Here I am again (and the "American Idol" podcasts will continue as well). New topic, new co-chatter, same old hair bump.

I took a look at who was bumped from "Dancing With the Stars." Will post that with a brief comment or two after the jump. But first, here's why I was close to a coronary tonight.

The bride and I went up to Cleveland for a screening of "Leatherheads," the new George Clooney movie. Preceded by a trailer for "Baby Mama." The trailer's not right –it's off kilter onscreen so the tops of people's heads are missing. Annoying but not unbearable. Then "Leatherheads" starts. The image is still off. There's a wide black band at the bottom of the screen, and the top of the frame is missing.

I am panicked. There's a publicist sitting behind me, but I don't know if I'm supposed to say anything. But I am also asking myself if I can review a movie where I can't stop thinking about the way people are missing the tops of their heads. As I waffle and a minute or two tick by, another critic comes to the publicist and tells her they need to fix the image. I second his comments. She leaves the theater. Soon enough, the image is in the frame. Clooney's hair is now fully visible. The movie goes on. Next time I will speak.

As for "Dancing" …

OK, so the Gute is gone. I can live with that. He was not a good dancer. But I would not have been offended had Adam Carolla, Marissa Jaret Winokur or Priscilla Presley had gone instead.

Was bothered that Mario had to wait with the Gute, but the show is nasty about final pairings like this; Bergeron made clear that Mario "is not necessarily in the bottom two." Come on, let's just show the bottom two and not play that game.

I am attending a screening of "Leatherheads" tonight so it will probably be late tonight or early tomorrow before I post about the "Dancing with the Stars" results and what madness ensues when "American Idol" meets Dolly Parton. Talk among yourselves, and I will be back when possible.

Notes after the jump …

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Notes after the jump …

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Notes from my recording, as it proceeds, after the jump. …

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A few notes after the jump …

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The pro football player and University of Akron was in the announcement for the sixth-season cast tonight. Full press release after the jump. …

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UPDATES below.

I thought the kiss between Julianne Hough and Helio Castroneves looked a little warm last night. And Extra! may know why, according to this press release:

“Extra” can confirm that “Dancing with the Stars” winner Helio Castroneves broke off his engagement. Helio spoke to “Extra” moments after his appearance on “The View” this morning where he talked fondly about his fiancée and dancing at his own wedding. Helio came clean to “Extra,” confirming the split and explaining why he did not mention it on “The View." He says, “It’s about the show. I didn’t want to put my personal life in that moment.”

When asked if his fiancée was upset about last night’s kiss between him and his partner Julianne Hough he says, “It was the beginning of something [but] it [the relationship] was beyond that point. It was time to let go.”

Of course, I'm just guessing that there was something between these two. But I don't like his lying on "The View."

UPDATE: The New York Daily News says Helio and Julianne are an item. The paper says they "were spotted giggling and teasing each other while shopping for matching Ritmo watches together in Beverly Hills at the David Orgell store."

But Jennie Garth told "Inside Edition" that there was no romance. At the same time, she says Helio and his fiancee split before the show premiered.

Meanwhile, TV Tattle had a link to this bit of noteworthy news for us "Buffy/Angel/Veronica Mars" fans: Charisma Carpenter and her husband have split.

Details, with the winner, after the jump …

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I've been seeing some things referring to the judges' having the final say. Yes and no. The judges will cast the final votes, but the viewers will still carry a lot of weight. Here's the official explanation of how it works:

On Tuesday, November 27 (the "Finale Episode"), the couple who received the lowest score on Monday will be announced, and the two remaining couples will compete in one final dance. Each judge will deliver an individual score for this dance. The winner will be the couple with the highest total numerical score (to two decimal places), calculated as the sum of the "Judges' Finale Score" and the "Public Finale Score," as those terms are defined below.

Determination of Winner
After the judges score the remaining couples' final dance on November 27, the producers will calculate the total Judges' Finale Score and Public Finale Score for each couple. The couple with the higher total numerical score will be declared the winner of the competition.

You can find more at www.abc.go.com. But the bottom line is that even with the judges' scores tonight, the viewer votes are used to calculate half the final score.

I’m hoping that (the winning team) is Mel and I, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. History shows it’s either a cute man or somebody with a huge fan base and I think Marie has both Helio and Mel’s fan base combined times five.
— Maksim Chmerkovskiy to "Extra"

Well, let's still see how the dancing itself went, after the jump …

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Details after the jump …

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Live notes from the telecast, after the jump …

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Notes after the jump …

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Details from tonight, which is not a travesty, after the jump …

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Before I move on to other topics, I wanted to reproduce the "Dancing" scoring rules. (You can find all the details at ABC's Web site, which is where I got this section from.) …

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Sabrina Bryan, who should have been in the finals, was kicked off tonight. Very irked notes from the telecast, below.

(A few thoughts about Tuesday night's "Reaper" are in the post below this one. "Reaper" was written Wednesday morning, but I set its post time for last night so I can keep my "Dancing" rant at the top for a bit longer. This post consists of notes from Tuesday night)

Went out to see "Bee Movie" tonight. Cute and heart-warming, if a little low-key. More about that another time. And now, "Dancing With the Stars" results, which really eat it, after the jump …

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In-progress notes after the jump …

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Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, "Dan in Real Life"

Went to a screening of "Dan in Real Life," the new film with Steve Carell, and let the DVR do the work on "Dancing With the Stars." Result after the jump …

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