Las Vegas Weekly

September 22, 2010 · 10:26 AM

DWTS photos: The Hoff exits in surprising Week 1 elimination

By Robin Leach

Karina Smirnoff and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino with Kym Johnson and David Hasselhoff on Season 11 of ABC's Dancing With the Stars on Sept. 21, 2010.

Photo: Adam Larkey/ABC TV

Producers of ABC’s mega-hit Dancing With the Stars and host Tom Bergeron were as surprised and stunned as viewers with last night’s elimination of Baywatch and Knight Rider icon David Hasselhoff. It was auf wiedersehen as he got das boot with pro dance partner Kym Johnson, Season 9’s champion with Flamingo headliner Donny Osmond.

The Hoff, a regular Las Vegas visitor who starred in The Producers at the Paris, is a superstar and pop singer supreme in Germany, but his international fans were unable to vote, and it looked as if American viewers tuned him out because of his headline tabloid troubles and lackluster performance with Kym.

Tom admitted that he was “befuddled” by the low votes, and co-host Brooke Burke said she was taken totally by surprise and upset that The Hoff wouldn’t be around longer. Kym said that she thought the judges had been particularly tough on him because he had really tried hard with their cha cha to Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb” on Monday night’s Season 11 premiere.

Right down to the final moments of the show, it looked as if it would come down to a loss of either Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of MTV’s Jersey Shore or comedienne Margaret Cho because they were at the bottom of the scoreboard with David. But after Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas were declared safe and The Disney Channel star Kyle Massey and partner Lacey Schwimmer were placed in the final two with Hoff (but not necessarily in the bottom two, Tom said), it was a foregone conclusion that The Hoff would be axed. He said afterward: “It’s been a great ride.”

Our Hard Rock Hotel resident headliner Carlos Santana was the guest star on last night’s first elimination show and performed songs with India.Arie and Chris Daughtry from his new album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, which was previewed in Las Vegas last month and released yesterday. Tom asked the pair whom they were rooting for this season, and Chris said Michael because Chelsie and he had danced to a Daughtry song Monday. Carlos had to choose between star athletes Rick Fox and Kurt Warner and chose the Super Bowl-winning quarterback over the three-time NBA champion with the L.A. Lakers.

The remaining contestants are already rehearsing today for their quickstep and jive routines for Monday’s show. This weekend, The Situation will be rehearsing here in Las Vegas as he hosts at Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel. ABC cameras will tape that appearance for broadcast next week and return again Oct. 15 for contestant Michael Bolton’s appearance with Seal, Ne-Yo and Martina McBride’s concert for David Foster & Friends at Mandalay Bay Events Center -- if he hasn’t been eliminated beforehand!

Vegas DeLuxe will continue to have full coverage of DWTS next week and as the show continues. Meantime, our pal Johnny Avello, sports book director at the Wynn, had predicted that Margaret, who was at The Pearl in the Palms last Friday, would be the first ousted celebrity after Monday’s show.

Johnny has posted his odds strictly for entertainment purposes only and not for wagering on how he sees the final outcome: Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke, 4 to 1; Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough, 9 to 2; Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya, 6 to 1; Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, 7 to 1; Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani, 9 to 1; Kyle Massey and Lacy Schwimmer, 10 to 1; Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Karina Smirnoff, 12 to 1; Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas, 20 to 1; Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower, 24 to 1; Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas, 25 to 1; and Margaret Cho and Louis Van Amstel, 75 to 1.

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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