(Reporting and writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

In the first week without Cloris Leachman, the ABC show “Dancing With The Stars” instantly became more competitive on Monday night.
    
Week No. 7 featured a dance-off between two teams. Host Tom Bergeron could hardly keep a straight face when he welcomed “Team Cha-Cha” to the floor. It turns out “Team Cha-Cha” didn’t stand a chance against “Team Paso Doble,” which not only had top-rated Brooke Burke and Derek Hough but also a beaming Warren Sapp, who ended his dance grinning like a 12-year-old.

At the top of the heap when the ballroom cooled down were Brooke and Derek, who scored the first perfect 30 from the judges. But everyone else in the competition seems relatively close, unlike when 82-year-old Leachman relied on comedy instead of dancing skills to stay in the show week after week. 

But with a presidential election happening on Tuesday, results from the less historic vote on week-seven of “Dancing With The Stars” will be moved to a Wednesday broadcast. As Bergeron said, “We’re having a different kind of election (Tuesday), so go vote.”
    
And with that, “Team Cha-Cha” will have to take a break.

(Photo: copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.; photographer Kelsey McNeal)