There have alays been contestants with varying degrees of dance experience, albeit not "strictly ballroom." Mario Lopez was a professional dancer, Sabrina and others had extensive stage choreography in their backgrounds, etc. Kristi does not have an "unfair advantage." And besides, it's a reality TV show, not the NCAA.

I don't think it is fair to have Mario and Kristi as contestants. Just like Cheetah girl last season, they should be voted off to give true amateurs a chance. and no she does not compare to Ohno who is a Olympic speed skater.

of the other contestants, i am amazed by Jason Taylor. He is a natural. and so is Shannon. I am annoyed by Priscilla and her "fake" face. I feel sorry for Penn by his "handicap" but i don't feel sorry for Adam and his attempt at jokes. He needs to go.

i would like Monica to stay another week. but i am afraid that her time has run out.

Get off the crap. Kristi Yamaguchi has an UNFAIR advantage. She's taken dance all her life. She's skated as a pair champion and has enjoyed a 20 year career performing before live audiences touring with STARS ON ICE where she entertains and dances on ice with various partners! She recently starred in her annual televised ice show "Kristi & Friends" on NBC. She's also had ballroom dancing and ice dancing too. Ice dancing and pair skating is ballroom dancing on ice. Kristi should be BANNED from this show. It's fixed in her favor. She will always win the judges votes and has a bing skating fan base. This is so wrong!

I've gotten more lax in my views on the "dance experience" thing as the seasons have gone by. I think it's hard to find a good pool of entertaining stars with truly zero experience. So, where's the cut-off point?

I really like Monica and am sorry that she'll be gone. She obviously tried so hard.

Penn Jillette is getting on my nerves. He needs to zip his mouth. I think he's getting on the judges' nerves, too. I think the fact that the judges scored him so much lower than Carolla is a sure sign of who they want to see gone first. (But I think it'll be Carolla.)

BTW, as a total aside, the "politics" of which stars the pros get paired with is fascinating to me.

Jillette will go before Carolla, since Carrolla is paired with Julianne Hough. At least those two guys don't put on the "golly-gee, isn't this a terrifc, life changing opportunity" schtick, like Guttenberg.

Alex has a good point - what is the cutoff point for allowing "advantaged" celebrities? Heck, y'all, it's all for fun. They're vying for a disco ball, not a million dollars. Their goal is to improve and to have fun. The lesser-talented ones know that they are disadvantaged and will probably NOT win, going in. Nobody's forcing them to compete against Kristi. So there's nothing unfair about it. By the way, they ask you to vote for your "favorite" dancer, which may or may not be the best dancer. So it's all quite subjective and never intended to be "fair." If you want fair, watch Amer. Idol, where they all start on equal footing. Oh, wait, no.

Get over yourselves, this isn't nobodies competing for a huge prize, it's celebrities competing for a mirror ball trophy. When it comes down to it the producers have probably stacked the deck to try to let a woman win. Everyone thought Mel B would win last season & Helio still pulled it out in the end. I hate the whole protest vote thing, if someone is the best dancer they should get the votes.

I'm a huge fan of figure skating and thus overjoyed that Kristi Y. is participating in DWTS. I also love baseball and basketball along with most winter sports; tolerate football/hockey and many of the summer sports. So, I must disagree with those who say Kristi has an unfair advantage because of her skating background - you need only watch a figure skating competition to recognize that some skaters are much better coordinated than others, yet all skate to the sounds of music and receive training to do so. Skating like most sports focuses on the "timing" of a movement as opposed to the actual rhythm within the movement itself, which is why athletes generally excel at what they do but don't always look very graceful when doing it. Kristi has danceability or rhythm - skating has very little to do with that. What she probably does draw from her skating background is her ability to follow direction, her ability to focus on the detail of a performance, and her love of competing [not so much about competing against others as much as with herself]. If you've noticed during her practice sessions, she does not do well at first, but because she views this as a challenge she continues to focus on what needs to happen. All of these competitors are professionals [at one thing or another], but they don't all approach what they do in a professional manner. Anyone who says this is just about "having fun" is sorely mistaken; this is a competition and you either "up your game" or you go home. I think Kristi [and a few others] understands the principles of true competition. You go girl!!!

I'm all for Kristi - she's never ballroom danced before, so that's that. There's not a good cut off for contestants as far as their experience - good dancer at their high school prom should cause one to be disqualified?

I do think it's unfair though to put someone like Monica Seles & Penn Jillette against more musically talented contestants and make it a level playing field. I think that there should be at least a couple of weeks before the eliminations start.

I'm really bummed that they put Adam Carrolla, who is very irritating to me with my gal Julianne. I want Adam gone next week, but have been looking forward to seeing Julianne for months now.

The DWTS team presumably have applied the show's selection criteria at the outset. It is not up to the viewers to decide that Kristi doesn't meet the criteria. The fact that she is a contestant makes it clear that she does meet the criteria. I for one was delighted to see that she was going to be a contestant this year, and I hope she wins. The advantage she has is the same advantage that other professional athletes on the show have had(I think of Helio, Apolo, Leila Ali)-- a tremendous amount of self discipline and a drive to win. Go, Kristi!!

I have to admit DWTS is a lot more interesting with Kristi in the show. Her dances are fascinating to watch. I don't think she has an "unfair" advantage. Figure skating from the waist down is entirely different than ballroom dancing. Also, there are many figure skaters who would not be able to translate their skills into ballroom dance in the way Kristi is able. The unfair advantage might actually go Marissa Winokur, who sang and danced her way to a Tony award.

I think you really out of your mind. Do you have a sense of humor? gave such a bad word on Marlee.

I really must comment on the ridiculous choice of elimination tonight. One wonders who's pulling the strings in the judges booth. Of course the explanation would be "it's the callers who count" but it doesn't take a Philadelphia lawyer to see that the choices are made well in advance, otherwise how in the world would anyone with the ability to see allow the short, fat, girl to perform more then one number? Not only me, but everyone I've talked to agrees that she is unpleasant to watch, despite her wide toothy grin, and her phony happy personality. She showed her real self when the judges panned her on an earlier dance, and she snapped back, and without that pasted on grin. The woman is painful to watch, so this is the time we take to check the bathroom and refrigerator. You people need a different set of judges or these guys need their eyes checked. sent 5/6/08'