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And that's how the couple whom the judges selected to give the encore dance to open the results round of the semi-finals was eliminated. It only makes sense in a down-is-up competition where the worst dancer is given a free pass week after week by both the judges and the viewer-voters.

With that, it's settled: Dancing with the Stars is not a dance competition, it is a popularity contest. Head judge Len Goodman tried to voice his disapproval of the evening's outcome when, asked to comment on the final two celebrities (Jennie and Helio) awaiting word of who was staying and who was going, he said "I'd like to see the best dancers in the finals so neither of these two should be going home" -- a clear swipe at Marie's advancement. But if he was serious, he could have chosen a less cryptic expression of his views. Or how about not serving up absurdly inflated scores to her throughout the competition? How about "That was nice Marie, you showed a lot of enthusiasm, I'm sorry about your father, you're not going to faint again are you and here's a 3 for your last dance which was simply dreadful, you barely took a step and when you did it was out of time. By the way, don't you find it a bit creepy that your brother Donny is still following you around after all these years?"

Marie is now, officially, the Sanjaya of Dancing with the Stars. The crucial difference is I don't think there's any sort of ironic or graffiti spirit driving her content-defying success story. Mischief-making was a prime motivation in the campaign to get Sanjaya crowned winner of American Idol, as demonstrated by Web site cheerleaders such as votefortheworst.com. But with Marie, I think there are just a lot of people who love Marie, think everything she does is great and believe she deserves to win. I guess in the free marketplace of reality television, what enough people vote for becomes reality. If she wins then she is the best dancer, even if she is the worst dancer.

For frustrated fans who believe in the "integrity" of the show as a dance competition, Marie would seem a disaster, but maybe if she wins it will force the producers to address the obvious design flaw in the show's selection process -- maybe the judges should have the final say, at least about the final winner. Anyway, for the sheer entertainment value of the online equivalent of a barroom brawl, I hope Marie wins. The ABC message boards will light up.

Other notable news of Tuesday night's show: Avril Lavigne's appearance/performance. First: What is she doing on Dancing with the Stars. I thought she was a punky rebel. Here she was glammed up, looking like Hannah Montana's older sister. When she performed her years-old hit, Complicated, while the best dancer of the season, Sabrina Bryan ( who was voted out a few weeks ago), swirled and slid across the stage with her partner, Mark Ballas, it was just sad. She sounded like she was doing a bad cover of her song.