DWTS Beat-by-Beat: Kristi Back on Top, Barely

Follow the semifinals action on Dancing with the Stars with our performance-show liveblog

By Natalie Finn May 13, 2008 4:34 AMTags
Jason Taylor, Dancing with the StarsABC/KELSEY McNEAL

Step in time with our Dancing With the Stars performance-show liveblog:

Only four stars remain and each will be performing two dances chosen at random, meaning they could wind up redoing their favorites or be forced to revisit their own personal ballroom hells. Either way, good times for us.

For some reason, the judges have reinstated the no-lift rule after allowing one per dance last week (which makes the choreography way more fun, but whatever), and expectations are high for one of the stronger semifinals in recent memory.

"Give it some welly," head judge Len Goodman reminds the group. And away we go with Jason Taylor's fox-trot...

8:08 p.m.: Jason, who floundered last week with a 52 but was not necessarily in the bottom two despite ending up with Mario in the red-hot spotlight (thank you, readers!), has regained his form, pulling off a fox-trot that has Len weeping into his tea...in the form of a 10.

"A lot more content and a lot more charisma" than last week, Carrie Ann Inaba adds.

8:12 p.m.: All told: 28.

8:15 p.m.: Season-two finalist Stacy Keibler, who compares past partner Tony Dovolani to her "older, meaner brother" is shown stopping by during the week to give Marissa Jaret Winokur a pep talk.

8:17 p.m.: Which appeared to work, because this quickstep is quite cute, if not incredibly quick.

8:19 p.m.: "You started off like a little locomotive and then took off like the Orient Express," Bruno Tonioli praises...

8:22 p.m.: ...before deciding to give her only an 8 for missing a jeté. Marissa gets a 26.

ABC/KELSEY McNEAL

8:25 p.m.: Cristián de la Fuente has to take on the Viennese waltz and samba again tonight, the very same combo that left him with a ruptured tendon in his left bicep two weeks ago. But first, the waltz...

8: 29 p.m.: We'll see if that obviously uninvolved arm bothers the judges...Nope.

8:30 p.m.: "Is anyone missing a weather balloon?" Tom Bergeron inquires, checking out Cheryl Burke's strategically cut and flamboyantly trimmed silver gown.

8:35 p.m.: A 27 keeps Cristián in the hunt.

8:37 p.m.: Here comes Kristi Yamaguchi, also a graduate of the Samba School of Hard Knocks. Not that it matters, though. She gets to tango and jive tonight, the first of which gave her trouble in the past, while the latter resulted in her only 30 to date. No pressure...

8:40 p.m.: Len likes her tango for the most part but thinks it was "a little bit hectic," a comment that prompts a "talk to the hand" gesture from Carrie Ann.

8:46 p.m.: Oh, Len, you old fuddy-duddy. 10, 9, 10.

8:53 p.m.: There's this season's Bachelor, Matt Grant, sitting in the audience. He has proposed to his final rose recipient, so check out The Bachelor finale following DWTS if you care to know whether Chelsea Wanstrath or Shayne Dahl Lamas will be the one returning the ring in about 6 to 10 months.

9:00 p.m.: First off, Jason and Edyta Sliwinska fire up the Latin round with a sizzling paso doble.

"You're a bit like the price of gas—you're going up," Len says. And it's 9s across the board, giving them a 27 and a total of 55 for the night.

9:05 p.m.: Marissa's sequins get stuck on Tony's shirt toward the end...and that was the most exciting part of their rumba as far as Carrie Ann is concerned.

But Len, insisting you can't expect paso-style sparks from the rumba, thinks she did "a very, very good job" and Bruno calls it "sexy in the city."

9:12 p.m.: Not surprisingly, it's an 8, 9, 9, giving Marissa another 26 and a 52 altogether.

8:13 p.m.: Let's see how the samba treats Cristián (hmmm, who's obviously trying to distract us with that wide-open shirt) this time around...

8:15 p.m.: "Hotter than a chili pepper" but occasionally "a little flat-footed," says Len. "Everybody was partying, me included," Bruno says. And Carrie Ann compares Cristián to ol' Twinkle Toes, aka season-three champ Emmitt Smith, who's in attendance tonight.

8:17 p.m.: Carrie Ann and Bruno each consider this injury-free samba to be 10-worthy, while Len holds back just a bit. Overall, Cristián's got himself a 56 and the lead.

8:24 p.m.: Kristi and Mark Ballas will try to recapture the glory of jives past...

8:26 p.m.: "The cherry on the icing on the cake of a sweet, sweet, delicious jive," Bruno says, while Carrie Ann and Len see a few flaws in the frosting.

8:28 p.m.: So that means 28, with the 10 coming from Bruno, and a return to first place with a 57.

A quick rundown: Kristi, 57; Cristián, 56; Jason, 55; Marissa, 52. Who makes it into next week and whose ouster can prevent the finals from becoming a third-wheel affair?