DwtS 6, Week 7: Results

Cristian's injury was more serious than initially suspected. But was it serious enough to force him to leave Dancing with the Stars 6?

Following a recap of last night's Performance Show, the judges awarded the encore to Jason & Edyta for their Quickstep.

Len addressed the couples after the performance, telling them that, since all of the couples were doing lifts anyway, each couple would be allowed to do one lift in each dance next week, so long as they retained the character of the dance. If only my parents would have had the same approach to rule enforcement when I was growing up.

Then Kristi & Mark were told that they were safe for another week.

At long last, it was time for DanceCenter with Kenny Mayne, Jerry Rice, and Len. In this segment, Kenny and Jerry (both sporting glittery eye shadow) gave their opinions of three of the competitors. These were some of the highlights:

Mario has a "brother called Luigi."
Shannon: "She'll cry at the drop of a hat."
Cristian: "He flies the only plane in the Chilean Air Force."

Def Leppard took the stage to perform the most important song of my youth: "Pour Some Sugar On Me." DwtS pros Tony, Karina, Cheryl, Louis, Mark, and Anna -- who were covered in what looked like 100 yards of black vinyl -- danced a Paso Doble as the band played.

After Samantha conducted a bland interview with Kristi & Mark and Jason & Edyta, DanceCenter was back to handicap the remaining contestants:

Kristi: Nicknamed "The Yam."
Marissa: "The very loudest competitor maybe in the history of television."
Jason: "Has a flatulence problem," illustrated with fart noises dubbed over video of him dancing.

When the clip ended, Tom was in tears and couldn't stop giggling. Samantha had to take over and tell Mario & Karina that they were safe.

Def Leppard returned to perform their new song, "Nine Lives." As the band played, American Rhythm champions Jose Decamps & Joanna Zacharewicz danced.

The performance was followed by a package of clips, in which all of the stars admitted to being physically and mentally exhausted by having to learn two dances in one week.

As Tom threw the show to commercial, he cryptically said, "In the past eight or nine hours, the trajectory of the show has changed three or four times -- the most recent time, minutes before we went on the air." That could only mean that, at least at some point during the day, Cristian had planned (or was told by doctors) to quit the show.

With only six minutes of show left, Tom asked Cristian to explain the extent of his injury. Cristian said than an MRI revealed a ruptured bicep tendon that would need surgery. But just before the episode started, his doctor told him that surgery could wait until after the season. Cristian said that, if he survived the vote, he would like to continue dancing with Cheryl.

Cristian & Cheryl did survive the vote, as did Jason & Edyta. That left Marissa & Tony and Shannon & Derek in the Bottom Two. Ultimately, Shannon & Derek were sent home.

During their farewell speech, Shannon got teary-eyed, just like DanceCenter said she always does. Derek called Shannon a "big dork" before they danced to the Burt Bacharach tune, "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself."