Marlee Matlin
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Marlee Matlin appeared on  Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week. When asked about her experience on Dancing with the Stars, the actress sounded proud and grateful.

"I'm glad as a deaf woman that I was able to go out there and prove I can dance and do it as best as I could.  Anybody - any person - can do what they want," Matlin signed.

This would prove to be the final dance for Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez.

Kimmel then asked Matlin about her thoughts on the competition so far, which has been dominated by Olympic gold medalist figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and her partner Mark Ballas; they found themselves atop the Dancing with the Stars judges' leaderboard for the fifth week in a row - and also scored the sixth season's first perfect score - on Monday night.

Matlih, however, pointed to a different athlete when making a prediction about the winner:

"I actually think that it will be Jason Taylor," she said, replying to a question about Yamaguchi with: "Kristi who? Don't know the person."

Might there be tension between Marlee Matlin and Kristi Yamaguchi?!?

Despite the fact that Fabian Sanchez was her partner, the mambo did in Marlee Matlin on Dancing with the Stars this week.

The Oscar-winning actress became the sixth contestant eliminated from season six of the show, but give credit to Matlin for delivering a farewell on last night's results show with as much heart as she put into her performances.

"All i can say is thank you to the judges.…I want to thank the magnificent Fabian for giving me the most beautiful art of dance in my life," she signed.

Obviously impressed by the contestant, Tom Bergeron stepped out of his role as cohost to praise Matlin during a nice moment:

"Marlee and I have known each other for years, and I want to step outside the host role for a moment and tell you as a friend I'm so proud of you."

Now, the march toward crowing Kristi Yamaguchi as the champion continues on Monday night.

Marlee Matlin is the first hearing-impaired contestant in the history of Dancing with the Stars. She's also the show's first Oscar-winner.

That's quite the combination. Below, TV Guide helps us get to know this actress a bit better:

Marlee Matlin
Age: 42
Best Known For: Winning a best-actress Oscar for 1986's Children of a Lesser God
Lives In: Los Angeles
Partner: The season's only newcomer, Fabian Sanchez, a world mambo champion and four-time Fred Astaire National Champion
Advantages: An iron will. Matlin's whole career, she says, has been about defying expectations. "I've been doing that ever since I won the Academy Award and critics said I won out of pity, just because I'm deaf."
Disadvantages: An unusually strong reliance on Sanchez, who will demonstrate the moves as her interpreter relays the instructions. "Effectively, all she'll be able to hear is the beat," says DWTS executive producer Conrad Green.

How can someone who can't hear music perform on Dancing with the Stars? Actress Marlee Matlin will answer that question this season. And right now:

"So much will depend on me being in synch with my partner with my eyes, with my arms, with my legs," the 42-year-old Oscar winner told People. "Plus … sign language has given me a an internal metronome."

This innate rhythm - along with two powerful hearing aids - will assist Matlin in her quest for a Dancing title. Her pro partner will also help a lot.

"My partner, Fabian Sanchez, is Latin. And as any one can tell you, Latins speak with their hands, their bodies. He's great," she said. "We use a combination of lip reading (he's easy to follow even if he has a slight accent), signing (the first sign he learned was "again" â€" he uses it a lot) and an interpreter."

So, does the deaf actress has any history with the mambo? Or the paso doble?

"I've had no formal dance training. Though I did a little dance in Children Of A Lesser God, that was improvised," Matlin said. "But I figure that I'm ready in that I communicate with my body when I sign and dance is a lot like that. … Right now I'm not terrified of Latin dances; I've got a Latin partner and he's a Mambo champion! I've already begun the Cha Cha and I love it!"