It's crunch time for the contestants of Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars, a benefit competition for the city's underprivileged children. The gala event on May 1 at Boleros Grand Ballroom (buy tickets HERE) is little more than a month away, and our solo routines have been set. Organizers have reinstated the rumba and waltz into the fray (after canceling the two dances in fear that there would not be enough time for all 14 contestants to perform), but my dance instructor Muki and I have yet to tackle the rumba since the Cuban Motion/crying incident.

Votes are coming in—Daniel Davis, Scott Norton and Liza Chung were in the lead as of March 17.

And it's time to decide on our costumes for the big night.

Rhinestone Dress Rentals is providing one complimentary rental, but women will need at least two: a Latin/Rhythm dress and a Smooth/Standard dress. If she wants to go ALL out, she can choose a third for her showcase. Muki and I perused the selection this week, and I tried a few on. There are some beautiful gowns and slinky numbers out there, but (for the most part) there's a lot LESS material on those outfits than I'm used to wearing! We narrowed it down to six designs (three for Latin and three for Smooth). Which two do you think I should go with?

Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars benefits The Boselli Foundation, a children's charity founded by former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli and his wife, Angi. Your votes are crucial to making this fundraiser a success. Votes are only $1 each, so VOTE NOW for Muki and me!

Only two months left until Jacksonville's Dancing with the Stars' big event. After my A Social Affair dance instructor Muki and I chose our solo (the waltz), we took a week off of practice. At our last meeting, we reviewed the steps for our showcase, one of 14 that will be performed May 1 at Boleros Grand Ballroom. My inspiration? Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, both of whom starred in the 2004 film Shall We Dance (pictured). Muki has a fun spin planned for the routine. And, yes, I will get dizzy. I've posted some of the practice session below. Please forgive the horrible outfit—it was a Saturday morning, and I barely had time to shower and change after my morning run!

Also practicing at the studio were First Coast News sports anchor Chris Porter and his instructor, Megan Wallace. His cha-cha is killer!

Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars benefits The Boselli Foundation, a children's charity founded by former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli and his wife, Angi. Your votes are crucial to making this fundraiser a success. Votes are only $1 each, so VOTE NOW for Muki and me!

Participants in Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars received a couple notes of good news this week. First, former Jaguar-now-Super Bowl-winning-defensive end Paul Spicer (pictured left) has agreed to join the lineup of celebrity dancers in the May 1 fundraiser for The Boselli Foundation. And, consequently, the number of dances we have to learn was cut by two.

Each pair was originally scheduled to learn four styles each—the cha-cha-cha, rumba, tango and waltz—which we would perform in heats, plus a solo of our choosing. Spicer, who is paired with A Social Affair instructor Jessica Decker, brings the star count to 14. That meant having 14 couples on the dance floor at the same time plus 14 solos, or (in other words) a very long night. Gala organizers decided to chuck the rumba (yes!) and waltz. Since Muki and I had not yet decided on a solo and had spent time this week working on waltz technique (as posted in the video below), we chose to keep the classic dance on our card. We even spent an entire lesson choosing the song to go with it. We'll just have to add more difficult steps and some fancy flourishes to make it solo-worthy. Spicer's partner Jessica demonstrates the basic steps in the video below.

Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars benefits The Boselli Foundation, a children's charity founded by former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli and his wife, Angi. Your votes are crucial to making this fundraiser a success. Votes are only $1 each, so VOTE NOW for Muki and me!

At this point in rehearsals for Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars, I may be approaching meltdown. It might have to do with the fact that both Jacksonville Magazine and Bride are due to the printer tomorrow, and we have a couple feature stories still to be finished. Or it might have to do with the fact that I have no rhythm. I believe it has more to do with the latter than the former. So when it came to add rhythm (read: style and technique) to my rhythm dance routines, namely the cha-cha-cha and rumba, I hit a wall. Feeling as graceful as former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay (pictured), I stumbled through the dreaded Cuban Motion. Trying to discern which leg should be straight and which should be bent is hard enough, but when your instructor tells you to straighten your leg when it already is straight makes you question your own sanity.

Fortunately, A Social Affair instructors Muki and Yessenia (who is paired with Jacksonville Children's Chorus director Darren Dailey) demonstrated the cha-cha for me. If it were only as easy as they make it look. Posted below is a video of lessons No. 7 and 8.

I spared you the painful Cuban Motion lecture.

Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars benefits The Boselli Foundation, a children's charity founded by former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli and his wife, Angi. Your votes are crucial to making this fundraiser a success. Votes are only $1 each, so VOTE NOW for Muki and me!

On our sixth lesson, Muki and I returned to the rumba, one of the five dances that we'll be performing at Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars fundraiser gala on May 1 at Boleros Grand Ballroom (buy your tickets here). As I mentioned before, the rumba is slower than the cha-cha-cha. The styling and technique are similar, however. We focused on getting the steps, saving style and technique for later. I tried the Cuban Motion (the characteristic hip and shoulder movement used in the rumba, merengue, salsa and cha-cha-cha) at a group lesson my first week, and I just don't think my hips are capable of moving that way. I only hope that I can best Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer's rumba (pictured) from Dancing With the Stars — it was the routine that got 'em booted that season.

Posted below is a video of me practicing the basic steps. We'll work on embellishments later!

Jacksonville's Dancing With the Stars benefits The Boselli Foundation, a children's charity founded by former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli and his wife, Angi. Your votes are crucial to making this fundraiser a success. Votes are only $1 each, so VOTE NOW for Muki and me!