PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA - Fresh on the heels of her recent "Dancing with the Stars" appearance on ABC, award-winning actress Marlee Matlin has agreed to speak at Starr Commonwealth's Founder's Day to be held Oct. 5, 2008.

Through American Sign Language and the assistance of her personal interpreter, Matlin will address the audience of students, staff, families and friends of Starr Commonwealth as the organization celebrates its 95th anniversary.

Matlin is an Academy Award winner for her role in "Children of a Lesser God," which also happened to be her film debut. She is the first deaf actress to receive the Academy Award and one of

CBS News - New York, NY, USA - "Dancing With The Stars," which concluded Monday night with a rousing group country dance, managed to rope in some of the best scores of the season for several of its stars.

Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, the leader everyone has been gunning for, got the season's first perfect score, winning 10s from all three judges. Both Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli pronounced her jive their favorite dance of the season so far.

"It was top-notch, high-definition entertainment," Tonioli said.

Also getting their highest scores so far were R&B singer Mario, whose sultry rhumba fell just short of perfection; Chilean film star Cristian de

Los Angeles, CA, USA - The highest scores of the season on "Dancing with the Stars" were given Monday night.

Who's upset with the judges? And it's not just one person. Who's feeling the love? And who scored the season's first perfect score?

The judges handed out some 10s, but some of the contestants are giving them much lower scores.

Before Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas were jumping for joy, they were jiving for the judges.

"It was so fun out there," said Yamaguchi. "I don't think we could have had much more fun. And we were smiling and having a blast and so to get the 30 is

OK! Magazine - New York, NY, USA - As if being a judge on American Idol isn't enough for singer (and dancer, and choreographer) Paula Abdul, she now tells OK! that there’s a possibility she might be crossing to the other side of the table to compete on the next season of Dancing With the Stars!

“I’m just hypothetically thinking about it,” Paula revealed to OK! after sitting in on Monday's taping of the hit ABC reality competition. And, despite being on a competing network (Idol airs on Fox), she claims there would be no conflict with her show. “There’s a thing called the ‘off-season,’ I think.”

Last month, DWTS

Palm Beach Post - FL, United States - It was group dance night on Dancing with the Stars, ladies and gents. And what did we learn? Our hoofers look mighty sexy as cowgirls and cowboys. If some Broadway producer wanted to make, oh, I dunno, Western Side Story (corny, I know!), he wouldn't have to look far for his cast.

We also learned that Len is still hatin' on Mario, Tom Bergeron has become TV's funniest reality show host and Kristi Yamaguchi could probably dance on the moon without a spacesuit.

Without further delay, here's my weekly lowdown...

Jason Taylor: Jason's footwork wasn't as smooth and precise as it has been

TV Squad - Santa Monica, CA, USA - Yes, it's that time of the television season once again. The fine folks over at ABC are back with another round of Dancing With The Stars. The competition kicks off for real on Monday, but Erin and I thought it would be fun to see what everyone thinks about this latest group of contestants before they all hit the dance floor. Who looks to be the favorite? And who looks to be in trouble before the show even begins. After the jump, I'll take a look at the ladies competing in season six.

Marlee Matlin just might be the most interesting

AfterEllen.com - USA - A few weeks ago, we reported that Marlee Matlin will be on the new season of Dancing With the Stars.

It seemed strange to me at first — not because she's deaf, but because she just doesn't seem like the reality TV type, whatever that is — but this video makes me think she'll be pretty adorable on the show.

"I must have been drunk that morning." Heh.

If only she could keep Nancy O'Dell (or another woman with a grabbable booty) as her dance partner! But her partner on the show will be Fabian Sanchez, aka the 2006 U.S. Mambo Champion. He's

The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com - Cleveland, OH, USA - Heather Wagley was putting her best foot forward on a recent afternoon, but her instructor Larry Nemeth wanted a better best foot forward, and then another.

So Nemeth, who teaches at the American Dance Exchange in Highland Heights, led Wagley to repeat a sequence of steps here, a sequence there, allowing the music to pace them through a medley of dances, from West Coast jitterbug to fox trot to tango to cha-cha -- as other students and instructors danced around them.

Wagley, a tall, blond woman of 32, has won first place in more than 50 ballroom dancing contests, with Nemeth as

TheCelebrityCafe.com - Valley Stream, NY, USA - Marlee Matlin, who won an Oscar in 1986 as the best actress in “Children of a Lesser God,” now wants to prove to her four children that she is “cool.”

