"Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars": Adieu, times two

Kirstie Alley and Gilles Marini were eliminated from "Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars" on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012

/ ABC

American voters circled their wagons around their own and sent a Frenchman packing on "Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars" Tuesday.

With the elimination of points laggard Kirstie Alley all but assured, the big question on double-elimination night was who the second unlucky contestant would be to fall short of making the semifinals.

Genial Gilles Marini, the suave French actor who spoke softly but carried a big six-pack, was the first big gun to go as the all-star edition of the show whittles itself down to the final few. It's a big loss of a performer who combined skill, sex appeal and real artistry.

French actor Gilles Marini turned to the spray tan hose to help him with his Bollywood number on "Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars" on Monday, Oct. 15, 20012

/ ABC

"It was a wonderful experience, I got to do it twice," said Marini, who was consistently one of the top performers of this season. I think my favorite dance from Marini was his Bollywood routine, where he uncorked the bronzer bottle and went from French to Indian for a really fun routine.

"Gilles, what I love about him, every week, 100 percent, full-on, flat-out, giving it everything," said head judge Len Goodman.

Also bidding a long-overdue adieu, was Alley, the comic actress who, at 61 years old, couldn't keep pace with the younger dancers. But Alley did show them a thing or two about comic timing and audience manipulation. Alley hung on about three rounds past her actual skill level, which says a lot for her show biz savvy.

Comic actress Kirstie Alley and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy perform a quick step in the second week of "Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars" Monday, Oct. 1, 2012

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"Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars"

"You know, the second time around was very special to me," Alley said after getting the bad news. "I just love dancing!"

Five teams made it to the semifinal show next week. Generally, in sports, a semifinal round has four competitors, but, whatever. The scores are all so high, and the remaining competitors are so closely packed together on the scoreboard that the audience vote will be a real deciding factor in the weeks to come.

Breathing a big sigh of relief are Apolo Ohno and Emmitt Smith, former "DWTS" champions who haven't quite hit their stride the second time around. The three remaining ladies, Shawn Johnson, Melissa Rycroft and Kelly Monaco, are a solid length ahead of the boys heading into the final stretch.

Next week, the stars will be performing to the music of Michael Jackson's "Bad" album. It will be the same week ABC airs a documentary special about the making of that classic album.

As part of the hijinks, the stars also assigned each other weird dances to perform next week to cryptic titles yet to be explained. Here's the zany lineup for next week:

It all leads to the finals of the all-star season in two weeks, which look to be a Shawn Johnson, Melissa Rycroft standoff -- if they can stay uninjured. The dancing and performance levels have been so high this season, it should be a great final two weeks.

But with the exits this week of Alley and Marini, it does feel like a part of the heart of this season will be gone.

[mielmani]

Has there ever been a DWTS final with three women competitors? THAT would be interesting, but I think Apolo Ono is going to knock out Kelly and Emmit.

[Rupununi]

Emmet should hve been the star to go. Both himself and Apollo have not lived up to former expectations, while Gilles continued to maintain top performance week after week. I guess it's just the fact that the American audience is 'circling the wagons'. Now that Gilles has left, a lot of the real emphasis on ballroom dancing has gone with him - the charisma, sensuality, good looks and personality are alas no more. He should not have been sent hom. Kirsty on the other hand, had a good run for her money. While certainly not one of the better dances, she still showed that she's 'got it' even at 60. I hope Melissa wins this time, Tony deserves the mirrow ball trophy at long last!!

[joadun]

While I agree that Kirstie should have gone long time ago, I do not believe that Emmitt Smith should have stayed. He cannot dance (what he mostly did was just stand and wiggle his hips and behind) while 2 of those who did go (Peta and Gilles) can dance. Makes me wonder if this show is really about one's ability to dance or is it a personality contest.

[ChrisBaron123]

I was pleased by the results because even though Kirstie and Gilles brought a lot of heart to the show I think that all of the remaining contestants are better dancers. Kirstie did an amazing job keeping up with all of the youngsters on the show and Gilles was able to knock Carrie Ann out of her chair with pure sex appeal, so I have a lot of respect for both of them. I was talking to a coworker at DISH about the show, and she was just heartbroken that Gilles was leaving us. I nearly missed the show, but thankfully my DISH Hopper recorded it with Primetime Anytime. I love how it records everything on during primetime on the four major networks and saves it for a week, so I never miss anything. The remaining contestants are all so good, and I could see any of them taking home the Mirror Ball if they bring their best stuff in the next few weeks.

[dennisall77]

IT HAS BEEN AN AWESOME SEASON, except for the presence of the undeserving Palin. One would have thought the all-stars were enough of a draw, but the producers had to make a political reach for a clumsy, talentless Bristol. She was a distraction from some of the real artistry of the stars. (OK, Kirstie is not a talented dancer, but she makes it fun and can at least speak using multi-syllabic words and complex sentences, as opposed to Palin)

[ococooby]

That's when I stopped watching the show because of that.

[marylafl]

I stoped watching too, after seeing Palin over and over .Enough of tem

[pedalit]

last night the final 3 couples on the chopping block were an easy calll, in order