Welcome to another week of Dancing with the Stars.  Last week, Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya were ousted from the competition.  Meanwhile, Kristi and Mark remained firmly at the top.  Will they continue their reign, or will they begin to falter?

Tonight, the nine remaining couples will be dancing either the Viennese waltz or the paso doble, both great styles on this show.  Stay tuned for the entire hour and a half broadcast of the performances.  I will be on hand to provide you with live thoughts throughout.

Live!  This is Dancing with the Stars!

Starting off the night are Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas.  Their tango last week was technically perfect, but the judges told them that Kristi needs to get in touch with her emotions.  This week, they've got the paso doble, which will show us if Kristi has been able to improve on conveying passion into her dancing.  They've got fantabulous outfits, and again, they do remarkably well, but I can't get over how much I dislike their choice of music.  They dance their paso to a remix of New Order's "Blue Monday."  Len thinks that Kristi is the same every week, but both Bruno and Carrie Ann have nothing but praise for them.  Bruno even thinks that Kristi truly became a harlot tonight - a true compliment from Bruno the horndog.  And now their scores: nearly perfect!  Carrie Ann and Bruno give tens, and Len gives a nine, for a total of 29 out of 30.

The next team to perform are Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel.  Their tango last week garnered the second place score, and this week, they'll be doing the Viennese waltz.  In rehearsal, Priscilla was getting frustrated with the fluidity required for this style, so Louis took her rollerblading to help with that.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that she was able to truly captured the fluid ease of the waltz.  Priscilla has the most gorgeous sea foam green satin gown, and I really love how they've done her hair like a mermaid's.  Carrie Ann nitpicks that they did an illegal lift - the first lift nitpick of the season!  Their scores: Carrie Ann and Len give sevens, Bruno gives an eight, for a 22 out of 30.

Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough perform the paso doble this week.  Tom Bergeron reminds us that Adam managed offend his partner, the wardrobe department and people of two different faiths last week.  Tonight, Adam is all dressed up like Zorro, complete with the mask and the cape.  And he starts things off on a unicycle because .... unicycles are very Spanish?  I have to say, though, Adam didn't completely suck.  It might have been the music, but the routine was really dramatic.  Adam thanks the wardrobe department for dressing him up like a silent movie porn star.  By the way, has anyone noticed that Julianne's dresses are a lot less revealing than last season's?  I bet she is covering up more on purpose because Adam is kind of inappropriate and squicky.  Their scores: Carrie Ann and Bruno give sixes, Bruno gives a seven, for a 19 out of 30.

Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez dance the Viennese waltz next.  This week, Marlee wants to beat Kristi, for once.  There's a lot of spinning and rotation in the Viennese waltz, and in rehearsal, Marlee had trouble with her balance.  As Marlee and Fabian begin their waltz tonight, I already love it.  It's sooo cheesy and romantic that it's awesome.  They dance to Billy Joel's "Always a Woman," which perfectly compliments their peaches and cream outfits.  The judges are generally very positive, except that they point out that she needs to work on her posture.  Carrie Ann is even moved to tears.  For their scores, they get triple eights, for a 24 out of 30.

The next couple, Mario and Karina Smirnoff, had begun the season near the top of the leaderboard, but they stumbled last week.  Things looked very serious in their rehearsals this week.  Is Mario chewing gum while dancing?  Karina is a cruel taskmaster and made him to pushups and bench press her entire body.  Their paso doble tonight is fast-paced and fiery, again with an odd choice of music, however.  It's kind of like disco meets bullfighter, complete with gold lamé jacket.  Bruno and Carrie Ann both agree that they performed very well, but again Len, thinks that he is too one-note in his style, identical to his critique for Kristi.  He also tells Mario that he's got underpants older than the 21-year-old Mario.  Carrie gives an eight, Len gives a seven, and Bruno gives a nine, for a total of 24 out of 30.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska have the Viennese waltz this week.  In rehearsal, Edyta told him that he has to treat her like a proper lady for the waltz, so she took him to a Medieval arena place and introduced him to a guy dressed up like a knight.  Jason gets dubbed Sir Dancelot, heh.  Jason is really beginning to show the playful side of his personality, which is nice.  I was afraid that he was going to be boring the whole season.  Tonight, their waltz is spectacular and super sexy.  Carrie Ann gets all hot and bothered from their performance, and the other judges love it too.  Bruno even likens it to a swan's mating ritual.  And they tie Kristi!!  Carrie Ann and Bruno give tens and Len gives a nine, for 29 out of 30.  Yay!

Up next are Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke.  They've got the paso doble this week, and in rehearsal this week, Cheryl seemed to lose her patience with him.  She took him to the opening of her new dance studio to meet Drew Lachey, who tells Cristian that he's gotta listen to Cheryl if he wants to get anywhere in the competition.  Oh my gosh, I think their outfits tonight are by far the best ones of the season.  By far!  Finally, one of the guys is showing some skin, and Cheryl's got this amazing, latex-y dominatrix thing going.  She really works it, man.  Cristian yells out loud three times during the routine.  Carrie Ann and Bruno gives a nine, and Len gives an eight, for a 26 out of 30.  Geez, Carrie Ann and Bruno are completely in step the whole night.

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough are next and, boy, they had a big week last week.  As I reported earlier, Derek hurt his neck last Tuesday, so Jonathan Roberts had to step in for rehearsals.  Derek, wearing a neck brace, looked like he was in a lot of pain all week, but here he is tonight!  Way to go, Derek!  Such dedication, and he's able to do a great job.  Woah, their Viennese waltz is so romantic and beautiful!  Shannon is so graceful, and Len says it was the best dance he's seen all night.  Carrie Ann and Bruno give nines, and Len gives a 10, for a 28 out of 30.  Len's first ten of the season!

For the final performance of the night, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani tackle the paso doble.  Tony developed a very difficult routine this week because the judges have been demanding more from them.  Oh my gosh, Tony's outfit is great again, but not necessarily in a good way.  He's got these ridiculously high-waisted pants that cover his belly-button, and a short, open red jacket with nothing underneath.  I think Marissa is doing better tonight than she has in the past, and her choreo certainly looks more difficult, but she is missing the snap and fire that you need for the paso.  The judges, however, are pleased with her performance, which causes Marissa to abrupt into squeals of happiness.  The scores: triple eights!  They have a 24 out of 30, their best scores thus far.



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