Waiting so long to announce Kristi was safe was definitely a hype thing. The bottom two were Mario (which actually surprises me) and Marlee. But they didn't announce that Kristi and Mark were safe, or Jason and Edyta for that matter, til right at the end, to attempt to build some suspense.
Agree with above posters that, previously, no one was in much doubt about Kristi, so they went ahead and called her safe early on (usually). This week, they tried to play a "they were perfect with the judges, but maybe the fans didn't keep coming out for them" angle.
I've gotten lax about voting the last few weeks, but now that the field is narrowing I'll be dialing for Kristi again!
I liked Shannon early on, but agree that she just doesn't seem to "get" the hip action required. She looks more uncomfortable each week, it seems to me, instead of better.
I liked Marlee and admire all she did. Would rather have seen Shannon or Cristian go, but actually I wasn't wild about any of these 3's dancing.
I wish Tony would choreo better for Marissa; I really think he lacks understanding of how to make a showy routine. I will admit, though, that he tends to put more of the basic steps of each type of dance into the routine, instead of going for big tricks, which for the most part I like -- but at the same time you can't be dull about it. It's really a tough balance to get right. Edyta definitely goes too far with the big tricks, as many of you all have said. I really think Jason is capable of more, but Edyta seems determined to grab the spotlight. Yah, sure, the female partner is supposed to shine -- but Jason is the contestant here and needs a chance to perform at least a little.
Oh, and I am so WOWED by these young dancers in the results shows. I thought the young couple that advanced last night were incredibly crisp and really had the character of the dance down, to an amazing degree.
And I couldn't believe both young couples last week, either -- that was truly, truly a tough one to judge. I couldn't believe how well 7- and 8-year olds were doing!