Karina Smirnoff
Karina Smirnoff in 2008
Born	Karina Smirnova (1978-01-02) January 2, 1978 (age 34) Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	Dancer

Karina Smirnoff (Ukrainian: Карiна Смiрнова; Russian: Кapинa Cмиpнoвa; born Karina Smirnova; January 2, 1978) is a Ukrainian^[1] professional ballroom dancer. She is best known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars, where she held a runner-up title, a semi-final title, and several quarter final titles. Smirnoff finally became the champion professional partner in the thirteenth season, when she was partnered with army veteran and soap opera star J.R. Martinez.

She is also a five-time U.S. National Champion, World Trophy Champion, and Asian Open Champion. Smirnoff has won the title at the UK Open, is a three-time champion at the US Open, two-time champion at the Asian Open, five-time champion at the Dutch Open, and five-time US National Professional Champion. She has taken second at the British Open Blackpool Dance Festival^[2] and she is the first woman to also ever make the "British Professional Final" with three different partners.^[3]

Biography[link]

Smirnoff was born Karina Smirnova in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on January 2, 1978. When she was five years old, she began taking ballet lessons, followed by gymnastics, aerobics, figure skating, ballroom dancing and piano.^[4] She chose to pursue ballroom dancing. In 1992, Smirnoff immigrated to the United States.^[5][1]

Education[link]

Smirnoff attended Nerinx Hall High School in St. Louis, MO and Christopher Columbus High School in New York and the Bronx High School of Science^{[citation needed]} before going to Fordham University, during which time she picked up her interest in dancing again. Smirnoff graduated from Fordham University with a double major in economics and information system programming.^[2] During her academic studies, Smirnoff's goal was to go to law school and become an attorney. However she later came across a dance school in Brooklyn, New York, and after some time there dancing became her profession.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Early in Smirnoff's dancing career, she and Roman Nabatov competed as an amateur couple for USA. They ended their dance partnership in January 1997.^[6] Smirnoff soon after started dancing with Paul Killick in October 1998 as a professional couple for England; this partnership ended in July 1999. Immediately, Louis van Amstel and Karina Smirnoff, in July 1999, entered a professional dance partnership, representing the U.S.A; the partnership ended in December 2000.^[7] From January 2001 to September 2005, Smirnoff was in a dance partnership with Slavik Kryklyvyy and they represented the U.S.A; this partnership thus far is her most successful one. Kryklyvyy and Smirnoff earned numerous top titles and high ratings together.^[8]

Her last professional partner recorded in competitions was Dmitri Timokhin representing Russia in October 2005. They won first place at the 2006 Grand-Prix Dynamo in Moscow.^[9] They finished dancing together in June 2006.^[10] Smirnoff was the project manager/director of a dancing event entitled "Day & Night", held on November 18, 2006 at the Hollywood & Highlands Grand Ballroom.^[11] She is featured in a nude pictorial in the May 2011 American issue of Playboy magazine.^[12]

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

Smirnoff was a performer on the third season of the ABC series Dancing with the Stars with celebrity partner Mario López. They finished in second place, losing to the team of Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke. Smirnoff returned to the show on March 19, 2007 for Season 4, this time partnered with Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer and Hannah Montana star.^[13] The pair was the seventh to be eliminated from the competition on May 8, 2007. Her partner for Season 5 of the show was current five-division world champion boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. On October 16, 2007, Karina and Floyd were the fourth couple eliminated from competition and came in 9th place. She returned for Season 6, partnered with singer Mario and finished in 5th place. In Season 7, she was partnered with chef Rocco DiSpirito and they were the fourth pair to be eliminated with a finish of 9th place for the second time.

