Our "Dancing with the Stars" correspondent Lenni G has some thoughts on last night's episode.

To quote Judge Len, last evening's performances were "awesome." Lowest score of the night - 24. Yes, people, I said 24! And we had the first tens of the season! The dancing was all about the stars most memorable year so you know knew from the start it was going to be a multiple tissue event.  

First up, Jack and Anna with a samba celebrating Jack's daughter "finding" him in 2011. Len liked Jack's rhythm and felt it was the best dance from him so far. Bruno said he really "got the party started." Carrie Ann felt he "uplifted the room" but wanted to see more. I'm still not into Jack though it was a nice story. Judges' scores - 8's from all three for a total of 24.
 

The music ended for two contestants on last night's super-sized "Celebrity Apprentice" episode, both victims (in my humble opinion) of poor team leadership. But we'll get to that later (don't worry -- Clay Aiken is still safe). The most interesting part of last night's show was watching Arsenio Hall's slow burn build to a full inferno of hate, which engulfed his toxic -- but entertaining -- teammate Aubrey O'Day.

Just, wow. It's saying something when the person on your team most famous for crazy, violent freakouts (table-flipping reality star Teresa Guidice) is frightened by your outburst and thinks you might be unstable.

Our "Dancing with the Stars" guest blogger Lenni G is back on duty this season, and she loved last night's premiere. Here's her recap:

Finally, there was a little Clay Drama in last night's "Celebrity Apprentice."

In this photo, Clay Aiken is in the act of telling off Penn Jillette. During a brainstorming session, Penn was critical of the ideas of project manager Lou Ferrigno, and it got on Clay's last nerve. Clay went off, telling Penn he believed he was setting Lou up to fail and calling Penn's attitude "condescending." Penn listened quietly as Clay clenched his fists and exclaimed, "It's frustrating the hell out of me!"

As "Celebrity Apprentice" face-offs go, it was pretty lowkey, perhaps because Penn didn't really engage, he just sat and listened with a scary look on his face. But apparently, the men are intimidated by the Vegas magician so they were impressed that Clay stood up to him on behalf of Lou. Arsenio Hall was especially impressed, commenting that Clay was "handling his business." Lou was also grateful and commended Clay for "putting Penn in his place."

Lou also compared Penn to the devil, so ...

(Update: Penn seems to be accusing Lou of hitting him during the taping of the show.)

Tonight's "Celebrity Apprentice" challenge was to come up with a presentation to promote the new Buick Verano. Or as pop singer Aubrey O'Day called it (twice! during the presentation!), the Buick Verona.

It was a car challenge and the men have Michael Andretti on their team, so of course, their team leader was Adam Carolla. Michael didn't want to be the leader and told Adam to take it. Adam's a gear-head, so he wanted it and felt he was a good choice.

The leader of the women's team was Debbie Gibson. That's right -- the Debbie Gibson! (Yeah, I'm not impressed either).

For those who like consistency in your reality television, yes, Lou Ferrigno once again felt horribly under-utilized and complained that his team doesn't appreciate everything he brings to the table. He wants everyone to know that he is capable of so much more than being The Hulk. To prove that, he pitched -- hard -- that he get to dress up like The Hulk for the Buick presentation. No thanks, Lou.

Last night's "Celebrity Apprentice" had a Medieval (or if Victoria Gotti is writing this, "mid-evil") theme, which was befitting the epic amount of drama on display.

The teams were charged with putting on shows for Medieval Times, with the audience voting on the winner. The men, led by Penn Jillette, went with your basic flashy, corny, fast-paced, action-packed show, designed to appeal to kids and their parents. The women, led by Lisa Lampanelli, decided on a mash-up spoofing "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," "Jersey Shore," and "Celebrity Apprentice."

The "Real Housewives" show was less popular and the women had to send someone home.

Our homeboy Clay Aiken was at the center of some of the early drama, as his tambourine shaking during rehearsal spooked a horse, which threw Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider. Snider's finger snapped at the base and will require surgery to repair.

IIt's possible I'm just overly sentimental, but I'm really pulling for Billy Crystal to wow us as host of tonight's Academy Awards show.

But deep inside, I admit I'm a little worried he'll come off as corny and be criticized as too old-fashioned, which will depress me. (I know from my own Twitter feed during the Grammys how unforgiving we as a society can be of "old timers" taking the stage.)

So, I'm in your corner, Billy! Entertain us!

The Oscar show officially starts tonight at 8:30 on ABC, but ABC's Red Carpet show begins at 7:00. If you want to get an early start, E! has a Red Carpet show starting at 5:30. If you want to get a really early start, E! has a Countdown to the Red Carpet that starts at 1:30. 

I'll be doing a live recap here tonight starting around 7ish. David Menconi will also live blog from On the Beat.

In the meantime, here's a printable Oscar ballot so you can vote. To keep myself honest, I've attached my marked ballot below. I did a lot of guessing.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Clay Aiken made his debut on "Celebrity Apprentice" tonight, and we're happy to announce he survived his first boardroom showdown.

In fact, Clay proved himself a savvy player in the night's first challenge, which was running a sandwich shop in midtown Manhattan. The teams (men vs. women) were judged on how much money they could raise in one business day. Notice I said "raise" instead of "earn" because the only way to win these types of "Celebrity Apprentice" challenges is for the celebs to get their rich friends to come and donate thousands of dollars.