As an exciting season of Dancing with the Stars wrap up, fans notice that while there were lots of new moments, such as several injuries and dancing with unicycles, there were also some things that never change, such as another athlete bringing home the mirror ball trophy. This season, Olympic gold medalist figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and her professional partner Mark Ballas pummeled the competition. While towards the end, it seems as though Kristi and Mark were facing some competition, in the final showdown, the golden pair just proved that they are simply on another level. And Dancing with the Stars, with its voting format, is kind of immune from accusations that its judges can stir the outcome towards one direction. Yet its judges still play a huge part with how the show goes, not only because they account for 50 percent of the score but because they can and do influence the audience vote.



In an exclusive interview, one of the judges Carrie Ann Inaba reveals how judging the show is tricky for a variety of reasons.

"As far as judging goes, all three of us come from a slightly different background, so it's all slightly subjective, and we all have different points of view," she says. "And to me, every single partnership out there ? has his or her own different 10. It's very difficult to tell because I have so much experience working with people. And on Dancing with the Stars, it's all about pushing your potential."

Regarding the athletes dominating the competition, Carrie Ann reasons that dance is a very physical activity. Hence, athletes really have an advantage. Moreover, they receive comments and criticisms well because they do not take them personally, perhaps unlike actors.

"Plus, they're able to bring a physical energy to the dance floor that a lot of performers do not know how to do, especially actors. Acting is very, very small, and dancing is much larger, and it's a full-bodied experience."