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Comedian Ross Eliminated; Ex-Buc Sapp Dances On

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TBO.com

Published: September 24, 2008

Jeffrey Ross didn't get a second chance to quickstep on "Dancing with the Stars." The comedian and his professional partner Edyta Sliwinska were the first couple eliminated Tuesday from the seventh season of ABC's dancing competition.

Ross and Sliwinska received a score of 14 from the show's judges Monday following their cha cha cha routine. Ross was sent packing after that score was combined with viewers' votes. The comedian suffered a scratched cornea before Monday's show after Sliwinska poked him in the eye. He wore an eye patch on both nights.

"I'm more ha, ha, ha than cha cha cha," Ross joked after he was eliminated.

Retired 300-pound football star Warren Sapp impressed judges with his quickstep to Cherry Poppin' Daddies' swing hit "The Ding Dong Daddy of the D-Car Line." Although his technique was criticized, Sapp was lauded for producing a "fun" performance. Sapp and partner Kym Johnson earned a judges' score of 22 and seemed likely to make it through tonight's show, when another couple will be eliminated.

"A guy of your size producing that performance? Your feet were going around like a roadrunner," judge Bruno Tonioli said.

"Emmitt Smith back in the house," the former Tampa Bay Buccanner star after hearing his score, refering to the former Dallas Cowboys player who won the competition in 2006.

Before Ross was dismissed, each couple performed a new dance Tuesday. Model-actress Brooke Burke again dominated, scoring a 26 for a quickstep routine. The former host of E!'s "Wild On" and her partner, Derek Hough, also claimed the top score Monday. The night's lowest score went to "Married With Children" actor Ted McGinley.

Other remaining celebrities include chef Rocco DiSpirito; singers Lance Bass and Toni Braxton; athletes Misty May-Treanor and Maurice Greene; and actors Cloris Leachman, Cody Linley and Susan Lucci; and TV personality Kim Kardashian.

Meanwhile, Monday's two-hour season premiere averaged 21.3 million viewers to rank as the night's most watched show and lead ABC to a first-place finish in the overall network rankings, Nielsen Media Research reported. ABC's average audience for the night as a whole, 17.2 million viewers, also ranked as its biggest season-opening Monday audience in nine years and the most watched for any network since 2002.

But CBS eked out a No. 1 showing for the first time since 2002 in ratings for viewers aged 18 to 49, the group most prized by advertisers in prime time, on the strength of its returning comedy bloc and police drama "CSI: Miami."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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