The cast of 2012 - Seven West Media

SINGER/SONGWRITER, AGE 36
SHANNON NOLL
PARTNER: ELENA SAMODANOVA
DANCING FOR: BEYOND BLUE
“Because Johnny Ruffo is fresh out of X Factor he’s going to have a lot
of support with all the young ones. But hopefully I’ve got their mums.
And Brian Mannix has got the mum’s mums.”
Shannon Noll burst onto the music scene in 2003 with a hit cover,
‘What About Me’ which went to the top of the ARIA charts. His
debut album, ‘That’s What I’m Talking About’ went five times
platinum, and since then the self-described “first loser on Australian
Idol” has released five hit albums and is the only male artist to have
ten consecutive top 10 ARIA chart singles.
The father-of-three says his decision to take to the dance stage this
season was not taken lightly. “I wanted to give this 100 per cent so
we postponed about 40 shows. There’s no point doing this if you’re
not going to give it everything so I want to focus on it and do it to
the best of my ability.”
No stranger to being judged on live television, Shannon said the
judges will still need to be careful when offering up helpful tips. “I’m
a bit fiery, I’m going to have to bite my tongue. If it’s constructive it’s
all good, if they’re downright nasty then I’ll be hopefully biting my
lip, otherwise I’ll be giving them the spray.” In addition to battling
the judges, Shannon may have to battle through the pain of a
bad back. “I’ve got a bulged disc, I’ve got four slight bulges and
one’s actually split the membrane of the disc itself so I’m going to
have to watch that I’d say. Anything for the cause! I might get some
sympathy votes for that.”
Throwing his weight behind Beyond Blue this season, Shannon says
the key messages are close to his heart as a former farmer. “Beyond
Blue do a lot of work for farmers and suicide. Blokes don’t know
how to talk to anyone or anything like that and its not just people
losing the business that people talk about, it’s more than that. It’s
losing their family heritage, and the pressure on them to not be the
one that lost it, when the problem is, it’s not because they’re a bad
farmer or anything, it’s because of the elements.” After Shannon’s
father died in a farming accident in 2000, his own family farm which
had been in the family for 98 years succumbed to drought.
Shannon says his biggest competition is himself. “I sort
of push myself hard and so at the end of the day you
look back at it and you know you did everything you
possibly could. I think that’s how I’ve always looked at
everything. I just want to do the best I know I can do. At
least I can say that instead of going, ‘damn it, if I had only’.
I don’t want to have any ‘if I had only’s…’”
ELENA SAMODANOVA
This year Elena makes her DANCING WITH THE STARS debut.
A graduate of the Art and Culture Theatre University in Moscow,
Elena has a masters in choreography. She has also studied Drama
and Theatre Arts at Moscow Theatre Arts University is internationally
certified as a Professional Latin and Ballroom teacher in England.
She has won championships for the Australian Professional
Championship, Australian South Pacific Championship,
Canberra Open Professional Championship, Closed Hong Kong
Championship, Open Asian Tour Championship and United
Kingdom Championship. Elena is married to professional dancer
Gleb Savchenko who is partnered with Erin McNaught.