The Finale - Find Out The Season 11 Champions!

Recap:

After 10 long weeks, the robo-diallers have been put away (until 2012), Jennifer has become the six-million dollar woman and Kyle has lost some inches around his waist and gained some fans.  We're down to the end.

Last night the couples danced the "redemption dance" and the freestyle.  Here are there scores:

Jennifer/Derek - 30 & 30 = 60
Kyle/Lacey - 27 & 29 = 56
Bristol/Mark - 27 & 25 = 52

In a departure from previous seasons all the couples danced twice on the Finale.  They performed their favorite dance and an Instant Dance where they will dance the Cha Cha to music revealed to them on the show.

Christina Aguilera performed a song from Burlesque and her hit "Beautiful" (I like that one) and we had the normal troop of season 11 contestants (except Michael Bolton) returning.  It was nice to see them.

But back to the competition - for the "favorite" dances the judges scored slightly differently.  Each judge had to rank each performance and give 10 to the best, 9 to the second and 8 to the third. Jennifer & Derek got 30, Kyle & Lacey 26 and Bristol & Mark 25.  This gave the following totals:

Jennifer/Derek - 90

Kyle/Lacey - 82

Bristol/Mark - 77

We then had the Instant Dance.  The Cha Cha to a Pink song. 28 was scored by Jennifer AND Kyle, 27 for Bristol.

This gave Jennifer 118, Kyle 110 and Bristol 104.

The champions were... Jennifer and Derek (no real surprise)
Second were Kyle and Lacey
The third placed couple was Bristol and Mark

Congratulations to the champions!

First Final Night Scores

In a break from previous season all three couples in the final will dance four times, spread over two nights.

Monday night saw two dances per couple - the "redemption dance" where the judges choose a dance they feel the couples had most room to improve, and the ever popular freestyle - you never know what you're going to get!

Here are the scores from the first night of Finals Week:

• Kyle and Lacey - 56 - Kyle and Lacey performed a foxtrot and received 27.  Their freestyle was a mix-up of hip-hop and the Boogaloo depending on who you listened too and was really very good.  Particularly their symmetry when they weren't dancing anywhere near each other!  They scored 29.
• Bristol and Mark - 52 - They ceremoniously ditched the monkey suit at the start of their revised Jive.  They scored 27 which I felt was a little generous but they were pretty good.  For the freestyle, Mark chose a number from Chicago, the musical.  This was probably a mistake as it's a famous number and Bristol wasn't comfortable with it.  They scored 25 which seemed a little high compared to Kyle and Lacey.
• Jennifer and Derek - 60 - What can you say?  The re-did their Paso and it was lovely.  Their freestyle was very impressive but I felt it featured Derek a bit too much.  It very much deserved 30 though.

Overall I think the judging was pretty poor tonight.  Jennifer and Derek were better than the judges' scores suggest and Bristol worse.  However the viewer votes from tonight and the judges' scores from all four dances will be combined 50:50 to determine the winning couple!

Who do you think will win?

Couples to perform FOUR dances in Dancing with the Stars Finals

ABC has just released the details of the final stage of season 11.

The three couples (Bristol/Mark, Kyle/Lacey, Jennifer/Derek) will have to dance four times over two nights before finding out who will take home the Mirror Ball Trophy. In recent seasons they danced twice, eliminated one couple and then the final two perform one last time.

On Monday night each couple will perform a "redemption dance". This is a dance chosen by the judges on the basis that they didn't do it very well the first time. (No word on whether the monkey suit will return). That will be followed by the always entertaining freestyle dance – no rules.

On Tuesday each couple will perform their favorite dance of the season. This will be followed by another "Instant Dance" – the couples will perform a Cha Cha to music they only receive after the show starts. It worked pretty well a couple of weeks ago.

The judges' scores from the four dances will be combined with the viewers' votes from the night before and after some interminable waiting we'll find out who the champions are!

