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One point separated each of the top three competitors after Monday night's round on Dancing with the Stars, with Kristi Yamaguchi reclaiming the top spot with a 57 and Jason Taylor coming in third with 55. Marissa Winokur Jaret, whose tenure has surpassed her dancing abilities, came in last. She's most likely to be eliminated, but when Cristian de la Fuente can score one of the high scores of the night, anything is possible.

Here's hoping that Dancing with the Stars isn't a microcosm of the upcoming presidential election, because if it is, a lot of viewer-voters are going to be feeling disenchanted. R&B star Mario was eliminated despite his best-dance performance last night, while one-armed Cristian and scrappy Marissa both were spared. Shocked viewers may have had flashbacks to last season's unaccountably early departure of Sabrina Bryan, another young pop performer whose great dancing couldn't counter a lack of DWTS-watching fans.

The winner of Monday night's edition of Dancing with the Stars was Cristian de la Fuente, bravely performing with his injured left arm. But the loser may be the show since his inflated scores (his first 10s of the season) were strikingly out-of-step with the quality of his dancing. Meanwhile Marissa Jaret Winokur finds herself at the bottom again, and seems a sure bet to be eliminated tomorrow night unless voters refuse to play their part and choose instead to vote off the worst dancer -- Cristian.

Shannon Elizabeth is young and attractive but without much of a fanbase -- maybe that's why she was eliminated on Tuesday night after scoring her best dance of the season with her Monday night tango. Then again, the same could be said of Cristian de la Fuente and he made it into the final five. One difference between the two is that he had his worst dance of the season the night before with a distastrous samba. Another is that he is a man, and as any DWTS fan knows, men have the inside track in this dance competition. We'll see how much farther viewer-voter sympathy can carry Cristian -- he was already the weakest dancer of the remaining field, before he ruptured a tendon in his left arm.

It finally happened: Kristi Yamaguchi did not rack up the highest score on Monday night's two-dance edition. That distinction went to Jason Taylor, with Kristi coming in one point behind. That one-two finish may be a glimpse of the final as the ice skater and the football player cemented their positions as the two top competitors. On the other side, Cristian de la Fuente may be on his way out after a self-destructing samba left him bringing up the rear.

Remember the first season of the show? I do. It was an instant hit, in part because people said they could watch it as a family. Just good old-fashioned entertainment, the fans said. Refreshing!
I just caught a commercial for this week's competition. Not only is it billed as "the sexiest night on television!," but one dancer warns that we may have to shield our eyes from all the hotness. Clips are shown that demonstrate such hotness. Then Carrie Ann Inaba says, "That was as good as GREAT sex."
We no longer watch this show as a family. You?

"This is week six; we're moving beyond potential now." Carrie Ann Inaba said to Shannon Elizabeth, summing up the theme of Monday night's Dancing with the Stars. Kristi Yamaguchi has been the high scorer and best dancer from the beginning but with her whiz-bang jive she finally scored her, and the season's, first perfect 30. But it's among the rest that things are really getting interesting. The field kind of flip-flopped as front-runners Jason Taylor and Ms. Elizabeth faltered, and slow-starters Cristian de la Fuente, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Mario had their best dances yet. As far as the dancing goes, this is Kristi's game to lose; take her out of the equation and it's anybody's game.

Another Tuesday night results show, another weakest competitor voted off - this time it's Priscilla Presley. So far this season, each week's decision has gone exactly the way the performances have dictated -- the only trick the opening few weeks was trying to pick which of the terrible dancers (Penn Jillette or Adam Carolla?) would go first. All the low-hanging lemons are gone now. But this week's other bottom-ender, Cristian de la Fuente, along with Marissa Jaret Winokur, are next-in-line if this no-surprises season continues

On Monday's "Latin night" edition of Dancing with the Stars, which host Tom Bergeron proclaimed "the sexiest night of the season," a surprising thing happened -- nothing surprising happened. Kristi Yamaguchi delivered the best dance of the night with her slinky rumba; R&B singer Mario turned in his best dance of the season with his syncopated samba and the worst remaining dancer, Priscilla Presley, provided the worst performance, a lifeless rumba that was more like "Walking with the Stars." If this season's trend to vote off the worst holds true, she's gone tomorrow night.

