Las Vegas Weekly

April 7, 2010 · 1:06 PM

DWTS photos: Buzz Aldrin’s dance-floor adventure ends

By Don Chareunsy

Ashly Costa and Buzz Aldrin on Week 3 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

By Don Chareunsy, Vegas DeLuxe editor

As Mr. Vegas DeLuxe Robin Leach observed last night in his post from the Caribbean, the second Dancing With the Stars elimination episode was predictable, with legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin and pro partner Ashly Costa getting the cut from the judges and ABC viewers.

The predicted and hope-for elimination of reality TV star Kate Gosselin, with Tony Dovolani, once again did not happen. Gosselin wasn’t even in the bottom two! But the chances of the bottom-dweller’s elimination next week are stronger than ever despite the attention she’s bringing to TV’s most-watched show.

All My Children star Aiden Turner and Edyta Sliwinska are immediately declared safe, as are ESPN host Erin Andrews and Le Reve choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Chief judge and curmudgeon Len Goodman critiques the week’s dances: The Bachelor star Jake Pavelka was OK; actress and comedienne Niecy Nash needs to up her game; actress Pamela Anderson has power and intensity, but her dancing is not neat; Cincinnati Bengals star Chad Ochocino had improvement; Aiden has “analysis paralysis” and needs to loosen up; Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger’s dance was a slapstick number, not a quickstep; Kate lacked fire, aggression and attack; Buzz’s story was charming but the dancing alarming; Erin’s waltz was nice and beautiful; and of first-time frontrunner and Olympic figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek’s dance with Anna Trebunskaya -- “I loved it!”

Per the judges’ choice, Lysacek and Trebunskaya reprise their quickstep to “Hot Honey Rag” from Chicago and are just as solid as performance night. County superstar Reba McEntire performs her hit “I Want a Cowboy” while brothers and “cowboys” Maksim and Val Chmerkovskiy dance up a storm with Anna Demidova and Edyta. Host Tom Bergeron asks McEntire who her favorite dancers are this season, and she replies, “Erin, Evan and Nicole!” Love her candor!

After the Monday performance rankings are recapped, Nash and Louis Van Amstel are declared safe. Derek Hough and Chelsie Hightower perform a sexy acoustic paso doble accompanied by Mark Ballas on guitar. Bergeron announces that next week’s challenge is a double-score showdown, and Goodman explains that the contestants will be scored for their technique and overall performance. So 60 points are at stake, and Goodman says Season 10 is now Season Tension. Scherzinger and Hough are declared safe, and McEntire returns to sing another hit, “Consider Me Gone,” as Dmitry Chaplin and Lacey Schwimmer dance.

Lysacek and Trebunskaya are finally declared safe, followed by Ochocino and Cheryl Burke and Anderson and Damian Whitewood. Pavelka and Hightower are in the bottom two with Aldrin and Costa, while Gosselin does a fake faint -- her best move so far this season! Goodman expresses surprise, saying that he though Aldrin would be safe based on America’s votes and that Pavelka’s dance was appealing and entertaining. Pavelka is visibly nervous before Aldrin and Costa are sent packing.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

Anna Trebunskaya and Evan Lysacek on Week 3 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

Sadly, The Buzz is over. The classy and gorgeous Costa tells Aldrin, “I’m proud of you. I really am.” Aldrin says he competed for the fighter pilots, military, elder geezers out there like him and to bring attention to the space program, and Costa and he have their last dance.

“I feel on top of the world,” Aldrin told AOL Television. “I’m taking away the satisfaction that I did the best I could and spread the word about the achievements of the (space) program. It took us less than a decade to get to the moon. It may take us maybe two decades to get to Mars. It’ll be so well worth it.”

“I loved it,” Costa said about returning to DWTS after a hiatus since Season 3. “It was an honor to be with Buzz and to be his teacher. It was so nice to see my fellow dancers again.”

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough in Week 3 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

“I’m going to miss hearing all of Buzz’s stories,” Costa added. “It’s unbelievable what Buzz did. I was a little bit disappointed that the judges really didn’t see that every week he improved.”

Turning to Costa, Aldrin quipped, “You’d make a good judge, you know that?”

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 at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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