dancing with the stars results

On the first Dancing With The Stars 5 results show, host Tom Bergeron kicked things off with a recap of the men's performance show. Len Goodman said "All of us judges felt that this was without doubt the best start to any season." The judges selected Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas to dance an encore of the Cha Cha Cha.

After the encore, hosts Tom Bergeron and Drew Lachey revealed that the first two couples that were safe were Sabrina Bryan & Mark Ballas and Jennie Garth & Derek Hough. Country music star Dolly Parton made a special guest appearance to perform "9 to 5." After Parton's song, Bergeron and Lachey revealed that Helio Castroneves & Julianne Hough and Albert Reed & Anna Trebunskaya were the second two couples that were safe.

Special guest Tony award-winning Savion Glover tap danced, and Dolly Parton returned to perform "Better Get To Livin'" from her album "Backwoods Barbie." In a comedy segment, Kenny Mayne went on a quest to find the origins of dance. Bergeron and Lachey revealed that the third couples safe from elimination were Melanie Brown & Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Cameron Mathison & Edyta Sliwinska.

After a commercial break, Bergeron and Lachey revealed that Jayne Seymour & Tony Dovolani, Wayne Newton & Cheryl Burke, Marie Osmond & Jonathan Roberts, and Floyd Mayweather & Karina Smirnoff were all save. The bottom two when the judges' scores and the viewers' vote were combined were Josie Maran & Alec Mazo and Mark Cuban & Kym Johnson.

As the two couples waited on stage, Bergeron announced that Josie Maran & Alec Mazo had been eliminated from the competition. When asked if she had anything to say to anyone, Josie Maran said "Well, I guess, thanks for being honest. Is that what it is? And thank you for this amazing experience, and thank you Alec. You're an incredible teacher, and this has changed my life. I have the dancing bug, and I'm going to dance alone."

The results are in...

Seriously, is there a single person with even half an ounce of common sense who thought she'd make it? Pretty as she may be, as I said before, looks aren't everything, and as Len said last night, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Alas, Josie Maran and Alec Mazo are no more.

Two things bothered me. One: there is nothing quite as obnoxious as that final commercial break before the results are unveiled. I hate commercials to begin with, and that last little "ooh, it's so suspenseful, what's gonna happen?" is just annoying. And two: I thought Mark did surprisingly well on Tuesday, and his score was higher than Floyd's, so I was surprised that he had the lowest judge and public combined score. I guess what everyone's been saying is true. It's anybody's game and you never know who's going home.




Bonus highlights of the night were appearances by country star, Dolly Parton, who sang her classic, "9 to 5" and one of her new songs, "Better Get to Livin'," and possibly the greatest tap dancer in the world, Savion Glover. I really enjoyed the pros dancing to Dolly, that was fun. Plus, it's always nice to see what the dancing is supposed to look like. Savion is awesome, and his effortless, happy tapping was a nice detour from all the stress and criticism that surrounds the guilty pleasure that is Dancing with the Stars.


introduction really played up the battle of the sexes angle, calling Week 1 a "dance duel." Drew returned as Tom's co-pilot, and I'm curious to see how long he'll stick around. As usual, there was a tidy summary of the previous night of performances. The men answered the call after Len's warning on Monday night. Like Jennie Garth, Cameron set the standard with his Foxtrot. In his post-performance interview, Cameron was very proud of all the work he did.


Floyd failed to impress the judges, but believed that the "fans don't lie." Mark Cuban won over the judges with his smile, and was thrilled in his interview. Wayne Newton earned the respect of the ballroom, and bragged that "old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill." That remark should have gotten a way bigger laugh. Albert Reed left Carrie Ann speechless and confused, and hoped that his pelvic thrusts earned him some fan support. Finally, Helio was declared to be the biggest threat among the men.

Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan and Mark Ballas were chosen to do the encore. Len said that they were the couple that best combined classic dancing and overall entertainment. I was a little surprised that he counted their routine among the best Cha Cha Chas in the history of the show, since he had such a problem with the hip-hop element. Now that I've seen all the routines, I agree with this choice. Sabrina and Mark definitely belonged at the top of the heap this week. I hope that they'll at least move away from the hip hop as the competition progresses; you cannot integrate that style into all types of ballroom dance. Or can you?

