Last night, we got our first Dancing with the Stars treat of season 7.  It was a night full of ribald jokes, injuries overcome, good dancing and bad dancing.

Tonight, only 12 out of the original 13 couples will perform their second routine, either a quickstep or a mambo.  Who will be eliminated tonight?

I'm sure you'll all be glued to your TV screens throughout tonight's two-hour performance show, but if you're not, I'll be here all night with my Dancing with Stars live thoughts.

Live! From Hollywood!  This is Dancing with the Stars!

Combining the judges' scores from last plus the audience votes, the first couple who is safe to perform again tonight is Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer!  They've got the quickstep tonight, and Lacey's metaphors for teaching this style are definitely untraditional.  But her methods clearly work because do a great job with the quickstep, which ends with a quick peck on the kiss.  Len likes the way they moved, but he didn't like their posture.  Bruno liked it, but Carrie Ann didn't think it was traditional enough.  Their scores: Carrie Ann gives 7, Len give 6, and Bruno 8, for a 21 out of 30 for the night.

The next couple moving on in the competition is Misty May-Treanor and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.  They had the foxtrot tonight, so they've got a Latin dance tonight: the mambo.  You can tell how hard she works and how determined she is to succeed.  Her hip action wasn't too bad and she dances a whole bunch of the routine solo, which is impressive.  I think she is much more suited to Latin styles than standard.  The judges are generally positive, but they all give her pointers to work on her arms and shoulders.  Misty and Maks' scores: triple 7s, for a 21 out of 30.

Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke are the next team safe to continue on in Dancing with the Stars.  They've got the mambo tonight as well.  Dressed all snazzily in matching gold outfits, Maurice really hits his stride with this style.  I think he's arms need some work because they are not as clean as they can be, but he totally distracts me from all of that by hitting the floor and doing the worm!  Ha!  Bruno liked their energy, and Carrie Ann thought Maurice's transitions improved from last night.  Len, the crotchety old crank that he is, complained about Maurice's inclusion of "that free willy step."  And the scores: triple 7s, for a 21 out of 30.

The next couple safe to dance is Brooke Burke and Derek Hough.  They really surprised me last night, so I'm looking forward to their next performance.  They have the quickstep tonight.  They've got fabulously glamorous costumes tonight, and I totally take back what I said about Brooke pre-season.  (Although, if you recall, I did say that maybe she has magic mommy powers that she can pull out.)  I think she is amazing!  The judges rave and rave about their performance.  Brooke's and Derek's scores: Carrie Ann gives 9, Len give 8, and Bruno gives 9, for a 26 out of 30.

Cloris Leachman and Corky Ballas find out that they are safe to dance once more.  Yay!!!  I'm so excited that Cloris will continue.  She is so hilarious because she truly does not give a flying crap about what she does or says.  I can't wait until I'm old enough not to care about what anyone says about me!  W.ah, she's older than the mambo, which is what these two are dancing tonight.  She's a terrible, terrible dancer.  In fact, there's not a whole lot of real dancing going on at all.  But the whole routine is so full of innuendo and ass-slapping and crotch grabbing and coconut ogling that it's insanely entertaining.  I can't wait to see what she says to the judges.  She bribes the judges with 10 bucks each in exchange for a score of 10.  Carrie Ann gives her points for her chainé turns, and Cloris tries to further bribe Len with her cleavage again.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 6, Len gives 5 and Bruno gives 5, for another 16 out of 30.  (Cloris thinks the judges are "mean and not nice.")

The next couple safe to dance is Toni Braxton and Alec Mazo.  They've got the quickstep tonight, which is a difficult style for her due to her heart condition.  Uh oh, they get out of sync for a bit in the beginning.  I feel that Alec is carrying Toni a lot in this routine; she's not quite as strong as she was last night, but it could be because the quickstep is so challenging.  However, the judges completely disagree with me and have mostly positive things to say about the performance.  Their scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 8, for a 23 out of 30.

Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson are the next.  This is going to be funny because he's 300 pounds and has to dance the quickstep.  He endearingly refers to himself as "fat boy."  Hee.  Actually, it's not such a funny performance; it's actually quite good!  He moves really well, but his concentration registers all over his face.  Len immediately gets nitpicky about Warren's poor technique, but Bruno deems it a ton of fun.  Carrie Ann thinks he is fun, but his footwork needs help.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 7, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 8, for a 22 out of 30.

Ted McGinley and Inna Brayer are the next couple who are continuing in the competition.  They will be getting mambolicious tonight.  I find Inna's dancing to be brilliant beyond words, but Ted is again much to stiff, especially for this fun Latin style.  He does loosen up toward the end, though.  Carrie Ann is disappointed in Ted's awkward motions.  Len commends him for his hard work, and Bruno advises him to listen to the music more.  Their scores: Carrie Ann gives 6, Len gives 6 and Bruno gives 7, for a 19 out of 30.

The next couple safe to continue is Cody Linley and Julianne Hough.  They've got the quickstep tonight, and they are a whole lot of fun.  Cody does a good job in reigning in his energy and making his movements clean.  Bruno calls them the "king and queen of the proms [sic]" but that Cody's got to control his feet.  Carrie Ann thinks that Cody has become a man, and Len compliments him on his maturity as well.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 8, for a 23 out of 30.

Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff are next to dance.  To remind you, Karina twisted her ankle yesterday morning at dress rehearsal, but she is dancing through it with a wrap around her ankle.  Rocco and Karina dance the mambo tonight.  The routine begins with a Karina solo.  When Rocco joins her, he shows us that he's improved some from last night.  The judges agree that he is much better than he was last night.  And the scores: Carrie Ann gives 7, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 7, for 21 out of 30.

The penultimate couple to dance tonight is Susan Lucci and Tony Dovolani.  Susan is just as frighteningly skinny tonight as she was last night.  They've got the quickstep tonight, and again, it's very safe and tame.  She definitely improved since last night, however.  The judges agree that she looked much stronger tonight, and that the ballroom styles will likely be her strength.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives 7, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 8, for a 22 out of 30.

It's now down to Jeffrey and Edyta, and Kim and Mark.  Only one of these teams will be continuing on.

Just as I predicted, Jeffrey Ross and Edyta Sliwinska received the lowest combined total of judges' scores and audience votes, so they are eliminated tonight.  (Jeff is still wearing his sparkly eye patch, and his whole family sitting in the audience are all wearing eye patches in solidarity.  Aw, that's cute.)

This means that Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas are safe.  They'll be dancing the mambo tonight.  Kim is really insecure about shaking her booty, curiously.  Oh lord, they dance the mambo to "Baby Got Back."  Isn't this exactly what you would expect in a sartorial YouTube video?  I guess she's reclaiming her booty.  Anyway, her performance was pretty boring, actually.  Bruno thinks Kim has "more wasted assets than Fannie and Freddie" except it sounds like he said "asses."  Hee.  Carrie Ann take pity on Kim and compliments her for trying.  And the scores: triple 6s, for an 18 out of 30.



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