Breaking Down the Dancing With the Stars Cast By the Odds

DANCING WITH THE STARS – NORMANI KORDEI WITH VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY – The celebrity cast of “Dancing with the Stars” are donning their glitzy wardrobe and slipping on their dancing shoes as they ready themselves for their first dance on the ballroom floor, as the season kicks off on MONDAY, MARCH 20 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Craig Sjodin)

Valentin Chmerkovskiy: Normani Kordei, the Fifth Harmony singer

Fifth Harmony is a girl group that first originated the short-lived U.S.-version of X-Factor. They’ve had a handful of hits and developed a bit of a following. They’ve also already performed on Dancing with the Stars twice. So this isn’t unfamiliar territory for Normani Kordei Hamilton, known more generally as just Normani Kordei. Nor, of course, is dancing, as least of the kind pop stars generally do. In fact, she’s developed enough moves to release two dance videos all on her own, done while working with the band’s choreographer.

That’s plenty of movement experience, and a bit of performance experience to, to convert to ballroom dancing. Most young and healthy popstars of her ilk do a very good job of that, and show themselves worthy of deep runs. Sometimes they don’t get the votes necessary to actually get that. But Fifth Harmony is more than successful enough that Kordei’s very unlikely to have that problem. Especially when Val has plenty of support too. Really, if all goes well, there’s no reason these two shouldn’t make the final.

It’s pretty good compensation, when even after winning last season with the gymnast they could get then, he didn’t get the one they could get only now, because she wanted someone else…