Las Vegas Weekly

March 17, 2009 · 7:31 PM

A startling first elimination on DWTS; Julianne, Holly and Denise are safe

By Robin Leach

The cast of Dancing With the Stars Season 8.

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!

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat came down to a dance-off for pop singer Belinda Carlisle and Apple founder Steve Wozniak on the first elimination show of Season 8 of Dancing With the Stars.

The Silicon Valley computer king danced with partner Karina Smirnoff, and the Go-Go’s star danced with Jonathan Roberts. Read on for the dramatic exit.

The show started out with the two lowest-scoring teams of Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff at 30 out of 60 and Steve –O and Lacey Schwimmer at 31 out of 60. The Jackass star appeared backstage and explained to co-host Samantha Harris his stupid decision about last night’s front-flip that caused him to fall backward onto his mic pack. He vowed that since he and Lacey weren’t eliminated tonight, he will return to dance again next week

But uncertainty over the two weeks of unpredictable viewer voting could have toppled even the top two chart leaders: Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke at 51 out of 60, followed by last-minute replacement and jilted The Bachelor star Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani at 49 out of 60.

Our Las Vegas favorites Julianne Hough, dancing with country singer boyfriend Chuck Wicks, were in fifth with 40 out of 60; reality TV actress Denise Richards and our Le Reve choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy in sixth with 39 out of 60; and Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin in seventh with 36 out of 60.

Injured original contestant Jewel returned as the first guest singer of the season on tonight’s first results show. She performed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and naturally led the applause for her bull-riding cowboy champion husband Ty Murray and his pro partner Chelsie Hightower.

Also appearing was Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with their “Calloway Boogie” swing tribute performed by six of the professional dancers, and choreographer Michael Rooney created a brilliant Busby Berkeley routine! We’ll have all the ABC photos tomorrow.

Each duo had to be prepared to dance one of their first two routines -- cha-cha, waltz or foxtrot -- if they were in the bottom two. Julianne and Chuck were one of the first couples to be declared safe. Also back next Monday: Denise and Maksim, Holly and Dmitry and Melissa and Tony.

It came down to Belinda Carlisle fighting for survival against Steve Wozniak. The judges’ scores from tonight are added to the viewer voting to decide the first team voted out. Belinda went first and performed the same salsa routine from last night, which netted Jonathan and her 18 points. They slipped down one point tonight to 17.

In the closing, nail-biting moments of the show, The Woz decided, despite a foot injury, on the more challenging foxtrot routine with Karina. (BTW, she is still engaged to Maksim with no wedding date set yet!) The judges gave them 17 points, so, with seconds remaining, it was a tie.

It was unexpected, but the Apple inventor holds on to his hard drive to refresh again next Monday, and Belinda became the first upset axing of the new season! Remember to check back here tomorrow when Vegas DeLuxe has all the overnight photos direct from the dance floor.

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