It was the last rodeo for champion bull rider Ty Murray and his professional partner Chelsie Hightower, who became the tenth couple eliminated from Dancing with the Stars' eighth season during last night's live results show broadcast on ABC.
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Murray and Hightower were eliminated from the competition based on a combination of the judges' scores they had received for the two dances they had performed on Dancing with the Stars' Monday night performance show and the home viewer votes that were cast immediately following the broadcast.
"I've got a whole new respect for what these guys do," Murray said following his elimination. "It's so hard. You know, I've [told] Chelsie, trying to teach me to dance is like trying to teach a blind guy to paint. I don't understand what makes it look better. I can see that I'm not doing as good as the other people but I don't really know how to make it better, I just try to remember the steps."
"I feel so honored to have gotten Ty for my first season [on Dancing with the Stars]," Hightower added. "He's so down-to-earth and he's such a good guy and I could not have asked for a better celebrity, I'm so happy for him. And proud of mind, I'm so proud of him, oh my gosh!"
Jilted The Bachelor winner Melissa Rycroft and her professional partner Tony Dovolani were the other couple still in danger of elimination when Murray and Hightower's ouster was revealed.
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However, although Murray and Hightower and Rycroft and Dovolani had finished as the last and next-to-last ranked couples on Monday night's judges' leaderboard, Dancing with the Stars co-host Samantha Harris had been careful to note that they were not necessarily the week's two lowest ranked couples.
Sex and the City actor Gilles Marini and his partner Cheryl Burke had finished in first place on the overall judges' leaderboard with 60 out of 60 points after receiving perfect scores for both the waltz and salsa routines they had performed on Monday night's performance show.
Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson and her partner Mark Ballas had finished in second place with 56 out of 60 points after earning a perfect 30 out of 30 points for their Argentine tango performance and 26 out of 30 points for their jive routine.
Rycroft and Dovolani had finished with 55 out of 60 points after receiving 28 out of 30 points for their quickstep and 27 out of 30 points for their cha cha performance.
Murray and Hightower had finished with 48 out of 60 points after receiving 25 out of 30 points for their Viennese waltz and 23 out of 30 points for their samba routine.
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In addition to Murray and Hightower's elimination, the results show broadcast also featured the two remaining dancers who are competing for a spot as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars' ninth season, Anna Demidova and Mayo Alanen, each performing two dances with a previously eliminated eighth-season professional dancer they had spent the week training.
Demidova performed with Maksim Chmerkovskiy while Alanen performed with Kym Johnson.
Dancing with the Stars' three remaining eighth-season finalists will perform on next Monday's final performance show and the season's champion will be crowned on Tuesday night's season-finale broadcast.
About The Author: Steven Rogers