James Hinchcliffe Is A 'Dancing With The Stars' Finalist
IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe is one of four ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 23 finalists. Watch Hinchcliffe’s Monday night routines here.
James Hinchcliffe didn’t think he’d last a week on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, but now the Verizon IndyCar Series driver is in the reality TV show’s finals.
Hinchcliffe survived elimination on Monday to earn himself a spot in the last phase of the competition. He’ll now go up against NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr., singer-actress Jana Kramer, and Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez next week in an attempt to win the Season 23 Mirrorball Trophy.
Perhaps even better news for Hinch was that his partner Sharna Burgess returned to compete with him after being out two weeks with a knee injury. You can read Beyond The Flag’s interview with Burgess here.
The duo performed an Argentine tango for their first of two dances on Monday night, to the song “Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre)” by Gotan Project. They were just one point shy of perfection, with Carrie Ann Inaba awarding Team Stop and Go a 9/10 while Julianne Hough and Bruno Toniolo gave them 10/10 marks. Watch the routine here:
Later in the evening Hinchcliffe and Burgess teamed with Jenna Johnson – who had been Burgess’ stand-in during her injury – for a trio jive to “Gimme Some Lovin” by The Spencer Davis Group. The routine netted them a perfect score, and had an appropriately racing theme featuring Hinchcliffe’s No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda. Take a look:
Overall Hinchcliffe and Burgess’s total 59/60 score was good for third best on Monday night. Both the duos of Hernandez and Valentin Chmerkovskiy, and Terra Jole and Sasha Farber, received perfect scores on each of their routines. However, Jole and Farber were also eliminated from DWTS on Monday.
So for somebody who didn’t think he’d last beyond week one, Hinchcliffe actually has a very good case to become the second IndyCar driver to win Dancing with the Stars. Fans can now get to voting for him on Facebook and the show’s website on ABC.com.
The Dancing with the Stars finals begin Monday at 8/7c on ABC.
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