"Dancing with the Stars" Recap: Season 11, Week 7, Elimination

Well, the voters were surprisingly kind to Ms. Palin last night. Yup, Bristol’s still in the running for the Mirrorball Trophy.

But before we reveal the elimination results, here’s a quick rundown of the rest of last night’s extra special, 200th episode (continued), election night extravaganza.

– Ooooh, Brooke! Sparkly dress!

– They’re giving away mock-awards for the series, sort of like senior superlatives. First up, “Most Dramatic Moment.” Nominees include: Christian de la Fuente’s arm injury (remember when he was taken away in an ambulance—while still wearing his fluorescent chartreuse vest?), Kate Gosselin and Tony Dovoloni’s rehearsal fight, Misty May Treanor’s achilles injury, Marie Osmond’s collapse and Kelly Monaco’s wardrobe malfunction. And the winner is, Marie Osmond! She accepts her award by video from Vegas—whoa, that’s quite a mane you’ve got, Marie.

– The ensemble from Broadway’s Mary Poppins performs “Step in Time.” Not terrible, but nothing really compares to Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews’ jubilant film version.

– Ooooh, Taylor Swift! Sparkly guitar!

– The next series award is for “Best, Worst Dancer.” The nominees are: Kenny Mayne, Master P, Kate Gosselin (again), Steve Wozniak and Billy Ray Cyrus. The winner is Kenny Mayne, who’s on hand to accept his “Two Left Feet” award. His response? “I’m like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future: You guys will get what I was doing…later.”

– Now the award for “Biggest Dancer Transformation.” In the running: Derek Hough and his sun-kissed locks, Tony Dovoloni’s ever-brighter teeth, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, whose many hairstyles have included a ponytail and a mullet, Mark Ballas, who went from scrawny to buff, and Louis van Amstel, who started the series with a long, luscious Fabio ‘do. And…Louis takes the “Golden Ponytail” award.

– Ooooh, Rod Stewart! Sparkly…uh…personality?

– Now they’re showing clip compilations of each judge’s best moments. This confirms that a) Carrie Ann is prone to crying b) Len has a knack for odd analogies and c) Bruno is controlled by an evil puppetmaster.

– Oooh, Taylor Swift…oh whatever.

– Apparently, next week’s competition will include something called the “Instant Dance.” Is that like instant coffee? Quick but weak and leaves a funny taste in your mouth.

– And finally, 90 minutes later, we learn that Rick Fox is going home. Wait a second, does that mean that Bristol is still in this competition? I’m so confused.

What do you think? Was the right person eliminated?
And don’t forget to watch next week and check back for our recaps.