Dog Days For ‘Dancing’s’ Bolton – Singer Sent Packing!

His “Hound Dog” jive prompted a flood of controversy on “Dancing with the Stars,” but it turns out the headline-grabbing dance was Michael Bolton’s swan song.

On Tuesday, the “Soul Provider” singer was the second celebrity to be eliminated in the race for the mirrorball, taking professional Chelsie Hightower out of the competition with him.

“I’m disappointed… Chelsie’s been awesome and I wanted her to go on and on as well, so disappointed… yeah,” Michael said after learning the news in front of an audience who took to their feet to give him a standing ovation.

“Michael is such a genuine person and it… was such an honor to work with you and I really am so proud of you,” Chelsie told her partner.

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, on Monday night’s show, judge Bruno Tonioli sparked outrage from fellow judge Len Goodman — and many of the celebrity contenders and professional dancers — after he called Michael’s jive “the worst… in 11 seasons.”

On Tuesday, even co-host Tom Bergeron chimed in on the Bruno bashing, telling the Italian he was “hard” on the singer.

“Me? I’m the nicest person ever,” the judge said in his own defense. “I think Rin Tin Tin would have done a better jive. I mean, he’s a fantastic singer, he’s a wonderful person, it’s nothing personal, but I’m here to call it as I see [it].”

Once again though, Len was not prepared to let Bruno off for again slamming Michael’s dance.

“I disagree. I think our job is to educate and enlighten people and to encourage,” the Brit said as the camera panned to Michael, who was seated backstage at the time and gave Len’s comments the “thumbs-up.”

“As much as you can think… that sometimes I [can be] a harsh judge, I always try to show a little bit of positive, and maybe then some negative,” Len added.

“He should be a politician. This is lies!” Bruno hit back.

Before his elimination, the quiet Michael did address the Italian’s remarks, with a comment that brought cheers from the audience.

“Last night, I think Bruno was inappropriate and disrespectful. Other than that, it was a phenomenal experience up ‘til now,” the singer said.

Beyond the Bolton-Bruno banter, on Tuesday, “DWTS” addressed another of Monday’s controversies — the reported Sarah Palin-related “Boo-Gate.”

On Monday, right before Tom interviewed Sarah Palin, who came to watch her daughter, Bristol, compete, a host of “boos” were heard from the audience, and a clip ABC showed on Tuesday served to demonstrate that the audience’s sounds were actually related to the scores Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough received for their fast paced jive.

In the unedited footage, as Len, Bruno and Carrie Ann Inaba gave the pair three 8s, the booing started, and many members of the audience shouted “Nine! Nine!” referring to the scores they were hoping the pair would have earned.

“That’s very flattering and that’s an awesome response,” Derek said after reviewing the footage.

He and Jennifer noted, however, they were happy with the 8s, especially since they received the highest score of the night.

Sarah Palin appeared to be in the audience on Tuesday night, but did not speak on camera.

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