NEWSWatch J.R. Martinez's Standing-Ovation Worthy Performance on 'Dancing With the Stars'
Oct. 4 2011, Published 4:37 a.m. ET
Last night gave way for some very emotional performances on Dancing With the Stars. The tearjerker of the evening went to soap star/army veteran J.R. Martinez who opened up about life-altering war injuries as a soldier in Iraq.
Before his performance, J.R. explained, “It didn’t make sense to me why I was 19 years old and my life was turned around.”
He also dedicated the dance to the "men and women who didn't make it home."
The resilient JR got strength from the inspiration of his mother to move forward and “fight.”
Dancing to the words of Tim McGraw, J.R. and his partner Karina Smirnoff earned a score of 26 to top the leader board, and received one of the longest standing ovations in history.
J.R. also received rave reviews from the judges panel.
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Carrie Ann Inaba was moved to tears as she called him a “hero" and praised him for doing something "extraordinary."
"I didn't expect performances like this from you," said Len Goodman. "It was a wonderful performance."
Bruno Tonioli echoed similar sentiments: "You danced from your heart. I could feel every emotion."
J.R.'s moving performance, via ABC, below.
