hough and Alec Mazo - Return to the Ballroom

Three-Night Premiere Event Begins Monday, September 21

Two Couples Eliminated on Wednesday, September 23

ABC announces the professional dancer pairings for the all new cast of "Dancing with the Stars." In alphabetical order, the 16 stars -- with their professional partners -- making their ballroom dancing debut are:

�AARON CARTER, pop star, teams with KARINA SMIRNOFF, who returns for her seventh season.

�NATALIE COUGHLIN, Olympic champion swimmer, teams with Season 1 champion ALEC MAZO, who returns for his fifth season.

�MARK DACASCOS, "Iron Chef" star, joins LACEY SCHWIMMER, who returns for her third season.

�TOM DELAY, former House Majority Leader, teams up with two-time champion CHERYL BURKE, who returns for her eighth season.

�MACY GRAY, Grammy Award� winner, teams with JONATHAN ROBERTS, who returns for his seventh season.

�ASHLEY HAMILTON, actor and comedian, teams with EDYTA SLIWINSKA, who is the only pro to compete in all nine seasons of "Dancing with the Stars."

�MELISSA JOAN HART, actress, teams up with reigning two-time "Dancing with the Stars" champ MARK BALLAS, who returns for his fifth season.

�KATHY IRELAND, entrepreneur and model, teams with TONY DOVOLANI, who returns for his eighth season.

�MICHAEL IRVIN, NFL Hall of Famer, teams with Season 8's Professional Dancer Competition winner ANNA DEMIDOVA, who makes her debut.

�JOANNA KRUPA, model, teams with Season 7 champ DEREK HOUGH, who returns for his fifth season.

�CHUCK LIDDELL, Ultimate Fighting Champion, teams with ANNA TREBUNSKAYA, who returns for her fourth season.

�DEBI MAZAR, actress, teams with MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY, who returns for his seventh season.

�MYA, award winning singer, teams with DMITRY CHAPLIN, who returns for his second season.

�KELLY OSBOURNE, reality star, teams up with LOUIS VAN AMSTEL, who returns for his fifth season.

�DONNY OSMOND, showbiz legend, is paired with KYM JOHNSON, who returns for her seventh season.

�LOUIE VITO, professional snowboarder, joins CHELSIE HIGHTOWER, who returns for her second season.

With the biggest season yet, "Dancing with the Stars" Season 9 kicks off on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) when eight teams strut their stuff, while the other eight teams will show off their moves on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET). On a special night and time, two couples will learn their fate and be sent home, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET).

Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday and Tuesday night during and up to 30 minutes after the "Dancing with the Stars" performance shows. AT&T subscribers may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" and entering the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (standard text message rates apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.

Hosted by Tom Bergeron ("America's Funniest Home Videos") and Samantha Harris ("The Insider") the celebrities will perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by renowned Ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade is co-executive producer. Alex Rudzinski directs. "Dancing with the Stars" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

About BBC Worldwide Productions:

BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In the U.S., BBC Worldwide Productions, one of BBC Worldwide's seven core businesses, is based in Los Angeles and New York. It is responsible for the smash hit "Dancing with the Stars" and develops scripted and non-scripted projects for U.S. cable and broadcast networks.