Dancing with the Stars: Chasing Kristi

First off, let me apologize because, for the second week in a row, I have to rush out a quickie recap.

Secondly, let me thank my lovely substitute for filling in for me while I was in Puerto Rico last week.

The reason I didn’t write this sooner is because, on top of being out of the country last week, I’ve spent the better part of this week moving into a new apartment (with my aforementioned lovely assistant).

Ok, enough excuse-making: let’s jump into this.

I thought this week’s episode of "Dancing with the Stars" was a vast improvement over last week’s lackadaisical effort. That being said, I felt the judges overscored a few performances when they pulled out the first 10s of the season.

Jason Taylor looked fantastic doing during his Viennese waltz. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it’s kind of mindblowing how good of a dancer this guy is. This week, I was impressed by his fantastic posture. Still, a 10 is a perfect score, and when you trip on a step, you’re not perfect. You know how I know he tripped? Because Jason admitted that he tripped.

Then there’s Kristi Yamaguchi. I was glad the producers had her dance first (and not make us have to wait until 9:32 p.m.) Once again, she was her usual technical self and her rehearsal footage placed a special emphasis on her lack of emotion while dancing. So what did Kristy do? She improved, but her performances are still missing a connection with the audience and, to a lesser degree, with her partner. Sometimes I feel like they’re just awesomely dancing in the general vicinity of each other, instead of with each other.

Still, the reason this show was stronger was because a few of the contenders in the middle of the pack stepped up their game. And because we saw a unicycle for the first time in a ballroom.

Seriously, who the hell knew Adam Corolla (pictured, right, looking particularly orange) could even ride a unicycle? While dressed as Zorro? The whole thing was bizarrely impressive. Unfortunately, as Adam pointed out, he had to dance once he got off the unicycle. Even though he had the week’s lowest scores, I think he’ll stick around another week because he seemed to take Julianne’s advice to "not offend anyone". In fact he was genuinely funny last night, remarking that he looked like a silent porn star, which is just a funny image.

Whereas Adam’s performance was probably rated right where it should be, there were other couples whose scores didn’t really reflect their performances.

Cristian got a 26 for a paso doble that was technically solid, but not very electrifying. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was moved to tears by Marlee’s waltz, but apparently wasn’t moved enough to give her more than an 8. Mario and Karina got straight 8’s basically for not embarrassing themselves after last week’s embarrassing tango. And while I wouldn’t use the word "boring" to describe Marissa’s paso doble, it was merely pedestrian, and I felt that the judges overrated it because they were afraid she might have a mental breakdown if she got low scores again. Also, she went last and they were running out of time.

It was also a bit off-putting how more than a few contestants (and Samantha) seem to have made Kristi some sort of front-running villain that needs to be vanquished.

One of those performers was Priscilla Presley. After a roller skating field trip, I actually liked Priscilla waltz. Sure, there were a couple of missteps and a posture issue (and a lift that wasn’t really there), but I forgive it all for their finishing move where Louis tossed Priscilla toward the camera.

Finally, my favorite NJT-NKY (Non Jason Taylor- Non Kristy Yamaguchi) performance of the night was Shannon Elizabeth’s waltz. While partner Derek Hough recovered from a neck injury (it was high comedy watching him insist that he was fine while wearing a neck brace), Shannon practiced with Jonathan Roberts (who has nothing to do since Monica Seles is eliminated). Their performance was lovely. It told a story, and Shannon keeps getting better every week. If it were possible for a woman to win this competition, I’d say she’s a dark horse.

So what’d you think of this episode? Do you think some of the performances were overrated? Kristy’s not really a bad person at all, right? What unconventional mode of transportation should make its way onto the ballroom next week?