UPDATED: Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin ties for lowest men’s score in Dancing with the Stars

by Sarah Blaskovich

A humbled Michael Irvin took the news in stride Monday night as he came away tied for the lowest score on the first night of the Dancing with the Stars season 9 premiere. Only the men danced on Monday, first competing in a partner dance and then participating in a first-ever “relay dance.” Irvin and his partner, Russian dancer Anna Demidova, received a score of 19, mirroring the score that actor and comedian Ashley Hamilton (and son of George Hamilton) and his partner received.

No one will be eliminated until Wednesday night, following the women's performances on Tuesday. Eliminations are based half on the judges scores and half on audience votes.

For football Hall of Famer Irvin, reality TV lovers buzzed that “The Playmaker” and Iron Chef America host Mark Dacascos could be the best of the bunch. (Many were likely dreaming of Emmitt Smith's win in 2006, and hoping Irvin could do it too.) Irvin failed to wow the judges and had a cheesy lip synching habit that was off-putting. Still, his charisma and surprising grace when criticized might save him from elimination this week.

The first-ever relay dance added a twist to the lineup: After performing with their partners, the men were split into two groups of four. They were then assigned a style of dance -- Hamilton, Chuck Liddell, Donny Osmond, and Louie Vito received salsa; Aaron Carter, Dacascos, DeLay, and our boy Irvin received the Viennese waltz. They each performed a 30-second “dance off” with their partners to the same song as their competitors. It was one of the rare moments where most all of the celebrities quickly sink or swim. (Or, in Irvin's case, float. The judges sort of bypassed him altogether during that segment, with the exception of a halfway encouraging "better" comment from judge Carrie Ann Inaba.)

In partner dancing, Irvin took on a cha cha cha to James Brown original “I Feel Good,” immediately showing a pearly smile when he wasn't belting the lyrics. His goal was to beat Jerry Rice's score of 21 last season -- and he fell short two points. Cameras cut to Irvin talking to himself in the mirror on more than one occasion, getting himself psyched up in true locker-room style. “Why can't my hips move?” he asks his partner. It was strange to see Irvin's lack of confidence, but it's his competitive, can-do energy that will likely inspire people to vote for him.

The judges seemed especially hard on Irvin, with Bruno Tonioli criticizing his footwork and timing, and Len Goodman saying this dance would hardly save him from elimination. Despite that, Irvin's presence had the audience cheering like mad over his mediocre performance.

He even scored lower than former House Majority Leader (and Texan) Tom DeLay, who partner Cheryl Burke has already cursed with the “older gentleman” title. “Sexy hip shaking is not up his alley,” Burke says, a two-time champion. She later called him “not as young or in-shape.” It's all true, but darn it if Dacascos didn't take a shot at him too: “The Viennese waltz is so stiff and uncomfortable, it seems to suit Tom DeLay much better,” Dacascos said. Almost made me feel sorry for the old guy. Almost. @mikeorren got it right; Tom DeLay is, in fact, a better dancer than our twinkle toes Cowboy.

Since this was the first night of the first week, most of the dancers were hardly in their element; most all of the men haven't channeled their inner dancer yet. Who can blame them really, but there wasn't a clear “winner” among the men: DeLay looked like a politician, wearing polo shirts tucked into his work-out pants during practice. Olympic snowboarder Louie Vito had a boyish charm but clearly looked like he had never heard of ballroom dancing before recently. While Chuck Liddell looked like a macho wrestler nearly about to crush his dainty partner, he stepped it up in the relay dance and brought out some of the spicy moves required of a salsa.

Donny Osmond was a favorite, hamming up every move to the point of delirium. The judges were icked by his over-the-top “gotcha” face expressions -- I think we all were -- but his relay dance was enough to win him 10 points. The other relay dance winner was Carter, who carried a strangely stoic attitude during their short Viennese waltz. He's also a promising competitor.

Irvin looked defeated at the end of the show, likely a surprise to his admirers. When asked his opinion about how the performance went, he said shyly, “I'm just here.”

UPDATE: After being whittled down to the bottom two, Irvin was pronounced "safe" for one more week. His tie-breaker, Hamilton, was voted off the show. Also joining Hamilton -- since this was a double elimination night, after all -- was Macy Gray. No surprise there.

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