‘Dancing With the Stars’: Susan Lucci flies back to New York for good

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The good news for Susan Lucci is that she no longer has to keep up her tiring coast-to-coast commuting schedule –- shooting “All My Children” in New York and rehearsing with Tony, then flying to L.A. for further rehearsals and “Dancing With the Stars” performance and results shows. The bad news, of course, is that she doesn’t have a glitter-ball trophy, but it would probably clash with most people’s home décor anyway. This leaves Brooke Burke as the lone woman competing in the show against four men (Lance Bass, Warren Sapp, Maurice Greene and Cody Linley). At least she’s formidable. Anyway, I admired Susan’s earnest approach –- it seemed genuine, not put on –- but I agreed with the commenters who thought it was time for her to go. I also think maybe she should put on a couple of pounds –- I began to fear she might be swept away if she encountered the Santa Ana winds. Or a gentle ocean breeze. Or a whisper. In her closing comments, she was characteristically gracious.

For the encore, we saw Team Paso Doble’s group dance again, which was enjoyable. Picking Team Cha Cha would just have been cruel. The special musical guest was Lionel Richie, father of Nicole, grandfather of Harlow. And Kenny Mayne and Jerry Rice were back with DanceCenter, where they grilled judge Len and assessed the remaining contestants. Len also demonstrated to Kenny how to do a proper hold. The Macy’s Stars of Dance performance featured smoke machines, magic tricks, sword swallowing, some gymnastics, and, yes, dancing.

Starting next week, each couple will do two dances -- and one of them will include a solo for each star. What effect do you think this will have on our stars? And who’s the next to go?

-- Sarah Rogers