Stiffness proved to be Superman's kryptonite.

Cameron Mathison, handsome yet a bit heavy-footed sometimes, was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars Tuesday, ensuring that the competition is going to have a female-dominated semifinal for the first time in…well, ever.

"Not one single bit of me wanted to go home," the All My Children star said, telling partner Edyta Sliwinska that he "can't believe" the progress he's made under her tutelage.

"It's been an amazing journey and I loved every minute of it," Sliwinska said. "I am truly, truly proud of Cameron—I never thought you were going to go so far," she added cheekily.

While the statuesque actor didn't have a problem turning in a graceful Viennese waltz on Monday, his second dance of the night, the cha-cha, left the judges wanting more.

"You hit the lines," Carrie Ann Inaba said, but "the in-between movement is what you need to work on."

"That time was tough because I thought I did pretty well," Mathison told E! Online Senior Editor Marc Malkin following his performance. "I am an actor who is used to getting feedback on performances, so it's not so bad. Directors give us notes, and we have to adjust accordingly. I am just not used to getting the feedback in front of 20 million viewers."

Meanwhile, Marie Osmond obviously isn't the best dancer in the lot, but she certainly has cornered the market on unrelated reasons to keep her in the competition.

The 48-year-old singer was absent from last week's results show following the death of her father, George Osmond, who passed away the morning after his daughter dedicated her GI-inspired quickstep to the 90-year-old family patriarch and his late wife Olive.

But as it was following her on-camera fainting spell, the Osmond optimism was back in full force Monday, with the ever-perky brunette saying that she was "doing great."

"I found out that morning and I opened up the Bible, as I always do," Osmond said, and she just happened to turn to the passage in Ecclesiastes that reads, "There's a time to mourn and a time to dance."

"And I felt like it was almost from my dad saying, 'This is your time to dance," she said.

So there's no need to remind Osmond that her fans have been making up for all those last-place finishes on the leader board.

"Make my week even worse by bringing that up!" she admonished Dancing cohost Samantha Harris after her cowgirl jive only garnered a 25.

Joining Osmond in the semifinals are Melanie Brown, Jennie Garth and Helio Castroneves, whose zoot-suited quickstep earned him his first 30 of the competition.

"You're like a great big dancing banana!" Len Goodman exclaimed in response to both the Brazilian racecar driver's speedy steps and his bright-yellow outfit.

Meanwhile, the celebs in the skirts are finally getting their due after four seasons of male domination. In the series' first two seasons, it was two women versus two men in the semifinals, and in the last two it's been one lone woman hoofing it out against three men.

Not only was season-one champ Kelly Monaco the only gal to hoist the disco ball trophy (and that cycle only had six contestants to begin with), but a woman hasn't even been runner-up since Stacey Keibler lost out to Drew Lachey in spring 2006.

Before next week's lineup was finalized, Gloria Estefan made good on her prior Dancing commitment and showed up to sing "Conga" and a tune off her latest Spanish-language album, 90 Millas. The Cuban crossover star canceled an appearance last month to be with her ailing mom in Miami.

Among the comments and criticisms handed out Monday night that the remaining contestants can keep in mind as they head into the final weeks:

"You have a tendency to lead with your chin—lead with your heart" (Inaba to Garth).

"That's a really Scary Spice there!" (Bruno Tonioli, after Brown's tango)

"I loved the stalking at the beginning" (Inaba, also regarding Mel B's tango).

"I know the writers went out on strike, but I think your hips went out in sympathy with them" (Goodman reminding Osmond, and everyone else, that you can just make this stuff up).