DANCING WITH THE STARS Showdown: Who Was the First to Go?

Tonight's elimination episode was one that begged a lot of questions: whose journey on 'Dancing With the Stars' would end before it even really began? Could Mike and Lacey bounce back from two mediocre performances in a row? Did Chris Brown trash the DWTS studio? Let's find out!

After the opening dance sequence, a jazz number choreographed by Maks, the hosts picked through the contestants in small groups. The scores, combined with last week's, stood at: Ralph and Karina, 45; Hines and Kym, 44; Kirstie and Maks, 43; Chris and Cheryl, 42; Romeo and Chelsie, 42; Chelsea and Mark, 39; Kendra and Louis, 37; Petra and Dmitry, 36; Sugar Ray and Anna, 34; Wendy and Tony, 31; Mike and Lacey, 30. As it turned out, the bottom three matched up and the three celebrities were revealed to be talk show host Wendy Williams, former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, and radio host Mike Catherwood.

In the mean time, however, Chris Brown took to the stage with two of his hits: the current Billboard climber 'Yeah 3x' and his 2008 smash 'Forever'. After a much-publicized destructive rant on ABC's Good Morning America, it was uncertain whether or not ABC would allow him on the show, and the big surprise wasn't that he was allowed to appear after all. No, after the singer's recent downward spiral followed by the public in detail, the surprise was that Brown delivered two very strong (albeit lip-synced) songs that were solidly performed, a good fit for viewing on television and, judging by the crowd's reaction, to view live as well.

But even with the other performances taking place, the show must go on, and finally host Tom  Bergeron began to announce the results by telling Wendy Williams that she would would see another week on the show. This left a nervous Sugar Ray and Mike up for elimination.

Though Mike and his partner Lacey would have needed an extremely heavy audience vote to keep them on the show, it was one they didn't receive and the couple was the first eliminated.

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. Wireless customers with AT&T may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" to 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, until 8:00 a.m., PT the following day. Fans may cast the maximum limit of votes for each voting method.

"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.

 

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