DwtS 3 -- Results Show Week 9

Mario and Emmitt have been fan favorites since the beginning of the season, so it was no surprise that they earned spots as finalists for Dancing with the Stars 3. But it was still sad to see Joey & Edyta go.

After a brief rundown of last night's performances, the judges asked Mario & Karina for an encore of their Tango. Len said that the judges finally agreed on which of the perfect-scoring routines to award the encore "after hours of deliberation and three bottles of wine."

Hey, look, the newest Bond girl is in the audience! Perhaps it's because the latest James Bond movie comes out next week.

And wouldn't you know it, several of the pros just happened to choreograph a demo dance to the James Bond theme song just in time for this week's show. Elena, Tony, Kym, and Max were joined by two of last seasons pros, Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts. It was good to see them back again.

After the shameless promotion, Samantha interviewed the remaining couples backstage. She recycled some of the questions she's been asking for weeks. Joey's still working hard, and Mario's still feeling "the pressure."

Emmitt said that Joey and Mario were so competitive, "They could play my sport."

The backstage interviews were followed by footage of interviews with members of last night's audience. Of Emmitt, one audience member said, "Any man that can smile like that and make your panties fall off, he deserves to be voted for." (I must not have sat next to her; there was no underwear on the floor by my table.)

Elizabeth Berkley was rooting for her former Saved By the Bell castmate, Mario. And Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, first president of Zambia (and my unofficial date for last night's show), said he was impressed by all of the celebrities. That's the kind of stuff you've gotta say if you want to be president.

After the interviews, we got a preview of some of the early rehearsals for the DwtS Tour. Even though she's not listed on the official tour website, Ashly DelGrosso was at rehearsals, perhaps filling in for Karina while she competes with Mario.

To build excitement for the tour, Max & Willa, Harry & Ashly, Lisa & Louis, and Kym & Joey McIntyre performed a fun jive to "Footloose."

Slim-Fast contestant Tysonia and her instructor Christian were in the audience tonight to watch footage of her performance at the Pacific DanceSport Championships. They finished their round in second place. According to the DwtS board at Dance-Forums, the winning couple was pro Jeremy Gatlin and his student Mika Garrett.

Then, tonight's special musical guests, Pet Shop Boys, performed "West End Girls" alongside some hip-hop mimes.

A package of interviews with members of the media followed. Rachael Ray said that the show is so popular, even the animal kingdom keeps up on the show: "My pit bull definitely has an opinion about this." Most of the media members expressed more interest in the scandals associated with DwtS (e.g., Shanna decking Paris Hilton, Sara Evans' divorce, etc.) than in the show's dancing.

Another clip package featured the remaining participants talking about their competitors. Edyta said that when Emmitt dances, "he looks very masculine."

"Joey's a real nice guy," said Mario. "And I think that comes across when he performs."

And of Mario, Joey said, "Those routines that he does with Karina are perfection."

Finally, it was time for elimination. Mario & Karina were announced as the first couple moving on to the finale. Then Tom announced that Joey & Edyta had received the lowest number of audience votes, meaning they were going home.

Tom asked the audience, "Have you ever seen as much unbridled enthusiasm as Joey brought to the dance floor?"

Of Edyta, Joey said, "This is a great friendship. We're gonna go on the tour, and we're gonna rock it out for 40 dates or so." Joey tried to be positive about his experience, but the smile was gone from his eyes. He was obviously disappointed.

Samantha announced that next week, the final two couples will dance their favorite routine from the season, a new freestyle routine, and then both couples will perform dances to the same song

As the show closed, Joey & Edyta danced their final dance to the comically insensitive, "Didn't We Almost Have It All."