Season 21 of "Dancing With the Stars" is coming to a close, and this week, the pairs making it to the finals were revealed after an intense showdown for the Mirror Ball Trophy.
Five pairs were supposed to be competing this week, but it was pared down to four after Tamar Braxton bowed out of the competition last week after finding out that she had blood clots in her lungs. The reality star and TV host was a favorite to compete in the finals, and due to her withdrawal from the show, her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, won't be winning another Mirror Ball Trophy this season.The dancer's fans thought that Chmerkovskiy was a shoo-in for a back-to-back win after his stellar performance last season with Rumer Willis, which won them the season 20 trophy.
This week, for the first time in the program's history, the contestants had to dance three routines for the semifinals, according to ABC. Bindi Irwin, Carlos PenaVega, Nick Carter, and Alek Skarlatos each had to do a routine with their professional partners; perform another dance, which included another pro for the trio; and participate in a dance-off against another competitor.
At the end of the night, the scores for all the dances were added up, and two couples tied for the top place on the leaderboard. Irwin and her partner, Derek Hough, scored a total of 60 points, and they were tied with PenaVega and Witney Carson. Skarlatos and partner Lindsay Arnold scored a total of 57 points, while Carter and pro partner Sharna Burgess scored 54 points. Due to Braxton's departure from the show, no one was eliminated, and all four pairs will be competing next week in the finals.
Next week, eliminated contestants from this season are expected to return. Kim Zolciak has recently revealed that she will be coming back for the finale for a short number with partner Tony Dovolani. Zolciak had to leave the competition after she suffered a mini-stroke last September, just hours after performing on the competition show. For now, ABC has not announced who among the other eliminated celebrities will be coming back for the grand finals.
The "Dancing With the Stars" 2-night finale starts on Monday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
