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Katherine Jenkins: Mark Ballas “Pushed Me to the Absolute” Limit on Dancing With the Stars

1337704309_catherine jenkins marc ballas article

Katherine Jenkins pulled out all the stops on Dancing With the Stars Monday.

In addition to earning a perfect 60/60 for her two routines with pro partner Mark Ballas, 25, the opera singer showed off her vocal talents during one of the numbers.

“It was Mark’s idea,” Jenkins explained to Us Weekly post-show.

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“For me, freestyle means no rules, so I wanted to tell the story of a ’20s/’30s jazz club,” Ballas said. “I just thought it would be cool if she played the singer in the band.”

Jenkins, 31, had no objections. “Singing calmed my nerves a little bit because I was back in my comfort zone. That was a good way to remember, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I do!'”

(Though Jenkins recently suffered a minor back injury, she assured Us it “wasn’t that big of a deal. I had a spasm, it passed, and we moved on! I didn’t even have time to think about it too much.”)

katherine jenkins and mark ballas

Though Jenkins was “very happy” with their results, Ballas knows fellow competitors William Levy, 31, and Donald Driver, 37, were equally impressive.

“Everyone was great; it was an all-around great night,” he told Us. “It was very different tonight. Close. It’s really in the viewers’ hands after tonight.”

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“The vibe was different tonight than other seasons, and it was enjoyable,” Ballas continued. “But I try to get away from that and focus on my partner, — nothing else. My focus tonight was making her shine and she did. Tonight she was flawless.”

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And Jenkins couldn’t have done it without Ballas, a two-time champ. “He pushed me to the absolute limit. There were definitely days when I thought, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this,'” Jenkins admitted. “But all the hard work paid off. Two perfect scores!”

Who will win Season 14 of Dancing With the Stars? Tune in for the season finale live at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

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