Maybe being asked for an encore isn't such an honor after all.
Just as Steve Guttenberg first danced an encore tango and then got the boot last week, it was two-timer Adam Carolla who on Tuesday tickled the judges' collective funny bone and then learned he had reached the end of the road on Dancing with the Stars.
"First off, next week is not gonna happen—let's talk about right now," the good-natured radio host and star of The Hammer (in theaters now, he added) insisted when asked what he would have done differently on samba/rumba week.
"I had the time of my life. I lost 20 pounds of fat, and I gained 105 pounds of angel. I love this girl!" Carolla said, referring to partner Julianne Hough, whose two-season winning streak paso-doble'd out of town on a unicycle.
"I recommend this experience to everyone who's scared of everything. If something scares you...embrace it," he added. "Don't run from it—do it!"
But now, "I'm going to dance my way right to the buffet."
And with that, there went the funny business this season.
Upping the drama was Priscilla Presley's trip to the bottom two—which could have been either her first or third time in danger, considering this was the first night the couples were actually told they had the second-lowest number of votes.
The always-engaging actress started to feel the heat Monday when she failed to bring as much grace to her Viennese waltz as she did to her week-one fox-trot.
And then, horror of horrors, both feet came off the ground during a spin and Presley and partner Louis van Amstel were penalized for doing one of those forbidden lifts, meaning she ended up with her lowest score of the competition—and second-lowest of the night—a 22.
Easily safe, on the other hand, were Kristi Yamaguchi and Jason Taylor, who both entered the ballroom Tuesday loftily perched atop the leader board with dueling 29s.
Likewise, both were shy of perfect 30s after failing to snag that extra point from Len Goodman, who said he was wowed by Taylor's Viennese waltz and that Yamaguchi was incapable of dancing badly...but he could have used just a bit more emotion from both of them.
Shannon Elizabeth's waltz, however, both wowed and touched him, apparently, because the American Pie actress was the recipient of the Brit's first—and, so far, only—10 of the season, on her way to a second-place 28.
Her graceful turn around the floor with pro partner Derek Hough—which very nearly produced one of those "Is that part of the performance?" kisses—came at the end of a trying week for the duo after Hough strained his neck during practice last Tuesday and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
But although he was back on set by elimination time, albeit unable to participate in that night's group dance, Hough was ordered to don a neck brace and rest for at least a week.
So, this season's unofficial go-to guy in times of crisis—pro Jonathan Roberts (Steve Guttenberg's emergency tango partner a week ago)—stepped in to help Elizabeth polish her turns and change steps.
She didn't do any fleckerls like Marlee Matlin, though, who also won praise from Len for pulling off that particularly difficult—and fun to say out loud—bit of choreography, in which the couple turns in place two full rotations to the right.
The odds-defying Oscar winner also won points for making Carrie Ann Inaba cry with her poise and uncanny musicality while on route to a 24, which tied her season best.
Matching Matlin—and also finding themselves back in the game—were paso doble dancers Mario and Marissa Jaret Winokur, who finally got some Tony-worthy choreography from partner Tony Dovolani, pun intended.
Cristián de la Fuente, looking like a Blade castoff in a black trench worn over nothing but muscles, also earned his highest score of the season, a 26, with his own fired up paso doble.
Adding to the Tuesday-night music club was guest Sheryl Crow, who started off the night with her Grammy-winning hit "All I Wanna Do" and then capped it off with the politically charged "Out of Our Heads," off of her new album, Detours.
Eight celebs remain to hoof it out next week.