It's now down to the beauty, the boy band-er and the bone-breaker.

With Hannah Montana man-boy Cody Linley finally shown the door on Tuesday's Dancing With the Stars, next week's final comes down to two of the show's best dancers and its most charismatic entertainer.

And what a surprising lineup it is: Maxim magazine staple Brooke Burns is the show's front-runner, with a long line of impeccable dances behind her; 'N Sync-er Lance Bass has overcome the judges' disdain for stars who they suspect have a bit of dance experience and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Warren Sapp has flung his surprisingly nimble bulk around with flair, charming judges and the audience alike with his wide smile and boisterous attitude.

My biggest critical barbs are saved for whatever genius at ABC management turned tonight's results show into a two-hour ordeal, packed with an oversize load of distractions that had little or nothing to do with the actual competition.

Forget the first hour, which was mostly a rebroadcast of Monday’s dance performances. Did we really need several kiddie couples competing in a pint-size version of the contest? Or a way-oversize Aretha Franklin wheezing through two tunes wearing something that looked like an aluminum foil-covered tent?

Dancer Julianne Hough was courageous, gamely launching into a tune from her country album on an evening that included performances by Aretha, John Legend and Leona Lewis. And am I the only one who finds it distracting to have major musical stars singing in the background during dance numbers, like a band working the best sock hop in history?

If this contest mostly comes down to dance skill, Sapp is heading home early next week, making room for a Bass/Burke showdown. But the judges seem to love Sapp’s rough charm, and hospital recovery rooms are filled with NFL quarterbacks who learned the hard way that you never count the man out.

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