Dancing with the Stars' "Switch-Up" challenge proved to be tough for most of the celebrity and professional pairings, but Meryl Davis and temporary pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy rose to the occasion and prevailed.

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Meryl, a Sochi Olympics ice dancing gold medalist, and Val finished in first place on the judges' combined two-week leaderboard during Monday night's eighteenth-season performance show on ABC. The couple topped the two-week leaderboard after Meryl received 78 out of 80 total possible points from the judges.

The "Switch-Up" challenge allowed America to change things up and vote on which pairs they'd like to see dance together. Next week, the competition's original celebrity and professional pairings will resume.

Meryl and Val earned 39 out of 40 possible points for their tango routine Monday night -- which was the same score she had earned with original partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy last week -- from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and the guest judge. This week, Julianne Hough sat on the panel. Last week, it was Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts.

Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron revealed Meryl and Val were America's most requested pair of the night. Meryl's original partner is Val's brother Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Actress and former Full House star Candace Cameron Bure and temporary partner Tony Dovolani finished in ninth -- and last -- place at the bottom of the leaderboard after they performed a quickstep routine which received only 28 points from the judges. Candace had a two-week total of 60 points and was originally paired with Mark Ballas.

Second place on the judges' leaderboard went to Nickelodeon star and Big Time Rush singer James Maslow and temporary partner Cheryl Burke. James received a total of 71 points from the judges, including the 35 points he earned for his tango routine with Cheryl on Monday night. James' original partner is Peta Murgatroyd.

Third place on the leaderboard went to double-amputee snowboarding champion Amy Purdy with 70 total points. She performed a salsa routine with her temporary partner Mark last night, and it received 34 points from the judges. Amy's original partner is Derek Hough.

Peta and temporary partner Charlie White, a Sochi Olympics ice dancing gold medalist, finished in fourth place on the leaderboard after they danced a rumba worth 33 judges' points. Charlie walked away with a two-week total of 69 points. He had originally been paired with Sharna Burgess.

Maksim and temporary partner Danica McKellar, an actress and former The Wonder Years star, landed in fifth place on the judges' leaderboard after Danica earned a two-week total of 68 points from the judges. Included in that 68 points was her 32-point jive with Maksim from last night. Danica was originally partnered with Val.

Sixth place went to Sharna and temporary partner Cody Simpson, an Australian pop singer. They danced a foxtrot which received 31 points from the judges, which added to Cody's score from last week with his original partner Witney Carson. Cody therefore earned a total of 66 points on the combined leaderboard.

Seventh place was a tie between two couples: Witney and temporary partner Drew Carey, a comedian and game show host, as well as Derek and his temporary partner NeNe Leakes, a star on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Both Drew and NeNe tied with 63 total points over the course of the last two weeks.

Drew and Witney took the stage with a cha cha routine which received 33 points from the judges last night. NeNe and Derek performed a jazz dance worth 32 points. Drew was originally paired with Cheryl, while NeNe's original partner was Tony.

To read all the contestants' scores from last week with their original partners that added into each pairing's total score this week, please click here.

All nine eighteenth-season Dancing with the Stars couples will return for another two-hour performance show on Monday, April 14. The judges' scores from this week and last week will be combined with the home viewer votes cast following Monday night's broadcast and last week's performance show.

The two-week results will determine which original celebrity and professional pairing will be eliminated from the competition.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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