Nicole Scherzinger had some new company atop Dancing with the Stars' leaderboard.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Pussycat Dolls member and ESPN reporter Erin Andrews finished tied for first place with 55 out of 60 possible points each on Dancing with the Stars' judging leaderboard during Monday night's final tenth-season performance show.
Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek -- Scherzinger's season-long rival who had tied her atop the judging leaderboard two out of the previous three weeks -- finished in third place with 52 out of 60 possible points.
Monday night's performance episode featured the competition's three remaining couples each performing two routines -- a "judges redemption dance" and a freestyle routine -- which were scored by judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.
Andrews and her professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy finished in first after the redemption dance round when they received 29 points -- which included perfect 10's from Inaba and Goodman -- for their samba.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hot on their heels were Lysacek and his professional partner Anna Trebunskaya, who received 28 points -- including a perfect 10 from Inaba -- for their Viennese waltz. Scherzinger and her partner Derek Hough also received 28 points -- including a perfect 10 from Tonioli -- for their rumba.
However it was Scherzinger and Hough who won the freestyle round, as they received 27 points from the judges for their "high-octane," mixed-dance freestyle. Andrews and Chmerkovskiy received 26 points for their contemporary freestyle which was choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Mandy Moore. Lysacek and Trebunskaya received 24 points for a Footloose-inspired routine that was choreographed by Bobby Newberry.
Dancing with the Stars' live tenth-season finale will air tonight at 9PM ET/PT on ABC.
The finale will feature each of the three remaining couples performing one more routine -- their favorite dance from the season -- before the third-place finisher is revealed based on a combination of last night's home viewer votes and the judges' scores from all three routines.
The final two couples will then perform a fourth and final routine, with the scores being added to their final judges score total.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dancing with the Stars' tenth-season mirror ball trophy winner will then be revealed based on the combination of the share of the judges' scores for all four Monday and Tuesday night performances, and the share of home viewer votes cast immediately after Monday night's broadcast.
About The Author: Steven Rogers