Dancing with the Stars ousted Jana Kramer and her professional dance partner Gleb Savchenko heading into Season 23's finale on Tuesday night.

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The country singer and Gleb became the tenth couple eliminated from the competition based on the combination of Dancing with the Stars judges' scores and home viewer votes they had received during last week's performance show.

Last week, Jana and Gleb had finished in fourth place on the judges' leaderboard when only five couples remained.

"This has been amazing," Jana said following her ouster. "Those [contestants] up there so deserve to be there. They're absolutely amazing. It was our time and he's been the most incredible partner. I've learned so much about myself and what I can do and how strong I can really be, and [Gleb] has given me all of that. Thank you all so much!"

Professional race car driver James Hinchcliffe and partner Sharna Burgess were the other couple in jeopardy prior to the elimination announcement, but James and Sharna were not necessarily one of the bottom-two couples based on judges' scores and America's votes.

Monday night's final performance show featured the four remaining couples each performing two routines -- a "Redemption Routine," which is an improved encore performance of a previously-performed dance on the show, and the fan-favorite "Freestyle," which is a supersized routine with no rules or expectations.

Olympic gold gymnast Laurie Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy topped the judges' leaderboard in first place after they received a total of 78 out of 80 possible points from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Julianne Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

Laurie and Val first reprised their paso doble from Week 5 of the competition and received 38 out of 40 possible points from the judges. The pair followed that up with a youthful freestyle in which Laurie and Val danced on a playground and played in falling leaves. Laurie and Val earned a perfect score of 40 points for the freestyle.

It was a very tight race, because James and Sharna finished only one point behind them on the judges' leaderboard with 77 total points.

James and Sharna first improved upon their foxtrot from Week 1 and earned 37 points. The couple later performed their freestyle, which recreated James' memories of his near-fatal race car crash. James relived the moment he blacked out and attempted to celebrate his journey to recovery through dance. The judges agreed it was one of the best freestyles they've ever seen on Dancing with the Stars.

Retired NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. and partner Lindsay Arnold finished the night in third place with 75 total points. The pair initially took the stage with their Week 3 Viennese waltz that earned 35 points from the judges. Calvin and Lindsay then performed a 40-point worthy freestyle -- which featured a mash-up of songs, jazz and jive styles, and tricks and lifts.

Fourth place on the judges' leaderboard went to Jana and Gleb, who is very sick and battling the flu. The couple earned a total of 71 points for their Week 2 tango and contemporary freestyle.

Jana and Gleb's tango received 35 points from the judges. And for their freestyle, Jana and Gleb were attached to each other with a long piece of material. Jana showed her growth on Dancing with the Stars and newfound strength and confidence. Due to a small slip-up, however, the pair only earned 36 points for their final dance of the season.

Dancing with the Stars will feature one more round of competition and then crown its next winner during Tuesday night's live finale from 9-11PM ET/PT on ABC.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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