A Lil Elimination From 'Dancing With The Stars'

LOS ANGELES — Lil Kim was booted from "Dancing With the Stars." The curvaceous, pint-sized rapper _ known for her flamboyant, hip-wiggling performance style _ consistently earned high scores throughout the competition, twice topping the judges' leaderboard. But she was eliminated from the hit ABC show Tuesday.

Lil Kim faltered Monday during her waltz with professional partner Derek Hough.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said she saw "a lot of missteps." But judges unanimously praised the rapper's salsa, with Bruno Tonioli proclaiming, "Your booty can do no wrong."

Lil Kim came into Tuesday's results show with the week's second-lowest score: 52 points out of 60. Rodeo champ Ty Murray was in last place with 46 points, but fans kept him afloat, sending him on to compete in next week's semifinal round.

Viewer votes are combined with judges' scores to determine which couple is eliminated each week.

Show host Tom Bergeron told Lil Kim "there was a real shock in this room" when he announced she would be leaving the competition. Head judge Len Goodman said the rapper "has been one of the best dancers" ever to appear on the show.

Lil Kim kept a smile on her face as she learned her fate.

"This is one of the greatest experiences I've ever experienced in my life," she said, adding that she expanded the hit show's viewership, "because I brought people who never watched the show."

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Hough said his partner has been one of his favorites.

"She's an amazing person, an amazing soul, and amazing spirit and an amazing dancer," he said.

Tuesday's results show also featured a performance by piano man Jamie Cullum and the continuation of the new professional dance-off: Three pro dancers are vying for viewer votes and a spot on the next season of the hit ABC show.

Besides Murray, three other celebrities are set to face off during next week's semifinal round: Actor Gilles Marini, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and "The Bachelor" star Melissa Rycroft.

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On the Net:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pnindex

Comments

[terraprieto]

Many of us are very happy to see the back of the vulgar one.

A Good Week! I’ve been hoping for this elimination since week one. Even before I saw her jerky, error-filled dancing.

I could never look at the lil ex-con without being reminded of the vile filth she regularly spews from her mouth, then calls it ‘music’.

I am very pleased that the majority of the DWTS fan-voters are too civilized to vote for the lil tax cheat.

Dance on, Ty!

[DeAnnaClaudette]

Dance on Ty? He can't dance either. lol.

[L3ftofC3nter]

Well now that Kim is gone, I'm throwing my support to Gilles. He is the best dancer on the show by far.

[negirl]

I was sad to see her go because she was one of the better and more entertaining dancers. I hope Gilles wins.

[dajuice7]

An elimination like Lil Kim's always brings to mind the inherent conflict with shows such as this. Should the winner be the person who performs the best, or should the winner be the person who is most liked (whether for their personality or entertainment factor)?. American Idol has dealt with this, So You Think You Can Dance also. Any show that leaves the voting at least partially up to an audience that is allowed to vote on any criteria they see fit is leaving the door open for some sort of "controversy." While I would have liked to see Kim remain (I thought she was miles better than Ty), the audience has the right to vote however they want. Cloris Leachman, for instance, made it through multiple rounds last season based solely on her value as an entertainer. However, these shows do tend to get a little nervous when they create a "monster" like they did with Cloris and her dance/comedy routines, that ended up sending better dancers home too early. The sad part, in my opinion, is that the contestants - celebrity and professional - are very competitive and really do want to win, but it must be hard when you know that you could be ousted by an inferior dancer.

[listentome]

They should add a new rule in like American Idol and give the judges the right to save one dancer when the voters get it all wrong. But, just like AI, when the judges told Ty he had to go because he was no good, I knew that Lil Kim would be voted off instead. It's like going to a horror movie and having to guess which character will be killed first.

[BlueBoomer]

I used to dance and I come from a family of dancers (my (late) mom taught ballroom, including competition, and my dad at 86 still goes out salsa dancing)... That li'l Kim was eliminated is just plain wrong, especially given the spectacular choreography that Derek came up with every week!... Those were two talented kids!

I don't know if Bruno's mis-speak in referring to her doing "tramp" so well had a bearing, but the fact that most of the winners are the male celebrities, despite the fact that they are generally required to do less than the women in any given dance, suggests that most of the public voting demographic is women who don't vote for other women (remember when Staci, the tall amazing blond a couple of years ago was eliminated earlier than she should have been?...)

I'm not sure what should change, but I think perhaps that the professional judges should carry more weight in the Dancing With The Stars competition...And while I'm making suggestions, Dear Producers: Please don't bring back Louie as one of the male professionals...he is so rigid and mechanical that it's actually unpleasant to watch him...and try putting a more challenged dancer with Cheryl for a change...you've all but given her another championship again.

The person I'd like to see win is Melissa...she's excellent, she's shown she's mentally and physically tough and she deserves to win...as does Tony D.!

[dajuice7]

In regards to gender and the idea that the male celebrities have an advantage, I agree. I do disagree however in terms of what exactly that advantage is. While sexuality certainly plays a large part in how the couples are branded, I think a more pointed advantage for male celebrities is the fact that in ballroom the woman is executing the more showy, exciting moves and if the male celebrity can rely on a professional to do this (as opposed to the female celebrities who have to perform those maneuvers themselves) they hold a distinct advantage over their female counterparts. It is a little unfair when a male celeb can get by with a decent frame and by staying on rhythm, when the female celebs are expected to not only accomplish this but also turn, kick, extend, and shimmy. Elegant dancers like Stacy Keibler, who you mention, are at and even more distinct disadvantage. I hope the judges take this into consideration in future seasons and many worthy female competitors, like Lil Kim, have been sent home too early.

