Heather Hits the Road in Fifth ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Elimination
Brit Hoofer Succumbs to Lack of Viewer Votes
In what was arguably the best results show yet this season for Dancing with the Stars, British celebrity Heather Mills was given the boot after appearing in the Bottom 2 for the second time in a row. Last week, a routine-ending tumble to the ground that many viewers felt she faked to garner audience sympathy placed her and her partner Jonathan Roberts in the undesirable position of facing eviction. This week, a capable but so-so performance did it again. I guess in some ways, the competitor should be thankful because she recently returned home to England, setting in motion an arduous transatlantic commute between there and California, where the show is staged live each week, that would prove exhausting for even the most fit and accustomed individuals.
As much as I hate the reality that last night’s outcome leaves only one woman in the running for the title, boxer Laila Ali, I can’t protest Heather’s dismissal. She was in both my own and the show’s Bottom 2, as was John Ratzenberger and his partner Edyta Sliwinska. If I had had to choose between the two participants, though, I likewise would have saved John, whom the judge’s were pretty hard on in their comments, and who’s more entertaining to watch perform.
Heather, who received a full standing ovation, knew what was coming given last week’s poor results standing and the previous night’s scores from the judges (she took special care to mention the lowest, a 7, that Carrie Ann Inaba doled out, as compared to the 8s from Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli). She therefore arrived prepared with a pre-written goodbye speech that thanked the public; expressed gratitude to her dancing partner-teacher Jonathan, who she regrets will no longer receive pay now that he and his celebrity have placed out; and praised the “hundreds of thousands” (I presume in pounds) her participation has earned for animal-related charities. Maybe Heather got around to wishing her former fellow competitors well following her quip about viewers going vegan if they can and during the emotional group hug she was inevitably subjected to when the “last dance” was supposed to be taking place (I don’t even know why the cohosts bother mentioning it anymore since I haven’t seen a voted-off couple actually perform a legitimate final dance at the end of an elimination this season).
But that’s not why I believe this was the best results show thus far in the fourth year. While it was nice to see an encore of the crowded yet fun group Swing routine, the guests were who raised the bar, namely British soul siren Joss Stone, who grooved the crowd with two songs—the first of which featured some jammin’ dancing from Tony Dovolani (former partner of ousted daytime talker Leeza Gibbons), Elena Grinenko (former partner of basketball’s Clyde Drexler, cut last week), Julianne Hough (lucky speed skater Apolo Ohno’s partner), and Julianne’s brother and fellow professional dancer Derek—and the cast members from the Academy Award-winning feature film Dreamgirls, who literally danced up a storm, old-school style.
The “Dance Along at Home with Jimmy Kimmel” segment was also as reliably funny as ever, with talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel and his parking-lot security guard Guillermo, apparently back together after the spat last week that sent the guard into the arms of celeb Joey Fatone, showing how to properly execute the slow-slow-quick-quick Foxtrot, assisted by a bit of special effects work from the camera crew, Heather’s partner Jonathan, and someone else I couldn’t identify impersonating Guillermo. I must note, however, that the fact that Stone sang two numbers, no matter how spectacular, is proof positive that it’s time for ABC to cut the results show down to thirty minutes, especially now that almost half of the stars are reclining at home watching instead of taking to the stage to bust some moves.
Related Links: Dancing with the Stars Recaps
Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8pm EST (performance) and Tuesdays at 9pm EST (results) on ABC.
Heather Mills and Jonathan Roberts photo courtesy of ABC
