Cody Linley

Julianne Hough is trading in dancing shoes for cowboy boots.

After four seasons and two mirror-ball trophies, Julianne is stepping away from Dancing with the Stars, at least for a little while. She made the announcement to Ryan Seacrest on Thursday, while they were discussing her and partner Cody Linley’s elimination on Tuesday night’s episode of DWTS.

Before a single dancer hit the floor last night, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, sounding incredible, sang her classic “Chain of Fools.” If ABC is going to make us sit through an hour of filler before announcing which three couples have made it to the finals, THIS is the kind of entertainment we wish we had all the time.

Following Aretha was the emerging princess of pop, Leona Lewis. She is stunning in every imaginable way: her face, her voice, her body, her hair. We love Leona!

If Star Magazine is to be believed, Cody Linley has turned into a raging hormone monster on the set of Dancing with the Stars, hitting on everything that moves and creating incredible amounts of tension and discomfort on the set for Lacey Schwimmer and Kym Johnson.

Well, we’re calling bull*%^t!

Our inside sources tell us that they story is COMPLETELY FALSE.

With only one week until the semi-finals, last night’s show started with the final four in foul form.

The couple invited back for this week’s encore was Warren, or, as Bruno calls him, Mr. Big Fun, and Kym to perform their 007 Tango.

Back in the red room, Julianne Hough, recovered from her appendectomy, thanked Edyta for stepping in. “You’ve done an incredible job and I really mean that,” she said, with an underlying air that perhaps the two had some previous tension between them. “We’re all one big family here,” Samantha Harris gushed while Julianne made a face. What’s up with that Lady Bird?

Cody and Edyta, who’s still filling in for Julianne who hasn’t fully recovered from her appendectomy, performed an affably charming Foxtrot for their first dance. It wasn’t fireworks and lightning but it had a charm, grace and ease, which Cody’s mad frenetic energy (which we dig) usually lacks. Len was “pleasantly surprised. You had an elegance and I thought you did a top notch job.” “I never thought I would see it!

Last night Len kicked off the show by saying “I know that last night, the election, was exciting but for us, Monday night was absolutely fantastic.” Really, Len? Really? You’re comparing a historic victory and the election of the first African-American or bi-racial President of the United States to a bunch of D-List celebrities prancing around in Bedazzled spandex and satin outfits? Oooookay.

Warren and Kym started the night with a Fox Trot. Once one of the fiercest competitors on the show, we feel like Warren is slipping. The fire is gone, the charisma is engrained but the pop and the fizz have gone flat. Len, back in his judge’s chair, was quick to do just that, judge. “Kym always puts a little spin on it that I like…but it wasn’t your best dance. It was a little bit of a disappointment.” Bruno praised their opening but said they quickly “went into a recession. You were flatfooted. You have to go back to the ease of competition you had.

Earlier this week, Julianne Hough was forced to leave Dancing with the Stars to have her appendix removed due to complications with endometriosis. While she’s safely recovering and hopes to be back on the dance floor in a week (Edyta Sliwinska will be filling in with her partner Cody Linley), another dancer has been diagnosed with the same aliment, pro Lacey Schwimmer.

Rather than choosing just one dance to encore, last night the entire cast was invited back to perform the group hip hop number again. We love watching the crowd because seeing everyone dance side by side gives a chance to size the competition up as a whole.