At the top of tonight’s Dancing with the Stars Results Show, Tom Bergeron promised a shocking elimination. That could only mean one thing: Melissa & Tony were safe.

The show began with an encore by Team Tango. After a recap of Monday night’s performances, Melissa Rycroft told Samantha Harris that the treatment she received for her broken rib was working, and that she would be able to continue competing on the show — should she survive elimination.

Then musical guest Robin Thicke sang his first of two songs. He was accompanied by DwtS pros Kym Johnson, Edyta Sliwinska, Cheryl Burke, Tony Dovolani, Dmitry Chaplin and Alec Mazo.

The countdown to the shocking elimination began with Lil’ Kim & Derek and Ty & Chelsie learning that they’d be around for another week.

Robin Thicke returned, this time accompanied by So You Think You Can Dance favorites Pasha Kovalev & Anya Garnis.

Gilles & Cheryl were the next duo to learn that they were safe.

Next, the pros competing for a spot on DwtS 9 were up. Genya Mazo danced with Afton Delgrosso …

…and Mayo Alanen danced with Anna Demidova.

Next week, the top three vote-getters in the pro competition will dance with DwtS stars of seasons past to test how well they train amateurs.

With only three couples remaining, Shawn & Mark were told that they could relax. Despite Melissa & Tony’s low judges’ scores, Chuck & Julianne were shown the door. Chuck said he was eager to reconnect with his country music fans, and I’m happy to let him.

Of all of the media outlets backstage at Monday’s Dancing with the Stars Performance Show, ET got the best scoop. Tony Dovolani explained that Melissa Rycroft received some medical treatment after they recorded the rehearsal that was ultimately shown in place of a live performance. The treatment affected Melissa’s ability to breathe, and she withdrew from the show 30 minutes before it went live.

The above ET video also features Shawn Johnson showing off her strong wrists by defeating Mark Ballas and Cheryl Burke in a game of Mercy.

Access Hollywood also had cameras backstage, while magazines People, OK! and Us interviewed the DwtS cast. Yahoo! posted another DwtS Buzz Session featuring Joey Lawrence and Diane Mizota.

There’s only one day left to bid on the DwtS 8 Finale prize package judge Carrie Ann Inaba is auctioning off for Clothes Off Our Backs.

Before last night’s DwtS Performance Show, TV Guide interviewed Lil’ Kim, and Chuck Wicks took to the pages of Us to apologize to Julianne Hough’s dad for accidentally grabbing his daughter’s boob on last week’s show.

Catching up on news about The Amazing Race, host Phil Keoghan blogged about the latest episode. Am I a sadist for loving the foot-massage-torture Road Block? CBS.com has a new video from Elimination Station.

CBS is moving my beloved Harper’s Island to Saturday nights effective immediately. The move isn’t exactly a punishment, since most people were recording the show on Thursday nights and watching it later anyway.

EW’s PopWatch blog points out that Saturday wasn’t always a TV dumping ground: "The Golden Girls and The Love Boat were top-10 hits on Saturday nights."

ABC announced the details of its May sweeps programming.

Zap2It has a slideshow of TV shows in danger of not being renewed for another season. Meanwhile, Reality Blurred has the scoop on some cable show renewals.

Recently, would-be robbers in Spain tied up a woman and began to ransack her home. The thieves fled when they recognized the woman’s husband in some family photos. Dolph Lundgren foiled a robbery, and he didn’t even have to be home to do it.

If you’re not married to Dolph Lundgren but are looking for an effective home security system, consider purchasing one of more than 100 wax figures being auctioned off by the Hollywood Wax Museum. Burglars will think twice when they see a life-sized version of Steven Seagal, Crocodile Dundee, zombie Michael Jackson or Dr. Zaius lurking in your hallway.

This week’s performances were overshadowed by an injury that could have serious implications for the remaining weeks of Dancing with the Stars 8.

As the couples were introduced at the opening of the show, an obviously sad Tony Dovolani took the stage without his partner, Melissa Rycroft. After four couples danced, it was revealed that, following Monday morning’s rehearsal in front of the live band, Melissa was in such pain from a rib injury she’d initially suffered last week that she was unable to compete in the Performance Show.

Following the same procedure that they applied when Steve-O was in too much pain to perform, the audience was shown Melissa & Tony’s rehearsal footage. Melissa was subdued as she danced in low-rise jeans and a sports bra, and the judges’ low scores reflected that.

The couples received a second set of scores from the judges for their team dances. Lacey Schwimmer filled in for Melissa but wasn’t judged on her performance. Melissa was awarded the points earned by her teammates Shawn Johnson and Chuck Wicks. They weren’t enough to pull her out of last place.

Lil’ Kim & Derek Hough — 28

Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke — 27

Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas —  27

Chuck Wicks & Julianne Hough — 26

Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower — 24

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani — 21

Team Tango — 28

Team Mambo — 25

Final Leaderboard

Lil’ Kim & Derek — 56

Gilles & Cheryl — 55

Shawn & Mark — 52

Ty & Chelsie — 52

Chuck & Julianne — 51

Melissa & Tony — 46

Tony said that Melissa believes that she can continue in the competition, but it would take an awful lot of fan votes to make that possible, given her low judges’ scores. Melissa had a good shot at locking up a spot in the finale, so her departure could radically change the season’s endgame. I think Gilles has always been a near-certainty to make it to the end, but now two spots could be up for grabs.

