There are 'Stars' to root against

I am not a big fan of "Dancing With the Stars" (Monday, 7 p.m., Ch. 4).

It's not that I have anything against dancing shows. As a matter of fact, "So You Think You Can Dance" is a highly entertaining show.

(Despite some of the weird choreography.)

And I don't have anything against Donny Osmond. As a matter of fact, I think he's one of the nicest people I've ever interviewed, and I was genuinely glad he won the mirror-ball trophy on "Dancing With the Stars" in November.

But I'm not a big fan of competitions that feature stars. Or, in this case, celebrities.

And in some cases, these are among the least celebrated celebrities on Earth. How many of you know why we're supposed to know these four contestants — Erin Andrews, Niecy Nash, Aidan Turner and Nicole Scherzinger?

(The answer is at the end of this column.)

It's also stretching it more than a bit to term "DWTS" a dancing competition. Oh, there's dancing involved. The celebrities work hard and take it seriously. (Well, most of them do.)

But it's a popularity contest, pure and simple.

At the risk of getting (more) people mad at me, Osmond wouldn't have won last season if it wasn't a popularity contest. (And I was rooting for him.)

What makes shows like "Dancing With the Stars" fun to watch is when you have a rooting interest. And that doesn't just mean people you're rooting for — it means people you're rooting against.

Heck, that can be the most fun of all. Rooting against the villains. The people you love to hate, as opposed to the people you love.

And there are several candidates this season for people to root against:

Shannon Doherty, the Wicked Witch of "90210" and "Charmed."

Chad Ochocinco, the NFL receiver who has actively courted controversy.

And, of course, Kate Gosselin. You know, Kate Minus Jon Plus 8 — aka The Woman Who Just Won't Go Away.

I'm not taking sides in Jon vs. Kate. I wish they'd both just assume a low profile and tend to their children.

But even before the marriage collapsed, Kate used to treat Jon horribly on their TV show. And if she was like that when the cameras were rolling, what was she like when there were no cameras around?

And there's already some delicious gossip about Dancing Kate, courtesy of the New York Post: