Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 8)

Dancing with the Stars (season 8)
	; Promotional advertisement for the eighth season made by BLT & Associates
Country	United States
Network	ABC
Original run	March 9, 2009 – May 19, 2009
No. of episodes	21
Celebrity winner	Shawn Johnson
Professional winner	Mark Ballas
Previous season	7
Next season	9

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The eighth season of Dancing with the Stars premiered on Monday, March 9, 2009, as part of ABC's spring line-up. The show generally followed the format of previous seasons, with 13 couples, although there were some changes, including two new dances (Argentine Tango and Lindy Hop), and an occasional dance-off between the bottom two couples, in order to determine who will be eliminated. The show was again hosted by Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris. Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba all returned as judges again this season.

Originally, the season was advertised as the first U.S. season where a husband and wife would compete against each other: rodeo champion Ty Murray and singer-songwriter Jewel. The two had married the previous year after a ten-year courtship. However, just prior to the series, Jewel fractured both her tibias and was unable to perform. She was replaced on the show by Playboy model Holly Madison. Murray chose to continue on the show, and Jewel appeared during the season as a special musical guest.

Nancy O'Dell, co-host of Access Hollywood, was also originally announced to be on the show, but was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a torn meniscus, which required surgery. She was replaced by Melissa Rycroft, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who won The Bachelor's 13th season. She only had two days to practice her first dance.

Shawn Johnson is the youngest ever competitor and champion on Dancing with the Stars.

Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson won the competition, beating actor Gilles Marini by less than 1%.

[edit] Couples

Celebrity	Occupation	Professional partner	Status
Belinda Carlisle	Pop Music Legend	Jonathan Roberts	Eliminated 1st on March 17, 2009
Denise Richards	Actress	Maksim Chmerkovskiy	Eliminated 2nd on March 24, 2009
Holly Madison	Playboy Model & Reality TV Star	Dmitry Chaplin	Eliminated 3rd on March 31, 2009
Steve Wozniak	Apple Co-Founder	Karina Smirnoff	Eliminated 4th on March 31, 2009
David Alan Grier	Comedian	Kym Johnson	Eliminated 5th on April 7, 2009
Steve-O	Jackass Star	Lacey Schwimmer	Eliminated 6th on April 14, 2009
Lawrence Taylor	Retired NFL Hall of Famer	Edyta Śliwińska	Eliminated 7th on April 21, 2009
Chuck Wicks	Country Music Singer	Julianne Hough	Eliminated 8th on April 28, 2009
Lil' Kim	Grammy Award Winning Rapper	Derek Hough	Eliminated 9th on May 5, 2009
Ty Murray	World Champion Rodeo Cowboy	Chelsie Hightower	Eliminated 10th on May 12, 2009
Melissa Rycroft	The Bachelor Star	Tony Dovolani	Third Place on May 19, 2009
Gilles Marini	Actor	Cheryl Burke	Runner-Up on May 19, 2009
Shawn Johnson	Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast	Mark Ballas	Winners on May 19, 2009

[edit] Scoring Chart

Red numbers indicate the lowest score for each week.

Green numbers indicate the highest score for each week.

indicates the couple (or couples) eliminated that week.

indicates the returning couple that finished in the bottom two (or bottom three).

indicates the returning couple that was the last to be called safe (they may or may have not been in the bottom two).

indicates the winning couple.

indicates the runner-up couple.

indicates the third-place couple.

indicates a couple that was in the bottom 2, participated in a dance-off and wasn't eliminated. Also indicates the semi-finalist couple.

indicates a couple that was eliminated in a dance-off.

Team	Place	1	2	1+2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Shawn & Mark	1	23	24	47	27	25	26	26	28	27+25=52	27+29=56	30+26=56	28+30+30=88
Gilles & Cheryl	2	24	27	51	27	30	29	26	27	27+28=55	29+27=56	30+30=60	30+28+30=88
Melissa & Tony	3	23	26	49	27	29	25	27	29	21+25=46	27+30=57	28+27=55	29+27+30=86
Ty & Chelsie	4	14	20	34	23	25	21	18	24	24+28=52	25+21=46	25+23=48
Lil' Kim & Derek	5	21	23	44	25	27	26	28	26	28+28=56	25+27=52
Chuck & Julianne	6	20	20	40	23	22	23	23	27	26+25=51
Lawrence & Edyta	7	16	20	36	20	19	20	22	21
Steve-O & Lacey	8	17	14	31	15	15	18	16
David & Kym	9	19	17	36	24	22	22
Steve & Karina	10	13	17	30	10	12
Holly & Dmitry	11	18	18	36	17	16
Denise & Maks	12	18	21	39	16
Belinda & Jonathan	13	17	18	35

Week 1: For the first week, Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke received ²⁴⁄₃₀ (the highest score of the night) for their Cha-Cha-Cha. Although having only two days to practice for their Waltz, Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani tied for second place with Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas. Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff received the lowest score of the night, a ¹³⁄₃₀, for their Cha-Cha-Cha.
Week 2: For the second week, Steve-O suffered a pulled back muscle while performing his Salsa during dress rehearsal, and therefore could not perform live. Instead, the judges' scores were based on his pre-recorded dress rehearsal video, which earned him a ¹⁴⁄₃₀, the lowest score of the night. Gilles Marini performed a Quickstep, which earned him a ²⁷⁄₃₀, the highest score of the night. Once the scores from Weeks 1 & 2 were combined, Gilles & Cheryl held the top spot with 51, Mellissa & Tony, were placed in second, with 49 points, and Shawn & Mark, in third with 47. Steve Wozniak and Belinda Carlisle were revealed to be in the bottom two. They both participated in a Dance-Off, and they both scored ¹⁷⁄₃₀. In the end, Belinda & Jonathan were eliminated.
Week 3: For the third week, Shawn & Mark, Melissa & Tony, and Gilles & Cheryl all scored ²⁷⁄₃₀, making a three way tie. David Alan Grier improved greatly from his score of 17 the previous week, to a score of ²⁴⁄₃₀ the next week. Steve Wozniak & Karina Smirnoff received the second lowest score in the history of the show for their Samba: ¹⁰⁄₃₀ (4, 3, 3). Still, Wozniak managed to escape the bottom two and avoided the dance-off. Denise & Maks and Holly & Dmitry were revealed to be in the bottom two, and they would be participating in the dance-off. Holly improved her score by one point, receiving 18, while Denise improved by four points, receiving a 20. However, Denise Richards was eliminated. This was the second time Maksim Chmerkovskiy was eliminated after a Samba, since Tia Carrere in Season 2.
Week 4: For the fourth week, Gilles & Cheryl received the first ³⁰⁄₃₀ of the season for their Argentine Tango, tying him with Sabrina Bryan in Season 5 for the earliest ³⁰⁄₃₀ awarded. Melissa & Tony came in second, receiving a ²⁹⁄₃₀ for their Lindy Hop, while Lil' Kim & Derek came in third, receiving a ²⁷⁄₃₀ (9, 8, 10) for their Argentine Tango. Steve & Karina received the lowest score, a ¹²⁄₃₀ on their Aregentine Tango. Holly & Dmitry, Steve & Karina, and Steve-O & Lacety were revealed to be in the bottom three. In the end, Holly Madison and Steve Wozoniak were eliminated in the show's only mid-season double elimination.
Week 5: For the fifth week, once again, Gilles & Cheryl climbed to first place, with a score of ²⁹⁄₃₀ for their Paso Doble. Shawn & Mark and Lil' Kim & Derek, both came in second place, receiving ²⁶⁄₃₀ for their Vienesse Waltzs. They were also the only couple to receive 10s (from Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno). Steve-O & Lacey Schwimmer received lowest scores of the night, a ¹⁸⁄₃₀ for their Viennese Waltz, yet they still managed to escape the bottom two and the dance-off. David & Kym and Lawrence & Edyta were revealed to be in the bottom two and the dance-off. David danced his Vienesse Waltz and improved his score by two points to a ²⁴⁄₂₀, while Lawrence did not improve his Paso Doble receiving a ²⁰⁄₃₀. However, David Alan Grier was eliminated.
Week 6: For the sixth week and for the first time since the start of the competition, Gilles did not receive the highest score. Lil' Kim & Derek had the highest score, with a ²⁸⁄₃₀ for their Jive. Steve-O & Lacey received the lowest score of the night, ¹⁶⁄₃₀ for their Rumba. Len Goodman gave them a 4, and Carrie Ann gave them a 7. Such a difference between judges' scores is rare. Furthermore, 4 is the lowest Week 6 score in the history of the show. They were subsequently eliminated.
