DWTS Results -- Goodbye Belinda Carlisle

The votes have been cast, the dance off completed, and Belinda Carlisle has become the first star to be eliminated from season 8 of Dancing With the Stars.

This is the first season of DWTS to have the bottom two couples compete in a dance off to find out who will stay and who will return to life without sequins and spray tans.

Here's how it works:

* The original judges' scores for the dance are thrown out.
* They perform the dance again and the judges' new score is added to the viewers' votes.
* The couple with the lowest combined score is eliminated.

The online debate over the dance-off has been such a hot topic, that there's barely been a mention of the bizarre new uber-sparkly judges paddles that made a brief appearance before a quick reversion to our trusty old red and gold models. (What was that all about?!?!)

Personally, I think the dance off will be important some nights and pointless others. This first week didn't matter much, since the dances weren't worthy of a second viewing. But, later in the show I think fans will embrace the dance off -- especially if a favorite couple has an off night, then redeems themselves enough to survive another week.

Tonight, Belinda and Jonathan and Steve (Woz) and Karina ended up in the bottom two -- which wasn't much of a surprise. Having two dances to choose from, Belinda and Jonathon picked their Salsa, while Steve and Karina trotted out their quick step.

The judges gave Steve the same score of 17, but Belinda made some errors that cost her a point, going from an 18 to a 17. I think the trouble was in her approach. Monday night, her goal was to let loose and have fun. In the dance off, she was going for improved technique. The trouble is, her technique needed too much work and focusing on her hip action made her forget part of the dance and all of the fun.

I liked Belinda back in the day, but I was glad to see her go home. DWTS scores are part technique and part entertainment. Neither Belinda or Steve are great dancers, but I had more fun watching Steve's performance - both times.