May 17--Former Chicago meteorlogist Ginger Zee and her partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy surprisingly stormed into the finals of "Dancing With the Stars" Monday night during the semi-finals of the ABC show.
They were joined by model and activist Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd as well the team of MMA fighter Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas. The finalists were determined by a combination of judges' scores and last week's viewers' scores.
Each couple peformed twice -- one a style the couple had not yet danced, and to open the show, a trio dance. Going last in both competitions, Zee danced with Chmerkovskiy and Artem Chigvintsev to an intense version of the Sonny Bono written "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)." They earned a 27 score, and some of the judges' comments about the dancers losing a bit of control were greeted with boos from the studio audience.
Earlier in the trios, Antonio Brown danced with Sharna Burgess and Hayley Erbert, Boyz II Men singer Wayna Morris danced with Lindsay Arnold and Witney Carson, VanZant performed with Ballas and Alan Bersten, and iMarco danced with Murgatroyd and Jenna Johnson.
Zee, chief meteorologist for ABC News and its "Good Morning America" program, and Chmerkovskiy later performed a quickstep -- "Fire Under My Feet" sung on the show by Leona Lewis. That performance earned a 29 from the judges, adding up to a 56. Monday night, Morris and his partner earned a perfect 60 from the judges, but did not make the finals.
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Zee and Chmerkovskiy were among five pairs competing for the mirror ball trophy Monday night. Zee worked for WMAQ-Ch. 5 from 2006-2011.
"Dancing with the Stars" wraps next week with a two-night finale starting at 7 p.m. Monday on ABC.
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