Dancing with the Stars featured a shocking elimination Monday night in which frontrunner Simone Biles and her professional partner Sasha Farber were sent packing right before the Season 24 finals.

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The Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast and Sasha became the ninth couple ousted from the ABC reality dancing 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.

When Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron announced the results, judges Julianne Hough and Bruno Tonioli stood up in shock, while Carrie Ann Inaba's mouth dropped open and Len Goodman placed his face in his hands to show his outrage and disappointment.

"It's okay. I'm just thankful to be at this competition," Simone told Tom. "I feel like I've learned a lot about myself. I've matured and I can't wait to go home, but I'll be home next week for the finale!"

Before the episode ended, DWTS co-host Erin Andrews could be heard saying, "Unreal. I'm shocked. Wow!"

The other couple in jeopardy of elimination last night was two-time World Series champion David Ross and partner Lindsay Arnold; however, they did not necessarily land in the bottom two based on judges' scores and America's votes.

Due to David's pattern of average scores each week and feedback from the judges that -- despite having determination and an amazing personality, he's not the best dancer in the competition -- it's probably safe to say everyone anticipated his elimination in this semifinals round.

Monday night's broadcast featured the four remaining couples each performing two complete dance routines.

In the first round dubbed "Judges' Challenge," each judge worked with one couple and presented the celebrity with a challenge to execute during his or her performance in the hope of seeing major improvement. During the second round, each pair learned a new style of dance, but there were no twists or special themes.

Before getting eliminated, Simone and Sasha topped the leaderboard in first place with a total of 80 out of 80 points. They had received two perfect scores of 40 from the judges for their routines.

Simone and Sasha first performed a jive in which Carrie Ann asked the gymnast to dance four counts of eight solo in order to show she can let go, be free and let her emotions shine.

In the subsequent round, Simone and Sasha took the stage with a rumba after she opened up about sacrifices she had to make in order to join the USA Olympic team and eventually win gold.

NFL free agent Rashad Jennings and partner Emma Slater claimed second place on the leaderboard with 77 total points.

Rashad and Emma initially danced a rumba in which Bruno asked the celebrity to clean up his hands and feet and move them gracefully onstage. They earned 38 points in Round 1.

For the second round, Rashad and Emma performed a quickstep routine that received 39 points from the judges. Rashad shared his story of overcoming challenges as a kid in order to play pro football, sending the message to children everywhere, "Yes you can."

Third place on the judges' leaderboard belonged to Fifth Harmony member Normani Kordei and partner Val Chmerkovskiy with 76 total points. The couple earned all 9s from the judges for their first routine and a perfect score of 40 points for the second. 

First, Normani and Val danced a Viennese waltz after Len instructed the singer to show him 12 bars in proper hold with "a lovely frame," good posture and the head tilted to the left. The pair then performed a jazz routine after Normani shared her story about her mother's breast cancer battle and losing her home in Hurricane Katrina.

David and Lindsay landed in fourth -- and last -- place on the night's leaderboard with a total of 70 points.

David and Lindsay initially performed a foxtrot in which Julianne asked the retired pro baseball player to tuck in his "booty" throughout the dance. The couple earned 34 points for their foxtrot and then followed that up with a 36-point worthy tango inspired by David's roller-coaster journey in MLB.

Next week, Normani, Rashad and David will battle it out in Dancing with the Stars' finals, hoping to win the Season 24 mirrorball trophy.




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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