Lawrence Taylor Leaves with a Smile

April 22, 2009 — -- Actually more than a smile -- he left wearing a massive grin. It was no secret that after seven weeks of dancing, Lawrence Taylor was ready to trade in a hardwood ballroom floor for a lush green golf course.

Tom Bergeron teased the former footballer saying, "You're the worst actor we've ever had on the show. You're the happiest guy to go home, to get back to the golf course."

Following his elimination, Taylor gave a shout out to his friends. "I want all my boys to know back in Miami, I'll be on the practice range at 9, tee off is at 9:30." Taylor later appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." When asked by the host if he was happy to be eliminated, the linebacker simply said, "Yeah."

This week, all of the stars designed the outfits that they and their partners would be wearing. Taylor might only be remembered for designing an outfit that completely covered up a notoriously naked Edyta. Channeling Dr. Zhivago, Taylor dressed Edyta in a floor length coat complete with faux fur trim and a full length ball gown. Edyta famously wears the least amount of clothing on the show, the better to display her amazingly toned body. Unaccustomed to dancing with so many layers, got literally wrapped up in her dress while dancing.

"I'm wearing so much clothes that I got tangled in it!" she said later.

Tom Bergeron joked they've only been putting Edyta in scanty costumes "for her own safety."

Also on last night's episode, for the first time in eight seasons viewers were asked to vote for the next professional dancer who will be joining the cast of Season 9. Over the next three weeks, six professionals will face off, competing for one spot. Of the six pros, two are siblings of former "Dancing with the Stars" professionals: Genya Mazo is the brother of season one champion Alec Mazo, and Afton DelGrosso is the sibling of Ashley DelGrosso, who appeared in the first three seasons of the show.

Monday Madness

Melissa Rycroft knocked Lil' Kim off the top of the leader board with an incredibly sexy Argentine tango that was packed with amazing, and legal, lifts. Shawn Johnson was hot on her heels with a really fun, high-energy, Michael Jackson-inspired cha-cha that earned her her first 10 of the season.

Chuck Wicks finally flipped on his dancing switch because he really started to shake his groove thing -- perhaps his red silk pajamas set his feet on fire -- and he nabbed his best score so far in the competition for his cha-cha. Gilles Marini tied for third place with Chuck for an elegant and graceful Viennese Waltz.

Lil' Kim followed Gilles on the scoreboard for a rumba that was slightly disappointing and underwhelming. While trying to find a balance between sexy and sweet, she lost the raunchiness that we have come to love and expect from the tiny rapper. Ty Murray came in second from the bottom, although his score for his waltz was six points higher than his score last week and his best of the season. Lawrence Taylor came in at the bottom of the board for his waltz, despite all around positive feedback from the judges.

Final Scores

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani (29/30)

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (28/30)

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough (27/30)

Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke (27/30)

Lil' Kim and Derek Hough (26/30)

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower (24/30)

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska (21/30)Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (26/30)

Lil' Kim and Derek Hough (26/30)

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani (25/30)

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough (23/30)

David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson (22/30)

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower (21/30)

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska (20/30)

Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer (18/30)

Denise Richards Sambas Off 'DWTS'

Blog by Sabrina Parise, March 25, 2009

Denise Richards and and Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced their last samba Tuesday night on "DWTS."

Although the judges praised Charlie Sheen's ex during last week's dance-off, it wasn't enough to keep her on the dance floor.

On her way out, Richards said, "Well, my daughters love my dancing. ... It's been fun. I'm a huge fan of the show and I will continue to be so, and it's fun to be on the other side, so thank you so much."

Highlights: Gotta check out Karina Smirnoff dancing in red spandex and leg warmers to Hall & Oates' live performance of "Maneater." It's also worth a look at married pro couple Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo dance to Adele's live performance of "Chasing Pavement."

Monday Madness ...

A three-way tie for first place! Gilles Marini really shook the floor with his sexy samba; Shawn Johnson's fox trot was compared to an elegant princess gliding on ice; and Melissa Rycroft effortlessly fox-trotted her way across the dance floor. All three couples got 27 out of 30 points. Straight nines across the board.

Other highlights: Steve-O returned to the dance floor after a week of recovering from back pain with what judge Len Goodman called a "proper" fox trot and rodeo star Ty Murray came to the rescue of his partner, flawlessly catching her after she wiped out on the floor, earning him the "most improved" title of the evening.

Alas, even doing the worm couldn't save Steve Wozniak from landing at the bottom of the board with a TOTAL score of 10 -- not the worst score ever in "Dancing" history but pretty close!

Cari Ann Inaba told the Woz: "You are so cute and so adorable, but at some point the novelty wears off. I still smile when I see you but it's Week 3. It was an earthworm, a slug. But I love watching you. You're like the uncle at the party."

Richards and Chmerkovskiy danced the samba to Filter's "Take a Picture" and Bruno told Richards: "That was so flat and cold it was more a waffle. Really nothing really worked for you tonight. It went wrong so many times. I know you have it in you. We all have bad nights sometimes -- this was one of them."

Lil' Kim and Derek Hough danced the samba and Bruno called the diminutive rapper "a pocket-sized Venus with a super-sized sex appeal."

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (27/30)
Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke (27/30)
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani (27/30)
Lil' Kim and Derek Hough (25/30)
David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson (24/30)
Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough (23/30)
Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower (23/30)
Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska (20/30)
Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin (17/30)
Denise Richards and Maksim Chmerkovskiy (16/30)
Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer (15/30)
Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff (10/30)

"GMA" producer Polson Kanneth writes:

Most people commenting on "GMA's" Twitter page thought Apple computer co-founder Steve Wozniak would be going home, but he has lasted another round.

Maybe because there is a Twitter page with more than 50,000 Woz fans. It's "Revenge of the Nerds" helping out one of the worst dancers in the show's history.