My Chad Ochocinco Blog

Season 10 of "Dancing with the Stars" began on March 22, 2010, but without co-hostess Samantha Harris. She was replaced by Brooke Burke who joined co-host Tom Bergeron and judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli.

The season featured fewer contestants (11) than the previous season:

Buzz Aldrin - astronaut (partnered with Ashly Costa)
Pamela Anderson - actress and model (partnered with Damian Whitewood)
Erin Andrews - ESPN sportscaster (partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy)
Shannen Doherty - actress (partnered with Mark Ballas)
Kate Gosselin - reality television star (partnered with Tony Dovolani)
Evan Lysacek - Olympic gold medal figure skater (partnered with Anna Trebunskaya)
Niecy Nash - actress and reality show host (partnered with Louis van Amstel)
Chad Ochocinco - NFL wide receiver (partnered with Cheryl Burke)
Jake Pavelka - star of "The Bachelor" (partnered with Chelsie Hightower)
Nicole Scherzinger - Pussycat Dolls singer (partnered with Derek Hough)
Aiden Turner - soap opera star and model (partnered with Edyta Sliwinska)

This season was also the first one to have more female contestants than male.

In Week 1, Nicole became the fifth celebrity to score at least one 9 on her first dance. She and Derek got two 9's to get the highest score with a 25. Evan and Anna trailed closely behind with a score of 23 while Buzz and Ashly scored lowest with 14 while Aiden and Edyta only fared a bit better with a 15.

No one was eliminated in the first week and the scores were added to those of the second week. Nicole and Derek scored two 10's, making them only the third couple to do so in Week 2. Evan and Anna continued to do well with a 24 while Buzz and Ashly finished on the bottom with a 12, the lowest score ever in Week 2. Pamela and Damian were in the bottom two, but it was Shannen and Mark who were eliminated first.

In Week 3, the dances told a story and for the first week, Nicole and Derek were not on top. They scored a 23 while Evan and Anna got the top score with 26. Once again Buzz and Ashly was the lowest scoring couple with 13 and they were eliminated.

The couples were judged on technique and performance for each dance in Week 4. Evan and Anna were again on top of the leader board with 52 while Kate and Tony were on the bottom with 32. But, it was Aiden and Edyta that were eliminated.

Week 5 saw the couples dancing to songs from movies. Once again, Nicole and Derek were in the lead with 29. Kat and Tony found themselves on the bottom with a score of 15 and were eliminated. Despite scoring fairly well, Pamela and Damian were in the bottom two.

Len gave every performance a 7 in Week 6 except for Chad and Cheryl's Argentine Tango, which he gave an 8. Nicole and Derek were on top again with 26. Jake and Chelsie were on the bottom with 21 and were eliminated.

Although Nicole and Derek had lead most of the season, it was Evan and Anna in Week 7 that got the first perfect score of 30. However, the two couples were tied after the Team Gaga and Team Madonna performance. Pamela and Damian were eliminated even though Niecy and Louis had the lowest score.

Week 8 saw Nicole and Derek get their first perfect score for a '50s Paso Doble. Niecy and Louis were in the bottom two with Chad and Cheryl and were eliminated.

Nicole and Derek and Evan and Anna were tied again in Week 9 with a score of 59. Chad and Cheryl had the low score with 52 and were eliminated.

The final three couples - Evan and Anna, Erin and Maksim, and Nicole and Derek - performed the Judges' redemption dance and a freestyle performance on the first night of the finale. On the second night of the finale, Erin and Maks finished in third place. Nicole and Derek did a jive for which they got a perfect score and they were crowned the winners while Evan and Anna finished in second place. Derek joins Cheryl Burke, Julianne Hough, and Mark Ballas as two time dance pro winners.

Kathy is a guest writer for Reality-TV-Online. Visit Season 10 of DWTS to learn more about this great season.