Double the Terror Equals Double the Fun on Dancing With the Stars

Tue., Oct. 27, 2009 9:30 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Could they make these eliminations any more overdramatic?

Dancing With the Stars milked every drop of suspense they could out of two celebs being on the chopping block tonight, with all of the contestants having to don bright new costumes just in case they were forced into a dance-off to save their sequined skins.

Following a performance show that provided hard-fought validation for some and was purely mediocre for others, Donny Osmond had "the living daylights" scared out of him by the prospect of a double elimination, while Aaron Carter, faced with a bottom-two finish the two previous weeks, mock-tearfully pleaded with the audience to save him for the sake of Karina.

So did the two contenders totally jinx themselves, or did they drag out the drama for nothing?

Indeed, their fear was unfounded.

But the bubbles burst for Melissa Joan Hart and Louie Vito, who battled Michael Irvin in a dance-off for the last safe spot but came up short in tiebreaker judge Carrie Ann Inaba's eyes.

Dancing with the Stars, Melissa Joan Hart, Mark Ballas, Louie Vito, Chelsie Hightower

ABC/ADAM LARKEY

"That's the game," Melissa said good-naturedly, albeit a bit ruefully. "It's tough, I was hoping to make it one more week. My husband was coming next week with my kids."

"But don't you want to go home and read Curious George books?" asked resident mood-lightener Tom Bergeron, gesturing to Mark Ballas' bright-yellow vest and pants.

"It's a lot harder than it looks, dealing with frustration, nerves, because you're doing something you're not comfortable with in front of millions of people," added Louie, who punctuated his exit with a backwards-twisty-twirly snowboard trick off the stage. "Every day I got out there and danced, I was proud of myself just for getting out there."

"It was a pleasure working with you," his cute-as-a-button partner Chelsie Hightower said. (That was it, no declarations of love from either one.)

Totally safe—for now—were Donny, Aaron, Michael, Mya, Joanna Krupa, Mark Dacascos and birthday girl Kelly Osbourne. But another double elimination looms next week to further, as Bergeron put it, "thin the herd."

________

Tonight's double elimination might have been scary for some, but, unlike these, Dancing With the Stars is not one of the Spookiest Shows on TV.