Mar 24 2009
Sisters Not Doin’ It For Themselves on “Dancing”
Even James Bond couldn’t help keep Denise Richards afloat on Dancing With the Stars- despite a stronger showing in Tuesday evening’s dance-off, the Bond Girl got the sack. (picture courtesy of ABC-TV/Kelsey McNeal)
Chalk up another shocking exit- and survival- on Dancing With the Stars.
Actress Denise Richards and Playboy model/reality television star Holly Madison landed in this week’s bottom two, leading to their dance-off. Judges scored Madison and partner Dmitry Chaplin just one point higher than Monday, while Richards and Maksim Chmerkovskiy improved notably on their Salsa, this time earning a 20, four points higher than the prior evening.
However, after combining viewer votes and the new judges’ scores, Richards received the heave-ho from the ABC dancing competition. That marks two consecutive weeks that a female contestant has left the competition.
Meanwhile, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak- somewhat miraculously- made it past the bottom two slots, despite securing the lowest judges score since season two (a 10 out of 30). No matter that his and Karina Smirnoff’s score was a full five points lower than the second-lowest scorer (Steve-O)- viewers obviously rallied behind the unlikely contestant. While happy to last another week, Smirnoff, however, had to watch fiance Chmerkovskiy exit the competition early for a second consecutive season (last season, partner Misty May-Treanor dropped out because of an injury).
Viewers apparently find Wozniak quite likable (Carrie Ann Inaba said he was adorable the other evening), and Smirnoff even played on that appeal, announcing that their new dance move would incorporate tickling Dancing’s very own Pillsbury Doughboy. Whether Doughboy can survive any further, we shall see, as next week offers a double elimination.
Meanwhile, last season’s comical wonder Cloris Leachman, along with partner Corky Ballas, returned via a pre-recorded segment, previewing two new dances that will debut next week (the Lindy Hop and Argentine Tango). Host Tom Bergeron joked that the twosome’s guide probably was not of help to anybody (and rightly so)- though the segment reinforced how this season lacks a Crazy Cloris among the lot of hopefuls.
Will Wozniak return to the bottom two next week? Will Madison up her game and avoid a repeat showing? Will Gilles Marini continue to dazzle the judges and reclaim first place all for himself? And just how long will Steve-O’s fans keep him in the running? These questions and many more will be answered during week four of DWTS…
