“Dancing With the Stars” lost more than its most vibrant contestant of the season on Tuesday night, it also lost its most entertaining.
TV personality Carson Kressley became the season’s fifth casualty as viewers went back to voting off the lesser dancers after two straight weeks of unexpected cuts. His ouster wasn’t a total shocker. This was the former “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” star’s second straight week at the bottom of the leaderboard, and the judges have for weeks complained about his lack of technique despite their love for his performances. As head grump judge Len Goodman had noted previously, it’s the worst dancers this season who are the most entertaining.
And the crowd in the ballroom was not pleased to lose the best worst dancer the show has ever seen. As soon as Kressley’s elimination was revealed, the audience erupted in thunderous boos, prompting co-host Brooke Burke Charvet to exclaim, “A hush fell over the ballroom.” (Oh, Brooke.) To which the best reality TV host in the biz, Tom Bergeron, replied, “It sounds like a pretty angry hush!”
Who wouldn’t be a little upset? Sure, Kressley couldn’t learn dance technique to save his most beloved pair of designer socks, but the man kept studio audience and viewers at home cheering with his joyful, energetic performances that brimmed with an unmatched passion to entertain. Even he knew he couldn’t dance, but he gave it his all each week and in turn delivered dances that were technically flawed, but ridiculously fun. “I’d rather have a great time and mess up a little bit than be perfect and boring,” he said after Monday’s “loopier than a ‘Looney Tune’ ” jive.
Loopy they may be, but his performances each week delivered a shot of adrenaline to what has otherwise been a pretty ho-hum season. After all, there hasn’t been much doubt since week one as to who’ll be the last two to duke it out for the mirror ball trophy (Ricki Lake and J.R. Martinez), and the dance-floor surprises have been a bit lacking, which adds up to little ballroom excitement.
Despite his ouster, Kressley maintained his usual cheerful and gracious demeanor. “This has been a pure joy for me,” he said after his elimination. “I just hope I can make people smile and laugh and have a great time.”
Considering that he promised to be back every week to cheer on his cast mates (what a guy!), we can at least look forward to his big smiles, if not his big-on-entertainment, low-on-technique dances.
‘Dancing’ ballroom erupts in boos over latest ouster