As well as lots of waiting and filler all but one of the season 11 contestants will return (not sure who the "one" is (shouldn't they have kept the final week free just in case?). Alsp Christina Aguilera will perform two songs – one from her upcoming move "Burlesque" (Julianne Hough is in that!) and "Beautiful".

Given the extra attention generated by the elimination of Brandy and Maks it's going to be interesting to see if viewership will be up or down!

What Do People REALLY Think of Bristol Palin Being in the Dancing with the Stars Final?

The shock elimination of Brandy, and the perhaps even more shocking fact that Bristol Palin is in the finals, has set the interwebs abuzzin'.

My friend has a page Squidoo page dedicated to DWTS and there have been quite a few comments!

I've gone through and extracted some of the more interesting quotes. I don't always include the whole quote, and I haven't corrected any grammar or spelling. (Check out the most up to date comments here.)

Pro-Bristol

• I`m big fan of Bristol. I love you kid. Show them who you are.I`ve never interested in this show. Right now it is such a nice show. Because of the Bristol.

Anti-Bristol

• DWT has written it's death warrant with this last charade of voting. The show this season has stunk since day one. Time for every one on show start looking for new jobs. what a hosing for Brandy
• … im sorry but i have to admit that miss bristol palin, although she really displayed her best, does not have that ferocity of a dancer.
• …Next year they can suck the big one. This is not about who can dance, it is about who is more popular.
• …Bristol, sweetie, they're making you look like an idiot...so sad! I'm starting to feel sorry for you.
• …If Bristol wins we will never watch this show again, even if she is second.
• ...Bristol give up your spot and give it to Brandy if you want to do something good for man kind
• …I'm also going to write to each sponsor. As of now the show has crossed the line and let politics into a once good show. May you not come back for season12
• I voted for Brandy and Maksim, they deserved to go to the Finals...the phonelines were rigged to obscure the voting process; besides I'm a Democrat anyway!!!
• …I AM NOT WATCHING THIS SHOW ANYMORE. I'll watch anything else....cartoons…
• … we all need to boycott this show until sanity can be restored. no more phone votes.
• …I believe this show to be a farce and should be an embarrassment to the Americans, I guess they can be bought in every contest. Will have troubled even following any of their shows now.,
• …"little miss 2 left feet"…
• …Dancing on mommy's coat tails. Bristol should be embarrassed getting this far
• … I thought DWTS is a dancing competition,not a clown show…
• I did not see Alaska from my window!!!!!!!
• …Good luck, Jennifer, you're the only qualified contestant remaining. Quick, change your name to Jennifer Palin.
• …is it just me or have the judges lost their minds this season. Are they afraid of mommie Palin?

I actually overstated the relative number of pro-Bristol sentiments, but you get the idea.

Open disclosure – I think the aim is to identify the best couple and what order the others are eliminated is (somewhat) secondary. Would I prefer the best dancers in the final? Absolutely! Do I think Bristol deserves to be there? Definitely not!

As long as she doesn't win I can live with it…

And The Three Dancing With The Stars Finalists Are...

...down the page a little bit in case the reader doesn't want to know!

The results show featured Annie Lennox (who I remember seeing in concert in 1980 when she was in the band "The Tourists"), Enrique Iglesias and some other messin' about.

The first couple up under the lights on the stage were Jennifer and Derek.  And they were safe.

The next were Lacey and Kyle.  They seemed to be in suspense forever until learning that, they too, were safe.  Lacey was VERY happy.

And so we come to the end.  Brandy & Maks on the left of the stage, Bristol and Mark on the right.

Mark seems the most tense.

Brandy and Maks are eliminated, Bristol and Mark go through.

Amazing.

Despite a perfect 30 Brandy just couldn't stand against the Bristol juggernaut.

So, the finalists are:

• Jennifer and Derek
• Kyle and Lacey
• Bristol and Mark

Who do you WANT to win, and who do you actually THINK will win?

Dancing with the Stars Semi-final Scores

There were no gimmicks or filler in tonight's performance show!  Just a regular DWTS semi-final!

