Ok, I've managed to watch the whole thing, here's my thoughts on the pairs.
Ian & Cheryl – I appreciate that Cheryl's the two-time champion now, and I enjoyed her last season, but if they make her the star of this season I think I'm going to get a little sick of her. Ian is a good partner and they're probably destined to go far. But at this point I'd be much more interested in seeing Edyta, Ashley (who is not here this season), and that little Russian redheaded one whose name I forget who is also not here.
Paulina & Alec – Paulina gets the typical "super model grace" points with the long arm extensions. She may do the best of the women.
Billy Ray & Karina – God that was painful to watch. Will he be the first to go? It would be fitting, since I think that Karina turned everybody off last season with her personality. It's pretty much accepted on the net that Karina and Mario were the better dancers but nobody liked her.
Leeza & Tony – Leeza's too stiff right now, she has to lighten up. Lisa Rinna ended up doing very well coming from the same general perspective.
Joey & Kym – Former N'Sync member does well for himself. Kym is becoming one of my favorite of the dancers, too. I liked her with Jerry Springer last season.
Laila & Maksim – God, I'm sure Laila Ali is a nice person, but she comes across like a beast. The big deep voice, the massive upper body? I don't see how anybody will be able to warm up to her. It's like they invited Chyna from the WWE…only when Chyna talks she actually sounds female.
John & Edyta – Cliff from Cheers, as a last minute replacement, turns out to fill the "charismatic old guy" role nicely. I actually quite like him, and his whole philosophy. "I worry about meteors hitting the Earth, I don't worry about this," he tells his partner. I don't know if they'll ride the vote as long as Springer did, but he won't be the one that goes the first week.
Shandy & Brian – Does anybody know this girl? She seems very nervous and rushed in her dancing. Coupled with a first time professional partner that the audience won't know yet, her days might be pretty short.
Clyde & Elena – For a big tall guy, Clyde does better than expected with the judges. Whether he's more Evander Holyfield or Emmitt Smith remains to be seen, but I'm betting on the former.
Heather & Jonathan – Heather's going to get all the press and attention for the fake leg. I have to admit, though, that they're handling it well. I laughed out loud when they said "Of course we'll treat her just like everybody else," because I turned to Kerry and said "Except they're going to tell her to point her toes and she can't." Sure enough Heather herself beat me to it, telling the judges, "Just don't tell me to point my toes. If you can point them I'll pay you."
Apolo & Julianne – Apolo's not as good a dancer as I expected him to be. Maybe it's nerves, maybe it's age (he's young, right?) Maybe it's the whole training for the Olympics thing. Who knows.
Overall it's not a great set of stars. Last season we had Joey Lawrence and Mario Lopez, both of whom were early favorites. If I have to guess, the picks right now would be Ian Ziering and Joey Fatone, but that's not saying too much. They're like the doughy versions of the first two.