"Dancing with the Stars" Recap: Season 10, Week 8 Elimination

Last night’s episode of “Dancing with the Stars” wasn’t easy to watch. 58 minutes of filler leading up to one, very predictable elimination. Oy.

The show kicked off with a very looooong recap of the previous night’s episode (we’ve recapped it for you here), then the judges chose to see Nicole and Derek’s stunning paso doble again. It was good. Again. And we didn’t really need to see it…again!

The rest of the evening consisted of an ESPN-mocking “DanceCenter” package, two performances by the Gipsy Kings and the kick-off of the “DWTS” College Dance Championships. I was actually pretty excited about this last part, though the actual delivery of it fell flat for me. Two college ballroom dance teams, one from Purdue University and one from UC San Diego, faced off on the dance floor in hopes of advancing to the “DWTS” finale. Each team was good, but it’s tough to watch ballroom dancers perform on the same stage as the pros we’re used to seeing. But it was great exposure for these teams, and I’m always happy to see college dancers showing their stuff wherever they can. And although the “DanceCenter” spot was pretty lame, I did think it was hilarious that Jerry Rice & co. acknowledged Evan’s lack of enthusiasm. Even when he says “He’s so excited” his voice is pretty droll. The guy is talented, you can’t argue that, but his presence and charisma just can’t compare to Nicole’s.

Finally, we learn that the duos of Erin/Maks, Nicole/Derek and Evan/Anna will advance to next week’s semi-finals, leaving Chad/Cheryl and Niecy/Louis in the bottom two. Ultimately, Niecy was sent home, which isn’t super surprising. She did an awesome job over the past few weeks, and I’ve loved watching her (also, I have a huge crush on Louis van Amstel, so any screen time he gets is A-OK with me).

Next week: It’s down to four couples!