Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 6)

Dancing with the Stars (season 6)
Dancing with the Stars season six two-page Promotional Advertisement made by BLT & Associates
Country	United States
Network	ABC
Original run	March 17, 2008 – May 20, 2008
No. of episodes	21
Celebrity winner	Kristi Yamaguchi
Professional winner	Mark Ballas
Previous season	5
Next season	7

The sixth season of Dancing with the Stars premiered on March 17, 2008; the first results show was a double-elimination episode airing on March 25, 2008. The show followed the format of previous seasons, with 12 couples.

On May 6, 2008 DWTS had a special two-hour edition to commemorate its 100th episode.

Kristi Yamaguchi and her partner, Mark Ballas, won the competition. Kristi & Mark combined for four of the five perfect scores given out this season; she received three of them for her three Finals dances, giving her a perfect 90 out of 90. This season along with the previous season are the only ones without a score under 15 or without a score under 5 given from any judge.

Couples

The contestants were announced during the season finale of Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann by season 2 contestants Lisa Rinna, Jerry Rice, and Kenny Mayne. The contestants were:

Celebrity	Occupation	Professional partner	Status
Penn Jillette	Magician	Kym Johnson	Eliminated 1st on March 25, 2008
Monica Seles	Grand Slam Tennis Champion	Jonathan Roberts	Eliminated 2nd on March 25, 2008
Steve Guttenberg	Actor	Anna Trebunskaya	Eliminated 3rd on April 1, 2008
Adam Carolla	Comedian & Radio Personality	Julianne Hough	Eliminated 4th on April 8, 2008
Priscilla Presley	Actress & Businesswoman	Louis Van Amstel	Eliminated 5th on April 15, 2008
Marlee Matlin	Oscar Winning Actress	Fabian Sanchez	Eliminated 6th on April 22, 2008
Shannon Elizabeth	Actress & Poker Player	Derek Hough	Eliminated 7th on April 29, 2008
Mario	Grammy Nominated R&B Singer	Karina Smirnoff	Eliminated 8th on May 6, 2008
Marissa Jaret Winokur	Tony Award Winning Broadway Star	Tony Dovolani	Eliminated 9th on May 13, 2008
Cristián de la Fuente	International Television Star	Cheryl Burke	Third Place on May 20, 2008
Jason Taylor	Miami Dolphins Linebacker	Edyta Śliwińska	Runner-Up on May 20, 2008
Kristi Yamaguchi	Olympic Champion Figure Skater	Mark Ballas	Winners on May 20, 2008

Scoring chart

Red numbers indicate the couples with the lowest score for each week.

Green numbers indicate the couples with the highest score for each week.

indicates the couple (or couples) eliminated that week.

indicates the returning couple that finished in the bottom two.

indicates the returning couple was the last to be called safe (they may or may have not been in the bottom two).

indicates the winning couple.

indicates the runner-up couple.

indicates the third-place couple.

indicates the semi-finalist couple.

Team	Place	1	2	1+2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Kristi & Mark	1	27	27	54	27	29	29	30	26+28=54	29+26=55	29+28=57	30+30+30=90
Jason & Edyta	2	22	27	49	23	29	27	24	29+26=55	29+23=52	28+27=55	24+27+30=81
Cristián & Cheryl	3	21	20	41	25	26	23	27	25+21=46	28+29=57	27+29=56	26+26=52
Marissa & Tony	4	18	21	39	19	24	24	26	27+25=52	25+25=50	26+26=52
Mario & Karina	5	24	26	50	21	24	27	28	24+27=51	27+26=53
Shannon & Derek	6	21	24	45	24	28	23	24	27+24=51
Marlee & Fabian	7	22	24	46	21	24	22	21
Priscilla & Louis	8	24	21	45	26	22	21
Adam & Julianne	9	15	19	34	21	19
Steve & Anna	10	18	16	34	21
Monica & Jonathan	11	15	15	30
Penn & Kym	12	16	17	33

