ABC/KELSEY McNEALTheir season debuts behind them, 12 celebs took the floor for the second night in a row to prove their mettle and plead their case for a ticket into week two of Dancing With the Stars.
That's right, only 12—because after 10 couples had danced, only one more was permitted to strut their stuff, meaning the usual elimination shenanigans have begun.
See who's done and read all about what the others did after the jump:
Sadly, Jeffrey Ross never had a chance to keep his eye on the prize. A day after taking a trip to the emergency room when partner Edyta Sliwinska poked him in the eye, the New York comedian became the first to be booted from the ballroom.
"What a nightmare! They said Edyta was going to be easy on the eyes!" he joked.
But although Ross wasn't able to show what he had to offer in the quickstep arena, the remaining dozen contestants had another moment in the spotlight—some more dazzling than others. A recap:
Lance Bass: Minus all the chains, what was there for Len Goodman not to like? But while we loved this quickstep, we have feeling Lacey Schwimmer's tricks might be a little too SYTYCD for DWTS' liking. To Lance's credit, though, his moves looked effortless and it was traditional enough for us. Judges said: 21. "I can understand people enjoying it, but it wasn't my cup of tea, really." OK, so there was plenty for Len not to like.
Misty May-Treanor: The beach volleyball star looked so intense and serious during her mambo, it was kinda hard to get into it. Luckily, you can't get that close to Maksim Chmerkovskiy without allowing your hips in on the action, so May-Treanor from the neck down acted accordingly—great footwork and she made her Olympic-caliber athleticism work for her. Judges said: 21. "If you ease up there," Bruno said, pointing to that shoulder-neck area, "you're going to be a winner."
Maurice Greene: As we could see in portions of last night's fox-trot, Green is far more comfortable moving fast and, as he said himself, mambo is much more his style. Mo had some footwork issues, but...the man can do the worm! Cheryl Burke's got herself a finals contender again. Judges said: 21. "Why did you do the Free Willy step?" Len wondered. "What's that all about? I don't want all that nonsense!"
Brooke Burke: Knowing already that her feet were going to be spot on, we focused on Brooke's face tonight—and we liked what we saw. While it's common, especially in the early weeks, for contestants to have a sorta strained, thinking-too-hard look on their faces, the modelicious mommy of four had this really inviting (but not come-hither), confident (but not smug), warm (but not plastic) smile on her face that infectiously expressed how much fun she was having out there. And everything from the neck down was nice, too. Judges said: 26. "I don't like to repeat myself," Len began, referring to last night, "but best dance so far."
Cloris Leachman: Now that was one heck of a Mary Tyler Moore Show-style hairpiece. Believe your eyes, that was an 82-year-old woman playfully swatting at Corky Ballas' behind. Their innuendo-laden mambo wasn't much for technical proficiency, but Leachman blew senior showmen George Hamilton and Wayne Newton out of the water with her theatricality and audience connection. And watching her rehearsal footage is even more fun. Judges said: 16. "Golden girl can shimmy. Golden girl can grab crotchy," per Carrie Ann Inaba, who, like Bruno, seems to think that Leachman was one of the Golden Girls. "Shady Pines, Ma," Bruno warned at one point. Um, wrong national treasure, guys.
Toni Braxton: Once again, Toni didn't unbreak our hearts. Despite her and Alec Mazo's qualms about her breathing technique, Braxton brought that diva poise to the ballroom and the pair nailed their quickstep. By the end of the dance, you would never have been able to tell that she came into it with trepidation. Judges said: 23. "Light, sparkling, elegant—all the qualities of a fine champagne," Bruno said.
Warren Sapp: Look at him go, like a big, bouncy ball! Not only must Sapp have the strongest legs in the competition to support all that upper-body fortitude, but he apparently has little wings on his feet, too. The intricacies of the quickstep made it harder to hide the inevitable week-one flubs that went unnoticed in his cha-cha, but...so what? He's so much fun to watch! Judges said: 22. "For entertainment, it was fantastic. Unfortunately, the technique of the whole thing wasn't so hot," Len said.
Ted McGinley: Ted's a big guy and doesn't move with the ease of a Cody or a Lance (or, for that matter, a Warren), but he still manages to look awfully good, even when his hips don't behave according to mambo standards. Inna Brayer's choreography highlighted the former Revenge of the Nerd hunk's strengths—namely, his enthusiasm and powerful build—and he should stick around for a few more weeks. Judges said: 19. "You grabbed your mambo with both hands and squeezed every ounce of fun out of it," Bruno complimented him.
Cody Linley: Another quickstep coup for Julianne Hough! Both times Hough has won this competition, she has choreographed killer quicksteps—and while this one wasn't exactly Apolo Ohno on ice, the 18-year-old Linley easily rose above the reverse ageism that he fears could keep people from taking him seriously. Sure, at times he looked like a young colt freshly sprung from the barn, but overall...he seemed all man to us. Judges said: 23. "You can gone from being a boy to a man on the ballroom dance floor," Carrie Ann cooed.
Rocco DiSpirito: We're not going to lie to you: We were happy Rocco made it past night one, if only because that mambo-tailored open shirt and those tousled curls looked delish. And then, all of a sudden, he was moving 100 percent better than his dismal fox-trot led us to believe was possible—meaning, Rocco's got more of a chance in this competition than that eatery he futzed around with on The Restaurant ever had. Judges said: 21. "I've never seen such a change so quickly—I'm stunned," Bruno said.
Susan Lucci: The soap queen redeemed herself after last night's inauspicious cha-cha. Lucci's got the graceful Jane Seymour thing going on—a hot body with a carriage far more suited to ballroom than Latin. Tony Dovolani crafted a quickstep that showed off all the actress' assets and Lucci delivered, so now those All My Children addicts out there won't be voting for nothing. Judges said: 22; "I'm feeling a little bit smug," said Len, who predicted a ballroom turnaround for her last night.
Kim Kardashian: Kim looked quite lovely tonight, and it was heart-wrenching watching her on the sidelines as the crowd dwindled and it dawned on her that she might be the one sent home. Luckily, she got another shot to show what she can do: The girl can dance, but instead of bringing heat to the mambo, she again brought that paparazzi-ready face of stone. She needs to loosen up and dance like no one's watching—like it says to do on those inspirational birthday cards. Judges said: 19. "More wasted assets than Freddie and Fanny!" Bruno shouted in frustration, trying to provoke Kim into bringing that sexiness to the surface.
Tomorrow, another couple is eliminated following performances by the Jonas Brothers and Jesse McCartney.