The following is a blog that Ian Ziering writes for TV Guide, discussing his experience this year on Dancing with the Stars ...

Before I write this week's Dancing with the Stars blog, I wish to extend my most sincere and heartfelt wishes to the entire Virginia Tech family. Words simply cannot convey my overwhelming sense of sorrow. My prayers and thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy, now and forever.

This week, we saw Clyde Drexler get voted off. Clyde is the epitome of what it means to be a class act. All I can say is that if the DWTS producers put basketball hoops at both ends of the dance floor, every dance for Clyde would have been a slam-dunk.

You know the expression, "Every pot has a cover?" Well, I've discovered â€" the hard way â€" that every dance has a pain. The cha-cha wreaks havoc on the feet; the quickstep and jive do a number on your legs; the samba destroyed my lower back from all the hip action. I felt the judges scored last week's samba performance fairly, and with each future dance, I hope to continually improve for the sake of the judges, the fans and [Cheryl Burke]. (As my own harshest critic, unless the score is 10-10-10, I'm never satisfied.)

Speaking of Cheryl, our next dance is the paso doble. Of all the dances so far, I think the paso doble will really bring out the best in me. The paso doble, from the male dancer's perspective, is based on a matador's movements in a bullfight; the female dancer plays the role of a cape or the bull. The dance is all about "the chase": passion, drama and the matador's abundance of confidence and/or arrogance, depending on how you view his role. (Sounds like I'll have to mentally channel my old buddy Steve Sanders.)

Now, this is a dance I plan to take complete ownership of, and be the showman the judges and Cheryl want me to be. To paraphrase Dr. Evil in Austin Powers, "I didn't spend six weeks in Evil Dance School to be called, 'McStiffy,' thank you very much."

After spending a few months with me in L.A., my 86-year-old dad flew back to the East Coast to spend time with my two brothers and their families, and my Uncle Jerry who was just diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. It's always great to have my dad in L.A. with me, and he will fly back for certain if Cheryl and I dance in the finals. If you've been watching DWTS, you know that my dad sat in the front row of every show, proudly beaming. But you don't know the story behind his smile… until now.

For the last 10 years, my dad has had upper dentures, which had worn down from wear and tear. Over the years I fought him tooth (no pun intended) and nail to get a new upper plate. Well, I finally "won," and he did agree to get new teeth. Why am I writing about my dad's chompers? Because whenever I danced, I would see my dad with the biggest smile on his face, and it's the smile I used to see as a kid when I did a "first time" anything; it made me so happy to see his face light up.

Sure, I'll miss kissing my dad on the cheek after the show's first commercial break, so now I'll just have to call him after the first break instead, although we speak every day. In the meantime, I have the memory of my dad's smile with me â€" and his love and support, as always.

That's what's so great about DWTS, it's brought so many new dimensions into my life.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.