Melissa Rycroft Grabs the Brass Ring on 'Dancing'

Now that most of the season’s completely hopeless contestants have been eliminated, football player Lawrence Taylor had no real rivals for last place. It will take an upset of Steve-O proportions to keep him in contention after tomorrow night’s elimination show. L.T. didn’t particularly shine in the couples’ group dance either, and he may have lost some of his support among male viewers when he designed an uncharacteristically modest costume for his partner, Edyta Sliwinska. (The stars supposedly helped create their partners’ outfits this week.)
The first of the seven remaining couples to dance were Melissa and Tony Dovolani, who were on a mission to fulfill judge Bruno Tonioli’s request last week to make her a “man-eater.” In the rehearsal-footage filler segment, they went to the set of “Desperate Housewives” (coincidentally, it’s on the same network as “Dancing With the Stars”) to get man-eater lessons from Teri Hatcher, whose “Housewives” character isn’t man-eaterish at all.

'Dancing with the Stars' Lawrence Taylor I'd Rather Be Golfing

Dancing with the Stars eliminated its sixth celebrity of the season last night. It was football legend Lawrence Taylor's turn to exit the dance floor, and everyone involved heaved a collective sigh of relief. We at home felt relief because we will now no longer have to watch Lawrence Taylor pretend to look like he's enjoying himself. Tom Bergeron was probably relieved that he could finally stop making golf jokes, and LT himself is undoubtedly very relieved that he doesn't have to dance anymore and he can get back to the links.
At the beginning of this season of Dancing with the Stars, I admired Lawrence Taylor for his strong work ethic. He looked like he was the hardest-working celebrity of this season's cast. His rehearsal tapes were filled with footage of him wanting to repeat his routine over and over and over until he got it just right. But somewhere along the line, he lost the enjoyment of dancing, and it became more like an onerous assignment that he can't get out of. Especially in contrast with Lil' Kim, who can never contain her enthusiasm for dancing, Lawrence's demeanor was dour and grim, sighing with resignation at the prospect of having to learn another dance.
As Tom Bergeron bemusedly noted that Lawrence Taylor actually looked pleased to be leaving the show, LT really couldn't hold back his smile. He thanked Edyta for teaching him everything he knows about dance, "but I don't know where the hell I'm going to use it." Huh. Really? That's what you're saying right now?
Also, all the golf talk made me think of Jason Mesnick's hometown visit to Molly Malaney on The Bachelor last season. All they talked about was golf! I've never seen people who loved golf so much! Except I guess Lawrence Taylor holds that title now. As his last appearance on Dancing with the Stars came to a close last night, he took over the mic to tell all his golf buddies that he'll be back on the practice range at 9-freakin'-AM.