The seventh season of Dancing with the Stars kicked off with host Tom Bergeron promising the biggest season ever as the stars would tackle two dances in the first week. It was a battle of old versus young (Cloris Leachman and Cody Linley), big versus small (Warren Sapp and Susan Lucci) and Olympian versus Olympian (Misty May Treanor and Maurice Greene).The dancers had to learn two dances in their first week, performing one each on Monday and Tuesday -- except for one couple that would be eliminated on Tuesday, based on Monday night's vote. One more dancer would be eliminated on Wednesday.The stars are:Hannah Montana star Cody Linley and Julianne HoughChef Rocco DiSpirito and Karina SmirnoffSinger Toni Braxton and Alec MazoOlympic sprinter Maurice Greene and Cheryl BurkeModel and TV host Brooke Burke and Derek HoughActor Ted McGinley and Inna BrayerSinger Lance Bass and Lacey SchwimmerActress Cloris Leachman and Corky BallasComedian Jeffrey Ross and Edyta Sliwinska...

After a wild opening night, Dancing with the Stars offered up the second installment in a three-night season premiere on Tuesday. One couple would be eliminated based on the vote from Monday night's performances and the remaining 12 would perform, but it would be a while before viewers would find out who was going home. Let's get to the action...Lance and Lacey: The first couple deemed, in no particular order, safe to perform were Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer. Lance talked about how Monday night's experience just flashed by and Lacey showed off her nontraditional teaching methods, telling Lance to dance like a Transformer or a gingerbread man or a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. They danced the quickstep. Judge Len Goodman said they moved well around the floor, but he didn't like their posture or holds. Bruno Tonioli said the couple was incredible quality. Carrie Ann Inaba said she was very entertained, but I wasn't really impressed. Scores: 7, 6, and 8, from Carrie Ann, Len and ...

The Dancing with the Stars premiere week event finally drew to a close with the third consecutive episode on Wednesday, a one-hour results show that would boot the second of the 13 couples that started the competition on Monday night.The pros kicked off the night with a group routine to Queen's Under Pressure.To the recap: Toni Braxton led the highlight reel with her quick step, followed by Warren Sapp, who impressed everyone with his lightness on his feet. In the middle of the pack were Lance Bass and Ted McGinley. You can guarantee we're going to work hard, McGinley said. I may not be the most talented, but I'm going to work hardest.Misty May Treanor and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy were OK with the 21 score that landed them in the middle of the pack. Maurice Greene was just as happy with his 21, shouting, winner, winner, chicken dinner! Rocco DiSpirito finally got his hips loosened up to the point that his partner Karina Smirnoff said she got whiplash from his hip ...

Because of the special Wednesday episode in the premiere week of Dancing with the Stars, the couples had one less day to learn and practice this week's performances, which were the rumba or paso doble.Judge Len Goodman said the second week was tougher than premiere week, so he was fearing the worst, but I'm hoping for the best. He said he was hoping to be surprised.Toni and Alec: Toni Braxton had to settle a deal she'd made with partner Alec Mazo. He'd promised to sing a bit so he could experience being out of his comfort zone, so he sang -- if you can call it that -- her song Unbreak My Heart at a karaoke bar. The danced the rumba. First, host Tom Bergeron gave Alec a 2 for his singing during the intro. Len said it was a very good job. Bruno Tonioli said he absolutely loved it. Carrie Ann Inaba said Toni moved like she sings, but penalized the couple for two lifts. Scores: 7, 8, and 8, from Carrie Ann, Len, and Bruno, respectively. Total: 23.Brooke and Derek: Early front-runner ...

Eleven couples remained just two weeks into the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, and one more couple would find out Tuesday night if their dance card was up.To the encore: Judge Len Goodman said the judges were in agreement in wanting to see Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson perform their paso doble once more.To the scoreboard: Cloris Leachman and Corky Ballas were at the bottom, leaving Corky to wonder, They wanted you to be funny? This dance is not funny. It's powerful and dramatic. I thought I was hilarious, Cloris replied.Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff were in 10th, but Rocco said it has no impact on the amount of fun he's having. Kim Kardashian and Mark Ballas were in ninth place and they both thought they'd have a higher score. In eighth place were Maurice Greene and Cheryl Burke, leaving Maurice to say, We're going to come back next week and improve on the 19.Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer were in seventh with 20 points. You know what? Lacey said. Let them ...

