Dancing with the Stars Semifinals - Who's Going Home?

Dancing with the Stars moved into the semifinal round on Monday night with four contestants remaining. The last contestants dancing are Chad Ochocinco, Erin Andrews, Evan Lysacek, and Nicole Scherzinger. The contestants went into the semifinals with a blank slate allowing everyone an equal opportunity to shine. Tomorrow night another contestant will be eliminated and next week are the final dances for the trophy. There was a segment on each of the semifinalists tonight showing where they came from and what their lives have been like. These snippets are the kind of thing that may sway votes in one direction or another, so it will be interesting to see what role, if any, they play in the elimination.

Dancing with the Stars couple Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy opened the night with a Viennese Waltz. Andrews has been fairly consistent throughout the season and continues to please the judges with her precision and grace. The judges rewarded the first performance with 27 out of 30 points. Their second performance was the Paso Doble and earned a 29, giving them a total of 56 for the night.

Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough were up next performing the Argentine Tango. These two have been on fire from the beginning of the competition and appear to be virtually unstoppable. Regardless of the final outcome on Dancing with the Stars, it's undeniable that Nicole's dancing is incredible. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was moved to tears by this performance and the duo received a perfect score of 30 for their first dance of the night. Their second performance was the Cha Cha Cha which earned a total of 29 giving them a combined score of 59.

Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke headed into their first dance as obvious underdogs and emerged as contenders. Ochocinco finally brought the whole package to the dance floor-posture, precise footwork, elegance, and grace. The judges acknowledged that Chad is the only competitor remaining that began Dancing with the Stars with no dance experience whatsoever. Their first performance earned them 27 out of 30 points. Their second performance was the Samba, which earned a total of 25, so these two are going to need some help from the DWTS audience if they have any chance remaining.

Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya's first dance of the evening was the Foxtrot and it had all of the elements Evan has been known for this season-grace, precision, and near-perfect lines. Lysacek has been repeatedly criticized this season by the Dancing with the Stars judges for not being completely connected to his partner or the music. Anna found out how to tap into Lysacek's inner joy by reminding him to think about his nephew. The tactic worked and the pair earned 29 out of 30 for their first dance. Evan, who has struggled with the Latin dances this season, was under a lot of pressure to deliver in his Paso Doble performance. They pulled it off earning a trio of 10's from the judges, giving them a grand total of 59 for the night.

The Dancing with the Stars results show is Tuesday night and will feature all of the usual time-killing tactics and drama we've all come to expect. Sarah McLachlan will be performing live on the results show and is generally known as a crowd pleaser. The remaining contestant's fate lies in the Dancing with the Stars audience hands at this point. Who are you rooting for?

Source: Dancing with the Stars