Las Vegas Weekly

May 24, 2010 · 7:35 AM

Two L.V. pro dancers duke it out on DWTS finals tonight

By Robin Leach

Anna Trebunskaya and Evan Lysacek in the Dancing With the Stars semifinals on May 17, 2010.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

There’s one last chance to shine for Las Vegas professional dancers Derek Hough and Maksim Chmerkovskiy when they face off tonight for a Top Two spot on the finals of Dancing With the Stars tomorrow.

Derek is teamed with Pussycat Dolls pop star Nicole Scherzinger, and Le Reve choreographer Maks is partnered with ESPN anchor Erin Andrews. Those two duos compete against Olympic gold medal figure skating hero Evan Lysacek and pro Anna Trebunskaya.

The two final nights wrap up 10 weeks of surprises and electrifying performances. Tonight, the three couples compete with two dances. The first is a redemption number that represents the style that the judges felt the couples most underperformed during the season. It gives each one the opportunity to show their improvements by performing a new routine to new music. Nicole and Derek will dance the rumba, Evan and Anna the Viennese waltz and Erin and Maks the samba.

The second dance is the fan favorite no-rules freestyle dance. After the judges’ votes, TV viewers take over, and tomorrow’s two-hour finale falls into place. The three finalists will continue with one dance, and, for the first time, all three have chosen the Argentine tango.

At that point, the third-place winner is announced, and we’ll be left with the final two who’ll go into head-to-head combination. It’s then that the judges’ scores will be combined with the earlier scores, plus the viewers’ votes, to determine the winner. There's always the possibility of last-minute surprises, viewer upsets and a dark horse changeover. But if insiders are correct, it will be Erin and Maks who go first, leaving a classic Nicole vs. Evan battle for the final showdown -- as we posted 10 weeks ago!

Additionally, all of the eliminated celebrity couples return to perform new dance routines, including a promised high-wire liftoff act by Kate Gosselin and partner Tony Dovolani we reported last week. Also returning: our Las Vegas friends Pamela Anderson with her “hottest dance and sexiest dress yet” and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. His Zero Gravity plane takes another series of flights from here over Memorial Day weekend. The Bachelor star Jake Pavelka will dance with fiancee Vienna to “On the Wings of Love,” and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco will dance a romantic rumba with partner (and love interest?) Cheryl Burke.

Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli also deliver the verdict on the winning college ballroom dance team between Purdue and Utah Valley.

Check back to Vegas DeLuxe today just after 6 p.m. for our spoiler-alert story. We’ll use Twitter for live reports of significance but without any scoring. We’ll have all the dance-floor action photos tomorrow. Tomorrow night, we’ll report on a similar basis and will have the winner’s photo with the coveted mirrored disco ball trophy at the same time as ABC releases it after the live East Coast broadcast.

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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