For the eighth season, Smirnoff's partner was Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak. They were eliminated in the fourth round on March 31, 2009, along with Holly Madison and her partner Dmitry Chaplin. For the ninth season, she was partnered with singer Aaron Carter. They were eliminated on November 10, 2009, placing fifth. In the eleventh season, she was partnered with The Situation from MTV's reality TV show Jersey Shore. They were eliminated in the fourth week. In the twelfth season of Dancing with the Stars, she was partnered with movie star, Ralph Macchio. They were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Smirnoff appeared on the thirteenth season of Dancing with the Stars, where she was partnered with All My Children actor J.R. Martinez. Smirnoff and Martinez ended up winning the competition against Cheryl Burke and Rob Kardashian, who was known for his family's television show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. This was the first time Smirnoff had advanced to the finals since her inaugural season in season 3 with Mario López. For the fourteenth season of Dancing With The Stars, Karina was partnered with singer Gavin Degraw. They were eliminated in week 5.

Performances[link]

[edit] With Mario Lopez (Season 3) 27.6

[edit] With Billy Ray Cyrus (Season 4) 19.0

[edit] With Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (Season 5) 20.8

[edit] With Mario (Season 6) 25.4

[edit] With Rocco DiSpirito (Season 7) 17.8

• Would have been eliminated but wasn't due to Misty May-Treanor's injury and forcing her to withdraw from the competition.

[edit] With Steve Wozniak (Season 8) 13.0

[edit] With Aaron Carter (Season 9) 24.0

• Score was awarded by stand in judge Baz Luhrmann.

[edit] With Mike Sorrentino (Season 11) 16.2

[edit] With Ralph Macchio (Season 12) 23.4

*Donnie Burns was a guest judge

[edit] With J.R. Martinez (Season 13) 26.4

Week #	Dance/Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Viennese Waltz/ "Breakaway"	8	7	7	Safe
2	Jive/"Jump, Jive An' Wail!"	7	7	8	Safe
3	Rumba/"If You're Reading This"	9	8	9	Safe
4	Foxtrot/Theme from "The Pink Panther"	8	9	9	Safe
5	Samba/"Conga"	9	9	10	Safe
6	Quickstep/"Hot Honey Rag" from Chicago Group Broadway Dance/"Big Spender" & "Money Money"	10 No	9 Scores	10 Given	Safe
7	Tango/Theme from "Ghostbusters"	9	8	8	Safe
	Team Tango/"Disturbia"	8	7	8
8	Waltz/"What the World Needs Now"	10	10	10	Safe
	Jive/"Tutti Frutti"	10	10	10
9	Paso Doble/"Theme from The Legend of Zorro"	8	7	8	Last to be called safe
	Argentine Tango/"Bust Your Windows"	9	9	9
	Cha-Cha-Cha Relay/ "I Like How It Feels"	Awarded	6	Points
10	Cha-Cha-Cha/"Let's Get Loud [disambiguation needed ]"	8	7	9	WINNERS
	Freestyle/"Whine Up"	10	10	10
	Jive/"Jump, Jive An' Wail!"	Awarded	28	Points
	Samba/"Shake Your Bon-Bon"	10	10	10

[edit] With Gavin DeGraw (Season 14) 21.4

Smirnoff has appeared nude in a PETA advertising campaign -with the tagline "I'd rather dance naked than wear fur".^[14][15]

Smirnoff has appeared nude in the May 2011 issue of Playboy.

Personal life[link]

Smirnoff dated her DWTS partner Mario Lopez from 2006 to June 2008. After Lopez, she began dating fellow Ukrainian and Dancing With the Stars dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the summer of 2008. They announced their engagement on December 31, 2008, but broke up in September 2009 before they got married.^{[16] [17][18]}

In October 2009, Smirnoff began dating MLB pitcher Brad Penny. The couple became engaged on October 4, 2010.^[19] The couple broke their engagement in December 2011. ^[20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Karina Smirnoff at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website
• Dancing With the Stars profile
• Slavik Kryklyvyy & Karina Smirnoff - Innovation
• Karina Smirnoff starring in CWTS, June 3-10, 2012
• Karina Smirnoff Interview

Slavik Kryklyvyy (Vyacheslav Kryklyvyy, Ukrainian: Славік Крикливий, Вячеслав Крикливий) (born Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union^[1]) is a professional ballroom dancer specializing in International Latin. Born and raised in Ukraine, he is currently residing in New York, USA.^[1]

He and Joanna Leunis were amateur world champions in International Latin. In 2000 the couple took first place in the IDSF World Amateur Championship, the British Open (Blackpool), the ARD Masters Gala (Germany), and the IDSF European Latin Championship.^[2]

After becoming a professional dancer, he won a number of competitions with various partners.His longest and therefore most successful partnership was with Karina Smirnoff, who he split with in 2005 to dance with Elena Khvorova. ^[3]

He was credited in the 2004 film Shall We Dance? as the current Blackpool partner of Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) and as dance instructor.^[4]

He won second place in the 2006 and 2007 World Championships with Elena Khvorova.

