The cast for Season Nine of Dancing With the Stars was officially revealed Monday morning, and it manages to be both the largest the series has ever had and possibly the least star-filled. The big surprise: the contestant list contains more ex-congressmen linked to scandal than it does members of the Jackson family. And here they are, in alphabetical order:

Aaron Carter: The former teen pop star later went on to be the most disturbed person in the cast of the family reality series House of Carters, and he is still only 21. My expectations aren't that high, but the cast is short on young men, so Carter is likely to get to midseason at least.

Natalie Coughlin: The swimming star has found a more productive way to spend her between-Olympics time than has Michael Phelps. She's plenty athletic but she doesn't have the rangy swimmers' physique, so Coughlin might be able to tap into the Shawn Johnson/Kristi Yamaguchi magic.

Mark Dacascos: The actor and martial artist is best known for holding court on Iron Chef America. Dacascos isn't all that well known, but I see him as a dark horse in the field. If you can act in a martial arts film, you can learn the sort of rudimentary choreography required by this show.

Tom DeLay: Easily the most left field dancer in the history of the show, the former House Majority Leader made his reputation in part by attacking Hollywood values. Hopefully he'll be paired with Edyta Sliwinska, for whom clothing is usually a rumor. He begins with half the country hating his guts, but I suppose stranger things have happened than DeLay doing well on DWtS ... maybe.

Macy Gray: The odd-voiced singer had one huge pop hit ten years ago, and then basically fell off the map. It's probably not wise to expect much here; most won't know who she is, and those who do are likely to think of her as a space cadet. Her best bet is to catch on with the same wackos who kept Master P on DWtS for a month.

Ashley Hamilton: Technically he's an actor, but he's best known for the amorphous "job" of being celebrity offspring and spouse (his father, George Hamilton, did well on DWtS; his former wife is Shannen Doherty). If some of Dad's charm and way with a tuxedo has rubbed off, Ashley might be able to make a mark.

Melissa Joan Hart: She might be surprisingly strong with voters, given the affection for her stemming from her years on Clarissa Explains it All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and for making the occasional appearance in the tabloids every time she gets pregnant. Look for Hart to become a fan favorite.

Kathy Ireland: The onetime Sports Illustrated swimsuit model with some of the most gorgeous blue eyes known to ... sorry, drifted there for a second. She's the oldest woman in the cast, so she may do well with voters on that basis. Anything to put her in the public eye again is fine with me. Not that I play favorites; I'm a journalist, after all.

Michael Irvin: Taking on the stock DWtS role of retired NFL legend pioneered by his former teammate Emmitt Smith, Irvin could become another offbeat fan favorite, because he is certainly not lacking in personality. A good many football fans found him obnoxious both as a player and later on ESPN, but they are going to be doing something else on Monday nights, aren't they?

Joanna Krupa: This Polish-American pinup girl was basically an unknown to Americans prior to her recent appearance on The Superstars -- that is, unless you're a reader of Maxim magazine, which named her Sexiest Swimsuit Model in the World. She's going to have to be extraordinarily good to overcome the DWtS fanbase prejudice against pretty young women who aren't especially famous.

Chuck Liddell: I wonder if producers were going to take rumored contestant Kurt Angle and changed their minds when the professional wrestler was linked with human growth hormone over the weekend? Liddell, one of the legends of ultimate fighting, brings the appeal of seeing someone step way outside their comfort zone, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him go deep into the season. Liddell is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream of American sports, so we know he's up to a challenge.

Debi Mazar: The character actress probably best remembered for her role on Civil Wars in the '90s might do OK once people realize that she isn't Fran Drescher. The Queens native palled around with Madonna in the 1980s -- yep, that was her in several of the Material Girl's videos -- and currently stars as Vince's publicist on HBO's Entourage. Hopefully, the producers will have their hand on the seven-second delay button once the foul-mouthed actress is eliminated.

Mya: Part of the Aaliyah/Christina Aguilera generation of R&B dance-pop stars, things never quite took off for Mya musically. The biggest hit of her career by far came on the "Lady Marmalade" remake with Xtina, Pink and DWts vet L'il Kim. Still, having to learn choreography for videos and concerts is excellent training for this show, and we know she can pull off the skimpy costumes (see: "Lady Marmalade" music video). Expect this lady to go very deep in the competition.

Kelly Osbourne: A rare example of a female with a normal physique being cast for this show, the woman best known for cursing a lot on The Osbournes and for her fitful attempts to become a star in her own right could capture the voters who like to support the fish out of water. Just don't look for Dad to be a musical guest on the results show.

Donny Osmond: He's been famous for over forty years, his sister came fairly close to winning several seasons ago, and he's done some reporting on DWtS for celebrity TV. Unless he's so bad that judges and viewers won't be able to ignore it, Osmond would be a huge favorite to win even if the rest of the cast didn't seem so lackluster.

Louie Vito: He's a professional snowboarder, so let's hope Vito can pass whatever drug test ABC has. I couldn't really tell you the first thing about him, but I'm sure he's popular with the extreme sports crowd. He's only 5-5, so either he's going to have underdog appeal or he's going to be laughed off the show within one episode.

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