On Tuesday, May 5, the unthinkable happened: One of the best competitors was sent home! We’ll get to more on that in a bit.
 
The night started out with a repeat performance of Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani’s Samba. This was the first time in weeks that Lil’ Kim and her partner Derek Hough hadn’t done the starting number on the results show.
 
This elimination would determine the four stars going on to the next stage of competition. We couldn’t wait to see which of them would be sticking around with The Bionic Booty.
 
“The semi-finals are so close I can taste it,” Kim said after Monday night’s episode.
 
We have to say the producers are exceptionally good at filling time, which left the stars to sweat it out for at least 20 minutes. Between Dance Center and the other distractions, the hosts (Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris) didn’t start announcing the results until the third segment.
 
When they finally got around to saving couples, we weren’t worried that Kim and Derek weren’t called first or second. We started to worry when they weren’t called third, though. However, it’s not the first time that Kim cut it close, but still moved on.  Who would send home a woman who could do this?
 

 
In the end, it came down to Lil’ Kim and Ty Murray, and we just knew the Queen Bee had this one in the bag. After her extra-spicy, seriously-sassy Salsa last night—and all of her amazing performances throughout the competition—there was no doubt in our mind that she was advancing.
 
When Tom Bergeron announced that Lil’ Kim was going home, we were so shocked that we almost kicked our laptop off the bed. And we weren’t the only ones who couldn’t believe the news, either. Ty, his partner and the studio audience also seemed more than a bit confused by the news.
 
Kim, who seemed near tears at her unexpected oust, held it together, and she left with kind words about her time on the show.
 
“I think this is one of the greatest experiences that I've ever experienced in my life,” Kim said. She later acknowledged that she had brought in a lot of viewers for the show. And she was happy that she could expose people, who probably never tuned in before, to something new.
 
“I love this girl so much, and she has been one of my favorties so far,” Derek said before taking her for one final spin around the floor.
 
This had to be the biggest upset of the competition, and it left us wondering, “WTF, America?” In our opinion, “Dancing With The Stars” has lost one of the best reasons to watch, and we’ll miss all the pizzaz Kim brought to the parkay.

-- Sonya Eskridge