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We're back for what ended up being something of a strange week five. After the highlights and big scores of week four, things were a little rougher this week. I talked with Jonathan about that and a number of other things.

After the jump, find out how the difficulty of the samba and the rumba might have contributed to those scores. Jonathan also gives a little more background about what happened with Shannon & Derek and what his role as potential stand in was. We also touch on what might be the cause for the string of male winners on the show. And there was just enough time to sneak in some viewer mail.

Brett: I guess we'll start with favorite performance of the night. For me, I thought it was Kristi & Mark again.

Jonathan: Tonight was interesting for me. I wasn't actually blown away by anyone. Last week there were several. I think Jason, Kristi, and Shannon really were impressive for me. And tonight I thought there were several good numbers, but nobody blew me out of the water.

With Kristi, her leg extensions were great, her movement was great, but maybe because it was a slower dance, Kristi didn't blow me out of the water. After what she did in the pasa doble last week, that was a professional quality routine. It was absolutely incredible. And for me, even though the rumba is the romantic dance of love and a little softer, it didn't make be go wow. It was a good number, but it wasn't as amazing as last week's number.

Brett: Do you think that maybe the lowered scores and the lack of those wow performances came from the fact that it was the samba and the rumba and it's just harder for the celebrities to do a great routine with those dances?

Jonathan: That's actually a great observation. The samba is actually one of the most difficult of all the Latin dances because of the speed and the technique in it. The samba requires incredibly fast knees, feet, and hips. And yet, you have to move around the floor. It's extremely difficult and the timing of what we call as professionals the bounce action in samba is extremely difficult to do.

And in the rumba, because the rumba is slow it's actually often hard to make it look impressive. Let's take a dance like the quickstep or the mambo, because it's naturally fast and fun, it's easier to make that look great. Whereas the rumba, because it's so slow, unless you have that perfect technique, choreography, action, and emotion, it can be very hard to make that look impressive.

Brett: I think those are things we saw tonight. Like with Shannon & Derek. She just doesn't have the time and the skill to really do that dance.

Jonathan: With Shannon, I have an inside track here. During the rehearsal, I guess in the late morning at some point, Derek started throwing up and got really sick and had to be taken to the hospital. So, they called me and said, "Jonathan, can you come to the show right now? We might need you to dance with Shannon." I drove over to the show and watched a video and learned her routine. I was all set to perform it with her. We even walked it through once on the stage to make sure that I knew what I was doing. I don't know if I was very good. Then Derek made it back from the hospital and said "It doesn't matter how I feel. I'm going to dance. I don't want to let Shannon down."

So, I think for Shannon, the afternoon was a whirlwind of emotions. Not knowing if her teacher was going to be there. Trying to help me learn the routine because it's a last minute thing. It was pretty scary for her. So I think she did a fabulous job. The routine was quite fast and I think Shannon's samba was probably the hardest routine of the night as far as the speed and the movement and the kicks and the flips. Because of what happened in the afternoon she might have been a little freaked out. I definitely think the judges were way too hard on her and she should have gotten higher scores for it.

Brett: You'll have to help me out with Mario & Karina because I got home just as they were finishing. I did hear the judge's comments and noticed that they finally all agreed on his performance.

Jonathan: Yeah, the past two weeks the judges have given three different scores for Mario & Karina, so it was nice to see them agree on it. I think Mario really listened to what the judges said, and he did what they wanted. It was a really authentic ballroom routine. He had an old song by Ella Fitzgerald and he came out and did classic moves. He had a nice clean outfit. You saw his personality. He really listened to what the judges and Karina had to say and had a great routine.

The thing for me with Mario is that when I look at him from the neck down, he's incredible. He's got rhythm. He's got movement. He's got style. He's aware of his partner and you see him actually leading. He's quick on his feet. But when I look from his neck up, because his posture is a little forward, it doesn't end up looking as impressive as it could. I thought he did the best he has done so far, because his posture was up, but to really achieve the top position that he wants, he's going to have to fix that.

Brett: Interesting. Do you think that comes from the fact that his experience is outside of ballroom?

Jonathan: Mario is a very musical person. You can see that in his body. He feels the rhythm in his body. And often when you're used to dancing in a club or just having fun with it you don't try to stand upright and look like an Arthur Murray couple. You hang loose and you chill, and that's what he's used to. Mario breathes music and he gets into it. And sometimes the more he gets into it, from the outside it doesn't look as effective. Whereas if he was a little more cold and upright, even though it's not what we want exactly, he would actually look more effective on some of these ballroom moves. Not all of them. Like when he does the little chest shakes and things, he does it exactly right. But on some of the more posture positions, like when he has Karina in his arms, if he could just be a little more stiff, or cold, it would actually look better.

Brett: The dance that I disagreed with the judges on tonight was Cristián & Cheryl. I thought that was actually better than a 23.

Jonathan: The thing with Cristián is, I think he could have got higher than a 23, but I don't think this week was as good as last week. I think Cristián looks better in the fast dances. When I remember him in the quickstep and the pasa doble, especially the pasa doble, he came out and he owned that dance. He had the big cry. He used his arms. He was really strong and I felt he just took control of the dance. Here in the rumba, and maybe this is a general comment for all the guys, it is harder for the guys to look softer in the rumba, without looking too soft. You want to have these flowing arms and these slow movements, and look graceful. Sometimes that makes it hard for the guys to really command the floor. I felt that with Cristián he was soft and aware of his partner. The routine was beautifully choreographed, He actually had really good movement, but he didn't take command of it like he did in the pasa doble.

