Last night's Dancing with the Stars performance show was all about romance and machismo. The couples performed either the Viennese waltz, the epitome of romance and elegance, or the paso doble, the fierce bullfighter's dance. You couldn't possibly get two more distinct dance styles, but then again, you probably couldn't get a more diverse cast of couples either.

On the one side, you've got a French actor named Gilles Marini who is undoubtedly a talented dancer and a handsome man, but before this season of Dancing with the Stars, I hadn't the faintest clue who he was. To be honest, I'm still not sure I'd be able to pick him out of the lineup if he weren't wearing glitter and sequins.

Actually, I'm not too worried about Gilles' relative lack of fame. I think Dancing with the Stars audiences are savvy enough to recognize real dance talent when they see it and reward it with votes. I don't think that people will stop voting for Gilles, not just because he's a great dancer, but also because he has often expressed how worried he is about not having as big a fanbase as some of the other dancers. People will vote for him because they might not feel that he's guaranteed to be safe, quite the opposite of what happened to Sabrina Bryan back in season 5.

Then, on the other side of the leaderboard, fully 11 points behind Gilles, you've got a jackass named Steve-O who used to be a clown. It might just be my sophomoric tastes, but I love those Jackass guys. I live with a constant, low-grade fear that they'll all die in horribly bloody, tragic deaths, but I still find them goofy and entertaining. Unfortunately, Steve-O is most definitely not a dancer, and he can't mime his way out of this one.

But will he go home? That's really the question, isn't it? My guess is that he'll definitely wind up in the bottom two and will dance off against Lawrence Taylor. Lawrence will improve slightly in the judges' scores, while Steve-O will stay the same or get worse. But when combined with the audience votes, I think it'll be Lawrence who'll be going home. Then Lawrence can get back to playing golf.



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