Hey guys!

Semifinals! Woohoo! It’s hard to believe we’re in the home stretch. It feels like it was just yesterday that I started strapping on these heels!

I’m really sad to see Mario leave. He’s such a great dancer, great entertainer, and he became a great friend of mine. He’s so unbelievably mature and classy that you forget he’s only 21! We’re all going to miss him terribly.

The 100^th episode was so much fun! It was great seeing all these DWTS alums.  I met so many of them, like Stacy Keibler and Joey Lawrence, and obviously I already know Apolo!  I don’t want to sound sappy, but it was inspiring talking to them because they’ve all experienced this, they’ve all survived it, they’ve made the show what it is today. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even seen all 100 episodes! Maybe half of them.  With TiVo, you fast forward, but I have seen a lot of the dancing on the show!

I know I mentioned Joey Fatone as my favorite on the clip for his showmanship, but honestly, Joey and Apolo are both my favorites. I think they brought so much personality and fun. They have no inhibitions — they just went out there and danced their hearts out. Apolo had so much heart and was so focused and Joey was exciting. Every time he stepped on the floor, it was like, ‘What is he going to do?’ He tangoed to Star Wars! I think people want to see more of that performance aspect and unpredictability out of me.

For next week, we drew two dances out of a hat and got the jive and tango. Two fun dances! The jive has been our best dance so far. The tango, I felt, wasn’t our best dance up to this point, so I’m looking forward to improving upon what we’ve done.

Thanks for your support!

Kristi

Hey everyone!

I hope you enjoyed our dances last night. It feels great to be able to learn all of the dances. I feel so accomplished!

I thought our quickstep went well. It was one of those fun dances where I just skimmed across the floor. Great song, great everything. I was concentrating on a few pointers Mark gives me, like “Arms up.”  The steps are so quick you have to think ahead of what’s coming next.

I honestly was a little surprised at first that Carrie Ann didn’t like it because it was a fun dance and I’m happy the way we danced it. I couldn’t have danced it any better, but if it’s not her favorite dance, we just have work harder if we come back next week. She didn’t really like our samba either, but I was pleased with it. There are going to be dances that maybe suit your style more than others.  I really went for it in the samba — I thought I was doing it sharp and the way Mark told me to do it. Also, I was happy we finally we got a traditional song for a Latin dance! It was easy to get into and Mark just told me, “Let’s just have fun out there, smile, look at each other, and connect in the dance,” and I think we did that.

I was so happy for Cristián tonight. He’s getting better and better each week and to see him not let anything stand in his way or slow him down is awesome.

My very good friend Brian Boitano was in the audience last night. I’ve been waiting for Brian to come all season so it’s fun to finally have him here and have him watch me dance live. I love having my friends and family here. My mom’s been in the audience most weeks; she’s only missed a couple of weeks of watching me. It’s great to have her support. She was always at my skating competitions so she’s kind of used to these things! It’s unconditional support. She’s got a good critical eye. Sometimes she’ll give me little comments here and there, which I really appreciate.

Tonight’s the 100th episode of Dancing with the Stars and I’m so thrilled to be part of it! I’m definitely looking forward to everything they have planned!

Thank you for voting for us! See you later!

Kristi

Hey guys!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

We’ve been working long and hard on these two dances! They’re so different from one another, but I’m ready to go for it and do our best! The quickstep is lots of quick footwork and keeping a beautiful frame while the samba is very rhythmical with lots of hip action. So it’s time for me to shake it again!

People ask what I do in my trailer before shows, and the answer is not much! Mondays are a little crazier since they’re performance days, but I usually try to find a few minutes to relax. If my kids are here, I’ll spend some time with them. Otherwise I’m just chilling, catching up with phone calls and emails. I wander through hair and makeup, get that done. I’ll sit and chat with Mark. He and Derek are in a band together – if you don’t know – called Almost Amy, and he plays me preview of songs he’s been writing. I got to hear one last week and it sounds awesome. You should check them out!

That’s all for now. See you tonight!

Kristi

Hey guys!

I’m happy Cristián is staying! We were all so worried about him and didn’t know what was going to happen. A torn tendon is tough to deal with, but I really admire him for finding the courage to continue because he’s so great in the competition. You don’t want to be stopped because of an injury and he has an incredible spirit to fight and keep going even when you have an obstacle, so I’m really happy he’s not leaving. In skating, I had injuries here and there — I’ve had sprained ankles and torn ligaments and you kind of push on and do the best you can.

It was sad to see Shannon and Derek leave. They made a great couple. I think they showed improvement every week and coming into week seven, they did an amazing job. She should really be proud of how far she came and how much she grew in the competition.

I was so surprised to be called safe first this week. I was sure we were going to be waiting for a while. You never know. There’s always a pit in my stomach. It felt good and was definitely a big relief when they announced our names. I’m worried every week but this week, we realized, we’re really relying on our amazing fan support. We were hoping people liked it more than the judges.

So Kristi Yamahoochie, huh? Gotta give them props for that one! I guess it’s a good thing I’m showing off a sexier image though for our dances. I don’t know if it’s ever been hidden, but it’s nice that I can be seen as not one-dimensional anymore like I was during the first few weeks. People think I’m very serious and focused – and I am – but there’s definitely more to me, so it’s fun to show people different sides of my personality. I’m not sure how to retaliate to that though! I’ll have to bug them about their silver eye shadow! Jerry Mirrorball Eyes or something? I know, not as good!

Next week we have our last two unlearned dances – samba and quickstep. Now that we’ve done two dances in a week already, I feel a little bit more prepared going into it. We’ll see how the week goes!

Thanks for your support! Talk to you later!

Kristi