After Kurt Warner's elimination we're left with Bristol Palin (generally accepted to be the least gifted dancer),  Kyle Massey (cheeky chappie), Brandy (keeping Maks under control) and Jennifer Grey (walking wounded).

Each couple had to dance a Ballroom number and a Latin number that they hadn't performed before.

Here are the judges' scores from week 9:

• Brandy and Maks - 27 & 30 = 57 - Their Paso was OK, but their Argentine Tango was hot!
• Jennifer and Derek - 30 & 30 = 60 - Their Cha Cha and Waltz were both perfect.  Seriously.
• Bristol and Mark - 27 & 26 = 53 - Bristol's Paso was excellent - she really came out of her shell and performed.  Her Waltz wasn't nearly as good and I felt she was marked too high.
• Kyle and Lacey - 29 & 29 = 58 - Kyle's Samba was great and maybe deserved a 30.  His Samba was way over-scored though.  He seemed to stand still for half the dance!

The scores are very close - meaning it's going to be on the viewers' votes!  

Semi-final Week on DWTS

It's pretty straightforward on Dancing with the Stars this week - the couples perform one new Ballroom dance and one new Latin dance.  We then have a results show, and then everyone wonders why Bristol hasn't been voted off.  At least the last part has been consistent for the last few weeks.

The Results Show sees Annie Lennox singing a couple of songs from her new Christmas album "A Christmas Cornucopia".  Also performing is Enrique Iglesias.

It's "Design-a-Dance" night too, where the Macy's Stars of Dance perform based on viewers votes for the song, the style and the professional dancers.

The Monday show is on for 90 minutes from 8pm EST and the Results Show is at 9pm Tuesday for one hour.

DWTS Week Eight Result - Third Shock in a Row?

In the performance show each couple had performed a ballroom number and an "Instant Dance".  The Instant Dance wasn't nearly as messed up as it might have been and ended up quite entertaining.

Kurt and Bristol had ended up quite a ways behind the others, and so one of them were favored to leave.

The entertainment had John Legend and the Roots (I know The Roots from their appearances on Yo Gabba Gabba), Taio Cruz and Emily Bear the nine-year old piano prodigy plus "Dance Center with Kenny Mayne, Jerry Rice and Len Goodman (that makes me laugh).

The first couple named safe were Kyle and Lacey who also performed their jive as the spotlight dance.

Next safe were Jennifer and Derek, with Kurt and Anna still in jeopardy.

Then Brandy/Maks were on stage with Bristol/Mark.  Bristol and Mark were safe!  Brandy and Maks were in jeopardy.

In the end Kurt and Anna were voted off.  Kurt is such a nice guy, a good dancer and I'm sorry to see him go.

Amazing that Bristol is still there - what support she must have!

Is It Bristol’s Time To Leave?

We're close to discovering who will be eliminated in week 8 of DWTS. Will it be one of the two obvious candidates – Bristol or Kurt – or will there be another shock?

Here's how the judges' scores broke down:

Couple	Score
Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough	57	21.5%
Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy	57	21.5%
Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer	56	21.1%
Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya	48	18.1%
Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas	47	17.7%

 

Kurt and Bristol are significantly behind Kyle and so the expectation is that one of those will leave.

However, Kurt tweeted that they had an insane number of votes and Bristol apparently has an army of robodialers on her side.

The biggest catch up in the voting occurred in week 6 where Kurt must have had at least 4.9 percentage points of the viewers' vote more than Audrina, so anything is possible.

My money is on Bristol as her dedicated fan base (robotic or otherwise) will have a tough time keeping her in given Kurt's record, and the gap between her and Kyle seems too large to bridge.

We shall see!

The Scores in Instant Dance Week

It's week 8 - the Quarterfinals - and the couples have to dance twice.

This week the producers have come up with "Instant Dance".  The couples only get the music for their second dance after they've finished their first performance.  So instead of a week they have maybe 30 minutes to actually rehearse to the music.

