DWTS: Recap- 'The Double Score Showdown'

In the fourth week of competition in "Dancing with the Stars'" 10th season, the 9 remaining teams were challenged by "The Double Score Showdown." Throughout the evening, competitors received two scores, one for technique and one for performance.

After the departure of Buzz Aldrin last week, it's generally accepted that the weakest star remaining is Kate Gosselin- and with the romantic dancing of the rumba and tango on the menu for the night's competition, it wasn't looking good for the recently divorced diva.

The first to compete were Erin Andrews and Maks Chmerkovskiy. Erin tried taking Len's advice by focusing on her footwork and persevered through the back problems she was experiencing. Erin seemed spunky and fun throughout the performance, and to the untrained eye her footwork seemed up to par. The version of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" that the couple danced to really got on my nerves.

Len was glad that the performance was a full on tango, Bruno thought it started well, with Erin acting like a "murderess," but that it was lost in the middle, and Carrie Ann thought that Erin focused too much on technique and the performance suffered. The duo received 6's across the board for technique and 7's across the board for performance.

Evan Lysacek and partner Trebunskaya took to the stage next. Somehow, despite Evan's monotone voice, he's a pretty likeable guy- plus, he's not scared to break a third toe. Having been the highest scoring couple last week, they had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, their tango didn't scream entertaining, and neither did their all black costumes.

Luckily for Evan, the judges didn't agree with my humble opinion, and loved the performance. Bruno described it as strong and powerful, and Carrie Ann said that Evan's work on technique definitely boosted the performance. Their scores were again high, receiving 9's in technique and performance from Carrie Ann and Bruno and 8's from Len.

Niecy Nash and Louis tackled the Rumba next. During the Rumba, Niecy commemorated her brother Michael which led to another emotional performance. Some parts were better than others, but the routine was a little underwhelming. But I was a fan of the color of Niecy's dress.

The judges weren't impressed with the performance, calling for more hip action, highlights, and color. Niecy received 6's from all the judges for both performance and technical categories.

Aiden Turner and Sliwinska were next, and Turner focused on letting go and being more confident. The screaming female audience members seemed to enjoy the performance, but did an animal attack Sliwinska's costume?

The judges were pretty critical, and Len said, "Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, you come out and do that!" Bruno told him he looked like a stop motion animation! I especially enjoyed Bruno's acting out of a stop motion animation creature. The scores for Turner and Sliwinska were dismal 5's for technicality and 6's for performance.

Nicole and Derek were up next, and their video prior to their performance was exceptionally cute and playful. This week, they had to focus on adhering to the judges' rules after their performance from the previous week.

Their performance was stunning, and at least seemed to be on a higher difficulty level than the previous couples. They seemed very content after their performance, but the judges weren't completely feeling iT. Bruno, though calling Nicole "an unattainable object of desire," said that she seemed hesitant. He also said, "give me a little bit more sex." A little bit creepy Bruno. Carrie Ann said that Nicole seemed nervous and out of her element, while Len said that she had found a good balance between technique and performance.

Overall, they received good scores- a 9 and two 8's in the technical category and the same in the performance category.

The next performers were Jake Pavelka and Hightower. Jake turned over the reins fully to Hightower, even dropping down to give her twenty. Despite difficulties with the Viennese crossover, whatever that means, their performance was enjoyable. I was scared that Jake was going to get whiplash from all of his head thrashes. There were a few stumbles, which Len attributed to his enthusiasm, so all wasn't completely losT. Bruno called the routine messy, while Carrie Ann said that the two weren't completely connected.

Carrie Ann and Bruno gave them 6's for technicality and Len gave them a 7 while their performance scores were a 7 from Carrie Ann and 6's from Bruno and Len.

Kate and Dovolani were up next, and Kate complained about her "hell" that she faces every day, blah blah. Every step of her routine seemed labored, yet again.

The judges all agreed that it was Kate's best performance so far, but that isn't so hard to do...she's got a long way to go. And despite some positive comments from the judges, Kate only managed to receive a measly 14 technical points and a mediocre 18 performance points.

Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke were the next to perform, working to improve on posture. The judges loved it, and all 3 agreed it was Chad's best performance to date.

The two received their first 8 from Bruno in the technical category along with a 7 from Carrie Ann and a 6 from Len. They received two 8's for performance along with a 7 from Len.

The last team to compete was Pamela Anderson and DamIan Whitewood, in silky white costumes. The two had steamy chemistry, and the judges ate it up. Bruno commented that Anderson could be refined and elegant and still be "drop dead sexy." The judges called it her technical best. But yet again, Pamela's comments in the "celebriquarium" made me cringe.

In the technical category the duo received a combined score of 23 and in performance, a 24.

At the end of the show, Evan was yet again ranked as number one, and Kate was again at the bottom of the pack.

All 8 teams showcase their fancy footwork on Mondays, at 8:00-10:00 PM. The couple with the lowest combined judges' scores and public votes for both performances will be sent home.
Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the "Dancing with the Stars" performance shows. AT&T customers may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" and entering the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (message and data rates may apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast and until 12:00 Noon, ET the following day.

Hosted by Tom Bergeron ("America's Funniest Home Videos"), the celebrities perform choreographed dance routines which will be judged by renowned Ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, who all return for their tenth season together.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade is co-executive producer. Alex Rudzinski directs. "Dancing with the Stars" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In the U.S., BBC Worldwide Productions, one of BBC Worldwide's seven core businesses, is based in Los Angeles and New York. It is responsible for the smash hit "Dancing with the Stars" and develops scripted and non-scripted projects for U.S. cable and broadcast networks.