Army veteran stays in the running on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ - Marine Corps Entertainment | TV, Television - Marine Corps Times

Army veteran stays in the running on ‘Dancing with the Stars’

Iraq war veteran J.R. Martinez and his professional partner Karina Smirnoff advanced on Tuesday’s results show to the third week of competition in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” In the previous night’s competition, they had tied for second on the judges’ leaderboard based on the strength of high-flying jive.

Martinez is a former infantry soldier with the 101st Airborne Division’s Strike Brigade at Fort Campbell, Ky. After being severely injured in the war and leaving the Army, he became a motivational speaker and an actor.

“Team Martinoff” earned 22 out of 30 points from the judges and tied for second with Kristin Cavallari and Mark Ballas. The top couple was Ricki Lake and Derek Hough with 23 points.

In a segment taped before Martinez learned his fate, he said, “It’s one of those things that even though I felt good about my dance, my fate is in the hands of America, and hopefully they voted.”

Final results are based on a combination of the judges’ scores and TV audience votes.

Before the season began, Martinez had been seen as somewhat of a dark horse because he wasn’t known as well as many of the other celebrities. But during the first two weeks, he’s been growing a fan base with his positive attitude and killer moves on the ballroom floor.

On Tuesday night, the second couple to be eliminated was Elisabetta Canalis and her professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy.

The competition resumes at 7 p.m. Oct. 3. The dancers will have to tell with their routines a personal story about the most memorable year in each of their lives.