Click in the Eyewitness News story window above to watch abc7.com interviews with the final four.
Click here for a slideshow of the action in week 9, or roll your mouse over the Eyewitness News Story Window at the top of this page to watch video clips.
Mark Ballas has reason to sing. He and his star, Kristi Yamaguchi, returned to the top of the judges' leaderboard. They danced the tango and then the jive, scoring 57 out of 60 in the process.
"I feel like back to my school days. It's a lot of fun," said Kristi Yamaguchi. "This show's awesome because every dance you can come and be someone else. So you can be the seductive tango woman or little girl school girl."
Still battling a bum arm, Cristian de la Fuente, along with Cheryl Burke, managed to end the night in second place. They began with a Viennese waltz, then did a samba one judge said was "hotter than a chili pepper." Overall, 56 out of 60.
"You only overcome a challenge by just working harder because when you get these accidents in life, you have two options: you know, lay in bed and complain or go after and try to overcome it and make it like nothing happened," said de la Fuente.
One point behind them, Jason Taylor and his partner, Edyta Sliwinska. They danced the paso doble, but Jason reacted more to what Judge Len Goodman did following their other dance.
"After the foxtrot, I thought we were going to get three 10s, but we got two 9s. I got a 10 out of Len, so that's like a monument, a milestone in and of itself. I mean, he gave me a 10. I couldn't believe it," said Jason Taylor.
In fourth position, but not by much, Marissa Jaret Winokur and her partner, Tony Dovolani. They quick-stepped, then almost "mis-stepped" with the rumba when a wardrobe malfunction had her fishnet stockings stuck to his beadwork.
"And at one point in the dance, my leg was hooked behind him," said Marissa Jaret Winokur. "And I put my foot down and I'm like, 'I don't know why my other leg wasn't going down,' and he like unhooked me and then at the very end, we got completely stuck together. So that's how hot our rumba was. So vote for us on abc.com!"
She manages to get that in every week, doesn't she?
Click here for a slideshow of the action in week 9, or roll your mouse over the Eyewitness News Story Window at the top of this page to watch video clips.
