Dancing With The Stars: A Dance Before The Hoedown

The dancing was really great on this week's Dancing With The Stars performance show. The stars looked more at ease with their professional partners than ever and it showed in their routines. Seven couples remain at this point and all of them would be dancing a dance they hadn't performed yet so far this season before ending the show with one big group dance.

Jason & Edyta opened the show with a cha cha cha set to "Best of My Love" and I thought they did a great job. They weren't the best couple of the night though. The judges felt that Jason's footwork was a little off and that he didn't make great use of his frame. In other words, he needed to work on his arm placement. They received triple eights and even though they said they were happy with the score you could tell they were really a little disappointed.

Shannon & Derek followed them with a rhumba set to "True Colors." I felt that the song choice was a little awkward and the judges felt Shannon was the awkward one. Shannon really was trying very hard but she has to do something to loosen up. She is still almost as wooden as she was when the competition started. Surprisingly, however, the judges awarded them triple eights as well.

Marlee & Fabian's was, how do I put this nicely, disjointed. Great in some spots but really rough in most others; I really think this could be the week they are eliminated. Pretty outfits and inspirational fluff pieces can only go so far. They received the lowest score of all of the couples with their triple sevens.

The remaining four couples really danced their rears off compared to the first three couples. Cristian & Cheryl's foxtrot to "Come Fly With Me" was absolutely beautiful. It was easily their best dance of the season and it showed in the judges' comments and in their scores: triple nines. Marissa & Tony's Viennese waltz was beautiful and she looked like a princess in her gorgeous dress. For their fantastic routine, they were awarded a 26 out of 30 from the judges.

Mario & Karina's rumba to "Let's Get It On" was incredibly hot. After dancing that routine, any real life couple would have fallen right to the floor to get it on. Len found the routine too raunchy and Carrie saw them do a lift but other than that, they said they enjoyed it. They received their best score of the season so far with a 28 out of 30. By far, the best dance of the evening belonged to Kristi & Mark. They performed a jive that was extremely fun to watch and was adorable to boot! After receiving a standing ovation from the audience, the judges had nothing but good to say and awarded them the first perfect score of the season. Kristi & Mark knew they had knocked it out of the ballpark and were thrilled with their 30.

The show ended with a fun group dance set to "Cotton Eyed Joe." It wasn't exactly the sharpest thing ever seen on the show but it didn't matter because the dancers were having tons of fun and it really came through on the television.

On the results show, Ashlee Simpson will perform live and we'll also see a performance from the Riverdance folks. Two more pairs of ballroom-dancing kids will entertain us and then we'll find out which of the remaining seven couples will hang up their dance shoes. Sounds like it should be a fun show!