Did Barry Williams deserve to be eliminated on ‘Dancing with the Stars’? He stole the show on ‘Whitney Houston Night’

I thought for sure Barry Williams would survive elimination on “Dancing with the Stars” after his two gutsy performances on “Whitney Houston Night.” The 69-year-old “Brady Bunch” actor performed a rumba with pro partner Peta Murgatroyd and then went bare-chested for his salsa in a dance-off against musician Jason Mraz. But despite winning that dance-off in an upset and thus moving up a spot on the judges’ leaderboard, his viewer votes weren’t enough to keep him in the competition. Watch his salsa above, and scroll down to see his rumba.

SEE‘Dancing with the Stars’ Whitney Houston Night recap: Celebs paid tribute to the legendary singer, then competed in a dance-off [LIVE BLOG]

The night got off to a decent start for Williams, who scored eights across the board for his initial rumba, which showed “intensity” and “bravado,” according to judge Carrie Ann Inaba, even though the judges dinged him for the simple choreography and the limited movement in his hips. That left him second-to-last on the leaderboard ahead of Harry Jowsey. But the salsa later in the evening was where he really excelled. Though his rival Mraz had stronger technique, Williams showed such shirt-ripping magnetism that he had the studio audience chanting his name. I figured the home audience would be just as enthusiastic and vote him to safety.

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Alas, it wasn’t to be. Even though he was ahead of two dancers on the final leaderboard (Mraz and Jowsey), a deficit of live audience votes got him eliminated from the competition. This was Mraz’s first time as low as sixth place on the leaderboard as it was his first week of real struggle with his choreography, so his fans might have been scared enough for him to vote for him in earnest. And Jowsey … well, he’s been at the bottom of the leaderboard for weeks now and voters keep saving him. He seems virtually unsinkable at this point. What did you think of Williams’s exit from the competition?

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