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'Dancing With the Stars' eliminates one of its lower scoring pairs

The competition is getting serious on “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars.” After surviving three eliminations despite landing at or near the bottom of the leaderboard each week, Bristol Palin was finally sent packing after Monday’s rock ‘n’ roll routine proved a smidge too fast paced for her.The judges may have declared her performance to be “well done,” but it was far from perfect.
Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas' rock 'n' roll routine Monday didn't impress fans of the show.
Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas' rock 'n' roll routine Monday didn't impress fans of the show.Adam Taylor / ABC / Today

The competition is getting serious on “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars.” After surviving three eliminations despite landing at or near the bottom of the leaderboard each week, Bristol Palin was finally sent packing after Monday’s rock ‘n’ roll routine proved a smidge too fast paced for her.

The judges may have declared her performance to be “well done,” but it was far from perfect. The 32-point dance (out of a possible 40) was a bit too tricky for the reality personality. Rehearsal footage Monday revealed that she asked pro partner Mark Ballas to dumb down the routine and make it easier. New footage Tuesday showed that just prior to hitting the dance floor, she insisted he “talk to me the whole time, the whole time.”

Though she was praised for her improvement, the judges weren’t blind to the dance’s faults either. “(It was) a little safe on occasion,” head judge Len Goodman noted about the simplified routine. “You lost a little steam at the end,” Carrie Ann Inaba  pointed out.

And with so many amazing dances from the other all-star cast members (Shawn Johnson, Kelly Monaco and Gilles Marini,  for starters), perhaps Tuesday’s results mean viewers have decided they expect more from the personalities who are returning for a second shot at the mirror ball trophy.

Kirstie Alley, who was in last place after a 30-point Charleston, found herself standing under the spotlights of shame alongside the reality personality. But the actress seemed chipper regardless of her Monday performance. "Who cares if we have to have an extra person to get a 30?! We got one!" she joked backstage. And when she and pro partner Maks learned they were in jeopardy, it was clear the pair expected the bad news, and managed to share a private joke that left them both laughing uncontrollably. 

As for Bristol, though she made it all the way to the finals in season 11, she seemed OK with her week four ouster this time.

“We did it, we made it to week four. I’m happy with that,” she said after her elimination. “I had an awesome time and an awesome partner. These are great people and I wish everyone the best of luck.”

Next week, the pairs will take on two dances. One will be performed to the couples’ favorite guilty pleasure tune, while the second will be a team freestyle. The teams were chosen during the live results show, with Gilles and Shawn being the two leaders thanks to having the highest cumulative scores.

Gilles, who said he wanted the best looking team, selected Kelly, Kirstie and Emmitt Smith. The group will be dancing to PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” Shawn’s team, which will be grooving to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” consists of Sabrina Bryan, Melissa Rycroft and Apolo Anton Ohno.

As host with the most Tom Bergeron noted, next week, there will be two performance shows and no elimination. Both competition shows will kick off at 8 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday on ABC.

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