Weeks 1 and 2. In a Dancing with the Stars first, the competition would eliminate the lowest scoring male and female celebrity. Priscilla Presley made a Dancing with the Stars record; she was the oldest female to compete on the show. On Week 1, Kristi Yamaguchi danced a Foxtrot and received a total score of ²⁷⁄₃₀. This was the highest first round in score in DWTS history. Monica Seles and Adam Carolla were the lowest scoring celebrities (¹⁵⁄₃₀). Monica Seles and Penn Jillette were eliminated.
Week 3. Kristi Yamaguchi still kept the "top-spot" with her Tango and received a score of ²⁷⁄₃₀. Because Steve Guttenberg's partner Anna became ill, her husband Jonathan Roberts helped to teach Steve the Tango. On the results show, Steve danced the Tango with Jonathan but was eliminated.
Week 4. Kristi Yamaguchi danced a Paso Doble that got a score of ²⁹⁄₃₀, placing her on the top spot again. Adam Carolla danced a Paso Doble on a unicycle and was chosen for the encore performance. He, along with his partner Julianne Hough were eliminated. This is the very first time that Julianne Hough was eliminated.
Week 5. Kristi Yamaguchi danced a Rumba that received a score of ²⁹⁄₃₀, again placing her in first place. Priscilla Presley danced a Rumba and was eliminated.
Week 6. Kristi & Mark's jive received the first perfect ³⁰⁄₃₀ of the season. The country group dance was chosen as the encore for week 6. Marlee Matlin was eliminated.
Week 7. Cristián de la Fuente injured his arm during his samba; the judges gave him scores based on his performance up to that point. After learning his scores, Cristián was sent to the hospital to have his arm checked; Tom Bergeron noted that the paramedics who examined Cristián felt he had suffered a muscle cramp. On the results show, Cristián revealed that he had ruptured a tendon in his left biceps muscle, an injury that will require surgery; nevertheless, he was able to continue performing. Jason & Edyta were asked to reprise their Quickstep for the encore. Like previous seasons, Jerry Rice, Kenny Mayne, and Len Goodman did segments for "Dance Center". For the first time all season, Kristi & Mark were not in first place, narrowly losing out to Jason & Edyta. Shannon Elizabeth was eliminated. (This marks the earliest that Derek Hough was ever eliminated to date.)
Week 8. Len Goodman announced on the Week 7 results show that each couple will be able to do one lift in each dance this week, so long as the lifts are keeping with the spirit of the dance. There was no encore from any of the dancers chosen by the judges. Cristián & Cheryl earned first place for the first time this season. Mario was eliminated.
Week 9. The contestants chose random dances from a hat. As well, the judges decided that no lifts were allowed in either of their dances in this week. Kristi and Mark were chosen to reprise their Tango for the encore performance. Marissa Jaret Winokur was eliminated in the semi-final.
Week 10. Kristi & Mark, Jason & Edyta, and Cristián & Cheryl made it to the final round. The three couples danced a group Cha Cha Cha, Freestyle, and a dance of their own choosing that was danced during the season. Cheryl Burke also made a Dancing with the Stars record: She has appeared 3 times in a finale. Cristián scored ³⁰⁰⁰⁄₃₀ for his Paso Doble while Jason & Edyta and Kristi & Mark scored 30s for their dances. After being on 6 Seasons, Edyta Śliwińska finally made it to the final for the first time. Cristián took third, Jason second, and Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas became the Champions of Dancing with the Stars Season 6. Yamaguchi was the first female season winner since Kelly Monaco in Season 1. As of now, Brooke Burke, Shawn Johnson, Nicole Scherzinger, and Jennifer Grey are champions after Yamaguchi and Monaco.

Highest and lowest scoring performances

The best and worst performances in each dance according to the judges' marks are as follows:

Dance	Best dancer(s)	Best score	Worst dancer(s)	Worst score
Cha Cha Cha	Kristi Yamaguchi	30	Penn Jillette	16
Foxtrot	Jason Taylor	28	Monica Seles Adam Carolla	15
Quickstep	Jason Taylor	30	Penn Jillette	17
Mambo	Cristián de la Fuente	29	Monica Seles	15
Jive	Kristi Yamaguchi	30	Marissa Jaret Winokur	19
Tango	Jason Taylor Kristi Yamaguchi	29	Steve Guttenberg Adam Carolla Mario	21
Viennese Waltz	Jason Taylor	29	Priscilla Presley	22
Paso Doble	Kristi Yamaguchi	29	Adam Carolla	19
Rumba	Kristi Yamaguchi	29	Priscilla Presley	21
Samba	Cristián de la Fuente	29	Marlee Matlin	22
Freestyle	Kristi Yamaguchi	30	Cristián de la Fuente	26