"DWTS" on Monday, October 25th: Totally Unpredictable

On October 25th's "Dancing with the Stars" the Big Winners of the night were Brandy and Maks, who scored 36 total points (after the Dance Marathon) to lead all other dancers.

The biggest surprise of the night, for me, was the critical drubbing that former leaders on the leaderboard Jennifer Grey and her partner Derek Hough took: (Carrie Ann) "Totally disjointed. You're like the Chosen One. You're doing downhill. It was a rough, rough ride." (Len) "You had the attitude and you lost a bit of the control." (Bruno) "You got the rage right. That was interesting." Jennifer and Derek only scored 20 points. They did, however, finish second-to-the-top in the Dance Marathon that followed, so they would have picked up an additional 9 points or so, which may have helped slightly.

It seemed completely bogus that Kurt Warner and Anna, his partner, who did well, were given such short shrift. Carrie Ann called him "Scruffy, scruffy. It didn't feel polished." Len said, "It didn't come off. It was just one of those things." Bruno said, "All the lines were wrong." I doubt if the audience agreed; Kurt looked "in command" and the routine was popular. The judges seemed to have him on their radar to be dismissed, while they were back "on" in support of the always-execrable Kyle Massey.

Brandy and Maks did do well, I will admit. Len said, "You're my hero, Maks. You come out with a dance full of passion, integrity. Without a doubt the dance of the night." Bruno said, "You had it." Carrie Ann felt that "Someone has developed their wings," referencing Brandy. "Very impressive," she told Brandy.

I thought that Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke were particularly attractive this night. They scored 24. Len said, "I thought you did an excellent job. Well done." Carrie Ann said, "I think you did amazing. Really, really well done." Bruno declared that Rick looked "like a Mohegan on the war path."

Bristol Palin did the best she has this season, dancing the tango with her partner. Bruno said as much. Carrie Ann called it, "Ridiculously amazing. Who are you?" Len said, "Last week, a chimp. This week, almost a champ." The pair scored 23. When asked, her partner Mark said, "She did great tonight. I'm really proud of her."

Audrina Patridge looked ravishing, as always, in a revealing red outfit that showed lots of skin. She and her partner danced the paso doble and Len said, "You're getting on my nerves. You have the potential to blow us away, but every week you don't get into the character. You've got everything going for you. Get into the character." Bruno said, "You have to get to the next level." Carrie Ann said that the couple's improvement was "ridiculous." They scored a 24.

Surprisingly, the judges saluted Kyle Massey and his partner (who danced second), saying, "Your footwork was much, much better. Way to go." Carrie Ann said, "Your carriage was amazing this week." Len said, "I'm not gonna' sack you. I'm gonna' back you tonight. The goal is to find a balance between performance and technique and tonight you found that balance." They scored a 23.

Stay tuned for elimination night on Tuesday. There were really no horrible performances, like the night that Bristol Palin forgot her moves while dressed in a gorilla suit. Surely Jennifer Grey, the cream of the crop, won't face elimination over this night's dance? It seemed like the judges were gunning for Kurt Warner, in that they showed his performance no mercy, when, as you watched, it looked much, much better than Kyle Massey's and contained fewer visible errors than that of Jennifer, the star of "Dirty Dancing." And, tonight, Bristol Palin did redeem herself for last week's horrible outing.

If it were up to me, I'd send Kyle packing, but someone out there is voting for him. I hope Rick Fox has people voting for him, as well.