Where was the madness this week? (Or, why I missed getting up a review of DWTS)

Ok, so I'm sorry. I had to work. I finally got to watch it tonight. And this is my take on it: its gotten too close to call now.

Two weeks ago, I was saying Michael Irvin needed to go home. Then I have to eat those words. His last two performances, plus group dance, makes it look like something in him decided he did not want to go home. And then the viewers went and let him down. Whats up with that?

The sad thing is that Mark Dascassos had a terrible week. On the up side, he didn't have to have Lacey Schwimmer. On the bad side, she didn't quit on him soon enough. And then she managed to show up for the dance off tonight. More on that below.

The one thing that is holding Mya back from being on top each and every week: her partner. Yes, I understand that Dmitri has won something big. However, he continually does routines that he likes, as opposed to what the competition wants to see.

Now the dance off with Mark and Lacey. Good song for the Cha Cha. He has those hips moving. Don't do the flips unless you aren't going to almost fall. Good routine. Too much on the flair. I can't wait to see Len's reaction. What is up with Len's shirt? It must have affected him, because there was nary a mention of flips and it not being a proper cha cha cha.

Part two of the dance off was Aaron and Karina doing another jive. Risky since they just got their best score off of the jive. Nice to see that it was all new choreography. Nice. All I have to say about that.

The judges made the right call. Aaron and Karina's dance was blistering. The problem is, Aaron whines. And he has a small fan base. No one who danced that well should have been in the bottom three. That was just a disgrace.

The bottom three should have been Michael, Kelly, and Mark. Against those two, Mark probably had a better chance at surviving, even against a resurgent Michael Irvin.

So where does this leave us with favorites? The overall favorite has to Mya (even with the anchor weighing her down). The male favorite is now Donny Osmond. Mya has the edge. She is fitter and she seems to pick up dances. Donny has the better choreographer, but in the last two weeks, he is starting show his age. He looks winded, especially on the up tempo dances where he looses steam towards the end.

As far as potential long shots, you have to watch out for Joanna Krupa. Not quite the dancer that Mya is, that woman is incredible competitive and is trying to make herself Mya's superior. Aaron would be a threat, but it seems clear that he has a very, very small fan base. Unless he wins over more viewers, he is going to have to get used to doing the dance-off.

So who do I think is going home next? If Aaron can stop whining and keep being as good as he was these past two weeks, its going to be Kelly. She's the weakest link remaining. The odd thing is, she is not the weakest dancer. She is the weakest mentally in this competition. She always seems to be a thought away from making it all go wrong on the dance floor, when she should be just going with Louis' lead. In my opinion, if she holds it together and dances as we have seen in those flashes of gracefulness a few weeks ago, she should outlast Aaron.

One last thought... could this be the weakest bunch so far? No one has pulled off a perfect performance yet and we are down to the final five.

Oh well, at least no more Lacey Schwimmer.