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Only five couples are left on Dancing With The Stars and for the most part I like all of them. Usually during a season I find one or two stars that I like less than the others, but this season I don’t think there is anyone that I want to see go home. This makes it tough when deciding who to vote for. But as tonight progressed I found my new favorite contestant. More on that later.

Here’s what I thought of the couples tonight.

Kristi and Mark. For the ballroom round Kristi and Mark danced a Quickstep. I love this dance and I thought they did a spectacular job. The male judges loved it; Carrie Ann made some crazy comment about how she was out of sync in parts of the dance. She ended up with a 29 for this dance. In the Latin round they danced the Samba. I thought the music was terrible but her dance good. I thought she brought a lot of energy to the floor. The judges, on the other hand, weren’t as pleased. Carrie Ann called it awkward and out of control (I think she’s riding the I hate Kristi wagon tonight). Bruno commented on the technical steps she put into the dance but Len thought that the high technical content caused the dance to suffer in other parts. She ended up with a 26 for this round.

Mario and Karina. Mario’s first dance was the Viennese Waltz. Now I thought for sure he’d have trouble with it, since the judges called him less than elegant last week. This lit a fire under his butt and he just attached the dance. I thought it was the best ballroom dance he’s performed so far. The judges all commented on his elegance in the performance and rewarded him with a 27 for the ballroom round. In the Latin round he and Karina performed the Jive. I thought his lift was really ambitious, but he mentioned in the behind the scenes segment that he knew he had to do lifts to compete with Jason and Kristi. Len didn’t care for his performance, will Bruno and Carrie Ann thought he captured the spirit of the dance. They gave him a 26 out of 30 for their performance.

Marissa and Tony. I love Marissa, mainly because she is a real sized woman competing in a world of size zeros and doing well. Their first dance of the night was the Foxtrot and I thought it was really nice. The judges thought it was well done, but Bruno said that it wasn’t really good enough to be in the quarterfinals. The judges gave her a 25 for the round. Her second dance was the Mambo and she approached it, as always, with a great attitude. It was a fun performance. The judges liked it and gave her positive comments but only a 25 for the dance.

Jason and Edyta. Their first dance tonight was the Tango. I really don’t care for the Tango, and I didn’t care for this performance tonight either. I’m not sure why. I think that it has to be a fabulous and fantastic performance for me to like a Tango and I didn’t get it from them tonight. However the judges were obviously watching a different performance, as they loved it. They called it beautiful and fantastic, and Bruno went so far as to say this is the best that Edyta’s ever danced in any season. They got a 29 for this round. Their second dance, as was Kristi’s, was the Samba. Tom Bergeron was trying to bill it as a Samba smackdown but it didn’t even come close. I didn’t like it, and the judges really gave him some harsh comments. Bruno called it a turkey; Len said it wasn’t good enough; and Carrie Ann said it didn’t go so well. They got a total of 23 for this round.

Cristian and Cheryl. Let me begin by saying that I’ve found my new favorite contestant on the show. I am so amazed and so impressed by Cristian fighting through a very serious injury to continue on the show. He’s going to have to dance essentially one armed for the rest of the season. Tonight was a testament to Cheryl and her talents as a choreographer as well. She was tested and passed with flying colors. Their first dance was a Tango to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and they came out with one white glove and everything. This was a Tango that I thought was fabulous and fantastic, and I was amazed that Cristian was able to complete a lift. The judges loved it, and he even got a 10 out of Carrie Ann. She said she was looking for something to be wrong with it and couldn’t find anything. Bruno said they have to judge on what they see, injury or not, and he thought it was a very good and convincing Tango. They ended up with a 28 out of 30. Their second dance was the Mambo and yet again Cristian impressed me and the judges. It was so much fun, and he did a lift in this dance too. Carrie Ann said they were on fire, while Bruno said it was magical the things you can do with one arm. Their score of 29 out of 30 put them in first place for the night.

Tomorrow night is the 100th episode of the show, and many former celebrity competitors are coming back: Drew Lachey, Apolo Anton Ohno, and Mel B. among others. Rascal Flats is performing and at 8:00 the judges are counting down their 10 favorite performances from the first five seasons. Mario Lopez will be performing in the Macy’s Stars of Dance segment along with the Broadway cast of “A Chorus Line.”

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Dancing With The Stars.