Las Vegas Weekly

September 22, 2009 · 8:33 AM

Photo Gallery & Video: Donny, Chuck safe — for now — on DWTS premiere

By Robin Leach

Edyta Sliwinska, Ashley Hamilton, Anna Trebunskaya, Chuck Liddell, Kym Johnson, Donny Osmond, Chelsie Hightower and Louie Vito on Dancing With the Stars.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

Las Vegas veterans Donny Osmond and Chuck Liddell both breathed a big sigh of relief after the premiere of Season 9 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars last night. “That was awesome. I think I proved Marie isn’t the only dancer in the family,” Donny said. Chuck added: “My UFC buddies have been giving me a hard time. I’m glad that’s over, and now I know what I have to do. It was like a first-round warm-up in the ring.”

After the first dances and scores that we reported in our post last night -- click HERE -- Chuck and Donny were joined by Ashley Hamilton and Louie Vito for the first salsa relay dance. This time around, our hometown heroes did better, with judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman noting improvement on the second outing. Donny received the high score of 10 and Chuck placed third with 6 points, while Ashley landed in last place -- as predicted -- with just 4 points.

Here from YouTube is Donny and Kym Johnson’s original rehearsal and last night’s debut “All That Jazz” dance performance watched ringside by his sister Marie Osmond and his wife Debbie, who received a kiss before he ran back to the judges’ table:

Here from YouTube is Chuck and Anna Trebunskaya’s original workout and last night’s debut watched ringside by his best buddy, UFC President Dana White, and the judges’ comments:

And in case the YouTube videos are removed, click HERE for ABC’s official videos.

(Note to self: Chuck could annihilate all three judges at once if he wanted to throw three consecutive left hooks, but “The Iceman” definitely melted after his second spin on the fancy footwork floor!)

The five other male contestants -- Louie, Tom DeLay, Mark Dacascos, Michael Irvin and Aaron Carter -- performed a waltz relay. Aaron with Karina Smirnoff started the race and won 10 points. Tom’s footwork may have got him dancing around lobbyists and political rivals in the nation’s capital, but it failed him here, grabbing only 4 points!

The end-of-the-night standings had Donny in second with 30 points, just inched out of first by Aaron Carter with 32. Chuck wound up in fifth with 24 points, above Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke with 20. Michael and newcomer Anna Demidova and Ashley and Edyta Sliwinska were both last with 19. Mark and Lacey Schwimmer tallied 29 points for third, and Louie and Chelsie Hightower became fast audience favorites and wound up in fourth with 27 points. Watch this couple because my bet is they will wind up in the eventual Top Three!

Tonight it’s the ladies who dance. On Wednesday, the male and female celebrity dancers with the lowest scores from the judges and audience will be axed. So Donny and Chuck are safe for now, and maybe even the former House Majority Leader can hammer-hold on for another couple of weeks!

Tonight when the ladies begin their run for the disco ball, we’ll report real time on Twitter, but without scores, and then post a spoiler alert story right after the satellite broadcast to the East Coast. Our local favorite Kelly Osbourne will be last to dance, but maybe singer Macy Gray will be the first to be kicked off with the lowest score?

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.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter HERE.

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