Gibbons Shown the Dancing Door

Tue., Apr. 10, 2007 9:58 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

As judge Carrie Ann Inaba said, for a 50-year-old, Leeza Gibbons has it going on, body-wise. Dance-wise, not so much.

The former Entertainment Tonight host was voted off of Dancing with the Stars Tuesday night after landing near the bottom of the leader-board after Monday's performance show, where her painfully stiff paso doble garnered a weak 16 from the judges.

Only NBA star Clyde Drexler impressed the judges less, getting a 15 for a waltz that Bruno Tonioli said had less romance than Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell.

"Dull, dull, dull," judge Len Goodman told Gibbons after her performance with partner Tony Dovolani to "You Give Love a Bad Name," obviously referring to her leaden footwork and not the skimpy leather-inspired getup she donned for the occasion.

"What if we demand a recount?" the TV personality joked after learning the Bon Jovi tune had been her swan song. "I believe just showing up for your life anytime makes you a winner," Gibbons said, adding that her fellow stars have "nerves of steel and hearts of gold."

Gibbons' elimination leaves eight wannabe Fred and Gingers in contention for the prestigious disco ball trophy, including Drexler, who apparently had a loyal fan base coming into the competition, and Monday's top performer, Joey Fatone, whose paso doble was awarded the first 10 of the season by Inaba.

"Somebody went and lit a fire under your bum," she told Fatone. (FYI, it was Goodman, who told the former boy bander last week that his posterior was sticking out as he danced the tango.) The singer and partner Kym Johnson (who's come a long way since her Jerry Springer days last season) reigned over the ballroom with a 28.

Also scoring high marks from the increasingly critical judges were speed-skater Apolo Anton Ono (26), Ian Ziering (24) and Heather Mills (23), whose take on the waltz couldn't compare to her acrobatic approaches to the jive and mambo but who Tonioli called "the mistress of mind over matter."

Former favorite Laila Ali also continued to fall in the judges' eyes, scoring her second 21 in a row with a passionless paso doble, trotting out an oddly brisk version of a dance that's apparently supposed to involve a lot of glaring, stomping and pulling women around by the hair.

Tying Ali was Billy Ray Cyrus, who may not have the technical goods but makes it up to the judges with a solid work ethic and, in some cases, raw sex appeal.

A hot-under-the-collar Inaba called the country singer's paso doble "oddly awkward and sexy and hot and strange, all at the same time."

Meanwhile, clinging to the bottom rungs are Drexler and John Ratzenberger, whose days as the slow-yet-showy middle-aged contestant are numbered.

Tuesday's results show also featured performances by country music duo Big & Rich and an appearance by season-two champ Drew Lachey.

"Listen to what the judges say," he advised this season's stars. "They know what they're talking about."