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Marlee Matlin and Fabian: 24/30; 46 total I personally preferred Marlee's week 1 cha-cha to last night's quickstep (and I bet Bette Porter/Jennifer Beals would, too), but she scored two points higher in the electric blue gown. The judges toned down their predictions for Marlee — according to DANCMSTR, she has ''potential to go very far in this competition,'' and Bruno switched up the noun from his Mariospeak, calling Marlee ''a contender.'' The judges wanted a more traditional quickstep but were still wowed by Marlee's musicality and ability to bring out the character of the dance. Marlee told us that if we wanted to understand what the music sounded like to her, we should imagine being in the shower with the door closed and music playing in the next room. Any wasteful, inconsiderate hearing person, like me, can easily relate to this. Aaaaand now I feel insensitive. Hey, at least I didn't shove a microphone into Marlee's face like Samantha Harris.
Shannon Elizabeth and Derek: 24/30; 45 total Shannon, by far the most improved within the two-week premiere, seems better suited to a standard ballroom dance. I'm not sure if it was her increased confidence, Derek's choreography, a combination of the two, or the fact that neither dancer looked dressed up for Halloween, but this pair's quickstep was the surprise of the night. It wasn't too fast, like Cheryl's and Tony's versions, and I loved all the details with the leg work. The modified handstand against the judges' table didn't hurt either; those three eat that stuff up! For Bruno, Shannon and Derek's dance was a ''shot of adrenaline'' after a few clunkers. ''This is what we want,'' he said. ''You're in the game.'' And so are Shannon's dogs, who haven't sat out an episode yet.
Priscilla Presley and Louis: 21/30; 45 total Last week's fox-trot worked for Priscilla, but I was eager to see her do a quicker-paced Latin dance. It wasn't a disaster. Even though I thought she was a little behind Louis toward the end, she pulled off all the steps and even ended the dance with a slow crawl toward the camera that I probably wouldn't be comfortable viewing again. I found it a little odd that Carrie Ann praised Kristi's precision during her mambo, but Len told Priscilla, ''I don't think one of the qualities you want in mambo is precise. It could have been a bit more come on, girl.'' Huh? Why, because she's older? It was weird; both DANCMSTR and Bruno insisted on ramped-up sex appeal from Priscilla but not Kristi, whose mambo moves were precise but hardly passionate. Odd. Discuss.
Cristián de la Fuente and Cheryl: 20/30; 41 total By living in the middle of the pack for two weeks, Cristián could be at a disadvantage: Based on scores only, he's not in great danger of leaving. But is anyone voting for him? I could barely remember anything about his quickstep, except that it was way too fast and that Cheryl looked like a beautiful galaxy. When I rewound, I agreed with DANCMSTR about Cristián's lack of control, but I did like the way he got into character this time. He does seem to be taking this reality-TV show about ballroom dancing seriously now, and what more could we ask for? Cheryl dressed the tasty Chilean sea bass of a man (I will be calling him that until he leaves) in a military uniform to improve his posture. Pretty sure it was just to get the guy in a military uniform. No complaints, but as long as we're going down this route, may I suggest cheekless leather chaps for next week? Cristián needs to work on his clenching.
Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony: 21/30; 39 total Tony is a saint. He told the viewers at home, ''I can't stop smiling when I'm around Marissa,'' while refraining from adding the logical second clause to that sentence: ''Because I'm not allowed to.'' He also took on the role of therapist — after week 1, Marissa became weepy about her body type, and Tony had to intervene with lines like ''What you have is that X factor.'' I wish he'd said ''XXX factor'' to spice things up and maybe throw us off a bit. But I also wish that I could have stopped staring at the giant apple Marissa was chomping on during this conversation, and that the background music wasn't so pathetic. We can't always get what we want. The problem with the pair's quickstep, though, might have been Tony — the dance seemed too fast for her, which easily could have been corrected by using a slower song or fewer steps. I won't be surprised if the lovely, bubbly Marissa leaves tonight instead of the more well-known Monica Seles.
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