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One Dancing with the Stars contestant already left this week, but would there be another? There'd been rumors all day that no one would go home this week, or that the previously eliminated Kim Kardashian would return as a result of Misty May-Treanor's departure from the show after she tore her Achilles tendon in rehearsal. Host Tom Bergeron's intro ominously failed to say that another star would go home, only saying, What is the fate of the remaining stars?The highlight reel recap ended with Bergeron again mysteriously saying, With the sudden departure of Misty, what will happen tonight?Misty's partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy decided to pay tribute to her by performing the jive they were going to do. Pro Edyta Sliwinska filled in for Misty. The scoreboard review: Cloris' reaction to her 16: We got a 16, and a 16 sucks. Rocco and Karina were only going up from 20. Cody and Julianne were happy with their 21. With 22 points each, Lance and Lacey and Toni and Alec were even keeled, while ...

With last week's results carrying over to this week because of the injury-related exit of Misty May-Treanor, chef Rocco DiSpirito was hanging by a thread. The dancers would be challenged with either the tango or the samba.Maurice and Cheryl: Ex-Olympic sprinter Maurice Greene was a little too wound up, so Cheryl brought in his daughter to help lighten the mood. Did it work? After a disco-inspired samba, judge Len Goodman said he liked it, but Maurice had to work on refining everything. Bruno Tonioli called the pair Mr. and Mrs. Jackie Brown. He said the samba was not so fabulous and called it a little too loose. Carrie Ann Inaba said that they didn't progress this week and fell into too much free form. Scores: 6, 7, and 7, from Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno, respectively. Total for both weeks: 44.Cody and Julianne: Julianne Hough was getting a little fed up with Cody Linley's short attention span and called in his high school principal for reinforcements. After their tango, Bruno said ...

Two weeks led up to one dramatic elimination that was drawn out over an hour-long results show.To the highlight reel: Lance and Lacey got their highest score of the season with a hot tango; and Cloris and Corky did the same. Other highlights came from Susan and Tony, and from Cody and Julianne. Brooke and Derek were a little too erotic for Len and Brooke promised to tone it down next week. The judges were lukewarm on Warren and Kym's performance, but the low points of the night for the judges came from Maurice and Cheryl, and Rocco and Karina.Play it again, Lance: Len said it was tough to pick a couple for this week's encore, but the judges settled on Lance and Lacey doing the tango.All's fair in politics: The evening featured a string of political-style ads, kicked off by one calling Cody Linley weak. It was followed with the tag, I'm Brooke Burke, and I approved this message. Coming in from the next commercial break, Warren Sapp's hit piece on Rocco DiSpirito concluded, Never trust a skinny ...

Four new dances were introduced Monday on Dancing with the Stars. They were the West coast swing, The Hustle, Salsa, and the JitterbugLance and Lacey: Lance Bass said that the previous week was a real breakthrough and it gave him some confidence because he'd always been known as the worst dancer in N-Sync. He said the record company actually wanted to kick him out of the group when it was first signed because he was a bad dancer. He landed the West coast swing, which was fortunate because his partner Lacey Schwimmer brought in her dad, who was a West coast swing-dancing champion. Lance slipped during a slide and fell down, but he recovered well. Len Goodman said Lance proved that he was a good dancer last week and that Lacey has to give up a little bit of your talent and show off your partner a little more. Bruno Tonioli agreed, saying Lance's performance was more like dancing around the star. Carrie Ann Inaba added to it, telling Lacey that she has to let her partner shine a ...

Thanks Ashton Kutcher for punking the millions of you who tuned in for an hour-long recap episode of Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday night before the regularly scheduled hour-long results show. Kutcher's family game show Opportunity Knocks, which normally aired before the Dancing results on Tuesdays, was yanked from the schedule due to low ratings. It was replaced by a one-hour redux of the Dancing performances from Monday, with a handful of backstage reaction quotes from the dancers.Here's the rundown of the hour, which included entire repeats of every performance and a commercial break between virtually every one of them:Lance and Lacey danced. They got a 21. The judges ripped Lacey for taking Lance's spotlight. Lacey said backstage that the judges just didn't know that the West coast swing is meant to show off the woman.Toni and Alec danced. They got a 22 even though the judges didn't like it all that much. Backstage, Toni wondered why people assume she can dance just ...

For the first time this season, Brooke and Derek headed into a results show without the lead on the judges' scoreboard. Lance and Lacey held the unfamiliar top spot, and Cloris and Corky were in a distant last place. But what did the voters decide to do?Most of the dancers were fans of guest judge Michael Flatley, who offered up some of the higher scores of the evening, including a 10 for Brooke and Derek while Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli gave them 8's.Conspicuously absent from the highlight reel of Monday night's performance was Carrie Ann's scathing commentary about Cloris, when she said, we lost Toni Braxton for this, and that kind of makes me sad.Play it again: Unfortunately, the judges decided to ask the entire group to do the hip-hop performance as an encore.To the results: The first two couples sent to safety -- in no particular order -- were Lance and Lacey and Cody (and Julianne).Child's play: In the dancing kids competition, Craig and Samantha (13 and 12), a brother and sister ...

