Las Vegas Weekly

March 16, 2009 · 7:36 PM

Holly Madison kicks off DWTS; Steve-O is latest victim of injuries

By Robin Leach

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin rehearse for Dancing With the Stars.

Photo: ABC TV

Don’t read any further if you plan on watching the tape-delayed West Coast broadcast of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and want nothing spoiled beforehand! But come back after the show!

Two hours before the second show of Dancing With the Stars’ Season 8, Jackass star Steve-O was injured -- and the pain was so intense, he was unable to continue on from the dress rehearsal! The jinx and/or curse of injuries had struck again when he fell back on his mic pack strapped near his tailbone. He was taken to a hospital, but X-rays showed nothing was broken.

You’ll see the final rehearsal tape instead of the live performance, and, per the rules, the judges vote from the video. There was no sympathy from them, though, as they slammed him for not dancing a real salsa, although they praised him for great movements. They gave him only 14 out of 30, so his combined total with partner Lacey Schwimmer was 31 out of 60. Steve vowed to rest all week and return next Monday.

Photo: ABC TV

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani rehearse for Dancing With the Stars.

Playboy centerfold and The Girls Next Door reality starlet Holly Madison was up first tonight and scored 18 out of 30 for her foxtrot with Dmitry Chaplin. (Click HERE for our interview today with Holly.)

We’ve also got the first ABC photos of Holly rehearsing, as well as of the other last-minute replacement, jilted Bachelor star Melissa Rycroft, who substituted for injured Nancy O’Dell.

Photo: ABC TV

Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin rehearse for Dancing With the Stars.

Everybody agreed that the extra week had given the former gal pal of Hugh Hefner and magician Criss Angel time to improve on some of the moves. Holly finished at 36 out of 60 from last week’s cha-cha and tonight’s foxtrot.

Meantime, when Melissa and partner Tony Dovolani popped up later in the show to perform the salsa, they nearly swept the competition. The judges were ecstatic and awarded her 26 out of 30. The former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader who joined the show just three days before the first broadcast now stands in second place with 49 out of 60 for the two weeks.

Photo: ABC TV

Tony Dovolani and Melissa Rycroft.

Leader for the night and last Monday was Sex and the City hunk Gilles Marini and partner Cheryl Burke with their foxtrot that scored 27 out of 30. He ripped his shirt open at the end to reveal a Superman logo stamped on his chest! Their two-week total is 51 out of 60.

One pair of contestants is truly Vegas connected! Strip regular and actress Denise Richards and Le Reve choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy also did the foxtrot. They garnered 21 out of 30 from the judges with another improved week-over-week performance. Their combined total was 39 out of 60.

Our Las Vegas Academy favorite Julianne Hough followed next to dance the salsa with boyfriend, country singer Chuck Wicks. She wore a strange ruffled pants outfit that looked odd, and the judges weren’t happy that she’s doing all the work. They say he’s just hanging on and only dancing a mangled mess of several different Latin dances. They receive 20 out of 30 from the judges, and their combined two-week score sits at 40 out of 60.

Tomorrow evening is the results show and the elimination of one couple in a dance off. They will be decided overnight with the viewer votes tallied up with the judges’ scoring. Vegas DeLuxe will have another spoiler alert story as the show progresses, but first up tomorrow morning, we’ll have photos from tonight’s show.

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