Yamaguchi Bests The Boys On "Dancing"
Kristi Yamaguchi danced her way to a perfect score on the "Dancing With The Stars" season six finale Monday night, and - unlike the other two competitors - she did it without exposing her chest.
Yamaguchi, football star Jason Taylor and actor Cristian de la Fuente each danced a cha cha and a freestyle number Monday night as they competed to win what host Tom Bergeron jokingly referred to as "the world's sparkliest trophy."
The cha cha "face-off" gave the judges and the viewing audience a chance to see each couple dance the same dance style to the same music (Lionel Richie's "Dancing On The Ceiling"). Each couple performed a short routine and at the end all six dancers came together on the dance floor for a few final moves.
Taylor, who openly admitted that Latin dance is not his forte, fared the worst in the group.
Photos: "Dancing With The Stars" Finale
"You've got elegance about you, you've got style. If this had been a fox trot, the whole scenario could have changed," judge Len Goodman told Taylor.
The three judges each gave Taylor a score of 8 for a total of 24.
Photos: "Dancing With The Stars"
De la Fuente, his shirt unbuttoned to show off his ripped torso and six-pack abs, clearly had the best hip action and feel for the Latin rhythm of the dance.
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba told de la Fuente that he had great energy, but she noticed that his injured left arm was starting to affect his posture. De la Fuente injured his arm a few weeks ago while performing a samba routine on the show. He has since been wearing a soft cast - often decorated to match his costume - and doing most of the lifts and holds with his good arm.
De la Fuente earned a score of 26.
Yamaguchi, looking like an Ikette in her fringed mini-dress, danced a spirited, but technically precise cha cha.
"Kristi, it's ladies night, you won that hands down," said Inaba.
Yamaguchi received a perfect 30 from the judges, moving her closer to achieving her goal of being the first woman to win the ABC show since season one's Kelly Monaco.
The dancers returned to perform a freestyle routine. They were allowed to choose their music and were free to mix dance styles and add lifts.
Yamaguchi and her partner, Mark Ballas, performed a mix of hip-hop and mambo to Michael Jackson's "Working Day And Night," liberally adding aerial moves and difficult lifts.
"This was so difficult, so demanding," said judge Bruno Tonioli. "To me, it was worthy of the championship."
The other judges agreed and Yamaguchi earned another perfect 30, giving her the top score of 60 for the night.
Taylor and his partner Edyta Sliwinska had a few club moves of their own to Will Smith's "Miami" The Dolphin's defensive end showed off his strength in a series of difficult lifts and showed off his muscled torso by tearing off his shirt at the end of the number.
"It's like watching two centerfolds - and the dance wasn't bad either," quipped Tonioli.
Taylor's score improved to a 27, giving him a total of 51.
De la Fuente's injured arm came back to haunt him in the freestyle, danced to merengue star Elvis Crespo's signature hit "Suavemente."
Although he and his partner, Cheryl Burke, put plenty of fire into their dance steps, he simply wasn't able to execute the same difficulty of lifts as Ballas and Taylor.
His score of 26 gave him a final total of 52, putting him in second place behind Yamaguchi.
The dancers return Tuesday night for the two-hour grand finale. After the first couple is eliminated, based on viewer votes, the remaining two couples will dance again for the judges. The one with the best score will win the disco ball trophy and bragging rights.
All of this season's competitors will be back for another spin on the dance floor and R&B superstar Usher will perform two songs.
By Judy Rosen