[DeAnnaClaudette]

I do believe that most of the voters on any of these shows are women and young people/kids. I just have a really really hard time imagining grown men sitting at home with phone in hand, voting for these people each week. lol. Some may do it, but I can't imagine many do.

[listentome]

I agree with you for the most part. I am pulling for Gil and Cheryl, but won't be mad if Melissa wins. Although I didn't expect Kim to win, mainly because she is a rapper and a lot of the voting audience refuse to recognize rap as a legitimate art, I did expect her to be in the finale. The finale should have included Gil, Kim, and Melissa. I am not a Shawn fan. She just doesn't entertain on the dance floor, but is definitely better than Ty, whom I like also.

[justandra]

I have never watched the show until I heard Lil Kim was on there so I started tuning in just to watch her dance. Even though I thought the shows were good, i can go back to watching something until someone I actually was a fan of beforehand takes to the stage. Now get in the studio and put out another cd.

[Aabby]

Kim can hold her head high. She made her old fans love her again and gained many new ones. Gone is what one previously thought of her and what we saw was a dedicated and good spirited woman doing the best she could and making the best of her second chances. She made this season worth watching. I will not watch anymore. Good luck in whatever you take on next, Kim.

[Aabby]

She was robbed. For whatever reason.

[rcampbell]

I see posts that claim a bias on the show against African-American females and others maligning Melissa because she had some ballet training as a child. Both of these are undeserved attacks.

The deciding factor is the fan voting. Lil Kim was consistantly given high marks by the judges. That she's is gone is a function of fan votes, not the show. An African-American male, Emmett Smith, won a couple of seasons ago. It's a stretch to suggest that African-American women are being picked on. There are only so many stars each season. Some are African-American men, some are African-American women, some are white men and white women. There have been Asian-Americans as well. But only one wins.

As for the ballet training derision, this too lacks credibility. Shawn is a trained gymnast able to perform certain moves with agility and strength. I suspect Shawn's had some dance training to give her the grace to perform the floor exercise. Lil Kim does hip-hop dancing in her performances. This gives her an advantage in the Latin dances. Ballet training, being a gymnast or hip-hop doesn't prepare one for ballroom dancing.

Lastly, if you've been watching the show for a while, you might remember the same criticism of ballet training levelled against wrestler, Stacey Keibler, in an earlier season. She was beautiful, statuesque, wonderful to watch dance, but in then end she didn't win. She lost to Drew because the fans voted that way.

[cucumber]

What is the percentage of black folks in the U.S. (12%)? How many seasons has the show been on? It's not like black folks can win every time, or even half the time, which seems to be the assumption that that would indicate "fairness?" Hey, how many Jews have won the competition? The show is stacked against Jews! By rights, a Jew "should" win something like 2% of the time. By rights, a black person "should" win about 1/10 seasons, given representation in the population.

[rcampbell]

I felt Lil Kim's leaving was really too bad. You can't blame the judges or the show. Simply not enough people voted for Kim. If anything, there seems to be a strain of voters that either vote for Ty as a protest against the judging or because he's such a likeable guy or perhaps because they believe he's come a long way during the show. All of those are valid reasons, but the outcome of costing Lil Kim a slot in the semis and the finals is a real shame. Lil Kim could have won it all. Ty has no chance of accomplishing that.

I predicted Ty would leave last Tuesday and Shawn to follow. Ty will leave next week and Kim's leaving will put Shawn in the final. She is fun and sweet and a hard worker and her dance style is based on precision, but she's simply not in the same league as Gilles, Melissa or Kim for that matter.

VOTING:
The voting works on where one ranks after each show. If a couple is ranked first by the judges, but reeives the least votes, their rank goes down, potentially to the bottom. Conversely, a low ranking by the judges can be lifted by having the most votes (or even second most) from viewers. After the judges' subjective comments and votes, it's all numbers.

[Bulbul]

All is well and good. Lil brought lot of joy to Reege this morning and then danced with him !
Lil is indeed a bundle of joy and enthusiasm, she will be missed.
I hope the little Olympian wins or Gille...

[DogTown]

Lil Kim and Dereck were robbed!

[Bocona]

Everyone can thank Len, Bruno, and Carrie, for what happened to Lil Kim and Derek. All three have been going at Ty and really giving him a very hard tim. I have never ever seen any celebrity get so much put downs and very harsh comment son their dancing as Ty has gotten. Last week Len even told Ty that he should really go home and just trashed on Monday night. I know there were a lot of people who voted for Ty because of the horrible treatment he has gotten from the judges. This is what is known asa "Backlash". If the judges continue to treat the celebrities so unkindly then why have the show at all? The judges can be very sarcastic, cynical and just plain stupid when they forget the celebrities come from entirely different fields and we can see that they are trying to do something that is not of or in their element. I think this group of celebs was one of the best that has ever been on DWTS. We need new judges!

[L3ftofC3nter]

That's because Ty is AWFUL!

[petphotos]

Maybe no matter how good you are, your past will come back and bite your butt.

[Barbara2423]

Lil'Kim did a great job and should have been in the finals. This shows turns me off because it is not based on skills but on fans votes. I wished they had a show like this that is based upon skills.

[Bocona]

Hello? The dancing IS judged on skills by the judges and by votes from the celebs fan base.

[Jebediah Johnson]

Life ceased to be worth living after they killed off Belinda Carlisle.

[happycat]

I know what you mean. My life has never been the same.

[Aabby]

lol, but what a stiff she was! though still very pretty.