Steve Braunias on Dancing with the Stars: Bye Naz, one of the show's best dancers

Alas poor Naz. We didn't want to know her any more, but why? Why did she become the second contestant to be given the old heave-ho on last night's Dancing with the Stars? What had she done wrong, apart from land awkwardly and heavily into her partner's arms and break his leg?

He'll get over it. He knew the risks coming into the show. At any rate it was harsh to punish the beautiful and dynamic Naz for the mishap and the audience clearly felt the same. "Boo! Boo!", they chanted, and co-host Sharyn said, "This is not a happy place." She looked frightened. So did Dai Henwood. The two of them seemed to clutch at each other.

Naz and Shae during their performance.

The camera drew back, as if preparing to catch the moment when audience members rose from their seats and ran amok, tipping over the wretched golden arches of the stage set, and burning it to the ground. Disco inferno. Burn baby burn.

Well, you can only hope. There is something rotten about the show that Naz, easily one of the best dancers, can be voted off while a rotten dancer like David Seymour should stay to stink up the joint. The judges gave Seymour a low, low 12 last night. It was about 11 more than he deserved. The song he chose to dance to was Bic Runga's Drive. Drive what, exactly? He moved with the speed and flair of some old arthritic fusspot making his way to the letterbox on a mobility scooter.

Naz leaves Dancing With the Stars.

But the public bailed him out. Twelve miserable points, and people voted in such apparent quantities that it saved him to dance another day. Who are his saviours? Is it just the Act Party bloc? Or has his winsome appeal reached out to another, wider audience? Many politicians have slappable faces but Seymour's soft, vulnerable mush makes it hard to dislike him. He tries hard. He means well. He can't dance for toffee but it's hard to hold it against him when he bats his eyelashes.

At the climax of the show, it was down to Naz or Zac from The Bachelor. One of them would go home. Zac prepared for the worst. He began babbling to his dance partner as they waited for the axe to fall. What was he saying? Was he speaking in English, or in tongues? He looked as though he'd taken leave of his senses.

An emotional Naz Khanjani danced a cha-cha with eliminated contestant Gilda Kirkpatrick's dance partner Shae after her own partner was out injured. Photo / Supplied

It's gruelling out there. It's a form of mental torture. And that's just watching it. But there are also moments of surprising beauty. Last night Marama Fox combined the poi dance with a Viennese waltz. It was an audacious idea and when it began it looked like Fox was going to do what she always does — ham it up. In fact it was graceful and flowing, a lovely bicultural performance, and it transformed the show, remade it.

But then came the cruel moment of Naz's exit. It was sad to see her go. She seemed like a good stick. All she did was crush her partner's leg; the show, randomly, bizarrely, crushed her dreams.

Naz is hugged goodbye as she leaves Dancing With the Stars.