Buzz Aldrin and Ashley Costa eliminated from 'Dancing with the Stars'

Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and professional partner Ashley Costa became the second couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars' tenth season during Tuesday night's live results show broadcast on ABC.


Aldrin and Costa were ousted from the competition based on the combination of the Dancing with the Stars judges' scores they received for their dance on Monday night's performance show and the home viewer votes that were cast afterwards.

"I did this show for the fighter pilots out there, the military people, and the elder geezers like me who would just like to see an elder come back week after week," Aldrin said after he and Costa became the second of the season's 11 couples to be eliminated.

"But I'm interested also in having the public be thankful for the great successes that we had in the Apollo program and look forward to even greater successes in our future space program.  That's why I came on board, to take the challenge and take the risk, and I thank everyone who voted for us."

"It was such an honor to be his partner," Costa added in a video that was shown after the couple's elimination.  "Buzz is part of American history, I have never met somebody like him in my life."


Aldrin and Costa had finished in last place on the judges' leaderboard in all three of the tenth-season Dancing with the Stars performance shows they had performed on.

"Buzz did the waltz [and] he told a really good story but that's about all it had to it.  The story was charming [but] the dancing was alarming," lead judge Len Goodman said about the waltz performance that had earned Aldrin and Costa only 13 points and left them in last place on Monday night's judging leaderboard.

However the couple's ouster still came as a surprise to Goodman.

"I'm a little disappointed, because I thought Buzz is maybe not the judges' favorite, but I was sure America would save you," Goodman said.

Prior to Aldrin and Costa's elimination, Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron also revealed that former The Bachelor star Jake Pavelka and partner Chelsie Hightower had been the other couple in the bottom two based on a combination of the judges' scoring and home viewer votes from Monday night's performances.


Pavelka and Hightower had performed a quick step that had received 21 points from the judges on Monday night, leaving them in a three-way tie for fourth place on the judges' leaderboard.

Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek and partner Anna Trebunskaya had topped Monday night's judging leaderboard with 26 out of 30 possible points for their quick step routine. 

Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger and partner Derek Hough had tied for second place with ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy after they each received 23 points for their respective quick step and waltz performances.

Pavelka and Hightower had finished tied with Clean House host Niecy Nash and partner Louis van Amstel and former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and partner Damian Whitewood.  Nash and van Amstel had performed a waltz while Anderson and Whitewood had danced a paso doble.

NFL star Chad Ochocinco and partner Cheryl Burke had also performed a paso doble and finished tied for seventh place after receiving 20 points from the judges.  They had tied with former All My Children actor Aiden Turner and Edyta Sliwinska, who performed a quick step.


Former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star Kate Gosselin and partner Tony Dovolani had finished just ahead of Aldrin and Costa in ninth place on the judges' leaderboard after performing a paso doble that received only 15 points.

Next Monday's Dancing with the Stars performance show will feature a special double score format in which Goodman and fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli will give each couple two sets of scores -- one for technique and one for performance.

"This will be the most demanding test of their abilities so far," Goodman gushed.






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