Dancing with the Stars unceremoniously kicked Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas to the curb last night. Although they did not have the lowest score from the judges after Monday night’s performance – they were third from the bottom – they obviously failed to capture the interest of us viewers at home.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of Kim’s to begin with. I thought it was weird that a family show like Dancing with the Stars would want her to participate in the first place. (In retrospect, however, I do think it was a good way for the show to break into new markets.)

I also didn’t start out the season with high expectations of Kim’s dance abilities. If you remember from my preseason power rankings, I predicted that she would be the second star to get the boot. Well, she ended up being the third eliminated, so I guess I wasn’t too far off. However, I do feel a twinge of sympathy for our much maligned Kim Kardashian.

You see, I think Kim’s notoriety worked against her on Dancing with the Stars. She regularly got criticism from the judges that, in my mind, was disproportionately harsh for the performances she churned out. Bruno Tonioli called her rumba on Monday night “colder and more distant than Siberia.” While I agree with this assessment completely, I thought that Maurice Greene’s was no prize either, but the judges scored his routine higher.

I suppose it’s impossible for the judges to be completely unbiased when doling out scores. I’m guessing that they had expectations that she would have more intense chemistry with Mark since she has cultivated her public image as a bona fide sexpot. When they saw her lackluster performances, they scored her harsher than they would have scored any other contestant.

Oh well. I’m sure that none of us is really that sad that she’s gone, although I suspect there are a few of you out there who wanted Mark to stay on for longer. It’ll be interesting to see who is eliminated next. Will Cloris Leachman continue to stay on despite her horrible dancing? Will Rocco DiSpirito suddenly find himself with much more time to spend on gnocchi than on perfecting his tango? Or will Dancing with the Stars shock us all by eliminating someone else? I guess we’ll just have to wait until next week.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)