Week 11, only three celebs left.

Shawn Johnson, Melissa Rycroft and Gilles Marini took to the Dancing With the Stars floor Monday to make their last syncopated appeals to the judges and, most important, to the fans who have been throwing votes their way for the past 10 weeks.

The eighth-season finale kicked off with a paso doble face-off pitting the three against one another in a frenzied burst of man vs. maiden energy. Round two featured the much-anticipated freestyles—which, though some bring out unfortunate blends of low-energy disco and hip-hop, can also be a game-changing array of lifts and otherwise verboten tricks that could turn the tide in one contestant's favor.

And this time around, we figured we'd see some gymnastics...

Paso Doble Face-Off:

Shawn's costume looked like an overly modest French maid's uniform, but other than that, her opening paso doble with Mark Ballas (part one of the three-part über-paso) was crisp, fun and fierce (despite the fact that it was not easy to take the whole thing seriously while they stomped to the house band's cover of Pink's "So What")… Melissa's section featured a stumble on her part, unfortunately. She looked saucy—the whole Matrix coat thing has really taken off since Mel B wore one—but there was a stiffness in her turns and an unnecessary "ta da!" factor in her poses, as if she were trying to affect a grace that wasn't necessary for the feisty pas de deux… Gilles and Cheryl Burke wrapped up this ménage with the proper amount of heat—though it wasn't as fun as watching Gilles rehearse with Len Goodman (aw)—and the only thing too hectic about it was the Frenchman's spangle-trimmed outfit.
Scores: Shawn: 28; Melissa: 29; Gilles: 30

Freestyle Round:

ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL

Shawn: Well, we figured Shawn would let her Olympic background fly, but we weren't anticipating that Mark would match her flip for flip! Yet that's exactly what he did in their jitterbug-inspired, hip-hop-inflected, superspeedy freestyle number, which started off with the two of them clad in jumpsuits and masks that suggested they were starring in the musical version of Spike Lee's caper joint Inside Man. Shawn had some trouble stripping down to her sparkly sports bra and pants, but after that the duo pulled off a polished, synchronic and really fun final number.
Score: 30. "Eleven!" shouted Bruno.

ABC/KELSEY MCNEAL

Melissa: The ballerina smacked Tony in the eye socket during rehearsal, but true to form, the veteran pro (making his first appearance in the finals since he escorted Stacy Keibler in season two) was the picture of health when he donned his shiny club shirt for their second performance. There were some killer lifts, and Melissa shook her cheerleader's body to full effect during their Latin-inflected hip-hop routine—but the judges didn't think one matched the other. "Something about the choreography seemed a bit disjointed," lamented Carrie Ann, while Len said, "[It's] not my cup of tea. You're so elegant and you went for the cheerleader-sort of hip-hop stuff." "I thought I'd never live to see the running man again," added Bruno.
Score: 27

Gilles: Having won the title twice, Cheryl knows what it takes to make a great freestyle: Awesome lifts, a cohesive theme and a very fetching partner. She seemingly covered all her bases this time with her upbeat creation set to Flashdance's "What a Feeling" theme. But Carrie Ann and Bruno were bummed that Gilles spent most of his time showcasing Cheryl. "I wanted a little more dancing from you," Bruno said. Len, however, loved it. "This freestyle proved to me you are a real dancer," he told Gilles.
Score: 28

So there you have it. Did you flip for Shawn, melt over Melissa or swoon for Gilles? The stars will dance one more time for the judges on tomorrow's finale and the winner of the pick-the-new-pro contest will be announced.

Then, when nearly two hours have passed, one of the finalists will be declared the winner and Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris will hand him or her 18 inches of sparkling disco-ball glory.

It's a close one. Here's the rundown of tonight's leaderboard:

Gilles and Cheryl: 58
Shawn and Mark: 58
Melissa and Tony: 56

(Originally published May 18, 2009, at 6:10 p.m. PT)

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