Here are the judges' scores for each couple:

• Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer - 27 and 29 .  Kyle really came out and danced this week!  The jive was a joy.
• Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough - 27 and 30.  Perfect score.  Enough said.
• Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya - 24 and 24.  Solid performance as always from Kurt.
• Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas - 24 and 23. Bristol's first dance, the Rumba, was legit.  I felt she deserved more from the judges.  Having said that the 23 was probably a bit high.
• Brandy and Maks - 29 and 28.  Almost a perfect score.  Carrie Ann had an argument with Maks on the second dance but still ended up giving them a 9.

So.  The totals are:

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough 57
Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy 57
Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer - 56
Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya - 48Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas 47

Bristol and Kurt must have had a lot of votes to beat out Audrina and Rick the past two weeks but they are quite a ways behind the others this week so I'd have to say one of them is leaving.  But the way votes have been coming in the last two weeks anything could happen!

Two Performances with a Twist This Week

In order to continue fiddling with the format to improve ratings, the producers have this week introduced the "Instant Dance". The couples are told the Latin dance they will perform but won;t be told the music they will be dancing to.  It must favor the "natural" dancers rather than the ones who have fervently memorized each step to each note of music.  The couples will also be performing a ballroom number.

On the Results Show, John Legend will be performing as well as Taio Cruz and piano prodigy Emily Bear.  "Dance Center" with Kenny Mayne, Jerry Rice and Len will also return.  Less couples to keep under the red light so more filler needed!

Will Bristol be voted off, or will they "conspire" to keep her on?

Why Shouldn’t Bristol Palin Still Be On DWTS?

There have been many conspiracy theories this week on why Bristol Palin is still on DWTS while celebrities who are better dancers, notably Audrina patridge and rick Fox, have been voted off. Here are some examples:

• Sarah Palin demanding that her "entire Tea Party brigade to text like crazy after the end of each episode"
• The robo-callers are used for DWTS rather than the elections
• The producers are fixing the results to keep her on the show in a effort to increase ratings
• Christine O'Donnell cast a spell on DWTS phone lines (my favorite)

Dancing with the Stars has many examples where celebrities have lasted longer than their dancing skills would lead us to believe – Billy Ray Cyrus, Woz, Master P immediately spring to mind.

Another example would be Marie Osmond. Marie is actually a favorite of mine, but she did have the lowest judges' scores in 5 of the ten weeks and finally finished third.

The reason she stayed around so long? A LOT OF PEOPLE VOTED FOR HER.

And the same is true for Bristol. She must have a solid, dedicated fan base. The problem with such a polarizing figure of course is that there is probably a significant number of people who don't want her to win and would never vote for her, meaning she won't pick up as many votes from the celebrity leaving as some of the others might.

A popularity contest? Absolutely. That's why half the score is based on the viewers vote.

The aim is to identify the best dancer in the eyes of the judges and viewers, not to rank them or to only take account of their technical skills.

Now, if she manages to win, I'm going with the Christine O'Donnell theory…

Potential for Another Shock Exit on Dancing with the Stars?

The 200^th Episode Celebration Week has lots of DWTS alumni visiting and one of the ways the producers incorporated them was for a fourth judge for the individual performances last night.

Each couple had to interpret a dance from a previous season, and the celebrity performer returned to score the couples along with Len, Carrie Ann and Bruno meaning they were scored out of forty. Additionally, it was the team competition where the couples were split into two teams under captains – Apolo Ohno or Kristi Yamaguchi – and each team got a score out of thirty.

The effect of these two things – the team dance and the fourth judge – meant that the scores were a lot closer this week than they might otherwise have been. (The fourth judges gave 10s apart from Gilles Marini and Kelly Osbourne who gave 9s).

Bristol, to be safe, needs only 0.5 percentage points for the viewer vote more than Kyle. And is less that 2 percentage points behind Jennifer and Brandy. Last week Kurt must have had at least 5 points more than Audrina – so two points is definitely doable!

Do I think there will be a shock? No, I think Jennifer and Brandy are safe. But any of the other four are in jeopardy, with Kyle as my guess to be the most likely to go.