The latest season of "Dancing with the Stars" has been on now for 9 weeks and had its biggest upset on Monday night with an elimination bombshell during the Quarterfinals.
In a surprising twist, the lowest-scoring couple from last week, Tommy Chong and Peta Murgatroyd, was saved from elimination at the show's beginning, according to International Business Times. After all the dances were completed and scored by the judges, Lea Thompson and Artem Chigvintsev ultimately faced the chopping block in the "America's choice" themed episode and had to leave the ballroom just shy of the Semifinals.
"I just feel really great. I feel strong and I'm anxious to get back to my day job on 'Switched at Birth,'" Lea said. "I love this man [Artem] and he's a new pro and I think he did a great job with me."
Artem also expressed his gratitude on Twitter toward DWTS fans who helped the duo get this far in the competition, the International Business Times reports.
Lea and Artem, along with the rest of the contestants, performed two dances. The first routine, which head judge Len Goodman said was "fantastic," relied on a fierce samba set to Maroon 5's "Animals" and scored 34 out of 40 points.
Their second performance, which got high praise from judge Carrie Ann Inaba, used a paso doble dance set to Ram Jam's "Black Betty" with Henry Byalikov. The judges gave their trio dance routine 36 out of 40 points.
As for the other contestants, Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson kicked off the show with a foxtrot dance set to "Ain't that a Kick in the Head." Carrie Ann thought it was almost "too smooth," judge Bruno Tonioli raved about its brilliance, and the couple received 37 out of 40 points.
"That's the way to kick off the quarter finals!" Len said. "What a way to start the night! Fantastic!"
According to Hollywood Life, Alfonso and Witney later danced their second performance with a paso doble set to "Turn Down for What" with Lindsay. Carrie Ann thought their dance was "insane," and the judges gave them 40 points.
Tommy and Peta danced to the Viennese Waltz set to "Trouble," which led to a small trip-up and scored 29 points. Bruno said that performance was "watchable," while Len stated that Tommy was "his hero."
"America is here to support you," judge Julianne Hough said. "That was a proper Viennese Waltz. You put a smile on my face every single week."
Tommy and Peta later danced the samba with Sharna Burgess to "Talk Dirty and scored 28 out of 40 points. According to US Weekly, the judges couldn't stop laughing at Tommy's routine, which had a flight attendant theme, and all thought it was "great entertainment."
Bethany Mota and Derek Hough went with a Viennese waltz routine and scored 36 points. US Weekly reported that the backstory involves a girl's broken heart.
"I am so impressed," Carrie Ann said. "Normally you are very good when you hide behind these characters, and I was actually very concerned. But it was absolutely stunning. I felt all the emotional notes. It was quite breathtaking."
Bethany and Derek later danced the Argentine tango with Tony Dovolani set to "Jungle" and scored 38 points. Although Carrie Ann loved the dance, she noted how the routine was a little "out of control," while Len and Julianne strongly disagreed.
Sadie Robertson and Mark Ballas did a jive number set to "1, 2, 3 Turnaround" and scored 33 points. According to US Weekly, Mark did not rely on props and gimmicks in this routine, following the judges' advice.
For their second dance, Sadie and Mark took on the foxtrot with Emma Slater set to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Len thought it was the "best trio of the night," and their routine earned them a perfect 40 points.
Janel Parrish and Val Chemerkovskiy danced a quickstep number set to "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" and finished it with a kiss. Although US Weekly noted that there was a small malfunction with Val's shoes, Carrie Ann and Julianne gave them the best pair performance of the night, and the judges gave them a score of 38 out of 40 points.
For their second routine, Janel and Val danced alongside Keo Motsepe to a salsa dance set to drum beats. However, while Julianne thought there wasn't enough "salsa content," Carrie Ann noted that their performance was "fearless" and "flawless," leading to an overall score of 39 out of 40 points.
New episodes of "Dancing with the Stars" can be seen on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. Previous episodes, including the current one, can be seen through ABC's website.
