Las Vegas Weekly

May 4, 2009 · 8:58 AM

Will Melissa’s injury mean another week for Ty and Chelsie on DWTS?

By Robin Leach

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower.

Photo: ABC TV

It is now do or die time! The fate of the Dancing With the Stars leaders seem safe until they start the final battle. But first comes tonight’s test!

There seems no doubt that it will come down to Las Vegas pro dancer Chelsie Hightower and her partner, rodeo cowboy champion Ty Murray, but there’s still the unknown mystery of how well Melissa Rycroft will be able to dance the Viennese waltz and samba with a rib hairline fracture. Melissa, once considered one of the front-runners with Tony Dovolani, slipped badly last week in voting by the judges, who had to judge her based on videotaped rehearsals.

Photo: ABC TV

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani.

The Bachelor contestant says she has been undergoing medical treatment and pain management all week long, but the doctors have forbidden her to do any lifts! “It’s so hard when you want so badly to give 150 percent, and you don’t have 150 percent to give,” she said.

So many questions arise for tonight’s live broadcast! Will Melissa even show up? Will she be absent as she was last week? Will she recover sufficiently from the injury to dance? If so, how well will Tony and she do in voting against Chelsie and Ty?

We’ll have the judges’ scoring right after the Hollywood transmission this evening to the East Coast. Then tomorrow, it’s up to viewers to establish who the final four contestants are in the quest for the shiny disco ball trophy. Gilles Marini, Lil’ Kim and Shawn Johnson seem set, barring any mistakes or injuries, and then everybody will be holding their breath to see if Melissa scrapes into the remaining showdown!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Share This