'Dancing with the Stars' elimination: Jack Wagner exits, a rule change enters

The “Dancing With the Stars” elimination round Tuesday night ended with a surprising elimination and an announcement from host Tom Bergeron that the procedure for voting off contestants would be changing starting next week.

Jack Wagner and his partner Anna Trebunskaya were sent home at the end of Tuesday night’s show after performing a samba to the song “Lighting Up the Night,” a song released on the album of the same name by Wagner, a soap opera actor and musician. For Monday’s show, contestants were asked to choose the most memorable year of their lives. Wagner selected 2011, he said, because it was the year a girl approached him at a concert and told him he was her father. Wagner’s daughter, Kerry, was present at the show Monday to watch the dance.

Wagner appeared surprised when told he was eliminated during the results show. “It was a great time,” he said when asked about whether he was taken aback. “It was fun to test myself. Thanks to the judges.”

Bergeron announced during the elimination show that a new voting-off methodology would begin next week, embracing a procedure that is reminiscent of the “American Idol” judges’ save option. Beginning next week, whichever dancing pairs land in the bottom two will dance at the same time at the end of the broadcast, then the final elimination will be decided afterwards by the judges’ panel. The move would allow contestants to stay even if viewers voted to send them home.

The bottom two couples will continue to be determined by the scores given by the judging panel and votes from the general public.

The show began with musician Seal delivering a rendition of the 1972 Bill Withers standard “Lean on Me.” Later in the broadcast, Trebunskaya and fellow “Dancing” pro and husband Jonathan Roberts performed a waltz in honor of their friend Julia Ivleva, a dancer who was diagnosed with cancer.