It was Latin night on Dancing with the Stars tonight, featuring the fast-paced, sexy samba and the slow-burning, sexy rumba. Well, it was supposed to be sexy anyway. There were actually a whole lot of very safe, very careful performances. With the high skill level that these dancers have already achieved, I really expected more out of all of them.
As in the past four weeks, Kristi and Mark ended the evening on top, with Priscilla and Louis falling down to the bottom of the pack. Read on to see the Dancing with the Stars standings for the fifth week of competition.
Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas – 29
Rumba. Kristi was finally able to combine precise footwork and turns with a deep emotion. The rumba is a slow, sexy dance, and Kristi and Mark really brought the chemistry. Kristi let her hair down for this performance, and the result was a beautiful, soulful rumba. Scores 9+10+10=29
Mario and Karina Smirnoff – 27
Samba. Mario and Karina opened the night with a flirty and fast samba. Len deemed it Mario’s best performance yet, and indeed, the judges awarded them with their highest scores yet. Scores: 9+9+9=27
Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska – 27
Rumba. Jason and Edyta had a lot to prove tonight because last week, they managed to take their performance to another level. The judges had nothing but great things to say about Jason and Edyta’s chemistry. There were still some issues with Jason’s footwork, however, which is probably why they didn’t match their fantastic 29 from last week. Scores 9+9+9=27
Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani – 24
Samba. It seems that Marissa has finally turned a corner after a tough few weeks at the beginning. Her bubbly, bouncy personality was perfectly suited for the samba tonight, and the judges awarded her with triple 8s. Hopefully, they only place they will go from here is up. Scores: 8+8+8=24
Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke – 23
Rumba. Cristian and Cheryl had fabulous outfits tonight, fashioned out of matching rose-colored satin. However, Cristian’s dancing didn’t quite match the fabulousness of his open shirt. It was a competent performance, but ultimately, just being merely competent isn’t enough to win Dancing with the Stars. Scores: 7+8+8=23
Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough – 23
Samba. Poor Derek. He was hospitalized this morning after a bout of food poisoning. This, after being hospitalized just two weeks ago for a neck injury. Poor kid can’t catch a break, but he still managed to perform well tonight. Unfortunately, Shannon didn’t. She has been establishing herself as a contender lately, but Shannon just didn’t have the hip action that you need to be a great Latin dancer, and it showed in her scores. Scores 8+8+7=23
Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez – 22
Samba. At first, it seemed like Marlee wasn’t going to let her deafness get in the way of her ability to perform well on the show, but lately, her missteps and stumbles have been too frequent to be just a fluke. She stumbled tonight and got off the beat on a number of occasions, but still, she has such a great stage presence that she powered her way through the samba. Scores: 7+7+8=22
Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel – 21
Rumba. Priscilla and Louis are a great pair, but tonight, Priscilla seemed to be preoccupied with her steps to really bring a strong performance. She and Louis usually have great chemistry together, but not so much tonight. Maybe she was worried about the illegal lift from last week. Whatever it was, she better keep campaigning for votes or else she’s the next one to go. Scores: 7+7+7=21
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
