Dancing with the Stars Season 10, Round 9 Elimination Night Whittles Field to Three

Boy, I take a leave from Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) for a few weeks and the tenth season is almost over already. Pamela Anderson is past tense as are pretty much everyone else save four stars: Erin & Maksim, Nicole & Derek, Chad & Cheryl, and Evan & Anna. Erin and Chad have been flying below the radar and need to pop to stand a chance at winning. Evan & Anna had the encore of the week. Evan follows my personal observation that the more confident they are as dancers, the less clothing they wear during routines. Usually the dancers are the ones that are shirtless or darn near it.

Musical guests consisted of Sarah McLachlan singing her hit "Angel" and newer song "Loving You." Nothing against the talented singer, but her voice tends to put me to sleep. Miley Cyrus also sang her new song "Can't Be Tamed." In a display to show how "grown up" she has become, her costume reminds me of a Gothic Brittany Spears as her dancers dressed as birds and danced akin to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." While it does help shed her Hannah Montana image of old, the Brittany Spears look paves a familiar potential train wreck path with occasional brushes back to celebrity for her career.

Additional filler consisted of a look back at the pro dancers growing up. Cheryl is a local favorite of my Bay Area as a San Francisco native. Anna has portrayed a cool demeanor that shows her discipline. Derek has looked like Derek since childhood and his London training shows his drive to be the best. I missed out on Maksim's bio.

The Macy's Stars of Dance Design-A-Dance portion consisted of former DWTS stars Joey Fatone and Melissa Rycroft dancing to KISS. While Joey's lifts on the light Melissa were impressive, it is obvious those two have not really followed up on their dancing after their appearances.

The College Dance Championship this week pit Rutgers against Utah Valley in Cha-Cha-Cha. The winner would face off against Purdue from last week. Rutgers was a little off-sync during their dance but in formation dance, a little off-sync is too glaring. With a BS in Ballroom Dance program, Utah Valley had the clear cut advantage and it showed with their precise and complex moves.

Evan and Nicole were safe while a nervous Erin and easygoing Chad waited for their fates. Whoever was eliminated this week would get the honor of being the 100th star eliminated. It is not the same honor as being the 100th dance champion, but a footnote of the show's history nevertheless. Chad got the red spotlight of doom and gave his farewells, leaving Erin, Evan, and Nicole for the finals.

Erin is pretty much the 3rd place star. Nicole and Evan dance pretty much at the same level against each other. Both scores were tied last night at 59 and both got perfect 10s during one routine. I would not be surprised if they could dance together.