Kristi Yamaguchi Makes a Strong Dancing with the Stars Debut

Kristi Yamaguchi received the highest scores of the night on last night's Dancing with the Stars season six debut of the women. This was in stark contrast to tennis great Monica Seles who came in last place according to the judges scores. Most inspiring performance went to profoundly deaf actress Marlee Matlin who do incredibly well. She conceded in her taped video package that she can not hear the music or the beat. Her dancing must therefore be largely based on counting and timing (which I guess dancing is anyway). She said she relies on visual cues by watching her professional partner Fabian Sanchez.

But back to our beloved Kristi. Together with Mark Balas, the pair performed a fox trot and received a 9 from each of Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli for a total score of 27. Bruno revealed that Kristy Yamaguchi gave the best first round performance he had seen to date. Quite a compliment indeed. Her husband Bret Hedican and two daughters must have been very proud.

Dancing with the Stars - Kristi Yamaguchi with Mark Ballas Video - Week 1



The show returns next Monday with more performances before the double elimination scheduled for Tuesday. We'll be back with more pictures and video. I am confident Kristi Yamaguchi will be safe for many weeks to come.