Week 7: For the seventh week, the stars were given the chance to design the costumes for their dances. Also occurring for this week, was the first group dance of the season dedicated to the 1960s. In fact, this is the only Dancing With The Stars season to say the "Treasure Of Rainbow Beard's Motto" in this show's history. Melissa & Tony took the top of the leaderboard for the second time with a near perfect. Lawrence Taylor & Edyta Śliwińska ended up with the lowest score, a ²¹⁄₃₀ for their Waltz, and they were later eliminated.
Week 8: For the eighth week, Melissa suffered a hairline fracture in her ribs, and could not perform her Jive live. Instead, the judges' scores were based on her rehearsal video. She received the lowest score of the night, a ²¹⁄₃₀. Lil' Kim & Derek received the highest score, a ²⁸⁄₃₀ for their Paso Doble. Team Tango (Gilles & Cheryl, Lil' Kim & Derek, and Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower) managed to beat Team Mambo (Shawn & Mark, Lacey Schwimmer & Tony, and Chuck & Julianne) with a ²⁸⁄₃₀ to Team Mambo's ²⁵⁄₃₀. Melissa's spot in the Team Mambo was filled in by Lacey Schwimmer who learned the dance in less than a day. Lacey and Tony were ignored during the scoring; however, the team score was added to Melissa's individual score. Chuck Wicks was eliminated in what Tom Bergeron called "the most shocking elimination this season".
Week 9: For the ninth week, despite her sustained injury, Melissa & Tony scored a perfect ³⁰⁄₃₀ for their Samba, the second perfect score of the season. This, combined with their score of ²⁷⁄₃₀ for the Viennese Waltz landed them in the top spot, with a total of ⁵⁷⁄₆₀. Ty and Chelsie landed in the bottom with a total score of ⁴⁶⁄₆₀, scoring a ²⁵⁄₃₀ for their Argentine Tango (their highest individual score of the competition) and a ²¹⁄₃₀ for their Rumba (the lowest score of the night). However, Lil' Kim was eliminated. This elimination was met by boos from the audience and the judges gasping (with Carrie Ann Inaba holding back tears).
Week 10: For the tenth week, Shawn and Mark received their first ³⁰⁄₃₀ for their Argentine Tango. Gilles and Cheryl received a perfect ⁶⁰⁄₆₀ for their Waltz and Salsa. This was the first time since Season 5 that a perfect 60 has been achieved in the Semi-Finals as well as the first time since Season 5 that a 30 alone was achieved in the Semi-Finals. Ty Murray and Chelsie were at the bottom of the leaderboard with a ⁴⁸⁄₆₀, receiving ²⁵⁄₃₀ for their Viennese Waltz and ²³⁄₃₀ for their Samba, and were eliminated.
Week 11: For the eleventh and final week, Gilles received a perfect score of ³⁰⁄₃₀ for the Group Paso Doble. Shawn and Mark were the only couple to receive a perfect score for the Freestyle round. Shawn's combined score of 88 gave her the highest score of the night, tied with Gilles; the first time in eight weeks. Mark became the third, and only male, two-time champion. Shawn, Gilles, and Melissa are the only three couples to get perfect 30s this season, they were also the part of four dancers to maintain above a judges score of 7 (along with Lil' Kim) with Gilles receiving nothing below an 8 and Shawn receiving only one 7 (in week 1). Shawn and Gilles were the only couples not to be in the bottom two or at least not under the red light. Shawn Johnson, Brooke Burke, Kristi Yamaguchi, Drew Lachey, Donny Osmond, Nicole Scherzinger and Hines Ward are the only winners not to be in the bottom two. Shawn is the fourth female winner, and additionally the sixth winner to get a perfect 30 on the freestyle.

The best and worst performances in each dance according to the judges' marks are as follows:

Dance	Best dancer(s)	Best score	Worst dancer(s)	Worst score
Cha Cha Cha	Shawn Johnson	30	Steve Wozniak	13
Jive	Lil' Kim	28	Ty Murray	18
Rumba	Melissa Rycroft Gilles Marini	27	Steve-O	16
Paso Doble	Gilles Marini	30	Lawrence Taylor	20
Samba	Melissa Rycroft	30	Steve Wozniak	10
Waltz	Gilles Marini	30	Steve-O Belinda Carlisle	17
Quickstep	Melissa Rycroft	28	Steve Wozniak	17
Foxtrot	Gilles Marini	29	Steve-O	15
Argentine Tango	Gilles Marini Shawn Johnson	30	Steve Wozniak	12
Viennese Waltz	Gilles Marini Melissa Rycroft	27	Steve-O	18
Salsa	Gilles Marini	30	Steve-O	14
Lindy Hop	Melissa Rycroft	29	Steve-O	15
Freestyle	Shawn Johnson	30	Melissa Rycroft	27