With first-show jitters out of the way and an elimination escape under their belts, all eleven couples performed on last night’s double episode of DWTS. The final scoreboard mirrored last week: Those who proved to be strong early contenders kept up the pace (Sabrina, Helio, Mel) while those in danger of being sent home continued to lag behind (Wayne, Mark, Floyd).

Mel B. and Maks opened the show on a promising note with their Quickstep. Although the dance went off without a hitch, it didn’t come easy to Mel in rehearsals. In a quest to turn “Scary Spice into Lady Spice” Maks enlisted the help of an etiquette coach to refine Mel’s moves. Looks like the old ‘book on the head’ trick really does work! The judges praised Mel’s ability to maintain perfect posture throughout the dance, and with one little comment by Carrie Ann to watch her shoulders, Mel took home a total score of 23. She’s sure to be back next week, hopefully minus the prom-gone-bad look.

The first castoff: Josie Maran and partner Alec Mazo.Attention all supermodels: Do not go on Dancing with the Stars! You will get voted off. Like others before her (namely Paulina Porizkova and Rachel Hunter), model Josie Maran was the first to be voted off DWTS season five last night along with partner Alec Mazo.

Josie took her elimination in stride, mockingly thanking the judges for their honesty and Alec for his guidance. “Bitten by the dancing bug,” Josie claimed she will now have to dance alone at home, while Alex encouraged anyone who may have voted for them to now vote for Cameron and Edyta. Poor things! I think their Foxtrot was better than a few other dances (eh hem, Wayne Newton and Cheryl), but when the DWTS viewers’ votes are tallied, somehow I don’t think the moms of America are ever going to vote for the supermodel. Especially when said supermodel just happens to also be a mom ... natch, a very skinny, very successful and very attractive mom.

Sticking around for the next round of Mambo and Quickstep performances, in the order they were revealed, are: 

The men made their dancing debut last night, and even though they weren’t as consistently promising as the girls proved to be Monday, a couple standouts managed to make their mark. Watch out Cheetah and Spice Girls, Helio and Albert might be stealing some of your votes soon.

The first guy to perform was Cameron Mathison from ABC’s All My Children along with partner Edyta Sliwinska. Flying from New York to L.A. amidst his full-time AMC schedule caused rehearsal problems from Cam and Edyta, which showed on the dance floor. Looking a little stiff, Cam surprisingly received high marks for his Foxtrot (maybe thanks to Edyta’s low cut dress and peek-a-boo thong—two out of three judges are male!) and walked away with a score of 21.

In a fury of sequins, sparkles and self-tanner, season five of DWTS kicked off last night. A group number opened the show featuring the entire cast of professionals. Best to leave the serious dancing to the experts, that is unless you’re Sabrina Byran, who positioned herself as the (Cheetah) girl to beat. Not that we didn’t already know that the young, singer/dancer was a contender alongside Spice Girl Melanie Brown—both of whom were easily the best of Ladies’ Night.

Drew Lachey joined Tom Burgeon as host, filling in for new mom Samantha Harris who delivered her own tiny dancer, Josselyn Sydney, early Sunday morning. Frankly, Samantha needs a break. Or rather, I need a break from Samantha. She was reporting live from the Emmy's less than a week before she popped that baby out!

After a full-cast introduction (All My Children star Cameron Mathianson tripped walking down the staircase), it was onto the ladies' performances. Tackling the nerve racking first dance was the extremely likable Beverly Hills: 90210 alum Jennie Garth and her partner, newcomer Derek Hough (yep, Julianne’s little brother, who just happens to look like a long-lost Lawrence brother).

Despite all her worries, Jennie’s Cha Cha Cha went over well with the judges who complimented her hip action and awarded her a total score of 21. But Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Josie Maran didn’t fair as well with her Foxtrot.

He’s won gold, silver and bronze medals, now he has a mirrorball trophy to add to his collection.  Apolo Anton Ohno and partner Julianne Hough were named season four champions of Dancing with the Stars last night, edging out finalists Joey Fatone and Laila Ali.

With one more chance to wow the judges, the three finalists each chose what they thought was their best performance of the season to serve as their last dance.  Only the judges scored these dances, which were then combined with Monday’s scores as well as America’s votes.

The finale opened with all of season four’s eliminated contestants back for a spin on the dance floor.  Slipping on their favorite costumes, Paulina, Shandi, Leeza, Clyde, Heather, John, Billy Ray and Ian all took a turn highlighting their best dances.

A brief look at the history of DWTS showed us its beginnings over the pond in the form of Come Dancing and later its revival, Strictly Come Dancing.  After a hard sell to TV networks in the United States, DWTS became the little show that could in the summer of 2005.  It has since spread from a sneaky smash hit to a global franchise.

