Still no sympathy for Marie Osmond

Maksim Chmerkovskiy of "Dancing with the Stars" isn't backing away from his criticism of Marie Osmond as he prepares to bring the ballroom-dancing craze to a Las Vegas showroom.

Three couples coached by Chmerkovskiy will be featured in "Le Reve," the aquatic extravaganza at Wynn Las Vegas, starting Dec. 22.

A couple of days before the "Dancing" finals, a blunt Chmerkovskiy delivered what some saw as a pre-emptive strike when he accused Osmond and her brother Donny of repeatedly playing the sympathy card.

After fainting during one show and then losing her father, Marie Osmond disclosed that her teenage son is in rehab. Chmerkovskiy saw it as an unfair advantage and spoke out.

The professional dancer, who teamed up with Spice Girl Melanie Brown, was quoted as saying "we decided not to burden people with our personal issues. I think that is why our fan base carries us through, because they vote for our dancing, not whatever happens in our life."

"Frankly," he said, "I think there are a lot of other people better than Marie."

During a telephone interview Tuesday, he said "every week it was something. She definitely played that card."

His criticism was not intended to be personal, he said.

"I love her. But everybody saw that she was going to win. It was not fair to others."

He added, "If you ask me about dancing I'm very critical. This is my job to critique and improve."

Chmerkovskiy and Brown finished second to IndyCar champ Helio Castroneves and 19-year-old Julianne Hough, who attended Las Vegas Academy in her mid-teens.

He's not ready to name the three couples going into "Le Reve" because the competition isn't over.

Candidates include some performers in Celine Dion's show, which ends Dec. 15.

Asked if Las Vegas will be represented among his group, he said, "Absolutely."

BROADWAY BOUND

University of Nevada Las Vegas graduate student Zonya Love Johnson is heading for the bright lights of Broadway.

She has landed the lead role in "The Color Purple," which is co-produced by Oprah Winfrey.

Johnson, 26, was informed about four weeks ago, after making it to the fourth callback.

After working with Nate Bynum and Glenn Casala in UNLV's theater department, she moved to New York in September and taught theater and Head Start classes

She intended to pursue a music career but switched to theater as a freshman in high school in Durham, N.C.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

Saturday's big fight between Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand is turning into another celebrity circus. The list will include, I'm told, former champs Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, film stars Will Ferrell, Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone, NBA great Magic Johnson, and music stars Mariah Carey and Jay-Z, who is opening his 40-40 nightclub at Palazzo on Dec. 30. Also likely to be among the fight crowd is actor Jude Law, who is the celebrity host Saturday at LAX nightclub at Luxor. ... Three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Chip Reese, found dead Tuesday at his Las Vegas home, will go down as "the best all-around poker player of his era," according to local writer Jack Sheehan. "Doyle Brunson told me that, Billy Walters told me that." ... Mitch Kelly is out at KWNR-FM 95.5 after a long run, program director Cary Rolfe confirmed Tuesday.