Hines Ward is perfect at 'Dancing' semifinals

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward was perfect during the “Dancing With the Stars” semifinals, but actress Chelsea Kane boosted her score with bonus points.

Kane and professional partner Mark Ballas topped the judges’ leaderboard on the hit ABC show Monday with 73 points after winning the show’s first “winner-take-all cha-cha.”

The victory added 15 points to the 58 the couple earned for the two other dances they performed: an Argentine tango that judges called clean and precise, and a flawless rumba that collected a perfect score of 30.

Ward and partner Kym Johnson earned a perfect 60 points for their spunky salsa and emotional Argentine tango, which Johnson performed despite suffering a neck injury during rehearsals on Friday. The couple was attempting a tricky lift when Johnson fell on her neck and Ward fell on top of her. Paramedics responded and Johnson was taken to the hospital, but she later posted on Twitter that she was “a little shaken up, sore but I will be fine.”

The dancer, the football star and judge Carrie Ann Inaba were moved to tears by their tango Monday.

“Praise to God that she’s still walking,” Ward said after the performance.

“It could have been really bad,” Johnson said. “I feel so blessed and lucky to be OK. I didn’t really want to dance tonight.”

Kirstie Alley landed in third place with 54 points out of 60. She and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy collected 27 points each for their Viennese waltz and a paso doble that inspired Inaba to deem the actress “the queen” of the dramatic Latin dance.

Ralph Macchio and partner Karina Smirnoff finished last with 48 points. They earned 25 points for their Argentine tango, which judge Len Goodman criticized for lacking emotion.

“It didn’t really smolder,” he said.

The couple’s 1970s-themed salsa — during which the “Karate Kid” star wore “booty pads” to improve his rump-shaking — also failed to wow the judges. It was the night’s lowest-scored dance with 23 points.

One contestant will be ousted during Tuesday’s results show. Judges’ scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which celebrity is eliminated from the competition each week.

The three remaining celebrity dancers will compete for the cheesy-but-coveted mirrorball trophy during the show’s season finale next week.

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Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.