There are many wonderful things about the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars. The costumes, the music, the interactions between the celebrities and their professional partners to name but a few.

But the most intriguing and unique aspect is the darn voting system. There are many aspects to it - each one simple and sensible - but it is when you put all the elements together that it forms something like Einstein's General Theory of Relativety.

Here's an attempt to break down those elements and explain as simply as possible how it works.

Dancing with the Stars is based on the BBC show "Strictly Come Dancing" shown in the UK. It pairs celebrities with professional dancers, with one celebrity being voted off each week.

It is hosted by Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris and has a panel of three judges - Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Head Judge, Len Goodwin.

Each couple is scored each week.  The voting is based on the judges' scores and viewer votes.  The couple with the lowest combined score (50% judges, 50% viewers) leaves each week.

There are three methods to register your vote for the best couple each week:

Phone - each couple has their own number and votes can be cat up to an hour after the show.

Text - viewers can text their vote for each couple

Online - viewers can register at ABC.com and vote for their favorite couple up to midday the following day.

Phone lines, text votes (AT&T customers only) and online polls will open at the top of each performance show so that viewers can vote for their favorites. Phone and text lines will stay open for 30 minutes after the end of the show. Online voting will remain open until noon (Eastern Time) the next day.

Viewers will be able to vote online at ABC.com.

Here are the phone numbers for the contestants:

Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff - 1-800-868-3401 - Eliminated week 8
Chuck Liddell & Anna Trebunskaya - 1-800-868-3402 - Eliminated week 4
Mark Dacascos & Lacey Mae Schwimmer - 1-800-868-3403 - Eliminated week 7
Ashley Hamilton & Edyta Sliwinska - 1-800-868-3404 - Eliminated week 1
Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson - 1-800-868-3405
Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower - 1-800-868-3406 - eliminated week 6
Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova - 1-800-868-3407 - eliminated week 7
Tom Delay & Cheryl Burke - 1-800-868-3408 - Retired hurt week 3
Debi Mazar & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 1-800-868-3409 - Eliminated week 3
Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas - 1-800-868-3410 - Eliminated week 6
Mya & Dmitry Chaplin - 1-800-868-3411
Kathy Ireland & Tony Dovolani - 1-800-868-3412 - Eliminated week 2
Natalie Coughlin & Alec Mazo - 1-800-868-3413 - Eliminated week 5
Macy Gray & Jonathan Roberts - 1-800-868-3414 - Eliminated week 1
Joanna Krupa & Derek Hough - 1-800-868-3415 - Eliminated week 9
Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstel - 1-800-868-3416

To vote by text (AT&T only) text the word VOTE to the last four digits of the phone number. So, to vote for Kelly for example, text the word "vote" to 3416. Easy!

The votes are totalled, the percentage for each couple is halved and then added to the judges' score.

Example: Six celebrities left, each performs one dance

Celebrity % of votes score
A 30 15
B 20 10
C 16 8
D 14 7
E 12 6
F 8 4
Total 100 50

The scores in the last column are added to the judges scores.

Each judge scores each dance out of 10.  That means that each couple can score up to 30 points from the judges.  This score is then divided by the total number of points awarded by the judges.  That is NOT the maximum number of points the judges could give, but the actual number of points.

If we take our example:

Celebrity    Judges Score    Percentage    Score
A                 25                     20.5                 10.2
B                 23                     18.9                  9.4
C                 23                     18.9                  9.4
D                 18                     14.8                  7.4
E                 15                     12.3                  6.1
F                 18                     14.8                  7.4
Total          122                     100.0               50.0

Rge scores are then combined with the viewers' scores.

The couple with the lowest combined score is eliminated from that week. Here are the results for our example:

Celebrity Viewers' score Judges' Score Total Score
A 15 10.2 25.2
B 10 9.4 19.4
C 8 9.4 17.4
D 7 7.4 14.4
E 6 6.1 12.1
F 4 7.4 11.4

This season the show has introduced a "dance-off".  The two couples with the lowest scores (in this case E and F) will each dance again and be re-scored by the judges.  This new judges score will be combined with the viewers' votes to decide who goes home.

So, as you can see, it's not rocket science, but it's close.

There are also variations - when a couple dances twice, or if the dancing is split over two evenings.

The dance-off has brought a new dimension to the show - we'll see how well it does!