Does Melissa have the fan support to save her from almost-certain elimination? If she goes, who’s likely to make the finale? Is fan favorite Ty suddenly a longshot contender for the title?

My new favorite show is Harper’s Island. It’s spooky and soapy and doesn’t require much concentration. Plus, it’s guaranteed to only last 13 episodes, so I don’t mind devoting my time to it. TV Guide interviewed Harper’s Island‘s sheriff, Jim Beaver, better known as Bobby on Supernatural.

Also on CBS tonight is a new episode of Survivor: Tocantins. EW posted an interview with the season’s first jury member, Brendan.

In a panel discussion moderated by Survivor host Jeff Probst, TV producers recently debated whether the era of the 30-second commercial is coming to an end.

People interviewed the latest duo kicked off The Amazing Race, Mark & Michael, who claim that they knew the "pretty girls" they were partying with in the karaoke taxi were actually transvestites.

My parents will rejoice to learn that ABC is bringing back a primetime version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for a late summer run.

Zap2It concluded its rundown of 2009 TV pilots with a review of the new shows in the works at The CW.

Michael McKean explained to the A.V. Club how Spinal Tap’s songs came about.

Catching up on Dancing with the Stars news, judge Carrie Ann Inaba shared her thoughts on this week’s performances in her EW blog.

OK! reports that singer Alan, er, Robin Thicke will perform on an upcoming DwtS Results Show. (Wow. I was kidding when I referenced Alan Thicke, but I just discovered at IMDb that Dr. Seaver really is Robin Thicke’s dad.)

If you live in the Chicago area, you may want to check out Ballroom with a Twist at the Paramount Theater in Aurora this Saturday. The stage show is choreographed by former DwtS pro Louis van Amstel and hosted by Barbara Eden.

Ox Notes will return on Tuesday, April 28. Have a great weekend!

Cameras from Access Hollywood, The Insider and ET caught up with eliminated Dancing with the Stars contestant Lawrence Taylor, who couldn’t be happier to leave the ballroom.

Magazines OK! and People were also in the ballroom to talk with the contestants, who started working on their team dances for next week as soon as the Results Show ended. The stars have been divided into Team Tango (Gilles, Ty and Kim) and Team Mambo (Shawn, Melissa and Chuck).

Gilles Marini told OK! that he’d like to appear in the Sex and the City movie sequel.

DwtS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy has been cast as one of the celebrity contestants on ABC’s summer show The Superstars. Well, I guess Maks is more relevant than some of his fellow contestants, like David Charvet and Dan Cortese.

In news of other summer series, the sixth season of Project Runway will premiere on Lifetime on August 20.

Thankfully, a judge refused to allow indicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich to travel to Costa Rica to appear on NBC’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Judge James Zagel said, "I don’t think the defendant in all honesty fully understands…the position he finds himself in."

NBC has pulled Kings from its schedule, with plans to bring the show back on June 13. ABC yanked comedies Samantha Who? and In the Motherhood from its schedule.

The Futon Critic has a list of all of the celebrities making guest appearances on NBC during May sweeps.

Food Network announced its roster of new shows, which includes a program on entertaining tips, called What Would Brian Boitano Make. And, yes, it stars the former Olympian.

Finally, here’s a video of Lawrence Taylor & Edyta Sliwinska on last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Apparently, Edyta’s off-hours outfits are almost as revealing as her DwtS costumes:

I guess the star eliminated on tonight’s Dancing with the Stars Results Show wasn’t surprised to be sent home. He’d already scheduled a 9:30 a.m. tee time for tomorrow morning.

The evening started with the obligatory group dance encore. How foolish of me to hope the judges would buck tradition and give it to Shawn & Mark.

Musical guest performances included Natasha Bedingfield, accompanied by DwtS pros Lacey and Dmitry…

…and Celtic Woman, who were joined on the dance floor by cabaret champions Eric Luna & Georgia Ambarian.

Also, the cast of Burn the Floor performed ahead of their Broadway debut.

This evening marked the introduction of a new competition to select a new professional dancer for the next season of Dancing with the Stars. ABC’s DwtS website has the complete rules for the competition, as well as instructions on how fans can vote for their fave new pro.

Among the hopefuls were DwtS pro Alec Mazo’s brother, Genya, who danced with Snow Urbin…

…and former DwtS pro Ashley Del Grosso’s sister, Afton, who danced with Brent Borbon.

The other aspiring-pro pair was Mayo Alanen & Anna Demidova.

Tom and Samantha didn’t mess around when it came time for the elimination. With only Ty & Chelsie and Lawrence & Edyta left on stage, but not necessarily in the bottom two, Lawrence & Edyta were quickly given their walking papers.

As part of his farewell remarks, LT told his friends to meet him on the practice range at their regular golf course at 9 tomorrow morning before teeing off at 9:30. Tom told LT that he was a terrible actor for not even trying to hide how happy he was to be done with DwtS.

