Country singer Chuck Wicks and his partner and real-life girlfriend Julianne Hough became the eighth couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars' eighth season during last night's live results show broadcast on ABC.

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Wicks and Hough were eliminated from the competition based on a combination of the judges' scores they had received for their individual and team dances on Monday night's performance show and the home viewer votes that were cast immediately following the broadcast.

"This has been fantastic, I've had a great time," Wicks said following his elimination. "In the last three weeks we've gotten standing ovations from the crowd and that's really what matters."

"We're still here!" Hough shouted after Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron noted that the couple's relationship had managed to survive competing on the show together.

"To all the critics that thought we weren't going to last through this: We did it," Wicks added.  "We're still on top of things, and I'm going to go back on tour and enjoy doing what I love and that's country music.  So thank you guys and thank you fans."

Wicks and Hough were the third couple in as many weeks to be eliminated from Dancing with the Stars without competing in a "Dance Off," which had featured each week's bottom two couples dancing one more time for a higher judges' score that could possibly spare them from elimination.

Jilted The Bachelor winner Melissa Rycroft and her professional partner Tony Dovolani had finished last on Monday night's judges' leaderboard and were the other couple still in danger of elimination when Wicks and Hough's ouster was revealed, however Dancing with the Stars co-host Samantha Harris had been careful to note that they were not necessarily the week's second-lowest ranked couple.

Rycroft and Dovolani had finished last on the judges' leaderboard due to a rib injury that had forced Rycroft to miss Monday night's performance show and resulted in the judges having to base their scores on footage of rehearsal performance that the couple had performed while rehearsing with the show's band on Monday morning.

Prior to Wicks and Hough's elimination, all three judges had reiterated their Monday night comments that Rycroft and Dovolani's scores would likely have been much higher if they hadn't been forced to base their scoring on the partial-strength rehearsal and stated that Wicks and Hough would be the ones going home if they had to choose between the two couples.
 
"I'd think it's nuts [if Melissa left],  she's one of the best dancers we've ever had!" judge Bruno Tonioli said.  "It was an unfortunate situation last night and we had to judge accordingly [but] come on, she has the potential of being a champion, let's get real."
 
"Based on last night, Melissa should go and Chuck should stay," lead judge Len Goodman added. "But based on seven weeks of competition, Melissa should stay and Chuck should go."
 
Although they had been in fourth place on the judges' leaderboard after receiving 26 out of 30 points for the cha cha routine they had performed on Monday night's show, Wicks and Hough had ended up finishing next-to-last on the overall judges' leaderboard when their team dance received only 25 out of 30 points from the judges.

Wicks and Hough had competed on "Team Mambo," which also included Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson and partner Mark Ballas as well as Dovolani and professional dancer Lacey Schwimmer, who served as a last-minute substitute for Rycroft.

Rapper Kimberly Denise "Lil' Kim" Jones and professional partner Derek Hough had finished in first place on the overall judges' leaderboard with 56 out of 60 points after receiving 28 out of 30 points for their paso doble routine and an additional 28 out of 30 points for their team dance performance.

Jones and Hough had performed as part of "Team Tango," which also included Sex and the City actor Gilles Marini and partner Cheryl Burke as well as champion bull rider Ty Murray and partner Chelsie Hightower.

Marini and Burke had received 27 out of 30 points from the judges for their lindy hop routine -- which when combined with their team dance score had left them in second place on the overall judges' leaderboard with 55 out of 60 points.

Johnson and Ballas had also received 27 out of 30 points from the judges for their samba routine, however given their weaker team dance score, they had only finished in third place on the overall judges' leaderboard with 52 out of 60 points.

Murray and Hightower had finished in fifth place on the initial judges' leaderboard after receiving 24 out of 30 points for their salsa routine, but had finished in fourth place on the overall judges' leaderboard with 52 out of 60 points due to their dance team's stronger team dance score.

Rycroft and Dovolani had received only a 21 out of 30 score during the judges' scoring of their taped rehearsal performance -- which when combined with their team's 25 out of 30 score, had left them in last place on the overall judges' leaderboard with 46 out of 60 points. 
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