Cher's Ballroom Blitz: A Low-Key Affair

Cher

She's worn plenty of glitter and feathers in her time, but when Cher arrived in the ballroom at Dancing With the Stars on Monday, everything about her highly-promoted appearance was very low key: She wore a simple black dress and muted floral shawl. Her hair was down and unadorned. But everyone was aware of her presence, and she couldn't stay quiet before, during and after her son, Chaz Bono, danced the paso doble to "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky.

"She was very emotional," said Chaz's publicist, Howard Bragman. "She was screaming, crying, and saying, 'Why does Chaz have to go at the end? Can't he go sooner?' She had a wonderful time."

The producers snuck the icon into the ballroom and seated her in the area facing the judges during the first commercial break. She sat through the rest of the show, getting up only to hug another famous audience member, Donny Osmond, when he walked over to greet her. Osmond, impressed with Chaz's performance, said, "Chaz just bought himself another week."

Cher hadn't attended the show earlier in the season because she didn't want her massive celebrity to overshadow her son. Was Chaz nervous, dancing in front of his Oscar-winning mom? "It's so nerve-wracking to be dancing on live television in front of millions of people that having my family there just mad! e me fee l more supported," he said.

But his pro partner, Lacey Schwimmer, was beside herself after meeting a major movie star. "I am so excited," she said. "I met Cher and she gave me a hug and I got a picture with her. And she said how great [our dance] was. The rest of it I kind of blurred out because I couldn't believe that I was meeting Cher. But don't tell Chaz that, because he gets really weirded out when I go on and on like that about his mom."

Chaz and Lacey were thrilled with getting their highest score to date, a 21. "It's my favorite dance by far," Chaz said. "My favorite movie, my favorite theme song. I saw Rocky when I was a kid and I just loved it. Literally, I wanted to be Rocky. I met [Sylvester Stallone] when I was a kid. He came to one of my mom's concerts. It was right after he finished Rocky 2, and I still have a picture of the two of us together. It was a huge, huge thrill."