Dancing with the Stars: Dancing with the Clowns Edition

I wasn't home last night and so this week's recap arrives a day late, a dollar short, and complete with elimination results:

The big news: the stars chose their costumes! And there's a group dance! And Samantha Harris is dressed like Wendy from Peter Pan! Hang on everybody...

Melissa and Tony: Field trip to the Desperate Housewives set? What? But irrelevant or no, this was their best routine by a mile. And so so so much better than the Argentine tango Gilles and Cheryl did a few weeks back - Melissa's extensions were incredible, and I'm seriously jealous of those legs. Bruno says he needs a drink! Make mine a double.

Lawrence and Edyta: Lawrence decided to dress Edyta like she was in a Russian winter ... oh thank heavens. Actually, this might be my favorite thing she's worn this season. Lawrence looked a little lost during most of this - as Bruno said, not brilliant, but not terrible.

Lil Kim and Derek: This was an okay routine for them - it certainly didnt have the pop of some of Derek's earlier routines, but I thought it was a solid performance. I agree with Carrie Ann being underwhelmed - I didnt think the dance had to be that understated - or as Bruno put it, "taking the raunch out of Lil Kim is like having a margarita without tequila." Well put, my crazy Italian friend.

Chuck and Julianne: Longtime viewers of this show will remember that the samba is Julianne's favorite dance. And AAAA MY EYES WHY IS CHUCK WEARING RED PAJAMAS. Hugh Hefner costume aside, this was easily their best dance by miles and miles and miles. Chuck picked a great time to start getting in the game - I'm really excited to see these guys making a turnaround.

Ty and Chelsie: Aww, Ty is adorable. And so is Jewel. And so was this dance. Just a really sweet, simple, lovely routine. Ty and Chelsie are back! Woo!

Shawn and Mark: Ah, Shawn seems to have gone the obvious route and just bedazzled Mark from head to toe. Truth: I had the hugest smile on my face from the second they started. Just pure AWESOME. Fun choreography mixed with great dancing and a dash of sass - pure perfection. It's about damn time they got a 10.

Gilles and Cheryl: When I saw Cheryl's outfit backstage, I thought they were going to be dancing to "Beauty and the Beast." Seriously. And yes, Gilles is a great dancer, but I'm a little bored of them.

Oh dear, 60s tribute number. The rehearsal footage was pretty hilarious, and so was the routine. The bad wigs, the strange man-wear, the awkward be-bopping ... it was all kind of charming.

And then onto the results show - going in, I thought Lawrence and Edyta were the most vunerable, then Sanjay Gupta came on and everything became confusing. Wasn't this the same guy who was offered a job in the White House? He turned down a gig for Surgeon General to comment on the prospective health of Dancing with the Stars contestants?

New competition! Pick a pro for next season! I love this idea, especially since it gives us a chance to see some more quality dancing and not more packaged filler videos with Sanjay Gupta. Brent and Afton (Afton?) were not that exciting, Anna and Mayo (Mayo?) were lovely and balletic, and Snow (Snow?) and Genya (Genya?) less than stunning.

And then, finally, after all of that - Lawrence and Edyta are gone, making LT the only football player in DWTS history to not make the finals. BOO GIANTS SERVES YOU RIGHT!