Backstage Buzz: Kristi and Mark Feel the Pressure!
Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas by Michael Desmond/ABC
The only thing more dangerous than Kristi Yamaguchi in ballroom heels is Kristi Yamaguchi in rhinestone-studded tennis shoes. "I had happy feet all week," says Yamaguchi, whose greatest concern going into this marathon known as
Dancing with the Stars was her self-described "weak" ankles. "It was awesome to rehearse in tennis shoes," she says, finally done with the make-or-break freestyle and looking the happiest she's been in 10 weeks.
With perfect scores again for the cha cha and freestyle, she and pro partner Mark Ballas seem unstoppable. But here's the thing: They don't
feel unstoppable, and have danced from the beginning as if large dogs (mostly in the form of Jason Taylor and Cristian de la Fuente) have been nipping at their heels. "We really felt the pressure this week because the guys are looking so good," says Yamaguchi. "We knew we had to step it up."
Don't forget, Ballas had a brilliant partner last season, Sabrina Bryan, who was sent packing week five. And he clearly hasn't gotten over it. "That was devastating," says his mom, British ballroom great Shirley Ballas. His father, Corky Ballas, has been chewing his knuckles every Tuesday night, willing the couple to get through to the next round. Nobody in their inner circle believes they're a shoe-in for the championship. "You never know with this show," says Corky. "And maybe people think that Kristi's such a sure thing that they don't have to vote." Says Mark, "I just hope and pray that the fans enjoyed what we did tonight."
He's been doing more than praying. For all the attention being paid to de la Fuente's injured left arm, it's Ballas who's been quietly battling back from the dislocation he suffered in his left shoulder during last season's finale. "He would never say anything," says Kristina Rihanoff, one of the show's alternate pros who danced with Ballas on tour this winter. "But he's still in pain." Girlfriend Sabrina Bryan has been watching him closely, too. "Even if he wasn't totally recovered, he wouldn't tell anyone," she says. "He would never, ever admit that it was hurting."
What hurts more is criticism from the judges. When Carrie Ann Inaba told Yamaguchi that she didn't "feel much" when she watched her dance, Ballas amped up the temperature in their rehearsal studio ("I wanted to make it uncomfortable enough for Kristi to really sweat") and changed his choreography so that in key moments of the routines, the pair would be
facing the judges. "It's my bad that they think she has no emotion," says Ballas. "It's my fault because I choreographed a lot of [Week 3's tango] with her back to the judges. It's hard to see someone's emotion when you can't see their face."
So Yamaguchi has been facing the judges and her own deep well of reserve. Week 5, getting ready for the rumba, she told head costume designer Randall Christensen to alter her lilac Grecian goddess dress, revealing bare midriff. "She said, 'I've been a mommy too long,'" says Cristensen, who credits Yamaguchi for being the most courageous in terms of letting the designers go hog wild. "Even in ice skating [costumes]," says Yamaguchi, "you have to have nude mesh." Cristensen smiles. "She said, 'It's time to take the mesh out.'"
Her emotions are finally coming out, as well. Yamaguchi says she doesn't mind facing the judges because she did it for years on the ice. "They're the ones with the marks," she says. "And Bruno and Carrie Ann are usually really into the performances." But even so, Yamaguchi proves that she's not a dancing machine, a robot, immune to the judgments of the three paddle-bearers. "I'm still not making eye contact," she admits. -
Deborah Starr Seibel
