'Dancing' : Evan and Anna Achieve Perfection

The divas were in the house Monday night as Dancing’s six remaining couples split into two teams for a cha cha challenge. Team Gaga — Pamela Anderson, Nicole Scherzinger, and Chad Ochocinco — took home the title of cha cha champions with a sizzling number choreographed to “Telephone.” The judges praised the group for their palpable sexual energy.

Team Madonna — Evan Lysacek, Niecy Nash and Erin Andrews — scored eights for their performance to “Holiday.” During the final moments, the ladies took a cue from serial-stripper Maksim Chmerkovskiy and ripped off their skirts to dance in their undies. But it wasn’t enough to beat their opponents.

While her team may have lost the challenge, it was still an exciting moment for Niecy, who exclaimed after the performance how excited she was to show her “jiggly parts.” But even more exciting was the judges’ reaction to her waltz with partner Louis Van Amstel. After landing in the bottom two last week, the panel declared Monday’s performance their best dance yet. With a total score of 28, they tied with Chad and Cheryl, whose Viennese waltz showed his gentler side. Len Goodman encouraged Chad to remember Monday’s date as “the day you became a contender.”

The top honor of the evening went to Evan and partner Anna Trebunskaya, who scored a perfect 30 — and the most enthusiastic standing ovation of the evening — for their powerful and controlled tango. After suffering a minor concussion during rehearsal last week and performing his worst dance, the samba, shortly after, the sharp tango was just what Evan needed to prove he’s still a force to be reckoned with.

Other high scorers included Erin and Maks, whose waltz Bruno called their “best dance yet,” and Nicole and Derek Hough. Each pair earned matching nines from the judges. Carrie Ann Inaba was especially fond of Nicole’s performance, recognizing her as “by far the best dancer we’ve ever had” and praising her as almost Derek’s equal. Bruno agreed, calling the pair “as close to dancing royalty as you can possibly be.” –Jessica WedemeyerCraig Sjodin/ABC