Dancing with the Stars: (Episode 613)

With only three weeks left to the competition, this week marked the first real two-dance night (no group dance nonsense!).  Our six remaining contestants each took on one ballroom and one Latin routine, and there were a couple upsets.

First to take the floor was Marissa Jaret Winokur, fresh off of her highest scores ever last week.  Although she struggled in rehearsals with the sexuality of the tango, Marissa delivered when it was showtime.  She thoroughly impressed the judges by casting aside her usually giggly and bouncy self in favor of an intense and passionate persona.  Len said this was her best dance yet, and Carrie Ann applauded her willingness to push her self-boundaries.  Nines across the board kept the bar high for her second dance of the night, the rumba.

Marissa and Tony's turn in the Latin round was solid, if not a little too safe.  Back to her sweet self, Bruno said he prefers Marissa dirtier and sexier, as she was in the tango.  Len firmly pointed out her lack of hip action, the cardinal sin of the rumba (eh hem, Shannon Elizabeth).  But Carrie Ann said Marissa was great and even gave her goosebumps.  I wouldn't go that far, but two 8s and a 9 landed Marissa and Tony is their highest finish ever—third place.

Next up, Cristian de la Fuente started his night off right with a lovely Viennese waltz.  Showing constant improvement by taking the judges' past criticisms to heart, Cristian is a great example of someone who didn't walk into this competition with loads of natural talent (Kristi Yamaguchi) or a huge fan base (Jason Taylor) but still managed to make it this far.  Bruno dubbed Cristian South America's Clark Gable thanks to his smooth movements, but Carrie Ann and Len thought it lacked content and a touch of energy.  A 25 led Cristian and Cheryl into the Latin round, where things began to unravel.

Cristian and Cheryl's samba had all the early markings of a good dance.  High energy, tight footwork, chemistry.  But then Cristian's forearm cramped up and try as he might to continue the dance, he eventually had to retire after dropping Cheryl and stumbling on top of her.  The judges said it was honorable of Cristian to attempt to carry on despite his pain.  Clutching his arm, Cristian stuck around to receive his dismal scores before heading to the emergency room.  Three 7s gave and a total of 42 put Cristian and Cheryl in last place for the night.

After dominating the top slot for six weeks, Kristi Yamaguchi was bound to fall from grace (at least for a week!).  Her Viennese waltz was perfectly fine, but thanks to Kristi's caliber of talent, the judges can afford to be picky.  They thought her turns were a hair off and didn't care for her and Mark's use of props (officer's uniform and umbrella).  Nevertheless, two 9s and an 8 are far from bad scores, but it did mark the first time this due has received anything less than three 9s.

For the Latin round, Kristi and Mark came back with a quick, concise and modern cha cha.  Our choreographer judges, Bruno and Carrie Ann, loved the hip hop moves, while Len disapproved, natch.  Two 10s and an 8 from Len gave Kristi and Mark a grand total of 54 and a second-place overall finish.

Mario had his highest personal score last week but still landed in the bottom two.  This week shaped up to be just as big of a struggle; on top of learning the foxtrot and mambo, Mario was also in the midst of also learning choreography for his new music video.  Despite his tight schedule and dislike for the foxtrot, Mario managed to pull off a decent dance.  There was lots of movement and energy, but the judges thought it lacked elegance—making 8s across the board a pleasant surprise for both Mario and Karina.

Their stamina carried over into the Latin round, where Mario and Karina mamboed their way into the judges' hearts.  Loads of spins and hip action garnered rave reviews, while a small timing blip caused them a point deduction.  Three 9s bumped Mario and Karina's finish for the night up to a 51. 

Still apologizing for her tirade on the judges last week, Shannon Elizabeth promised big results this time around.  With the mambo and tango on her agenda, Shannon set out to work on her hip action and the results were … interesting.  Although it was an improvement, Shannon never quite seemed in control of her movements, but the judges overlooked that and claimed it was terrific and well done.  Three 9s was a very generous score.
 
Moving into the Latin round, Shannon and Derek lost some steam.  Their mambo was awkward and highlighted Shannon's largest downfall--her gangly limbs!  She's not stiff enough to make those long arms and legs look graceful, and instead ends up looking a hot mess.  The judges didn't seem to know what to say since Shannon's poor dancing isn't the result of lack of effort; I mean, she's really out there giving it her all (almost to the point of embarrassment).  So, they took the safe route, saying it was fantastic and fun but peppered with flaws.  Three 8s tied Shannon and Derek with Mario and Karina.

Jason Taylor was back to fight after a weak performance last week.  For the ballroom round he and Edyta delivered a fun, fast and precise quickstep.  The audience rewarded the couple with a standing ovation and the judges said with performances like that, Jason will surely find himself in the finals.  A score of 29 led them into the Latin round.  Quick step and paso doble.

Keeping up the pace, Jason and Edyta's pasa doble was another crowd pleaser.  Using the "Monday Night Football" theme music and decked out in Dolphins colors, the duo whipped up a creative dance that fell just a tad short with the judges.  Len thought there was too might posing, Carrie Ann of course spotted the barely-there lift.  Two 9s and an 8 was still enough for Jason and Edyta to beat of Kristi and Mark for a first-place finish.