Dancing with the Stars eliminated Bill Engvall and professional dance partner Emma Slater in the finals during Monday night's live seventeenth-season broadcast on ABC.  

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The comedian and Slater became the ninth couple ousted from the competition based on the combination of the Dancing with the Stars judges' scores they had received during last night's performance show and the home viewer votes that were cast following last Monday night's episode.

"It just goes to prove to me that there is a God, because I don't think I could make one more dance," Engvall joked following his ouster.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of Emma. She's just been like my second daughter now, and we just had a blast. You guys [the judges], [Len Goodman], [Carrie Ann Inaba] and [Bruno Tonioli], it's just been a blast. But this would be totally remiss if I didn't thank [my wife] Gail. She's put up with this rollercoaster ride. This has been a lifetime experience I will never forget. To all the fans who voted this long, thank you... If you didn't think I cared about this dance, wait until you see this thing tomorrow."

"Why are you asking me to speak?!" Slater said in tears after host Tom Bergeron asked how her experience was as a first-time Dancing with the Stars pro this season.

"I'm just blessed that I had, first of all, a chance to be on the show, and then more importantly, to be on with [Bill] was just the best thing that could've happened to me ever. I had the best time. This experience has been amazing."

Slater and Engvall landed in fourth -- and last -- place on Monday night's judging leaderboard with a total of 51 points out of a possible 65 points.

Monday night's broadcast featured each of the remaining four couples dancing three rounds of competition -- a routine the judges wanted each couple to improve on, the fan-favorite freestyle and a samba relay.

For the samba relay, all the couples performed on the dance floor one at a time to the same music, dancing back to back. The couple to dance the best samba would receive five bonus points, the second-place couple would earn four points, the third-place pair would receive three points, and the couple to finish in last place would only get two additional points.

Slater and Engvall first took the stage with a new and improved Viennese waltz which received 24 out of 30 possible points from the judges. They finished last in the samba relay, earning two extra points, and then received 25 out of 30 possible points -- including their first 9 of the season -- for their Indiana Jones-inspired freestyle.

Glee star Amber Riley and partner Derek Hough topped the leaderboard in first place with 64 total points. They first danced an improved version of a prior Charleston routine worth a perfect score of 30 points. After receiving four points from the samba relay, the couple danced a country western-themed freestyle complete with stepping that earned 30 points from the judges.

Disney Channel star Corbin Bleu and partner Karina Smirnoff finished in second place on last night's judges' leaderboard with 62 total points. The pair first put some work into making a previous quickstep routine better, and they received 27 points for that. In addition to the five points earned from the samba relay, the couple received 30 points from the judges for their Michael Jackson-inspired freestyle.

Third place on the leaderboard went to former The Osbournes and Armed & Famous star Jack Osbourne and partner Cheryl Burke with 57 total points, which included the three points they earned from the samba relay.

Osbourne and Burke also danced an improved jive which received 24 points from the judges and a freestyle worth 30 points -- their first perfect score of the season. For their freestyle, the couple mixed many dance styles into the routine to represent how far Osbourne has come in the competition. 

The three couples who survived last night's elimination will dance one more round of competition to finish out their judges' scores during Tuesday night's finale at 9PM ET/PT on ABC.

The next round of competition will be called a "fusion dance" for which each celebrity and professional pairing has 24 hours to put together a dance which combines two different dance styles.

The dance styles were selected for each couple by their opponents in a format that required some strategy. The pair with the lowest cumulative average of judges' scores this season got to select the two dance styles for the highest-scoring couple. Engvall and Slater therefore picked samba and quickstep for Riley and Hough.

Then, the couple with the next lowest cumulative score got to pick the dance styles for the second-place pair. As a result, Osbourne and Burke selected the cha cha and foxtrot for Bleu and Smirnoff. In turn, Bleu and Smirnoff picked the paso doble and salsa for Osbourne and Burke.

Engvall and Slater were therefore left with the jive and quickstep, however, their elimination will prevent them from performing in tonight's "fusion dance."

Tuesday night's two-hour finale broadcast will feature one of the remaining three couples being crowned the winner of Dancing with the Stars' seventeenth season.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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