It may have been Dancing with the Stars‘ 100th episode celebration, but someone still had to go home.
All eyes were on Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani
(the couple with the lowest score, 50/60, going into last night’s results show) as the next pair to be eliminated, but in a mild upset Mario and partner Karina Smirnoff became the eighth couple voted off DWTS.
Being the youngest contestant to grace the dancefloor, the 21-year-old R&B singer was a class act when it came time to say his farewell–even personally thanking his fiercest critic, judge Len Goodman.
After telling the crowd, “I’ve had a great time, a great partner and great competition,” Mario said: “Len, thank you for all the comments you made. Ultimately, you helped me become a better ballroom dancer. The comment about me being an inspiration to young people, I want to say that the real great ones are the young men and women fighting for our country…I had a ball. Thank you guys.”
Mario found himself in the bottom two with NFL star Jason Taylor, who until this week’s competition had been a darling of the judges and the viewers.
So heading into next week’s semifinal are Marissa & Tony, Kristi & Mark, Jason & Edyta and Cristian & Cheryl.
But last night’s show wasn’t just about saying goodbye, viewers got to see some of their favorite dancers and contestants from seasons past came back to help celebrate the 100th episode, including Julianne Hough and Apolo Anton Ohno, Mel B. and Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Mario Lopez, who pre-taped a performance with the cast of A Chorus Line.
Tell us: Were you suprised Mario and Karina were eliminated? Who do you predict will go into the final two? And what was your favorite moment of DWTS‘ 100th episode celebration?
KELSEY McNEAL/ABC
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