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'Dancing With the Stars': Alfonso Ribeiro wins over judges and viewers

Ribeiro performed his signature dance routine from his sitcom 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.' Who was sent home at the end of the night?

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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro and his wife Angela attend the 'After Earth' premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York.

Fashion designer Betsey Johnson and her partner Tony Dovolani were sent home during the most recent episode of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” while celebrity contestant Alfonso Ribeiro delighted fans of 90s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” by performing his signature routine from the show. 

The theme of the week was for each contestant to convey a memorable year from his or her life and because judge Len Goodman wasn’t there, viewers at home stepped into his shoes to judge routines.

Ribeiro and his partner Witney Carson, who performed a jazz routine, scored 40 out of 40 for their dance in which Ribeiro did the Carlton, a dance he often did on his show “Fresh Prince” and which is named after his character on the show. 

The pair was followed closely by “Back to the Future” actress Lea Thompson and her partner Artem Chigvintsev, who scored 39 out of 40 for their contemporary number. Sadie Robertson of the “Duck Dynasty” family and her partner Mark Ballas, who performed a samba, received a score of 37 out of 40.

However, the pairs who scored lowest were Johnson and Dovolani, who did a jive and received a score of 29 out of 40; comedian Tommy Chong and his partner Peta Murgatroyd, who received a score of 28 out of 40 after performing a jive; race car driver Michael Waltrip and his partner Emma Slater, who did a quickstep and received a score of 25 out of 40; and Jonathan Bennett of the movie “Mean Girls” and his partner Allison Holker, who did a samba and scored 24 out of 40. Johnson and Dovolani were eventually eliminated. 

But it's Ribeiro’s performance that now has people talking. Wall Street Journal writer Lisa Reynolds wrote of the routine, “America, we got the Carlton. And. It. Was. Awesome,” while Time writer Laura Stampler wrote of the routine, “Alfonso Ribeiro… did what he does best… The signature dance from the ‘90s show… was what Ribeiro’s fans had been waiting for.” Entertainment Weekly reporter Michael Maloney said that “producers saved the best for last” with Ribeiro’s routine and that when Ribeiro and Carson received a perfect score, “America weighed in – this time getting it right.”

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