A trip down memory lane of DWTS winners past, including interviews with Kelly Monaco, Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith, also filled some of the two-hour finale block along with a professional dance to Bjork’s “It’s Oh So Quiet” and a spoof DVD infommerical by Jimmy Kimmel.  Then it was on to the final performances.

Laila, Maks and Apolo were taunted last night by that shiny, ginormous mirrorball trophy, sitting pretty in front of the judges’ table.  It was hands down anyone’s game going into this final two-dance competition night, with only the Judges’ Choice and Freestyle Rounds left for each couple to show the at-home voters what they’re made of.
 
Laila and Maks started off the Judges’ Choice round with the Paso Doble.  This must be Maks’ secret specialty dance because I feel like we’ve seen it quite a few times this season, but despite Maks’ best efforts and their matching red satin ensembles, I was left feeling like something was missing.  Excitement, chemistry… something!  Perhaps nerves got the best of them, but I definitely didn’t think it was the “great performance” the judges hailed it as being.  Len did comment on Laila’s one or two leg snafus, but solid marks were dolled out across the board, leaving Laila and Maks just one point shy of a perfect score.

Steve Sanders has left the building!  The semifinals were the end of the road for 90210 alum Ian Ziering and partner Cheryl Burke.  Despite their 58-point finish and hugely well-received “Elvis Jive,” Ian and Cheryl found themselves in the bottom two along with Apolo and Julianne.  It was a long fought battle for Ian to overcome his stiff dance floor demeanor, and after proving himself Monday night, now couldn’t be a better time for him to be sent home—on top of his game and leaving the best three dancers left to duke it out in the finals.

Welcome to the semifinals!  Where the dancing is at its finest and the judges hand out 10s like candy.  After high-scoring dances from all four remaining contestants, leaving us with a neck-to-neck leaderboard, tonight’s elimination rests completely on America’s votes.    

Setting the bar high, Apolo and Julianne made no qualms about their quest for perfect 10s in both the Ballroom and Latin rounds.  After last week’s Paso Doble, Apolo and Julianne took a leap into the forerunner’s position and had a lot to lose this week if they ponied up a week performance.  But they started off right with a flawless, controlled Quickstep.  With great movement and intricate footwork, it was well received by the judges who dished out compliments as well as straight 10s.  

“If Billy Ray goes, I go.”  That was the threat issued by my mother via text message during last night’s show.  And so Dancing with the Stars has lost a viewer, along with many other middle-aged women who were glued to their television sets to see Billy Ray shake it every week.  One of the more emotional castoffs of the season, Billy Ray and his partner Karina Smirnoff bid tearful good byes to each other as the remaining four contestants head into the semifinals.

It's no secret the judges want Billy Ray to get the hillbilly out of their competition!  With the semifinals just one week away, Billy Ray simply doesn’t have the technique to make it to the final four.  On the other hand, Apolo and Julianne broke free from the pack last night with a standout Paso Doble, placing themselves in the judges’ high favors as well as at the top of the leaderboard.

And then there’s Ian, just hanging out in the middle, always a couple steps away from a great performance.  After a taste of praise last week, he’s back right where he started when his Foxtrot got a little too skippy and over-the-top for the judges.  My heart breaks watching Ian crinkle his face with embarrassment each time his hopes of a 10 are stomped on!  Whether he’s too dull, too serious, too dramatic or too peppy, the judges can’t seem to place their finger on what’s missing week after week.  A score of 22 leaves a lot to be desired for Ian and Cheryl’s final dance of the night.

Fresh from the Kentucky Derby, where they were “shakin’ hands and kissin’ babies,” Joey and Kim’s Waltz was elegant but a little lackluster.  There were no fancy, schmancy antics, light sabers or extravagant costumes—just a stripped down, by the book dance.  No surprises when it came to the judge’s score of 26: Len was the only taker, while Carrie Ann and Bruno voted to bring the old Joey back.  

While Ian’s petitioning for his first 10, Billy Ray’s goal is sadly much more unrealistic with the hopes of a measly 8.  Looking like Tim McGraw, Billy Ray’s performance was dubbed “crap” by Bruno.  Low scores place Billy Ray and Karina back at the bottom.

With her dad in the audience, Laila put the kibosh on any “nasty, spicy” Latin dances.  Maks obliged and their Waltz was nice and polished, but it didn’t have the same level of excitement that we’re used to seeing from this couple.  9s across the board felt a bit generous, but with Muhammad Ali in the audience, what could the judges do?

Apolo and Julianne’s fast and furious Tango brought vastly different reviews from the judges.  Carrie Ann and Bruno loved it (10s), while Len was less than pleased with the “hectic” choreography (8).