Exciting DWTS Finals

           The excitement is building for the results of the Dancing With the Stars all-star season. I voted and now I’m just waiting to see who wins the blinged out mirror ball trophy. The ladies gave it their all in this last week of competition. They brought back their favorite dance from the prior weeks and then performed a super sized freestyle with no rules whatsoever.

I’m putting my support behind Shawn Johnson. In the past few weeks she has revealed just how much this competition means to her. She joined the cast on the heels of a failed Olympic comeback; this is her chance at redemption of sorts. For their first dance she and Derek performed their quickstep. Similar to the first time, this routine was high flying with many tricks and it proved to be very entertaining. However, the judges were not pleased. Shawn and Derek were criticized the first time around for breaking the rules and they were dinged again with the same criticism this week. Before the judge’s scores, Shawn and Derek said they chose this routine because it was their most fun routine and they have devoted this season to the fans and giving them what they want. She earned a score of 27. Their second dance was exciting, but I was expecting a little more from the two who have been pushing boundaries all season long. They were joined by the Fierce Five, which was a great way for Shawn to wrap up the season, with her partner and her gymnastics team. The duo earned a perfect 30 for this dance, which left them with 57 out of 60 points for the night. I feel like Shawn deserves to win the competition because she has been competing against herself the whole season, consistently trying to outdo the previous week. Instead of just learning the dances she tried to bring as much as she could to the ballroom floor.

Melissa Rycroft ended with the highest score of the night, a perfect 60 out of 60. Melissa performed her fun samba for the first dance. The most notable difference between this performance and their first is Melissa’s confidence. She has grown more comfortable with herself as a dancer during this show. I was pleased and impressed with Melissa’s freestyle. I would have expected her to do an upbeat, peppy, cheerleader-ish dance for her freestyle. That has been her comfort zone and she stayed there throughout this season. Instead she performed a contemporary dance, which she had not yet done. Melissa rolled off Tony with ease as the two transitioned from one move to another; she climbed on him and he lifted her like she was weightless. They made it look so natural and sensual. The judges loved it. Actually, Len was speechless and when he gave his score he said he wished he had an 11. Bruno said the dance showcased her best dance qualities.

Kelly and Val outperformed my expectations. The duo scored 59 out of 60 for the night. Their first routine was the paso doble, which I felt was not as powerful as it could have and should have been since we are so far into the show. There was a slip up with her hand grasping Val’s and I could see what appeared to be some uncertainty on her face throughout. However, the judges liked the performance. They noticed the slip up, but thought she recovered well and performed strongly. Kelly’s freestyle was a tribute to Dirty Dancing. She and Val danced to “Time of My Life” with the troop dancers. They began the routine with Kelly doing acrobatics suspended in the air by fabric and Val played the violin. The routine ended with the troop dancers surrounding the pair just as in the movie. I thought this was a fun final dance for the two and as the judges noted it was the perfect ending for their relationship, which has played out over the course of the show’s ten weeks. Bruno said Patrick [Swayze] was looking down from heaven.