Los Angeles, CA - October 1, 2010 - ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT sat down with Michael Bolton to talk about his elimination from the second week of "Dancing with the Stars" which was not a really big surprise, considering he only was awarded 12 points by the judges. What was shocking was the fact that he became the focus of controversy when judge Bruno Tonioli harshly called his jive performance among the worst in show history and awarded it only three points. Now, Michael speaks to ET about the tumult that has resulted as a result of those remarks.

"It is fairly unanimous that that Bruno crossed a line that was inappropriate and disrespectful beyond his responsibility to the show by most of the people who chimed in, by most of the people who are on the show, and to even Len [Goodman], who is the toughest judge, who actually stopped him in the middle of the tirade and told him what he was saying was inappropriate and unnecessary," Michael tells ET this morning. "I watched that and I was, 'Wow this is Len. He is the toughest guy.' That triggered something where I thought [Bruno] had a personal issue going on and he wanted to see something done and he succeeded in doing it..."

Michael also tells ET that what made the verbal dressing down from Bruno much worse was the fact that his family was in the audience.

"I flew my mother, who is 90 years old, to see the show and two of my three daughters. That made the Bruno experience that much more painful. It wasn't just an attack on me," says the Grammy Award winner.

Michael says that he was very disappointed to be voted out so early because he was looking forward to learning more dance techniques, so much so that he had acquired a bunch of Gene Kelly DVDs and had planned to fashion his movement after the 'Singing in the Rain' star.

On the other hand, he was also relieved because he will have had close to 115 shows total in 2010, and 57 of them are coming up now.

The upside to the Bruno experience is the fan support that he has received. He tells ET, "It has been phenomenal. It has been a unanimous outpouring. They have been very, very upset with Bruno. ...It almost was like whatever he did, it kind of rallied the fans, and not just the fans, but people who aren't part of my core fan online base, who have been expressing how incensed they were and how they feel he clearly crossed a line that they haven't seen on that show."

Michael also says that the only reason he was only able to speak to "Good Morning America" immediately after the "Dancing with the Stars" debacle was because there was an airplane at the Santa Monica airport waiting to fly him to a concert date and he couldn't be late. He wasn't trying to avoid other press.

In addition to his concert schedule, next for the singer is a CD of duets, which will be released in early 2011, with international singing sensations.

"We are now working on duets from around the world with giant artists who have been fans of mine since they were kids, because the music was being played in their country," he says.

So who does Michael think will walk away with the mirror-ball trophy?

"I think Jennifer [Grey] is a real strong contender to win," he says. "I think Kyle [Massey] has a very entertaining, amazing amount of energy that he brings and could be the surprise. And Brandy is really great on her feet, as well, and spirited. Everybody else I love, but those are the guys we are looking at."

Tune in to ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT this evening for more of our exclusive interview with Michael Bolton!

###

ALL QUOTES MUST CREDIT ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT

MUST MENTION TUNE-IN TO ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st

FOR WEB USE, MUST LINK TO http://www.etonline.com/tv/101415_
Dancing_with_the_Star_s_Michael_Bolton_
Speaks_Out_About_Bruno_Tonioli/index.html