Dancing with the Stars eliminated Marilu Henner and her professional partner Derek Hough during Monday night's Season 23 performance show on ABC.
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Derek and the actress and former The Celebrity Apprentice contestant became the eighth 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.
"Oh my gosh. I've had such a blast. I've had such a blast!" Marilu said following her ouster. "It's such an incredible family here, the judges, [the cast], my darling Derek, the hair and makeup and wardrobe people... Unbelievable. It was such a gift."
Marilu and Derek consistently landed in the middle or towards the bottom of the judges' leaderboard each week leading up to their Week 9 elimination, however, Marilu and Derek had their best night yet last night.
Country singer Jana Kramer and partner Gleb Savchenko were the other couple in jeopardy prior to the announcement Marilu and Derek would be going home instead, but Jana and Gleb were not necessarily one of the bottom-two couples based on judges' scores and America's votes.
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The theme of Monday night's broadcast was "Broadway Night" in which each celebrity and professional pairing was required to dance to a song from a hit Broadway musical and then participate in the "Team-Up Challenge."
In addition to regular judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli, actress and singer Idina Menzel served as a guest judge. The couples were therefore striving to achieve a total score of 80 points for the night -- 40 points in each of the two rounds.
And two couples managed to do just that! At 80 total points, Jana and Gleb tied for first place on the judges' leaderboard with Olympic gold gymnast Laurie Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy.
Jana and Gleb first performed a perfect-scoring waltz to Waitress despite the pro dancer's knee injury. Doctors had warned Gleb there was inflammation and fluid building up inside his knee, which made it painful for him to dance.
The pair later received 40 points for their "Team Dance" with Laurie and Val. The foursome, dubbed "Team Sisters," wowed with a contemporary routine. Laurie and Val initially took the stage with a perfect-scoring Argentine tango inspired by Chicago.
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Third place on the judges' leaderboard was also a tie at 74 total points between two celebrities: Little Women: LA star Terra Jole and retired NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr.
Terra and partner Sasha Farber's Broadway dance was a Charleston inspired by Sweet Charity, which earned 38 points from the judges. They later followed that up with a 36-point worthy jazz routine they performed with fellow "Team Cubs" members Marilu and Derek for the second round.
Calvin and partner Lindsay Arnold first received 37 points from the judges for their waltz to the song "Memory" from the show Cats, which was sung live by Leona Lewis.
For their "Team Dance," Calvin and Lindsay performed a paso doble with professional race car driver James Hinchcliffe and temporary partner Jenna Johnson. The foursome, dubbed "Team Last Men Standing," racked in 37 additional points in this round.
James and Jenna -- who is filling in for pro Sharna Burgess since she injured her knee -- finished in fifth place on the leaderboard with 73 total points after they performed a jazz routine inspired by The Wiz, which earned 36 points from the judges, and then impressed with their team dance.
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Marilu and Derek landed in sixth and last place on the judges' leaderboard with 72 total points.
The couple first danced a samba from Jersey Boys, which currently stars DWTS pro Mark Ballas on Broadway, that received 36 points from the judges. Marilu and Derek's subsequent "Team Cubs" performance earned them the same score.
Dancing with the Stars' Season 23 semifinals will air next Monday night at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski