So Two Couples DID Go Home Last Night

I figured Tom DeLay was going to have to drop out due to his injury--the first major injury of the season!  And I guess I can understand the producers going forward with eliminating the couple "we" chose to send home in order to eliminate the number of "ballroom bloodbaths" (Tom Bergeron's term) mid-season...especially since we're now down to a more manageable 11 couples...just about where we usually start a season.  And, so, we bid a fond farewell to Debi Mazar (who was she supposed to be again?).

Last night's biggest shocker was the judges choosing Chuck Liddell and Anna Trebunskaya (Why couldn't she have taken her husband's name when they got married?  Roberts is so much easier to spell!) for their encore dance.  What??  Of course Mýa (top of the leader board with 27 points) wasn't going to be chosen for a second week in a row, but I thought Natalie Coughlin (with her 26 points) was a shoe in.  But then when Chuck was announced, I figured he was the one being sent home and this was an opportunity for his fans to be reminded just exactly how bad he is so they wouldn't get bent out of shape and come searching for the judges in a dark alley.  Since Chuck wasn't sent home, I can only assume a large of amount of alcohol was involved in Len's decision.

Some highlights from last night:
--Louie Vito got the biggest cheer from the studio audience when the names were announced at the beginning of the show.  Apparently the U.S. has a lot more snowboarding fans than I ever would have guessed.
--Donny (no last name required) reassured us that it was okay that he kissed Bruno, since he's already has his shots.
--Tom DeLay appeared pretty choked up at having to withdraw from the competition--in spite of the fact that he absolutely did the right thing.
--Tom Bergeron inviting Tom DeLay back to perform the Texas Two-Step on the season finale.
--Cheryl Burke looked fabulous (and very skinny) in her slinky red dress when she danced with Maks during Queen Latifah's first song.  What Queen Latiffah has to do with ballroom dancing, I still don't get, but Maks and Cheryl seemed to Samba to her song just fine.  Do you think Cheryl and Maks are a potential couple in the making?  Last week Cheryl was all over Maks during the intro to the DWTS Training Center piece.  I'm just saying...
--JabbaWockeeZ (thank goodness for the "Info" button on my TV or I'd never have guessed the spelling of their name!) dancing to "Singin' In the Rain".  At least the music reminded me of ballroom dancing, even if their dancing always didn't.

Some lowlights from last night:
--"We" chose Sabrina Bryan to be the "Macy's Design a Dance" "star"?  I'd almost forgotten about her--in spite of Tom Bergeron reminding us that her unexpectedly-early elimination remains a DWTS shocker.
--Mark Ballas and Lacey Schwimmer being revealed as the "surprise" dancers at the end of the JabbaWockeeZ dance.  For a big surprise, it was pretty anticlimactic. 
--Debi Mazar's explanation of why no one seems to be able to pronounce her last name.  Heh!  If she doesn't care about it, why should we?
--Queen Latifah's "Ease On Down the Road" number, which had absolutely nothing to do with ballroom dancing.  Nope.  Can't even stretch to come up with a connection here--even if she was bopping to the beat during the entire song.  And who decided you can pair unzipped mid-calf boots with a sequined red and silver striped top?  Where are those "What Not to Wear" people when you need them?

One "medium"light:
--The "predict the finalists" segment.  I thought Steve Wozniak was a bit of a babbling idiot; and the toddler, although cute was supposed to be a chimpanzee (I guess the chimp had better things to do); but the ESPN Senior Fantasy Expert seemed to have some interesting statistics.  I liked him!  It will be interesting to see if his predictions play out.

So...are we ready for the four new ballroom dances next week?  Did we need four new ballroom dances?  I don't know how we (even with our eight seasons of at-home judging experience) are possibly going to be able to judge how the pairs are dancing the Bolero, Charleston, Texas Two-Step, or the Lambada (the forbidden dance!) gasp!!

Post your thoughts below.