But -- and here's the live-and-don't-learn factor at work once again -- they're next to go and I don't care who goes first. Yes, I do. Cristian really can't dance while Marissa has improved. And to try to find a positive thread through all of this, it does clarify the show's finale which should be between Jason and Kristi, but if Mario had kept improving -- who knows? And now we never will.

This wouldn't be quite so galling if the show took care to demonstrate any sort of integrity, in the form of some level of transparency to the voting process. The fact is that viewers never know how many vote were cast, or who for, or how those votes are weigned against the judges' scoring. And we never will because this way the producers are free to tweak things however they want. Quiz Show ain't just a movie.

Let's start with Carrie Ann Inaba. She gave the first three performers -- Kristi Yamaguchi, Mario and Marissa -- the same score, a 9. Her comments for each were markedly different. For Kristi, she spoke to the negative, saying the dance was "a bit awkward," and "not as graceful" as previous dances. For Mario's waltz, she was bursting with superlatives, exclaiming over his mix of pizzazz and elegance. Critiquing Marissa she, while supportive, was mostly negative in her specific comments. And yet, all received the same score

Then came Jason and Edyta's tango. In a word: wow. And Carrie Ann was ecstatic, talkiing about "a whole new dynamic" she was seeing in Jason's dancing, which she described as "intriguingly great. Boom, she gives him a 10. Right on. Then comes Cristian, and his sequinned-gloved tango to the tune of MJ's Beat It. It was fine, but honestly, he didn't do much but step rhythmically while partner Cheryl Burke spun, kicked, swooped -- in a word, danced. And Carrie Ann just went wildly, weirdly nuts. It was like watching a bad dive in a boxing match, where there's a wild punch that doesn't even connect and the guy dramatically drops. And boom up came another 10.

Look, dance as with any other creative endeavor is a subjective experience. There is no absolute, authoritative judgment -- it is what you think it is. That said, Cristian's dancing was absolutely, authoritatively underwhelming. He wasn't a good dancer before injuring his arm. It's not as if he's suddenly, miraculously gotten better. Was his first dance really as good as Jason's first dance. No, not even close. But Carrie Ann gave them both 10s.

Cristian's second dance was, if anything, even lamer than his first. Really. He didn't do anything. He wasn't even keeping time with the music. But once again, rousing accolades from the judges who acted as if he had just performed open-heart surgery with one arm. If they are so impressed with Cristian's against-all-odds performance, if they think his dancing with one arm in a protective wrap is so deserving of perfect scores, then Marlee Matlin -- who, if you remember danced while being totally deaf and oblivious to the music and more importantly, the beat -- should still be there and scoring perfect 10s every time she turns around.

It's just such an obvious and out-of-whack joke that the judges, and the hosts, made such a big deal out of Cristian performing while injured, and seems so plainly the product of a producers' pow-wow and some behind-the-scenes decision to wring every bit of dramatic juice out of this scenario. Again, it seems a flagrant insult to the audience's taste and intelligence. Perhaps viewers will react accordingly and vote Cristian off tomorrow night, or even more bluntly, simply tune out.

If not, then Marissa is done tomorrow night, and then Cristian will follow her next week. It's hard to seem him lasting beyond that, now that Mario has found his ballroom groove. I'm on record as believing that Kristi is unfairly advantaged in this ostensibly amateur dance competition, but her samba was amazing and she's is a wonder to watch on the dance floor. And Jason, though a bit adrift during his samba, is still the great dancing discovery of this season.

If only we could vote to eliminate the judges.