'Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars' results recap: And that's a wrap

By Allyssa Lee

Oct. 3, 2012 12 AM PT

Turned out the cute “The End” card that Joey Fatone held up at the finale of his and Kym Johnson’s crowd-pleasing old-school Hollywood quickstep came all too true Tuesday night. The affable ‘N Sync member and his partner ended up with the lowest combined total of judges’ points and viewer votes and were the second couple eliminated from the “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars” competition.

The boy-bander kept his Charlie Chaplin hat and happy face (but no mustache) on throughout. “We did everything we could,” Joey said. “I had a blast.” Partner Kym, however, had a harder time masking her disappointment. “I’m sad, I’m not going to lie,” the Aussie pro admitted.

This elimination was our first shock of the season, as Joey was a finalist in Season 4 and a clear fan favorite. The lowest-scoring duo of Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas weren’t even in jeopardy this week — Season 1 champ Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy had to sweat it out for a small spell before they were reprieved, and Helio Castroneves and Chelsie Hightower were the other couple in the bottom two.

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It was also a sobering glimpse at what the season will bring as other champions and favorites fall like last year’s sequins by the Mirrorball wayside. The pros all felt it enough to make a pre-taped segment about it. What earned 10 scores in previous seasons wouldn’t even break a 6 this time around. This season showcases the best of the best, and they felt the pressure not to hold back. Derek Hough and Tony Dovolani wore their caps backward, and Maks Chmerkovskiy had a knit cap and a competition beard, which could only mean that they meant business.

The hour wasn’t all sad. We were treated to an encore performance of Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel’s top-scoring lickety-split quickstep, and they nailed the dip at the end again.

Nineteen-year-old British pop singer Cher Lloyd, who kind of resembles a young Stana Katic and looks all of 13 “and a hoff,” brought her own circus for a performance of “Want U Back.”

We got a glimpse of the future, and found it has a lot of leather and flames and gold lamé. And smoke. And dancing! In this week’s Macy’s Stars of Dance, Shannon Mather choreographed an epic post-apocalyptic-type dance-off that pitted three groups against each other: The reds, the black leathers, and the golds. They all raced up the grand ballroom steps for dominance and the gold lamé won in the end (of course).

There was an awesome “DWTS” Troupe performance showcasing some of the iconic songs of dances past featuring “So You Think You Can Dance” alums and choreographed by Jason Gilkison. My favorite segment was the bright yellow homage to Julianne Hough and Helio’s “Mask”-themed jive featuring “SYTYCD” Season 2 champ Benji Schwimmer and his sister Lacey that was so infectiously fun and full of energy, I never wanted it to end.

And then we got a particularly enjoyable treat when tenor powerhouse Placido Domingo graced the sparkly ballroom stage to belt out “Come What May” with Season 14 finalist Katherine Jenkins. Katherine donned her best courtesan-meet-Mirrorball outfit in a sparkling gold gown, and I loved how it looked like she had just as much fun watching Val and Anna Trebunskaya dance during their ballad as she did singing it (and then lovely Anna delightfully curtsied for them at the end). Placido Domingo also seemed like he was gamely enjoying the spectacle of it all, which made him that much more endearing.

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Next week is going to be a doozy: reinterpreting iconic dances AND a double elimination? Everybody better pull out all the stops and show some more “cleavlege.”

What do you think, ballroom fans? Sad to see Joey leave so early in the competition? Should Bristol have gone home instead? Are there sour grapes now between Bristol and Carrie Ann because of that “slam back” comment? Does Maks have something up his nonexistent sleeve?

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