Read the latest Dancing with the Stars Results

I can scarcely believe how quickly this season has gone by, but it's already time for the Dancing with the Stars semi-finals.  The field has slowly been whittled down, and now there are only four couples left standing: Brooke Burke and Derek Hough, Cody Linley and a newly-recovered-from-surgery Julianne Hough, Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer, and Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson.

It's really down to the wire now.  Every step of every routine counts.  There is absolutely no room for error here.  Who is going to surprise us?  Who will fail?  Whatever happens, it'll all be recorded right here in my live thoughts.

Live!  From Hollywood!  This is Dancing with the Stars!  There are two rounds of performances tonight.  The first round will feature the last remaining traditional dance that each couple has yet to perform, and the second will feature one of the new styles introduced in this season of Dancing with the Stars.

Up first, is the only female star left: Brooke Burke and her partner Derek Hough.  They have the jive and the salsa tonight, but they are dancing the jive first.  This week in rehearsal, Brooke worked on connecting with the audience more to become a more engaging performer.  Their jive has a lot of humorous elements, like when Brooke pretends to knee Derek down where the sun don't shine.  I never keep track of the no-lift rule, but maybe it's not in effect tonight, because they do a humungus lift.  It's a really fun performance, very high energy, but I'm noticing a lot of missed synchronization.  The judges are unanimously down on her mistakes and sloppy technique.  And ooh, Carrie Ann slams her for blatantly breaking the no-lift rule.  She tells Brooke that she was disrespectful.  She gets all 7s for a score of 21 out of 30, their worst score ever.

The next team up is Cody Linley and Julianne Hough.  Yay!  Welcome back, Julianne!  Last week, Cody surprised Julianne at the CMA Awards.  This week, they perform the paso doble and the salsa.  Interestingly, they are dressed up like 1940s GIs for their paso doble, but the costumes are actually pretty hot.  I love Julianne's army green coat coming down around her legs like a skirt.  Cody looks strong and determined throughout the routine.  It's pretty ferocious, but it doesn't look a whole lot like a paso doble.  Bruno thinks that it looks too robotic.  Carrie Ann gives him points for determination, but isn't all too pleased with his jerkiness and his hands.  Len just gives Cody his marching orders.  And the scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len gives 7 and Bruno gives 7, for a 22 out of 30.

Next up: Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson.  This week, they dance the mambo and the jitterbug.  Warren has been skipping across the country to film Inside the NFL and then back to L.A. to learn his dances, and seems like he had a very frustrating week of rehearsal.  Usually, I find Warren to be endlessly entertaining, but his busy week shows in his routine.  There's quite a lack of difficult technique in the choreography, and his heart just doesn't seem into it, not to mention the sloppy footwork.  Eh, he still gets a standing ovation.  Carrie Ann thinks that he should have put more content into the routine, but Len thinks that it was very entertaining, at least.  Bruno rattles off a list of errors.  And finally, the scores: Carrie Ann gives 8, Len gives 8 and Bruno gives 8, for a 24 out of 30.



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