'Dancing With The Stars' Gives Gavin DeGraw The Boot

The savvy producers at ABC's hit reality dance competition switched things up for fans during Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars" elimination show. Instead of making fans sweat it out until the final minute to find out which celebrity dancer and his/her professional partner would be given the boot based on a combination of judges' scores and fan votes, they turned the tables a bit.

The bottom two couples — pop singer Gavin DeGraw and his partner Karina Smirnoff and childhood actor Jaleel White and his partner Kym Johnson — had to duke it out on the dance floor. The couples danced side by side in a duel of cha-chas, with the judges having the final say about who would be saved and who would be going home.

In the end, it really wasn't much of a shocker. DeGraw was told he'd danced his last dance on the show — he'd been the bottom scorer on Monday night, as was pretty much the case since the competition began. Monday night's theme was Latin night, and his samba failed to impress the judges.

That said, the judges told DeGraw that they based their decision solely on the dance he turned in Tuesday night, however, and not what he'd done in previous performances.

"It's been amazing to be part of the show," DeGraw said after learning that he'd be going home, adding that Smirnoff was a great mentor.

Next week, the celebrities take on Motown week.