'Dancing With the Stars': Margaret Cho Sent Home for Samba

Oct. 6, 2010 — -- Comedian Margaret Cho, who was eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars" Tuesday night after a heartfelt samba, said she's proud of her performance.

"It's a very difficult thing to dance and to present yourself in this way," Cho, 41, said on "Good Morning America." "What I'm so happy about is we got to have a moment to tell our story and to be ourselves and I'm so proud of that."

It was an emotional exit for Cho, 41, who cried when she and professional partner Louis van Amstel became the third couple to be voted off "Dancing With the Stars." Their samba to Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" garnered a score of 18 out of 30, the lowest total of the week.

The contestants were required to tell a story through their dances this week. Cho, an advocate for equal rights, performed in a yellow headdress and fringy dress bearing the colors of a gay pride flag, and told the story of a gay coming-out party.

"Our story was serious. It's a tough time for the gay community. A lot of gay teenagers have committed suicide. We want this to end now," she said after the performance.

On "GMA," Cho said the dance was really about pride. "When I was a young person I felt so overweight, I wanted to die," Cho said. "We want to impart that message of pride to all kids out there."

While the judges lauded her message, they were less than thrilled with her technique.

"I praise you for waving the rainbow flag," judge Bruno Tonioli told her after her performance, "but I think you lost your way out of the Copa. You had too many drinks, my darling."

During the judging, Cho called her dance "the gayest thing that's ever happened."

Upon being voted out, perhaps alluding to the poor reviews of her intentionally comic dance from week 1, where she got caught up in the trails of a gold fan that she wore as a cape, Cho said, "I thought the judges were really hard on me, but I think you were hard on me because you could see I am a dancer for real."

Even though she got the ax, Cho said she leaves with no hard feelings.

"We are rooting for everyone. Everybody is great," she said. "I'm so proud to be a member of this amazing club. It's a phenomenal cast."

Nine couples remain in the competition, including actress Jennifer Grey of "Dirty Dancing" fame; reality TV star Audrina Patridge; singer R&B/pop singer Brandy; former NBA champion Rick Fox; actress and author Florence Henderson; Kyle Orlando Massey, star of the hit Disney Channel program, "Cory in the House;" Bristol Palin, a teen abstinence activist and daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino of the reality TV show "The Jersey Shore," and NFL Superbowl champion Kurt Warner.

Audrina Patridge and partner Tony Dovolani danced their way to the top of the leader board this week, earning an impressive 26 for their waltz.

Brandy

Brandy is a platinum-selling R&B and pop singer, actress, songwriter, and record/television producer. In 1994, at the age of 15, Brandy released her eponymous debut album, which sold more than 6 million copies. Following a major success with "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with singer Monica that spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B performance by a duo or group. The accompanying album, "Never Say Never," in 1998 sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. A series of hit CDs followed, including "Full Moon," "Afrodisiac" and "Human," bringing the star's sales to more than 30 million records to date. While maintaining a recording career, Brandy also gained fame as an actress, starring in several film and TV projects, including the popular UPN sitcom "Moesha" (1996-2001), the 1997 version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," "Double Platinum," a miniseries co-starring Diana Ross, and the movie "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer." Brandy has also been spokesmodel for Cover Girl, Candies Shoes, DKNY, Sketchers Shoes and Ultima/Kaneka brand by Brandy. Her civic and charity interests include the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Norwood Kids Foundation, which supports music and the performing arts in public schools. She is currently filming season two of the hit VH1 reality show "Brandy and Ray J: a Family Business" in which she stars and is executive producer. She is also in the studio recording a new CD for release in 2011.