In 2009, Slavik Kryklyvyy partnered with Anna Melnikova (dancer), representing Russia in the international arena. Slavik and Anna were guest competitors as Show Performers ^[5]

Slavik and Anna were the subject of a feature documentary "Ballroom Dancer". Directed by Christian Holten Bonke & Andreas Koefoed. It premiered all over the world, most recently in Tribaca Film Festival in NY. The plot of the film has been described by the directors as follows:

"The former world champion Slavik Kryklyvyy is making his comeback with his younger partner and girlfriend Anna Melnikova - a comeback that turns out to be much more painful than he expected. Slavik (34) is making his final comeback as a professional dancer. When he came on the scene, he was the fastest rising star in the history of ballroom dancing making it to world champion in a little over a year. Unfortunately, Slavik has been unable to maintain long-term partnerships, which has kept him away from the competition floor for a long time. Now, with his new dance partner and girlfriend, Anna, he has his mind set to regain lost ground and once again become the best dancer in the world. However, they are up against Michael & Joanna, the renowned world champions who seem stronger than ever. Slavik also suffers from severe hip pain and soon it becomes a question if Slavik and Anna’s relationship will survive the fight to the top as the pressure grows and former personal conflicts start to reappear.''" ^[6]

The pair split up in October 2010.

Slavik has been dating Daria Chesnakova who used to dance with Valentine Chmerkovski (dancer) , who has retired to dance on the show Dancing with the Stars (show). Slavik is rumored to have partnered with Daria. Their very first appearance was at Sunshine State Dance Competition where they have performed together.

References[link]

Jacoby Jones

Jones in a 2010 preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys
No. 12     Baltimore Ravens
Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1984-07-11) July 11, 1984 (age 27)
Place of birth: New Orleans, Louisiana
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Weight: 214 lb (97 kg)
Career information
College: Lane College
NFL Draft: 2007 / Round: 3 / Pick: 73
Debuted in 2007 for the Houston Texans
Career history
Houston Texans (2007–2011) Baltimore Ravens (2012–present)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2011
Receptions 127 Receiving Yards 1,741 Receiving TDs 11 Stats at NFL.com

Jacoby Jones (born July 11, 1984) is an American football wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Lane College.

Early years[link]

Jones attended Marion Abramson High School in New Orleans, Louisiana and was a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In basketball, he was an All-Metropolitan selection and an All-Area selection. In track, he was an All-Metropolitan selection and an All-Area selection.

College career[link]

Jones originally enrolled on a track scholarship at Southeastern Louisiana University in 2002, but transferred to the Division II school Lane College in 2003. At Lane College, Jones became a three time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) player his sophomore, junior and senior seasons as well as an excellent punt/kick returner.

Professional career[link]

Houston Texans[link]

His first TD reception was against the Tennessee Titans in week 2 of the 2009 NFL regular season.^[1] He also returned his first punt for a 70 yard TD vs. Miami in week 6 of the 2009-2010 season.

On May 1, 2012, Jones was released by the Texans.

Baltimore Ravens[link]

Jones signed a 2-year, $7 million deal by the Baltimore Ravens on May 8, 2012.

DWI investigation[link]

On March 16, 2008, Jones was arrested in Midtown near downtown Houston under the suspicion of drunk driving by The Houston Police Department. An HPD Spokesmen did not specify why they pulled over Jones and said it was simply a DWI Investigation and that an accident wasn't involved. He was later released on a $500 bail for a first offense.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Houston Texans bio