In case it wasn’t obvious enough from the group dance rehearsal footage on last night’s Performance Show, Lawrence Taylor wants out of Dancing with the Stars. He said as much to ET after the show, and his partner, Edyta Sliwinska, told People that "it wasn’t right" that David Alan Grier was eliminated before them.

Samantha Harris caught up with the cast backstage for The Insider, and the stars detailed their latest injuries to Access Hollywood. People filed at What You Didn’t See report from the DwtS set, and OK! and Us chatted with the cast after the show.

Joey Lawrence and Diane Mizota sang Shawn Johnson’s praises on the Yahoo! Buzz Session. Eliminated contestant Steve-O talked to TV Guide about his experience on Dancing with the Stars.

After tonight’s new episode, Cupid is taking a week off to make way for a bonus episode of ABC’s new cop show, The Unusuals.

Catching up on some Amazing Race news, host Phil Keoghan blogged about the latest episode for EW. CBS’s website features a new Elimination Station video.

Kudos to The Hills‘ Lauren Conrad for hiring an acting coach to help her with her lines for an upcoming Family Guy episode.

FOX rearranged its summer schedule again.

Just in time for the networks to announce their fall plans, SAG’s national board approved a new contract, virtually negating the chance of an actors strike.

With NBC the first network scheduled to announce its 2009-10 plans in early May, Zap2It reviewed the pilots the network has in development. A TV version of the movie Parenthood sounds promising, if only for its star cast.

Thanks to the relatively high quality of this season’s remaining competitors, DwtS 8 featured a group dance that didn’t suck, for a change. (Remember last season’s hip hop abomination?) And the regular dances were pretty good, too.

The group dance paid tribute to the 1960’s. As a whole, the number was pretty good.

The individual routines followed the pattern that’s developed over the course of the season, with Ty and LT lagging behind the other stars in judges’ scores.

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani — 29

Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas — 28

Chuck Wicks & Julianne Hough — 27

Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke — 27

Lil’ Kim & Derek Hough — 26

Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower — 24

Lawrence Taylor & Edyta Sliwinska — 21

Lawrence & Edyta have to go home on Tuesday night, right? He’s not improving as much as the others, and it seems like he’d rather be golfing.

I don’t normally post Ox Notes on Fridays, but I feel compelled to do so today for one reason: Coach.

If you haven’t been following Survivor: Tocantins, do yourself a favor and watch last night’s episode (Episode 9). At the very least, read EW’s recap.

Coach is one of the best contestants in the history of Survivor. He’s an egomaniac who tells stories about his life so preposterous that there’s no way they are true. Yet Coach isn’t lying; he believes everything he says. You may hate him, but he makes for good TV.

Jeff Probst dedicated his EW blog post to Coach, disclosing a new project he has in mind for the self-styled "Dragon Slayer." E! posted a poll where you can vote on the best Coachisms from last night’s show.

CBS.com has videos of this season’s first jury member complaining that conditions at Ponderosa are so primitive as to be "Smith Family Robinson".

In other CBS reality show news, The Amazing Race has been renewed for a fifteenth season.

TAR 14‘s Mel revealed that he’s disappointed that the show’s producers have ignored that both Kisha and Luke are openly gay, supposedly because they want to define contestants by single issues — as though viewers would be confused if Luke were both deaf and gay.

In Dancing with the Stars news, Ty Murray was injured when he was hit in the face with a mic pack (those things are dangerous this season). He’s okay and will be able to continue with the competition.

DwtS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy told Us he has no plans to leave the show: "In this economy, to have a job like this? Believe me, it’s not a bad job!"

MTV will air the documentary Steve-O: Demise and Rise on May 3, chronicling the performer’s struggles with drug abuse, his rehab and up through his first performance on Dancing with the Stars 8.

Unless something dramatic happens in the world of DwtS over the weekend — such as another contestant being felled by a mic pack — I’m going to take Monday off from Ox Notes. Have a nice weekend, and I’ll see you in the chatroom on Monday night.

With the networks set to announce their fall schedules next month, USA Today posted an online survey for TV viewers to vote for the shows they’d like to see return. The survey only covers shows deemed to be in danger of being canceled, not staples like CSI or Lost.

Keshia Knight Pulliam, better known as Rudy from The Cosby Show, is getting her own reality show on Oxygen.

Will Ferrell will guest star on a June episode of Discovery’s Man vs. Wild. Ferrell spent 48 hours with host Bear Grylls in northern Sweden, where they ate reindeer eyeballs.

Greg and I are planning a trip to Turkey, and I think we’re going to have to schedule it around the premiere of Turkish Golden Girls.

Survivor: Tocantins‘ Joe talked with People about leaving the show early due to an infected leg wound.

This week’s Dancing with the Stars Results Show was watched by 14.8 million people.

An astute viewer at FailBlog noticed that DwtS pro Mark Ballas had his own kind of wardrobe malfunction last week.

After his expletive-filled, post-elimination rant, David Alan Grier apologized to judge Carrie Ann Inaba privately and publicly on Tuesday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. His appearance on Kimmel also included a funny instructional video for people who want to be on reality TV: