Las Vegas Weekly

October 21, 2009 · 12:28 PM

DWTS Photo Gallery: Jackson family watches tribute to Michael

By Robin Leach

LaToya, Katherine and Jermaine Jackson in the front row on Dancing With the Stars.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

Jackson family matriarch Katherine, son Jermaine and daughter LaToya were all in the front row for last night’s Dancing With the Stars when Olympic gold medalist swimmer Natalie Coughlin and partner Alec Mazo exited in a surprising elimination.

All 16 of the ABC show’s professional dancers honored the late King of Pop with specially choreographed routines to three of his all-time giant hits. Mark Ballas told the Jacksons: “He’s the inspiration to all of us.”

Katherine, obviously touched by the tribute, admitted that DWTS is her favorite TV show, and she watches every week. “You made me feel very proud tonight,” she told the dancers afterward. “It was the perfect salute to Michael.”

Watch the tribute to Michael as posted by ABC on YouTube:

Watch LaToya Jackson’s introduction:

And here is Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson’s reprisal of their Argentine Tango, which scored a nearly perfect 29 on Monday’s show:

Now only nine celebrity contestants remain for next week’s Week 6, when two couples will be cut after a Mambo Marathon. Our hometown favorite Flamingo headliner Donny is solidly safe for now atop the leaderboard, and our other Las Vegas favorite Kelly Osbourne should be safe for a while, even with a minor ankle injury that hospitalized her this week.

The dismissal of Natalie was unexpected because she had scored higher than the two lowest competitors, but TV viewers overruled the judges from Monday night. Put it down to Natalie’s limited recognition factor and not her dancing skills! The 27-year-old gold medalist had been earning good scores with Alec until Monday’s fallback, but she still wasn’t in the bottom. “I guess I didn’t show how much I loved it, but I really did, and I’m sorry not to have gone further,” she said.

Low scorers former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin and singer Aaron Carter escaped the guillotine. Also moving on are singer Mya, model Joanna Krupa, snowboarder Louie Vito, actress Melissa Joan Hart and actor and martial artist Mark Dacascos of Iron Chef fame.

More and more, it’s looking to me that barring mishaps, injuries or another viewer revolt, the three finalists will be our Donny, gorgeous Mya and beautiful Joanna. However, it remains to be seen if Joanna’s partner, Las Vegas Academy graduate Derek Hough, has recovered from the flu to perform next week, or if she is once again given a new partner, which sent her sliding backward this week.

Vegas DeLuxe will return with next Monday’s preview and then our same-night, spoiler-alert story. We’ll also report live Tuesday from the results show, which will star country singing sensation Taylor Swift.

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.

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