Gilles, Melissa look like ‘Dancing’ stars to beat

At this point, it was revealed that only hours before the show, Steve-O fell on his microphone pack trying to do a flip, worsening an existing back injury and ending up in the hospital. In this situation, it turns out that viewers vote, and the judges score, based on tape of the dress rehearsal. The judges acknowledged the disadvantage of being judged on a rehearsal, but they still hated the routine, and complained to his partner Lacey that it wasn’t really a salsa. Carrie-Ann, in fact, seemingly blamed Lacey for throwing tricks into the dance that contributed to his injury. (Ouch.) A measly 14 points could mean big trouble, but it’s not clear yet whether he can return anyway.

Next up was the surprising Lil’ Kim, who sadly had nothing hilarious to say about prison this week. Still, her quickstep to “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” was charming and light — “vivacious and uplifting,” Bruno called it. It was particularly nice on this evening to see such a well-matched dance, where the celebrity did exactly half of the work. Judge Len Goodman thought it lacked refinement, but Lil’ Kim is a contender when it comes to quality, and her 23 points (for a total of 44) put her in a good position.

Melissa Rycroft of “The Bachelor” couldn’t close the show two weeks in a row (sadly for ABC), so she danced second-to-last this week. After an introduction designed to downplay her extensive dance training, it was time to actually see her do the salsa. Once again, she was very good — she’s a natural performer, still glowing (or is it gloating?) about her participation in the Stuff It, Jason Mesnick Commemorative Tour And Victory Lap. Len confessed to “gyrating on the seat” (!), and Bruno called Melissa's salsa “juicy.” She earned 26 points for a total of 49 over two weeks.

Last week’s highest score went to Gilles Marini, who obligingly took his shirt off during this week’s rehearsals, the better to feed his fan base. The judges loved his Superman-themed quickstep, and Carrie-Ann rather absurdly pronounced Marini and partner Cheryl Burke “the fan favorites,” apparently not counting the wild shrieks that greet everything Melissa does. But Gilles got one point better than Melissa again, for a total of 51 — that’s first place, in the judges’ hearts if not really in the audience’s.

Tomorrow night, the first couple goes home. Belinda Carlisle or Steve-O seem like the obvious choices, but Holly Madison and David Alan Grier are also possible. But the big news from the first two weeks is that this shows every sign of being a Melissa/Gilles slugfest to the finish.

Linda Holmes is a frequent contributor to msnbc.com.

MORE FROM AMERICAN IDOL

Happy birthday, Simon, the best mean Brit ever

Happy birthday, Simon, the best mean Brit ever ‘Idol Gives Back’ returns to ‘American Idol’ Ellen brings EveryFan sensibility to ‘Idol’ Paula Abdul wishes Ellen luck on ‘Idol’   Add American Idol headlines to your news reader: