'Dancing with the Stars' final slate of 3 is set

[May 18, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Ralph Macchio has done his last dance, leaving football star Hines Ward and actresses Kirstie Alley and Chelsea Kane to compete for the "Dancing with the Stars" title.

The 49-year-old actor was eliminated Tuesday from the hit ABC show.

Macchio came into the episode in last place. He and professional partner Karina Smirnoff earned 48 points for their two semifinal dances.

Judges' scores are combined with viewer votes to determine who is eliminated from the competition each week.

Stevie Nicks performed two songs: Her new single, "Secret Love," and the Fleetwood Mac classic "Landslide."

The three finalists will each perform two dances on Monday's episode. A new "Dancing" champ will be crowned on May 24.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kirstie Alley, Ralph Macchio, Chelsea Kane and Hines Ward have cha-cha'd, tangoed, waltzed and jived their way through 10 weeks of competition on "Dancing With the Stars," but one of them will fall short of the finals.

One celebrity hoofer will be dismissed during Tuesday's episode. The remaining three will compete for the mirrorball trophy next week on the hit ABC show.

Judges' scores are combined with viewer votes to determine who is eliminated from the competition each week, and Kane scored a coup in the points department Monday: The actress and her professional partner, Mark Ballas, won the show's first "winner-take-all cha-cha," boosting their night's total by 15 points.

They come into Tuesday's episode with a leaderboard-topping 73 points.

Football star Ward and partner Kym Johnson have the second highest score, and it's a perfect one. They earned a flawless 60 points Monday for their spunky salsa and emotional Argentine tango.

Alley and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, come into the results show in third place with 54 points, after collecting 27 points for each of their two dances Monday. Macchio and partner Karina Smirnoff are heading into the semifinal showdown in last place with 48 points.

A new "Dancing" champ will be crowned on May 24.

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Online:

http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/

[Associated Press; By SANDY COHEN]

Sandy Cohen can be reached at http://twitter.com/APSandy.

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