Thus far in the season, every Tuesday night has brought the same result: the worst dance is sent packing. That means this week was Adam Carolla's turn. Goofy charm and unicycle antics weren't enough to overcome his singular lack of dancing skills, even after the judges' chose him and partner Julianne to give the encore dance. If this straightforward worst-dancer-out trend continues, the next two weeks are easy to line up: Next is Priscilla Presley, then Marissa Winokur Jaret. Then it gets a little trickier.

The short wrap-up of Monday night's competition was that Kristi Yamaguchi once again (yawn) turned in the "best" dance of the night. But as fans know, technique only gets you so far in this contest. And "dance of the night" honors go to -- take your pick: Marlee Matlin's graceful and passionately played waltz that had judge Carrie Ann Inaba in tears; Jason Taylor's smooth and strutting waltz that had the crowd on its feet and two judges awarding 10s; Shannon Elizabeth's lively and lovely waltz that head judge Len Goodman declared the dance of the night. As for who's going home tomorrow night? Audience backlash is building against Kristi's obvious advantage, but probably not quick enough to spare great unicyclist but lousy dancer Adam Carolla.

As wrong as the judges got it on Monday night -- dissing Jason Taylor's jumping jive and gushing over Priscilla's tepid tango -- the viewer-voters got it right on Tuesday night. Steve Guttenberg got cut despite winning the judges' praise for his tango. He was the third celebrity eliminated in this season's Dancing with the Stars and so far the audience's judgment is scoring a perfect three for three -- the three worst dancers have been the first three to go. Look out Adam Corolla. If that trend continues next week, you're done.

Tuesday night's "first-ever double elimination" show proved that, so far anyway, the fifth season is proceeding as it should -- that is, with the worst dancers getting the boot. For the men, it was barge-footed magician Penn Gillette, for the women it was the tennis champ who couldn't find her groove on the dance floor, Monica Seles. More interesting in the long run though may be the judges' choice to see newly christened "Mambo King" Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska give the encore dance -- he's now the anyone-other-than-Kristi favorite to win.

Kicking off week two of Dancing with the Stars, the night before Tuesday's "first-ever double elimination," it was everyone slinking through a Mambo or huffing and puffing through a Quick Step. Best dance of the night was an easy call: Kristi Yamaguchi's mambo with partner Mark Ballas smooth as ice (har!), but then what do you expect from a gold-medalist ice skater? As judge Carrie Ann Inaba asked after the couple's all-but-perfect performance, "Have you really never done this before?"

The two biggest wild cards heading into season six of Dancing With the Stars showed on their first trips around the floor that they intend to be factors in the competition. Priscilla Presley, the oldest woman to ever compete on the show at 62, performed an elegant fox trot that earned her a 24. But the story of the night was Marlee Matlin, the deaf Oscar-winning actress who showed no sign of a handicap on the way to earning a 22 for her cha cha. Both of them, however, trail the odds-on favorite among the women, Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, who looked like a pro right out of the gates with a 27-point fox trot.

On the first night of Season 6 of Dancing With the Stars, it was men first. And after seeing each of the six male competitors, it's pretty obvious where the line of demarcation is.
On the competitive side were the early favorites, and, not coincidentally, the youngest half of the men's bracket. R&B singer Mario left judge Carrie Ann Inaba gasping for air after his cha cha cha and was awarded the top score of 24 out of 30 for his efforts. Close behind were Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor with a 22-point fox trot and Chilean television actor Cristian de la Fuente with 21 for his cha cha cha.
Then there was the senior division, led my actor Steve Guttenberg, who scored an 18 for his fox trot. You can argue that that's just a three-pointer out of third place, but it may as well be a half-court shot from the looks of things. Bringing up the rear are the two competitors vying for the show's funny man crown, magician Penn Jillette (16) and radio personality Adam Carolla (15). The Vegas vet landed the first funny line by telling viewers to vote for him if they, "want to receive money in the mail," but Mr. Carolla fired back when he told his partner, reigning champ Julianne Hough, "Good news -- you can hit the road and promote the country album early this year. There's no three-peat in your future."
At least the men's side will be competitive on two fronts this season.
Tuesday night the women get their chance at 8 p.m.

'Dancing With The Stars' is back Monday for another season. Check out this season's contestants and tell us: Who's your early favorite?