Lawrence Taylor can’t convince the viewers that his heart was in this competition. His elimination seemed inevitable once he scored the lowest score on Monday night. Here’s how the dancers had stacked up on the leaderboard:
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani: 29
Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas: 28
Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke: 27
Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough: 27
Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough: 26
Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower: 24
Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska: 21
Monday night episode was stuffed with more than the customary amount of filler. The judges’ pick for a reprise dance, and the reprises are more enjoyable because the stars don’t seem so tense the second time.
In the next segment, three medical experts came out and discussed the health benefits and hazards of ballroom dancing. One said that Lil’ Kim was burning off so many calories that she could eat an extra 6 pints of ice cream a week but that Lawrence Taylor was burning off even more and could eat an extra 33 hamburgers a week.
Later Natasha Bedingfield took the stage to perform her song “Soulmate.” Next the dancers completely upstaged the singer, giving a very theatrical performance that was reminiscent of the “contemporary” routines on “So You Think You Can Dance,” especially when it ended with the partners walking away from each other.
The next segment presented six professional dancers paired off to compete for viewer votes, with the prize being a position as a pro on the show next season.
Since the judges didn’t have to score the pros, they were generally complimentary.
The second musical guest was the singing group the Celtic Women, who performed “You Raise Me Up,” with dance accompaniment by Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian.
The episode made the elimination seem almost like an afterthought. It’s a good thing Lawrence Taylor probably doesn’t care.