Brett: With Marlee & Fabian, would you say that the lower scores fall under the fact that the samba is so hard to do?

Jonathan: I think with Marlee, and maybe I'm wrong because I've never worked with her, but I think that as the show goes on the difficulty of her not being able to hear the music is showing up more and more. In the beginning of the show, the first three dances, you have a little over a month to prepare for that. I think she really got ready, and even though she can't hear the music, the training time compensated for it. Now, she really only has four or five days to learn the routine. I thought tonight, because she had a few stumbles and missed a few places, that her inability to hear the music kind of showed. She looked absolutely incredible. She was tan. She's in shape. The arm movements were good. There was just a little lack of musicality in a few places. And I thought she looked a little more unsure than she had in some of the other routines.

Brett: Moving on to Marissa & Tony, I thought it was another very fun performance, and I think it's notable how big a reaction she got from the crowd.

Jonathan: Yeah, I think Marissa has turned into a little bit of the underdog, even though the judges have been nice to her. Every week when I see Marissa on set she thinks she's going home. Every week she's like, "It's the last week. I'm done for." And yet she's going out there and she's not letting that hold her back. In a way, I almost thought she went for it the most tonight out of everyone. It may have not been as technical as Kristi or as elegant as Jason, but she went out and as Len said, she was more bounce to the ounce. As far as sheer enjoyment, and crowd pleasing, and seeing someone not let anything hold them back, Marissa was my favorite there.

Brett: Now with Jason & Edyta, I kind of agreed with Len regarding that last move of Edyta's. It was really incredible that she can do it, but it takes the attention off of Jason and makes it about her, and the focus, I think, should be on him.

Jonathan: That is kind of the nature of ballroom dancing, and I think that might be why since the first season we haven't seen another woman win the competition. All of ballroom dancing is designed to make the woman look good. So, it's much harder for the celebrity women to do what the professional ladies do. That move that Jason & Edyta did at the end is extremely difficult for Edyta, but for the man he just has to be there and balance her, which is a challenge as well. I think that's why they were calling that move out. The rest of Jason's routine was great. He's got these elegant long arms. He was very aware of his partner and very smooth. It was a very slick routine. The great thing about Jason is that he doesn't overdo it.

Brett: And that brings us to Priscilla & Louis. I thought the judges were pretty much on with their critique.

Jonathan: The thing with Priscilla's routine, and I actually think she did a good job, but the music was so slow. It was hard to really make that routine shine because of how slow the music was. I liked her attitude and her feeling in it. She had a few stumbles and maybe didn't quite sell a couple parts. But for how slow the music was she did a very good job.

Brett: The judges may have been a little hard on her, now that I think about it, with Len saying he was disappointed.

Jonathan: Yeah, it's kind of like for the guys in the rumba. Sometimes when the music is that slow, it's easier to hide mistakes in a fast dance. It's fast and there's energy and you throw your arms and kick your legs. When it's a really slow dance, every single mistake you see much longer and is more glaring.

Brett: Getting to some fan questions. First up, Nerissa from the fan site wanted to wish you an early Happy Birthday.

Jonathan: Thank you, that's nice.

Brett: And she wanted to know if all of the dances are choreographed by the pro partners or if you get any outside help with that.

Jonathan: Well, I can only speak for myself, because everyone does their own thing, but for myself and Anna, we always do our own routines. Sometimes when we're home at dinner we'll say, "Hey, how does this stuff look?" But one of my favorite parts of dancing is the choreography. All the partners I've had have been very different and I really enjoy coming up with moves that make them look good. And that are unique and different.

Brett: I think that's probably something that doesn't get as much attention as it should. A big part of the success of the celebrity is attained by the choreography that the pro provides.

Jonathan: Yeah, absolutely. It's up to us as the professional dancer to make the celebrity look good. Not necessarily make ourselves look good. At least from my perspective, the better my partner looks, the better job I feel I've done. It's the job of the teacher to make the celebrity shine, because they are the ones that are trying to learn the dance.

Brett: Catherine writes in to say that the professionals are the main reason that she watches the show.

Jonathan: Oh, that's great.

Brett: And she wants to know if the professionals have any say or negotiation with regards to which celebrity you end up being paired with.

Jonathan: Well, we have zero say. In fact, as the teachers, we don't even know who we are going to be paired up with until we meet them, or just a moment before that. The show matches us up regarding our height and our look and our personalities. Some of the teachers are quite strong, while others are nice and laid back. So they try to figure out what the best matches with the celebrity partners are.

Brett: Along similar lines, Debbie wants to know if you have any input in the costuming.

Jonathan: Yes, we do have say in the costuming. Of course, when it comes to the women, whatever they feel best in, we always go with that. After we get our music on Tuesday, we go back and meet with the costume director and figure out, based on the music, what the look is going to be and design a costume then.

And with that, another Dancing With The Stars week is in the books. I'll hang on to the questions we didn't get to this week and try to keep working them in as time allows. Jonathan will be back with us next Monday night to talk about week 6.