Jennie Garth eliminated from ‘Dancing’
Josh L. Dickey

NEW YORK—She may have been the most popular girl at West Beverly Hills High School, but Jennie Garth couldn’t muster enough votes to reach the final of “Dancing with the Stars.” Garth, who played Kelly Taylor on “Beverly Hills, 90210” from 1990 to 2000, was eliminated from ABC’s No. 1-rated show Tuesday night. A breakthrough performance the night before, which earned her and professional partner Derek Hough their first perfect judges score of 30, wasn’t enough.
Dancing in next week’s final will be two-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves, Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown, and singer/performer Marie Osmond. Skill was never an issue for Garth — it was self-confidence that dogged her throughout the series, though you wouldn’t know it from the couple’s dazzling cha-cha-cha on Monday, which prompted judge Bruno Tonioli to emphatically score them: “Finally: 10!”
“I have self-confidence ... my issue is performing in front of people, and Derek brought that out in me,” Garth said, moments after her elimination was announced. “I had such a great time.” The oldest and perhaps most well-known of the remaining contestants, Osmond might be the biggest surprise in the final — or is she?
Osmond and partner Jonathan Roberts were the first couple announced as “safe,” despite that their judges’ score was a show-low 56 out of 60. A cheeky quickstep fell one judge’s “9” short of a perfect score; and the mambo that followed, while supremely entertaining, was flawed, earning a 27 out of 30. The showbiz icon has clearly been riding a wave of popularity with voters. The Osmond name has made headlines throughout the show’s stretch run, from the moment Marie Osmond fainted after a performance, to the day she missed an elimination show following the death of her elderly father, and the revelation last week that her 16-year-old son had entered rehab.