Elton John probably could have used a little controversy to spice up his NBC special, Elton John: The Red Piano, which aired Monday night. The variety show, which drew a third-place 5.6 rating and a 9 share, had originally included a performance of John's "The Bitch is Back," while Pamela Anderson engaged in a bit of pole dancing on a screen behind him. However, the number received a thumbs-down from NBC's standards and practices department, the network's in-house censorship body. In a statement on Tuesday, the company said, "We believed the content was not appropriate for [the 8:00 p.m. time slot] and decided to pull the song from the special."