(S10E15) With one elimination until the semi-finals, the contestants of 'Dancing with the Stars' are under continued pressure. In Len Goodman's recap he admits to Chad and Niecy being the "pretenders."

I would be very disappointed if the final three wasn't Evan, Erin, and Nicole. The one thing I did like about last season was that the final three professionals (Dmitri, Kym, and Louis) were never there. I'm indifferent on having Derek and Maks have yet another shot of victory, but Anna deserves another shot since her last appearance in the finals with Jerry Rice.

Encore - Nicole & Derek's '50s Paso Doble - The second time around the Paso looked a bit sloppier but like Nicole was actually letting go because she knew she wasn't being scored. I understand why many people think it's unfair that Nicole is in a league of her own, but in all truth, it's because Derek is a strong choreographer and he normally has a dancer with potential (Joanna, Brooke, Jennie, Lil Kim). Mya last year was a strong performer, but Dmitri kept giving her props and confusing choreography.

Musical Performance - Gypsy Kings "You've Got a Friend in Me" - It's true that anyone other than Randy Newman singing a Randy Newman song makes the song better. Dmitri looks amazing next to Tony as they flail their capes with precision. Kym and Cheryl are fearless as the two are lifted and turned quickly. I like the creativity of having the cape as the skirt element and wouldn't be surprised if we see that in future episodes.

DanceCenter Part 1 - The final five are analyzed by Kenny Maybe, Jerry Rice, and Len Goodman. Most of the jokes are stereotypical. Niecy is stuck with giggly jokes and food jokes. Chad gets suggestions to start a lip balm brand. Nicole gets called out for the 'Superstar' armpit sniffing. Additionally, Derek gets an unnecessary gay joke. The elimination begins and Nicole & Derek are safe. Chad & Cheryl are in the bottom two.

College Dance Championship

UC San Diego - Samba- There are a lot of self-professed nerds on the group, but the group has had four national championship wins. The groups sync looked sharp, but I was a tad bit disappointed how slow their samba ended up being. The turns were awfully slow and it felt like to took forever for the groups to get into formations. I understand that in group dances formations are important, but the high amount of time getting between formations was wasteful. The performance was clean so there's nothing to fault there.

Len thought there were a good amount of pattern changes, but the lines were occasionally not clean. Bruno liked the formations but warns about exact lines. Carrie Ann loved the staging, but there wasn't enough gritty samba movements. Score: (8,8,8).

Purdue - Mambo - Purdue's men decided to join the dance team to get to women, they are new to the group performances so they aren't as decorated as UCSD. It's a shame the mambo didn't show up this season because the performance is fun. Some of the men are a bit stiff with their arm motions and their set up for formations took long and didn't amount to much. I give them some credit for actually changing partners. It was a bit odd seeing the couples finish to the audience's left of center.

Bruno likes the hip action, but there was some timing issues and a lack of shape change. Carrie Ann sees the spirit, but agrees with Bruno about the patterns. Len commends Chris for dancing for women, there was rhythm and it was crisp, but lacked pattern. Score: 22 (8,7,7).

Musical Guest - The Gypsy Kings "Bamboleo" - Every time I hear "Bamboleo" I just have to get up and dance. Watching the unnamed guest pro-dancers The couples had some very creative lifts and the swoop that they did was amazing. The back split with turn was amazing. It will be interesting to see if any of the four will actually return to train celebrities.

DanceCenter Part 2 - Evan's jokes revolve around his raven hair and his bland interviews. Erin is last and she is scolded for calling Maks Russian. Maks is actually from Ukraine.

The eliminations continue and Evan & Anna are safe. After the commercial break Erin & Maks are safe and Niecy & Louis are in the bottom two. The couple with the lowest total was Niecy & Louis. Niecy knows she was up against some tough competition, but she was happy to even be on the show. Niecy dances off into the sunset.

While I'm disappointed Chad wasn't eliminated, Niecy had the lowest score and truthfully had no chance of winning. Chad has occasional glimmers of hope but is inconsistent. Next week is the semi-finals and without any of the weaker dancers around, Chad will stick out like a sore thumb. I'm not sure what dances are left but I'm crossing my fingers for the return of Salsa or Mambo; I'm waltzed out this season.

As for the college championship, UC San Diego hands down was better prepared for the dance. I read an article that the contestants had to be undergraduates so several of Purdue's graduate students weren't allowed to perform. Will the two point difference be enough to have UC San Diego survive to the next round? How did you think eliminations went? Do you think that you will now watch 'Toy Story 3' because Tony & Cheryl had some involvement? Leave your comments below.