For the first time this season on Dancing with the Stars, each of the six remaining couples will now have to learn and perform two different routines in two different styles, and they will get judged on both of them.  Historically, this is the point in the competition when the quality of performances takes a dive, as the celebrities cope with double the amount of work to.  It'll be interesting to see how perennial frontrunner, Kristi Yamaguchi will fare tonight, whether she'll stay on top, or open the field for someone else to take the lead.

I'll be on hand throughout the entire broadcast of tonight's Dancing with the Stars performance show.  Keep checking back!

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Tonight, each team will tackle both a ballroom and a Latin style.  And there are only three weeks left in the competition.  Is that right?  Where did the time go?  Back to the show.  The ballroom round is first.

Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani have both the tango and the rumba this week.  They dance the tango first.  I'm really impressed with Marissa because you can really see how much she has improved throughout these weeks.  Her tango is a little bit boring, but again, I'm going to blame it mostly on the choreography.  All of her movements are crisp and sharp and dramatic and well-executed, however.  She gets unambiguous praise from all three of the judges.  Her scores: straight 9s for a 27.  Hm, it was a good performance, but I'm calling the judges out on score inflation.

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke are next.  They've got the Viennese waltz and the samba this week.  I have to say that Cristian is really cute, but in his rehearsal tape, he really hams it up and overacts.  I am told this is par for the course for a telenovela star, however.  Aw, so cute!  His daughter Laura kisses him good luck.  He and Cheryl dance the Viennese waltz first.  I'm still not quite sure what a heel-lead is, but I think I'm detecting some in Cristian.  Let's see what the judges have to say.  Bruno tongue-bathes Cristian, whom he dubs the "South American Clark Gable."  Len thinks that it was light on difficulty, but none of the judges mentions anything about heel-leads.  And the scores: Carrie Ann and Len give 8s, and Bruno gives a 9, for a 25 out of 30.

Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas are up next.  They have the Viennese waltz and the cha cha this week, and let's see if they can get another perfect 30.  Their rehearsal looks really stressful, so Kristi takes him out on the ice.  She is just lovely to watch on the ice.  Their Viennese waltz tonight has props!  Kristi starts out by holding a glittery black umbrella.  Kristi really just skims the floor.  It's amazing.  Oh my, this week is the first week Kristi gets less than stellar comments from the judges.  Carrie Ann thinks her turns were off, and Len doesn't like the use of the umbrella, but Bruno loves it.  Their scores: Carrie Ann and Bruno give 9s, and Len gives an 8, for a 26 out of 30.  Wow, this is the first time they got an 8.

Mario and Karina Smirnoff are next.  Mario is understandably bummed from last week, since he got his highest scores, but ended up in the bottom two.  This week, they've got the foxtrot and the mambo, and Mario also has to learn the choreography for his new music video.  Tonight, the foxtrot is first.  Wow, these two have ridiculous chemistry together!  A solid performance!  Len beats him up a bit for not being the most elegant of dancers.  The scores: triple 8s, for a 24.

Next up are lovebirds Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough.  Again, we get to see the whining to the camera after their performance last week.  Wow, their rehearsal looks really tense, and Shannon kind of looks like a brat again.  Tonight, they've got the tango and the mambo, but they dance the tango first.  Shannon looks stiff as a board the entire way through the tango.  It looks lifeless, not impressive, and kind of a yawn, frankly.  There might be more whining to the camera tonight.  Okay, just kidding.  Bruno loves it.  Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.  Carrie Ann also thinks that it was her best dance yet.  Come on, Len, back me up here!  Okay, even Len liked it.  I don't know, for some reason, I just didn't like it.  For their scores: they get triple 9s for a 27.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska are next.  They had a big scare last week, being at the bottom of the leaderboard, so now they've got some fire under their butts.  Tonight, they've got the quickstep and the paso doble.  They do the quickstep first.  This is one of my favorite dances.  Oops, they are off sync just a tad, but overall, it's a really great performance.  The judges love it too!  Carrie Ann and Bruno give 10s!  And Len gives a 9, for a 29 out of 30.  He beat Kristi!

And that concludes the ballroom round.

Now for the Latin round.  Marissa and Tony dance the rumba.  As before, I find this dance kind of boring.  The rumba is such a slow dance, that you really need something sizzling to kick the interest level up a notch.  It was competent, but unspectacular.  Tony really likes the Jennifer Lopez deep V-necks, doesn't he?  Bruno complains that, even though it was nice, they could have used more dirtiness.  Carrie Ann loves it, but Len says some obscure British-ism that doesn't sound terribly positive.  The scores: Carrie Ann gives a 9, and Len and Bruno give 8s, for a 25 out of 30.  Their combined total of the night is 52.

Cristian and Cheryl dance the samba next.  This dance is much more fun and upbeat, and they do a little bit of side-by-side parallel action which I think is impressive.  Uh oh, Cristian pulls a muscle in his arm near the end.  He holds his arm in pain, looking concerned.  Tom quickly cuts to commercial.  Back from commercials, Cristian is in pain, but his arm is on ice.  The judges explain that they will only judge the part of the routine that they saw, and they commend him for his bravery for keeping going with the routine.  The scores: Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno all give 7s, and the audience boos.  That's a 21 out of 30, and 46 for the whole night.

Kristi and Mark dance the cha cha cha next.  Wow, who knew that Kristi could move her hips like that.  She's wearing a really fun fringey dress too that accentuates the cha cha motion.  I don't know what's going on with her frizzy, teased hair, though.  Len isn't a fan of the "boogaloo" hip hop dancing, but Bruno loves it.  Carrie Ann gives her hip hop stamp of approval for the performance.  And the scores: Carrie Ann and Len give 10s, and Len gives an 8.  That's 28 out of 30, and 54 for the whole night.

Mario and Karina dance the mambo next.  I love watching these two, and the mambo certainly suits them much more than the foxtrot does.  Loved it.  Bruno tells Mario that the Devil was in his hips.  Hah!  Sometimes he is funny.  Len deems it "wild, wacky, wonderful."  The scores: triple 9s, for a very nice 27, and a 51 for the whole night.

(Tom gives us an update on Cristian.  He has been taken to the hospital, and will be checked out.)

Shannon and Derek have the mambo next.  Shannon, wearing a crazy, feathery red dress, starts the routine with some hip swinging right in front the judges, as if to say, "See I can move my hips!"  Except for a few shakes in front the judges' table, though, there still wasn't too much hip movement.  I didn't really like the routine because I felt like it was sloppy.  Carrie Ann says that she still has to work on her lines, and Len says that she's got a Bionic Bum.  Backstage, Shannon shows Samantha that she put in padding in the bum area under her skirt.  And the scores: 8s all around, for a 24, and a 51 overall.

And for the final performance of this very long evening, Jason and Taylor have a great paso doble.  This is why I love Edyta.  She choreographed a great paso doble for Cameron Mathison last season to the theme song from Superman, and tonight, she's made another very fun and interesting performance to the theme song to Monday Night Football.  Jason has the black stuff under his eyes that football players wear, and he and Edyta are both wearing football-ish outfits.  Edyta's outfit is fabulous, as always.  The judges love it as much as I do.  Carrie Ann nitpicks that they had an illegal lift - doh!  And the scores: Carrie Ann and Bruno give 9s, and Len gives an 8, for a 26.  They have a 55 for the night.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)