Las Vegas Weekly

April 26, 2010 · 6:58 PM

Torrid tango and sassy samba shake up DWTS leaderboard

By Robin Leach

Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya during Movie Night on Dancing With the Stars on April 19, 2010.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

It’s the night that the stars and their partners had double dances on ABC’s top-rated Dancing With the Stars. First, four of them tackled the tango, and the remaining three atop the leaderboard sashayed to the samba.

Then came the fashion police to judge the celebs on the outfits they created for their pro partners, and then to add to the drama of the 90-minute show, all seven competed in a swing dance marathon finale where each team was eliminated one by one until just one winning duo was left standing.

SPOILER ALERT: Please do not read any further if you want to watch the West Coast tape-delayed broadcast of Dancing With the Stars without anything revealed. Consider this my one and only friendly warning! But come back after the show to see if you agree with my observations.

We posted this morning our rundown of the dances and the rankings of the dancers, along with all the photos from last week’s elimination when reality TV star Kate Gosselin was sent back to the farm and her brood of eight.

With just one month remaining, the race to the mirrored disco-ball trophy is now really on. Last season’s winner, our Flamingo headliner Donny Osmond, was sitting alongside the dancers and quipped, “I’m glad I don’t have to dance tonight!”

First up with the samba were The Bachelor boy Jake Pavelka and our Las Vegas heroine Chelsie Hightower. It didn’t appear that the judges were concerned that he tripped on their steps because they were more worried about his wiggle going wrong!

The first shock of the night came when the judges lambasted Olympic champion skater Evan Lysacek, who danced the samba with his partner Anna Trebunskaya. Maybe the subpar performance was because he’d suffered a mild concussion when she hit his head on the floor during rehearsals? The previous leaderboard leader was downgraded and criticized for losing his struggle with the samba.

With actress and comedian Niecy Nash playing a jiggly lady of the night, with partner Louis Van Amstel protecting his crotch in their tango, we have three pairs bunched together with a tie at 21 points apiece.

ESPN host Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy scored 25 with their samba, thus changing the top rankings. But head judge Len Goodman said he will continue to dish out 7’s if Maks keeps dancing without his shirt. Judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli each give them 9 for great dancing. Maybe next week our Le Reve choreographer keeps his shirt on to really upset the leaders? One week it’s Jake with no pants, and the next it’s Maks again with no shirt. Are the censors having conniptions?

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco won raves from the three jubilant judges for his Argentine tango with two-time champion Cheryl Burke. He scored 24 from the judges, who told him that he finally showed everybody he could dance -- and stay!

Surprise, surprise! If you thought Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger was going to receive another near-perfect score with Las Vegas’ own Derek Hough, you’re much mistaken. Judges were all over the place in scoring a 9, a 10, but also a 7 from Len the cruel curmudgeon for a total of 26.

At least actress Pamela Anderson and Damian Whitewood didn’t wind up at the bottom of the board with the other three, but they just squeaked in ahead with a score of 22 for their Argentine tango. Let’s hope the viewers for once show her some support and keep her onboard for next week.

In the swing dance marathon, the final duo standing scored 10 additional points, with the next couple grabbing 9 points and so on.

In the end, it was the night that Nicole wound up at the top and Jake at the bottom. Now it’s entirely up to TV viewers to determine who will go home.

Here are the final standings before viewers take over with their votes: Nicole and Derek, 26 for their samba, 10 in the swing, 36 total; Erin and Maks, 25 for their samba, 9 in the swing, 34 total; Chad and Cheryl, 24 for their tango, 7 in the swing, 31 total; Pamela and Damian, 22 for their tango, 8 in the swing, 30 total; Evan and Anna, 21 for their samba, 6 in the swing, 27 total; Niecy and Louis, 21 for their tango, 5 in the swing, 26 total; and Jake and Chelsie, 21 for their samba, 4 in the swing, 25 total.

We’ll be back right here at VegasDeLuxe.com tomorrow with all the dance-floor action photos and costumes, and a prediction as to whom will be sent packing on tomorrow’s elimination show.

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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