It seems that Matlin feels winning the mirrored ball trophy on ABC’s sixth season of Dancing with the Stars will prove that she is, indeed, cool.

However, Matlin, 42, has a challenge that might be a bit harder to overcome than the usual two left feet some stars tango with; she is deaf.

Fortunately, she does not feel her inability to hear the music will handicap her. She says she will be relying

CNN International - USA - Marlee Matlin had never danced before -- well, other than at weddings and bar mitzvahs -- but for the past two weeks, she's been cha-cha-ing and quickstepping for seven hours a day in preparation for her "Dancing With the Stars" debut.

Despite the unforgiving schedule and complaints of constant soreness from past contestants, Matlin, 42, says she's remained pain-free.

"Everyone asks if I'm sore," she said after a recent rehearsal at a nondescript dance studio northeast of Los Angeles. "Am I supposed to be sore?"

Perhaps not. She is, however, supposed to step, twirl, dip, smile, clap, spin, plant and jump -- all

The Canadian Press - LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. - Marlee Matlin had never danced before - well, other than at weddings and bar mitzvahs - but for the past two weeks, she's been cha-cha-ing and quickstepping for seven hours a day in preparation for her "Dancing With the Stars" debut.

Despite the unforgiving schedule and complaints of constant soreness from past contestants, Matlin, 42, says she's remained pain-free.

"Everyone asks if I'm sore," she said after a recent rehearsal at a nondescript dance studio northeast of Los Angeles. "Am I supposed to be sore?"

Perhaps not. She is, however, supposed to step, twirl, dip, smile, clap, spin, plant and jump - all

Indiana Statesman - IN, USA - The Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin will speak at 7 p.m. in Tilson Auditorium Monday as the concluding part of the 2007-2008 University Speaker Series.

"We felt she would be a nice addition to our series, and she had an interesting presentation in terms of her career and how her hearing disability wasn't really a factor," said Linda Crossett, director of community and professional programs.

According to handsandvoices.org, sickness and fevers as an infant resulted in Matlin's deafness. This did not hinder her success and with the encouragement of her parents she did not let her disability stop her from trying and exploring

Associated Content - Denver, CO, USA - The celebrity cast for the new season of the hit TV show Dancing with the Stars has finally been announced. Twelve celebrities ranging from illusionists to Olympic athletes will be part of the season 6 Dancing with the Stars cast.

Adam Carolla is one of six male celebrity dancers announced. Carolla is best known as a TV and radio host with programs such Loveline, The Man Show, and The Adam Carolla Show.

In addition to Adam Carolla, TV viewers might also recognize this next Dancing with the Stars cast member: Cristian de la Fuente. Born in South America, Cristian de la Fuente

Broadway World - New York, NY, USA - Star Magazine is reporting that Tony Award-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray), Sean Hayes of "Will & Grace," actress Marlee Matlin and Elvis' ex-wife Priscilla Presley are to be among the contestants to boogie and shake on Season 6 of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

"Dancing with the Stars" pairs twelve celebrities – six men and six women – with acclaimed dancers, and pits them against each other in attempts to outshine one another. Last season, viewers got a chance to size up the male vs. the female stars, as each gender hit the dance floor on separate nights during the

tvsquad.com - According to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog, deaf actress and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin may be appearing on the next edition of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

As EW mentions, having Matlin guest star on the dancing competition would not be surprising since the series has been trying to "defy casting expectations and prejudices." DWTS fans will recall that Heather Mills, who wears a prosthetic leg, appeared in the fourth season of the show.

Since the network is not ready to confirm the cast of the upcoming season of the show, it is impossible to know for sure if Matlin will indeed

Earthtimes.org - USA - With the help of dozens of well-known and highly respected celebrities, including Jim Belushi, Lou Ferrigno, Glenn Frey, Goldie Hawn, Jay Leno, Kenny Loggins, Marlee Matlin, Leslie Nielsen, Mickey Rooney, Kevin Sorbo, Robert Wagner, and many others, the Starkey Hearing Foundation raised a record $4.5 million at its annual "So the World May Hear" Awards Gala, which was held on Saturday, June 23 in St. Paul, Minn.

"For the seventh year in a row we had tremendous support from our friends all over the world who helped us raise an amazing $4.5 million to further our mission of promoting hearing health