Dancing with the Stars

This week, for the first time in the Dancing with the Stars competition, the teams all had to prepare one ballroom routine and one Latin routine. 

Tonight's Dancing with the Stars was very dramatic indeed.  Kristi and Mark were finally kicked off of the top of the leaderboard, and Cristian was sent to the hospital in an ambulance after his samba.  Read on to see who managed take over Kristi and Mark's place at the top, and how Cristian got hurt.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska - 55
Quickstep.  Jason and Edyta ended last week's competition near the bottom of the leaderboard, not a place that they are accustomed to.  That must have put the fear of God into them, goading them to work harder than ever this week, and it showed.  Their quickstep tonight was like a dream, and the judges loved it too.  Scores: 10+9+10=29.

Paso doble.  Their second dance was quintessential Edyta Sliwinska.  She choreographed an amazingly entertaining and original paso to the theme song for Monday Night Football, which is, if you think about it, stately enough for a paso.  The performance was reminiscent of the Superman paso doble that she and Cameron Mathison performed last fall, only with a lot better technique.  Scores: 9+8+9=26.


Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas - 54
Viennese waltz.  I thought that the judges were too harsh on Kristi this week with the scores.  I'm thinking that they might be doing this on purpose, perhaps because they want some other teams to feel like they have a chance.  Kristi and Mark's Viennese waltz tonight was adorably cute - they used a sparkly umbrella as a prop - and beautifully executed, but Len gave them their first 8 for this routine.  Scores: 9+8+9=26.

Cha cha cha.  Before the season, I was doubtful about Kristi's ability to show some sass and cheekiness because my impression of her is that she is an extraordinarily focused competitor and perfectionist.  But she really proved tonight that she's got some range.  She danced a tastefully hip hop-themed cha cha tonight, which Carrie Ann and Bruno clearly loved, but somehow, Len didn't.  Scores: 10+8+10=28.


Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani - 52
Tango.  Marissa is really coming into her own as a dancer, and she showed it tonight.  Her tango was clean, crisp and dramatic, and there weren't any noticeable flaws.  It was a very solid routine, and much improved from the beginning of the season, but I'm not sure that it merited a 27 out of 30.  Scores: 9+9+9=27.

Rumba.  One of Marissa's weakness is her lack of confidence acting sexily.  The romantic rumba is such a slow dance that if you don't put enough confidence and chemistry into it, it can get a bit boring.  I think that is what happened with Marissa and Tony's rumba tonight.  However, the judges were very pleased by it.  Scores: 9+8+8=25.


Mario and Karina Smirnoff - 51
Foxtrot.  As Len Goodman said tonight, Mario is not an elegant dancer, so he faltered a bit in the foxtrot..  However, his sexual chemistry with Karina is still through the roof.  Scores: 8+8+8=24.

Mambo.  Mario's forte is in the Latin styles.  He is a true performer, and the showboat quality of the mambo suited him perfectly.  Scores: 9+9+9=27.


Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough - 51
Tango.  The judges and I disagree strongly about Shannon and Derek's tango tonight.  I thought that Shannon was very stiff and lifeless throughout the entire routine, but somehow, the judges unanimously thought that it was her best performance all season.  What do you think?  Please write your comments below.  Scores: 9+9+9=27.

Mambo.  Because Shannon got reprimanded last week for not having any kind of movement in her hips, she sought the help of the wardrobe designer to endow her some extra bootay.  It's debatable about whether  giving her a padded bottom did any good, but what is for sure is that her mambo was sloppy and gangly tonight.  Scores: 8+8+8=24.


Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke - 46
Viennese waltz.  Cristian's evening started out much better than it ended.  He was a veritable "South American Clark Gable," as Bruno put it.  Notwithstanding some technique issues that the judges didn't even mention anyway, he was as stately and graceful as one should be for the Viennese waltz.  Scores: 8+8+9=25.

Samba.  Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst when, half-way through his samba, Cristian pulled a muscle in his arm. He managed to finish the routine, but was taken to the hospital immediately after his performance.  The judges said that they would only judge the part of the performance before the injury occurred, but they still gave him the lowest scores of the evening.  Based on the judges' scores, he's going to need at least 1.6 percent more votes than either Mario or Shannon to tie with them, or 1.9 percent more votes than Marissa to tie with her.  As we know, Dancing with the Stars is definitely unpredictable, so it's really anyone's game.  Scores 7+7+7=21.

Check back tomorrow for the Dancing with the Stars results show to find out who will be eliminated.



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