Dancing with the Stars brought the excitement back tonight.  Each of the seven remaining teams had to perform a style that they hadn't yet performed this season, as well as a country-style big group dance.  The night's performances found some of the usual suspects doing excellently.  We got the first perfect 30 of the season tonight - can you guess who got it?  Unfortunately, some other competitors continued to struggle.  Read on to see the judges' leaderboard from tonight's Dancing with the Stars.

Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas - 30
Jive.  You knew that Kristi and Mark were going to score a perfect 30 sooner or later.  They got their first perfect score tonight with a highly energetic and fun jive.  They were dressed adorably, with faux-nerdy '50s outfits and saddle shoes.  As far as the judges are concerned, Kristi can do no wrong.  Scores: 10+10+10=30.

Mario and Karina Smirnoff - 28
Rumba.  Perhaps more so than any other competitor this season, Mario has the highest potential sexiness quotient.  The rumba is a highly romantic dance, and these two nailed it tonight.  They managed to score a 28 despite doing an illegal lift, which means that the judges really appreciated their prowess.  Scores: 9+9+10=28.

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke - 27
Foxtrot.  Cristian de la Fuente became Cristian de la Foxtrot tonight.  Their performance was so good that it prompted this gem of a quote from head judge Len Goodman: "If you end up in the bottom two again, I'll show my bum in the supermarket."  Scores: 9+9+9=27.

Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani - 26
Viennese waltz.  Marissa is really developing into a solid dancer.  Tony gave her lessons on how to be a princess this week, teaching her how to curtsy and twirl, and it really paid off.  She was so excited last week to get 8s, it was hard to imagine what she would do if she got a 9.  Well, tonight, she got two of them, and was over the moon.  Scores: 9+8+9=26.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska - 24
Cha cha cha.  Golden boy and former Mambo King (TM Bruno Tonioli) lost his sheen tonight.  His cha cha  was pretty good, but not nearly as good as we've become accustomed to from him.  He even got off the beat and missed some footwork, none of it escaping the judges' attentions.  Scores: 8+8+8=24.

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough - 24
Rumba.  For the second week in a row, Shannon failed to give us any kind of movement in her hips at all.  For the sexy rumba, hip action is mandatory.  On the upside, however, the chemistry between her and cutie pie Derek Hough was through the roof.  I don't normally speculate about these things, but are these two a couple?  Scores: 8+8+8=24.

Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez - 21
Mambo.  This may well be Marlee's last week on Dancing with the Stars.  Despite the fact that Fabian is the mambo champion of the world, they did not knock anything out of the park tonight.  Her posture was awkward and she lost her timing more than once.  Because of her low score, she needs to get more  than 1.6 percent more votes than either Jason or Shannon, or more than 2.7 percent more than Marissa.  It's possible that America loves her enough to swing her that many votes.  We'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out.  Scores: 7+7+7=21.



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