DWTS: Season's first Dance Duel is a mess

"Dancing with the Stars" blogger Lenni G has the latest on last night's Dance Duel and elimination.

Last night's entertainment included Train, accompanied by a terrific Cheryl and Louis routine, Sheila E. with her drums, etc., and Selena Gomez with the Scene but no Justin Bieber.  

Judges chose Maria and Derek's salsa for the encore dance which expanded a bit on the first performance. Derek still lost his shirt but planted the big kiss on Carrie Ann, not Maria. Maria, not to be ignored, planted a big one on Bruno. Oh my, a four-way!  Let's move quickly to the results...

The first six couples called out - Gladys and Tristan, Melissa and Maks, Maria and Derek, Donald and Peta, Katherine and Mark, and William and Cheryl - were all declared SAFE!  

That meant that Roshan and Chelsie, Gavin and Karina, and Jaleel and Kym were all possible participants in the Dance Duel.

OK, I'm sure we all knew that Gavin would be dancing again but against whom? As it turned out, it was Jaleel. So there they were, dancing a cha cha side-by-side to decide who would go on. Even though all the couples knew ahead of time that they would have to dance a cha cha for the judges if they were in the bottom two, it appeared that neither Gavin nor Jaleel had done much practicing during the week.

The whole thing was one hot mess with Gavin getting the award for hottest mess. And, of course, it was a unanimous choice of Gavin by the judges for the Bye Bye Train.  

Loved Gavin's parting words and his big hugs for Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno. This guy has a great personality which unfortunately way outshines his ability to dance. Dern.

It's a Motown Special next week that will feature some of the original artists, including The Temptations, Martha Reeves and Smokey Robinson. Note to Gladys: This is your week, honey. Go for it!

-Lenni G