The pro dancers and celebs on "Dancing With the Stars" are excited and nervous about having Cher guest judge the show, and they’re not alone. The superstar herself is concerned about bringing ballroom cred to her gig as she sits alongside Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli at the judges’ table on Monday's show.
“I don’t want to be responsible for someone getting a different mark that a professional (judge) would give them,” Cher told TODAY during a conference call. “I’m a little bit worried about that part.”
Some fans of the show are too. In a TODAY survey, 42 percent of readers didn't believe Cher was qualified to judge the show due to her lack of ballroom experience, while 39 percent thought she'd be good. (Another 15 percent said she could do no wrong, and 4 percent were not sure.)
But she's not going in without some help. Producers have provided the legendary singer with a binder complete with tons of info she’ll need to have in order to offer critiques.
"It's a huge binder and it has everyone's bios in it and it tells me what they've done so far and what they're doing. And at the end there is something that looks like math, which is always scary to a dyslexic person," she said. "I'm looking at it thinking, 'Oh, my God, someone is going to have to get in here because all I can say is, 'That was beautiful,' or 'You fell.' Someone is going to have to do some cramming with me."
That person may be her son, Chaz Bono, who competed in season 14. The gay rights advocate has already offered up his knowledge of the show to help prep his mom.
“He said, ‘Mom, you have no idea how serious people take this, so I’m going to tutor you,’” revealed Cher, who is welcoming all the assistance she can get. “I don’t like to do anything half way or in half measure.”
Some of the show's pros told TODAY they were thrilled to have Cher judging their performances as a whole, given her sense of showmanship. And the Oscar- and Grammy-winner is looking forward to that aspect too.
“What I think they’re going to have me do is comment on what I thought about the entire (dance),” she told reporters. “Did I think something was beautiful? That, I can do in spades. I know what it’s like watching my dancers and I see amazing things that they do. But we don’t grade in rock 'n' roll!”
One thing Cher has in common with the show is fabulous costumes. When asked whether she already had her outfit picked out, she deadpanned, "What do you think?"
The star said she had three looks chosen, "(But) it won’t be all beaded (gowns) and stuff like that. That’s going to be well taken care of by everyone else there.”
Though Cher will judging Monday, she'll also be performing two songs: She'll open the show with her hit “Believe,” and “I Hope You Find It,” a number from her new album, “Closer to the Truth,” will end the evening.