With the departure of Cloris Leachman, it could be argued that the competition really began Monday on Dancing with the Stars as the remaining six couples took on an individual dance and a team performance, which would count toward the scoring for the first time.Due to ABC's election coverage on Tuesday night, the Dancing results show will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday.Warren and Kym: Ex-NFL star Warren Sapp was still lamenting his one missed step last week. As he learned the foxtrot, Kym took him to American Ballroom champion Nick Kosovich's dance studio to see what the dance is supposed to look like. Judge Len Goodman was back and said it wasn't a classic foxtrot and it wasn't your best dance. Bruno Tonioli said that after a promising beginning, the technique went into a recession. Carrie Ann Inaba asked Warren what the problem was and he admitted My feet weren't right because he wasn't wearing his own shoes. Scores: 7, 7, and 7. Total: 21Susan and Tony: After breaking through her ...

The stakes were raised once again as the remaining five couples on Dancing with the Stars as they had to learn two couples dances -- a ballroom and a Latin dance. Complicating things even more, each star would be required to perform a 15-second solo during the Latin routine.Cody and Edyta: His Viennese waltz earned Hannah Montana star Cody Linley his lowest score of the competition. He got a visit from some friends, who each wanted to have a dance with his fill-in partner Edyta Sliwinska, who took the place of Julianne Hough for a second week due to her recent appendix removal. On their foxtrot, judge Len Goodman was pleasantly surprised. Bruno Tonioli said it was Cody's most grown-up performance to date. Carrie Ann Inaba praised him for not only performing well, but also adjusting to a new partner. She also took off a point for an illegal lift. Scores: 8, 8, and 8. Total: 24.Latin dance: Cody and Edyta did a mambo for their Latin dance, and Cody's solo included a jump onto the ...

Just five couples remained, but that number would be trimmed yet again after another hour-long results show on Dancing with the Stars.This 60 minutes of filler, which followed an hour-long recap of Monday night's episode, would include a performance from country singer Brad Paisley, a group dance that fans voted on, a performance from pro Lacey Schwimmer and her brother Benji, and a psychoanalysis of each remaining couple from Dr. Drew Pinsky.First, though, we got a peek at the judges' post-show briefing on each of the couples. The highlights: Carrie Ann Inaba pointed out that Cody Linley was resilient and said she hoped he'd stay until his original partner Julianne Hough returned. Len Goodman held firm on Brooke Burke disappointing him with her footwork. Carrie Ann appreciated that Maurice Greene had been beaten down by the process but began rebuilding himself Monday. Len said Lance Bass was gradually winning him over because of his enthusiasm. Carrie Ann said Warren Sapp's ...

After a wild semifinal, it was time to determine which three couples would be vying for the glitter ball trophy on Dancing with the Stars. In next week's season finale.But first, Aretha Franklin took the stage to offer up her classic, Chain of Fools. Aretha returned later to perform Respect with current champions Mark Ballas and Kristi Yamaguchi dancing along.Leona Lewis stopped by to perform her hit single, Bleeding Love, with a dance accompaniment from Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff. Julianne Hough also performed her single, My Hallelujah Song, with Derek Hough, Mark Ballas and Lacey Schwimmer dancing along. John Legend also performed Green Light.To the highlights: Brooke Burke was still reeling from her messed up jive. I screwed up the very beginning, and then it just went downhill from there, she said.Lance Bass was still rejoicing over his 10, and a 9 from Len, Lance said. That's like a 12 for us.Family matters: A fun little feature about halfway ...

With just three couples remaining in the Dancing with the Stars final performance night, and 90 minutes to fill, it was time to rehash the many weeks that led up to the big finish.Each couple was given a chance to present their case to the audience by highlighting their best ballroom and Latin dances -- introducing the replay of each -- as well as making one plea for votes.Up first were Brooke Burke and Derek Hough, who introduced their best ballroom dance of the season, which they agreed was the quickstep. Their best Latin dance of the season, they said, was the paso doble. Derek said if the voters are going on sheer dancing ability, Brooke would be the clear choice after pulling in the only perfect 30 of the season, and 12 perfect 10 marks.Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer felt their best ballroom dance was the tango. Lance said their best Latin dance was the mambo, which they didn't initially expect to be very good. Lacey made the case for Lance, saying he deserves to win because he ...