Names & Faces: Charlie White and Meryl Davis headed to 'Dancing With the Stars'

Click here to view original web page at www.freep.com

‘Dancing With the Stars’ has rounded up another eclectic cast of celebrity characters for Season 18.

Competing on the show, which kicks off March 17 (8 p.m., ABC): Olympic ice dancing darlings and metro Detroiters Charlie White and Meryl Davis, who grew up in Oakland County and train in Canton), three singers (including Billy Dee Williams), former child TV stars from “The Wonder Years” and “Full House,” a double amputee snowboarding champ, former Detroit Red Wings pest Sean Avery, distance swimmer Diana Nyad, reality star NeNe Leakes and comedian Drew Carey.

Also spicing up the mix: Bad boy pro Maks Chmerkovskiy returns to the ballroom.

The stars and their pro partners will compete amid several changes to the show: Tom Bergeron’s cohost Brooke Burke-Charvet was fired, and replaced by Erin Andrews. New bandleader Ray Chew joins the team, as Harold Wheeler and his gang exits.

Pro Derek Hough announced another twist on ‘Good Morning America’ on Tuesday, saying that, at some point, the cast will all switch partners.

White and Davis seem to have an obvious advantage. Executive producer Conrad Green expects they will bring beautiful dance moves to the ballroom, but points out that they will not be dancing with each other, a big change for them.

Michigan native joins 'Daily Show'

Kalamazoo’s Jordan Klepper made his debut Monday night on “The Daily Show.”

The Michigan native is the show’s new senior Caucasian correspondent. His first “live report” was a very, very nervous look at the Crimean crisis in Ukraine.

Early in the segment, Klepper told “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart: “I’m not going to fail you, Dad ... Jon.”

The fake news series has been a career springboard for past correspondents like Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and John Oliver.

“The Daily Show” airs at 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday on Comedy Central.

Superheroes get ready for Detroit

Get ready, Detroit. Filming should begin in a month on the Superman-Batman movie that “explodes” the universes of its DC superheros.

That’s according to the project’s director, Zack Snyder, who spoke to “Hero Complex” of the Los Angeles Times about the buzz-churning film that will soon start production in metro Detroit.

“We’re getting ready to start shooting in a month or so,” said Snyder, who helmed “Man of Steel” starring Henry Cavill. “It’s going great. I’m very excited. It’s very fun to get into this world with different heroes coexisting in the same universe, but a lot of balls in the air as they say.”

The untitled Superman-Batman project will film at Pontiac’s Michigan Motion Picture Studios and undisclosed locations throughout the state.

Ann Arbor filmmakers get on PBS

A basketball documentary from filmmakers with Ann Arbor roots will be shown on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on March 31.

“Medora,” the story of a high school basketball team in a struggling Indiana town, was codirected by Andrew Cohn, who hails from the University of Michigan campus town, and Davy Rothbart, the writer and “This American Life” contributor who launched the “Found” franchise of magazines, books and touring stage shows.

Posner headed home for a show

Mike Posner will get down to the basics with his first hometown show in four years.

The Southfield-raised pop star will perform on piano and acoustic guitar in a just-scheduled show April 6 at Detroit’s City Theatre. It’s part of a seven-city unplugged tour set to kick off March 31 in Philadelphia.

Tickets for the cozy gig — City Theatre capacity is just 321 — are $20 and will go on sale at noon Friday through Posner’s website. The show will include fan Q&A sessions.

“This is going to be a treat for my most loyal fans that have supported me through the years,” Posner told Billboard, which broke the tour news today. “I've never been able to present my music in this fashion, over just an acoustic guitar or just a piano.”

The City Theatre show will be Posner’s first headlining performance here since a 2010 date at the Fillmore Detroit.

Juggalos find a home

Unwelcome in Illinois, muzzled by Missouri, Insane Clown Posse has at last found open arms in Ohio.

The Gathering of the Juggalos, the Detroit duo’s annual fan festival, will run July 23-26 at Legend Valley Concert Venue and Campground in Thornville, east of Columbus and about four hours south of Detroit.

Tickets for Gathering’s 15th edition went on sale Monday at www.juggalogathering.com.

The group announced details on its website, adding that it has found an ICP-friendly partner in Legend Valley owner Steve Trickle, a fan who has attended the Gathering.

The Gathering, which draws about 10,000 festgoers annually, has been long dogged by accusations of lawless debauchery, including heavy drug use. After seven years at a campground in Cave-in-Rock, Ill., ICP announced in December that the Gathering would be moving to a site in Kaiser, Mo. That plan was scrapped in mid-February.

Briefly

■ A judge has ordered the release of remaining police video of Justin Bieber after his January arrest with sensitive portions blacked out to protect his privacy. Miami-Dade County Judge William Altfield said Tuesday that two of the five video clips depict the singer’s genitalia during a urine test for drugs. Altfield agreed with lawyers for Bieber, who turned 20 Saturday, that the video’s airing would be an invasion of privacy that outweighed the public’s right to know.

■ Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford laughed off Jimmy Kimmel’s suggestion that he get help for his drinking problem and was reported to be upset about his appearance on the late-night TV talk show. Kimmel told Ford that if he’s an alcoholic, and drinking enough that he would try crack cocaine in his 40s, “and you don’t remember it, maybe that’s something that you might want to think about, like talking to somebody.”

Ford shot back his head and laughed before saying he “wasn’t elected to be perfect.”