Tom and Drew provided a run-down of the combined judges' leaderboard. Josie and Alec were in dead last, which wasn't very encouraging, and Floyd and Karina were in eleventh place. I still can't believe that he got such a low score on Tuesday. Wayne and Cheryl rounded out the bottom group in tenth place. The five-way tie for fifth included Jennie Garth, Mark Cuban, Albert Reed, Cameron Mathison, and Marie Osmond. The lovely Jane Seymour and Melanie Brown tied for third place. Helio and Julianne landed in second place, behind Sabrina and Mark. Apparently, the couple had the highest first show score ever, which is pretty impressive.

The first portion of the elimination put two couples on the safe list. Sabrina and Mark are going on to Week 2, which wasn't much of a surprise. The crowd went crazy for their encore. Jennie Garth and Derek Hough were also put on the safe list. Jennie looked terrified at first, but was visibly relieved to be continuing in the competition. I'd like to see Jennie have a bit more confidence in the coming weeks and move away from the middle of the pack.

Dolly Parton performed her first song of the night, accompanied by pros Derek, Julianne, Mark, and Cheryl. She sang "9 to 5," which is one of my favorite songs of hers. I love that her look never changes--big hair, sparkly outfits, etc. There's something comforting about that kind of consistency. She always has such an expressive face during her performances, too. The highlight of the pros' routine was the back-to-back flips that Derek and Mark did. All in all, a fun little number.

Just in case the workout DVD wasn't enough, there's now a Dancing With The Stars book called Dancing With The Stars: Jive, Samba, and Tango Your Way Into the Best Shape of Your Life. It has a really long title, so you know it's good. If any of you actually buy the book, please fill us in on the details.

Backstage, Drew interviewed the male contestants and threw in a Top Gun reference for good measure. Cameron was nervous and felt that anyone could win the show. When asked which of the men would be back next week, Wayne cleverly replied "Drew!" Helio was confident but reserved about his chances. Floyd hoped that his fans' votes would help him advance. Mark got a rush from the competition, and Albert thanked his fans for the standing ovation. Thank your personal trainer, Albert.

The audience got a chance to throw in their two cents. Two young girls loved Jane Seymour and aspired to look like her, and I second that. We should all be so lucky to age that well. The Bachelor and Chris Harrison agreed that Josie was "pretty." Things were not looking good for Josie. There are now tons of Cheetahlicious fans out there. Women went crazy for Cameron's winning smile, and Albert was declared the best-looking male contestant. A girl in a beret was convinced that Floyd was robbed (seconded, again). At this point, it was anyone's game (except for Josie).

The second phase of the elimination put two more couples on the safe list. Helio and Julianne advanced to the second week, which was also not surprising. More shocking was the declaration that Albert and Anna were safe. The fans must have really come through for Albert and his open shirt. I think he just found his gimmick.

Drew interviewed the advancing couples backstage, and we learned that Sabrina and Mark are already looking ahead to next week. Jennie's confidence got a huge boost, and she thanked "whoever may have voted" for her. Helio made a comment about missing his helmet out on the dance floor, which prompted Drew to joke about the male professionals' helmet-like hair. Albert promised to keep his routines fun and sexy.

In the first of a new series of performances called "Stars of Dance," Savion Glover and Bare Sounds did a phenomenal tap routine. It began with a cool dark, shadowy set-up. The costumes were certainly interesting: matching yellow shirts, pale blue pants, with Savion in some unusual green shoes. Bare Sounds consisted of two male dancers and three women who essentially served as fly girls of some sort. I don't have the dance vocabulary to describe the group's moves, but they were incredible. I wonder who they'll get for the next installment?

Dolly Parton was back with a pros-free performance from her new album (the hilariously named Backwoods Barbie). The song, "Better Get to Livin," was one of those country songs where the singers put themselves into the lyrics, kinds of like "Mississippi Girl" by Faith Hill. Dolly imparted the standard country music advice about not sweating the small stuff and keeping your chin up. I might sound like I'm being critical, but I'll probably end up singing