Last week on Dancing with the Stars, the top eight celebrity dancers and their professional dancers either the samba or the rumba in what turned out to be a pretty lackluster Latin night.  Cristian de la Fuente and Priscilla Presley were in the bottom two, but Priscilla scored the lowest combination of judges' scores and audience votes, so she danced their last dance.

Hopefully, the seven remaining teams will step up the intensity tonight and really spice things up.  I'm anxious for some excitement to happen.  You know me, I'll be here throughout the hour and a half Dancing with the Stars performance show to record it in my live thoughts.

Live!  From Hollywood!  This is Dancing with the Stars!

Tonight marks the beginning of the second half of the competition, and each team will be performing twice - one routine each plus a group country dance at the end.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska have the cha cha this week.  He'll have a lot of independent steps that he has to work on his own in the cha cha, so Edyta takes him to a freestyle class with Sho-Tyme, a hip hop choreographer.  Wow, Edyta's outfit tonight is something else.  It's basically a bra and panty set with a swath of pink fabric on one arm.  Of course, she looks spectacular in it.  As for their actual dance, Jason is very good with technique, but I wasn't completely floored, especially since he missed his footwork and timing a bit.  The judges are generally pleased with him.  The scores: he gets 8s all around, which actually seems pretty inflated.  Sure, it was a good routine, but was it worth three 8s?  I don't think so.

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough are up next.  Shannon had a rough week last week with a poor performance in the samba.  This week, Derek brought her flowers to boost her ego for the difficult rumba.  He even took her out for a romantic beach date to teach her how to move her hips with a hula hoop.  They kind of look like a couple frolicking on the beach like that!  Their rumba tonight is super romantic.  They don't lack for chemistry, that's for sure.  She seems much more comfortable tonight than she did last week.  But she's got to work on her extension more and again, she had absolutely zero hip action.  The scores: triple 8s again for a 24.

Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez have the mambo next.  Fabian is the World Mambo Champion of 2006, so let's hope he can transmit some of his mambo-ism to her.  Marlee called in her good friend Henry Winkler for a bit of a counseling session to get her past her missteps from last week.  It's the Fonz!  Wow!  Marlee has a wicked sexy outfit on tonight.  Unfortunately, her dancing is very labored and clumsy.  She loses her timing a bit and her turns are very awkward.  Poor thing!  I really feel for her because it's so obvious how much she wants to succeed.  The judges very politely criticize her poor technique.  Scores: straight 7s for a 21.

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke have the foxtrot tonight, so Cristian calls himself Frederico Astaire.  Cheryl's dress tonight is all kinds of fabulous, all feathery and pink and over-the-top.  Cristian looks very dignified in a suit, but his arms are still a little stiff, even though Cheryl made him practice underwater this week.  Cristian said that he wants to be called Cristian de la Foxtrot after his routine tonight.  Len Goodman says, "I'll show my bum in the supermarket" if he ends up in the bottom two again this week.  What?  Is this a British-ism that I've never heard before?  The judges are uniformly pleased with his precise footwork.  The scores: triple 9s for a 27.  Wait, I'm calling shenanigans.  It was a solid routine, but deserving of three 9s?  No way!

Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani have the Viennese waltz tonight.  In rehearsal, Tony tries to get Marissa to invoke her elegance.  She has a really difficult time doing the spins without getting dizzy, so Tony takes her to an aerial arts class where she spins, hanging onto a hoop suspended in mid-air.  They dance to "Delilah" tonight, and I like Flogging Molly as much as the next girl, but is it Viennese waltz-appropriate?  Marissa does a really great job with the waltz, like a princess.  Yay!  She's finally coming into her own!  The scores: Carrie Ann and Bruno give 9s and Len gives an 8, for a 26 out of 30.  Marissa is ecstatic!

Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas have the jive tonight.  This week, Tiger Woods invited her and Mark to perform at his annual fundraiser.  They seemed to have a great week of rehearsal, and we learn that Kristi was born with a club foot and had to endure a lot of adjustments as a child to overcome it.  How amazing is that?  They've got adorable '50s-style outfits tonight.  Mark, especially, looks so cute with nerdy glasses and two-toned saddle shoes.  The jive is one of my favorite styles on Dancing with the Stars, and these two show exactly why.  It's fun and crazy and energetic.  Kristi really looks like a pro; this might be her first perfect 30.  And their scores: triple 10s!  I was right!  The first perfect 30 of the season!

Mario and Karina Smirnoff have the rumba tonight.  I'm expecting a lot from their rumba tonight because if anyone can make the rumba sexy, it's Mario.  Mario calls his little brother Ray in Baltimore, and Ray is pretty adorable.  Mario dedicates his rumba to Ray, but orders him to cover his eyes if it gets too steamy.  Which it certainly does!  Karina looks smoking in her strange white dress that looks like a sheet covering only one side of her body.  Len thinks that it was too sexy.  He says that a rumba is supposed to be the story of two people falling in love, not the story of a strumpet and her latest conquest.  However, they did an illegal lift, so the judges will have to dock them points.  Scores: 9s from Carrie Ann and Len, and a 10 from Bruno.  Wait, they did a lift, and they still get a 28?  Sometimes I don't get the judges.

And now, it's time for the big country group dance!  Their big rehearsal looks really chaotic, but fun.  The couples get to do lifts in this dance for the first time in the season.  The wild, wild west routine will not be scored by the judges; it's for audience votes only.  Shannon and Derek do a little bit of swing-style moves that look really awkward.  Marissa and Tony's lifts are almost comically bad.  Naturally, Kristi does turn after turn after turn like the pro that she is.  Marlee and Fabian's solo looks a bit amateurish.  Mario and Karina do a series of beautiful and graceful lifts, and Cristian and Cheryl's lifts are just odd.  Jason and Edyta have their turn in the spotlight, and while their lifts are solid, I think Mario and Karina did the best.

And that's it for tonight's Dancing with the Stars performance show!  Don't forget to vote for your favorites!



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