Third ‘Star’ Sent Packing On ‘Dancing’; Bolton Returns To Ballroom

After hanging out near the bottom of the leaderboard for the first three weeks of competition, on Tuesday night, “Dancing with the Stars” revealed it was Cho who had to go.

Margaret Cho became the third contestant eliminated on Season 11 of “DWTS,” taking her professional partner, Louis van Amstel, out of the competition too.

“I thought the judges were really hard on me, but I think you were hard on me because you could see that I am a dancer — for real,” Margaret told the panel – Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli — after learning the news. “And I thank you for that. I will take that with me forever. Thank you so much.”

Margaret also thanked partner Louis, whom she said was “the best teacher and best partner ever,” while he in turn gave her praise her for dropping down her guard – and her comedic side – to really try to master the moves.

“For her to put her heart out on this dance floor is pretty much saying for the rest of the world to pretty much [be] that vulnerable,” Louis said. “I love you and our journey hasn’t finished.”

The “Drop Dead Diva” star’s elimination came the night after she earned the lowest score on the leaderboard – an 18 out of 30 – and made a statement about the recent tragic deaths of several gay teens.

“Our story is serious because we want to celebrate pride, we want to show ourselves off. It’s a tough time for the gay community. A lot of gay teenagers have committed suicide, so we want this to end now,” Margaret said on Monday night’s show after her dance, referring to the troubling amount of gay teens who have recently taken their own lives after cases of bullying, including, most recently, Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after being bullied by his fellow students.

While it was sad news for Margaret, things improved for Michael Bolton, who returned from his elimination last week to the stage – this time as a performer.

The crooner took to the stage to perform Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” backed by a boys choir – the same song Susan Boyle, who pulled out of the show on Monday due to illness — was going to sing.

“Wouldn’t you say it’s a triumphant return for Michael Bolton to the ballroom?” co-host Tom Bergeron asked the singer after he finished his number – a number which got a standing ovation from judge Bruno.

While he didn’t address Bruno’s two-week old comments about his final competition jive with Chelsie Hightower, the dance that got him booted from the ballroom, Michael said it was a thrill to be back.

“It was great seeing everybody – seeing all the dancers and the contestants,” he said. “We all bonded so closely. It was fantastic.”

In related “Dancing” news, for the third week in a row Tom and co-host Brooke Burke did not identify any pair as part of the bottom group, but they left Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke, Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer, and Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas waiting for the news until the final few moments.

Bristol and Mark were the final couple saved to dance again as Margaret and Louis got the news they were going home.