At 21, R&B superstar Mario’s resume already includes a Billboard number-one single (“Let Me Love You”), a platinum-selling album (Turning Point) and appearances in major Hollywood films like Step Up (Touchstone Pictures) and Freedom Writers (Paramount Pictures). So, what more can the talented singer/actor/dancer do? Try joining the sixth season of ABC’s hit reality show Dancing With The Stars, which kicked off in March and includes former ice-skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi, and NFL star Jason Taylor. With the field of contestants now down to seven (Mario finished tied for second with Taylor with a score of 27 out of 30 for his samba routine on Monday), Mario talks to VIBE.com about the show’s intense training regimen, the judges, and dances around the rumors about his relationship with dance partner Karina Smirnoff.
Some people were surprised to see you join this season’s Dancing With The Stars cast, despite the show being more popular than ever. What made you want to sign up?
Well, [when] they first wanted me to be on the show, I didn’t understand why so I said, ‘No, I’m not really interested in doing the show. I’m 21. People my age don’t ballroom dance. My fans don’t ballroom dance.’ But then again, some of my fans probably do. I have a very diverse fan base. So I felt like this would be a great opportunity to show who I was as a person and what type of artist I [am]. Plus, when I saw the show for the first time, I saw [NFL Hall of Fame player] Jerry Rice. And what’s his name…the football player?
Emmitt Smith?
Yeah, Emmitt Smith. I watched those guys on the show and I was [already] a fan but I became an even bigger fan after watching [them on the show]. You get to show your character as a man—who you are, what you do, what you’re made of. I don’t think everybody is made to do a show like this. You have to be fully in control of yourself at all times and willing to share that with people. Not everybody is confident in themselves to do that.
You’ve obviously been dancing for most of your career. How much of a role has that played in your success on the show?
Let’s get one thing straight: I’m a singer first. Dancing is something I acquired through being an entertainer, not something that came naturally to me. You have cats like Chris Brown and Omarion who get out there and dance naturally. You can tell that’s their first love. But, to me, expression is my first love—singing, acting and that type of thing. So this is definitely something new for me and it’s honestly going to help me as an artist—to love dance even more and want it to be part of my career.
Just before Season 4 started, Vincent Pastore from The Sopranos quit the show because the training was too much for him. Does it really get that crazy?
Let me put it like this: You have four solid days to learn [each of] these routines. [You can] rehearse as much or as little as you want. I try to rehearse 8 to 12 hours a day because the choreography I get is a lot harder than everybody else’s. There were times when I got really upset and wanted to give up. You have to be a strong person to really get into it. But at the end of the day, once you learn the whole dance and actually perform it, it feels great. As an entertainer, it’s what I love to do.
But after all that work, how hard is it to stand there and take criticism from a panel of judges?
I mean…it’s a part of the show so I respect it in that aspect. Just like anything else, when they don’t give me the scores I want, it makes me work even harder. I definitely feel like they give [NFL player] Jason [Taylor] too many points sometimes, but ultimately, if they gave the same thing for all their scores, what are judges for?
How has it been working with your dance partner Karina Smirnoff? Especially with rumors swirling about your relationship off the dance floor and the fact that you still have to stay connected and…
We have to, at all times. Sometimes the way the judges vote for us can affect her in a different way than it affects me so we communicate a lot. She’s obviously a great dancer and a beautiful girl. She’s not hard to get along with so we try to make the best of it and not let the media and gossip get to us. Even though that [alleged romantic relationship] wasn’t true, it can still affect you. But we have managed to not let that happen.
Do you see yourself taking part in any more reality competitions in the future?
Nah! (laughs) Not because I’m afraid to but, you know, it’s a moment. I enjoy it. I want to win the competition and then call it a night. Hopefully, if the fans keep voting, we will be able to do that.
Dancing With The Stars airs at 8PM/EST every Monday and 9PM/EST every Tuesday on ABC. Mario’s third album Go!(J, 2007) is in stores now.
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