The Champions of Dancing with the Stars Are..

...further down the page.

As a reminder the points going into tonight's finale were Hines/Kym
59, Chelsea/Mark 59 an Kirstie/Maks 54.

The finale was two hours long and was preceeded by an encore
performance of last night's show that my son insisted on watching so,
believe it or not, I'm a little Bergeron-ed out!

Here are some observations:

- I wish Mike Catherwood had stayed around longer - he would have been fun!
- I particularly like Chris Jericho and Romeo
- those hidden microphones are a fantastic invention - they actually
add reality to a show that's "reality" in name only.
- it's not a good idea to crowd-design a dance. Although it was nice
to see those soccer ladies that call themselves the GoGos.
- the couples all got thirties for their final performances which
meant Kirstie wasn't as far behind as after two dances
- Chelsea and Mark finished third. I liked them both and as a couple
but I just can't shake the feeling there was favoritism involved.
- Kirstie and Maks were second. Amazing performances from someone her
age and (at least initially) size
- therefore Hines and Kym were crowned champions as expected. I don't
think Hines had a bad week and just kept getting better!

Not the best season but an enjoyable one nevertheless.

Dancing with the Stars Finals: Judges' Scores for First Two Dances

Ah, here we are.  We've survived Maks almost breaking his knee, Kirstie losing a shoe, Kendra's cycle, Chris Jericho's English accent and Kym almost breaking her neck.  Yep, it's been a pretty quiet season.

The Monday of the finals is a little bit of an anti-climax for me.  The freestyles are great but only an hour after nine weeks of time-filling seems a little paltry, and then they show The Bachelorette to top it off.

The couples danced Judges' Choice (the dances the judges felt best "expressed their potential") and Freestyle.

Here are the scores:

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 29 & 30 = 59
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 27 & 27 = 54
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 29 & 30 = 59

• Chelsea and Mark did just fine.  Their Samba was excellent.  The Freestyle was technically great but it seemed a bit empty, there didn't seem to be  lot of audience feedback or participation.  Both scores were about right.
• Kirstie and Maks were lucky to get 27 for their Samba I felt.  In the finals the judges normally give 9 or 10 it seems.  There Freestyle was amazing.  Not as good technically as the others' but the choreography was better and it was simply the best performance.  And it got 27.  Hmmm.
• Hines and Kym did as well as expected and seem to be a lock for the title.  Their Freestyle was a little too Marching Band for me.

Over the seasons of DWTS I've always taken the conspiracy theories with a pinch of salt.  I do believe people would have voted for Kate Gossilin just to watch the train wreck, that Bristol got a lot of votes from Republican activists and that the judges sometimes got it wrong.  But after last week's Winner Take All Dance that gave the winner (Chelsea) a free pass into the final I wasn't so sure.  And tonight the scoring for Kirstie was just wrong.  The judges looked embarrassed and seemed to agree with the booing. Perhaps the Producers want the Disney kid to win?  I have to say it has spoiled the season for me.

Hey ho.

Tomorrow night's two hour finale sees one more dance from the couples plus the ubiquitous Black Eyed Peas, the GoGos and Sara Evans.

Dancing with the Stars - Season 12 Finale Details

After a long road we're almost there.  Two more shows and we'll find out the winner of the Mirror Ball Trophy.

On Monday the couples dance twice.

The first dance is assigned by the judges based on their view of which dance each couple should excel in.  Then there is the always popular freestyle dance.  (The show is only on for an hour).

The season finale is two hours of look-backs, re-appearances, some more competitive dance and the awarding of said trophy.  The couples will perform their favorite dances of the season and be scored by the judges.  Those scores will be incorporated into the scores from the previous night and the viewers' vote.

The musical guests are the Black Eyed Peas who seem to be on all the big finales/award shows and Superbowls.

Also appearing are the Go-Gos and Sara Evans.

The Finalists of Season 12 of Dancing with the Stars...

...are revealed further down the page.

The pre-Results Show show was about previous freesyle dances in the finals.  Drew Lachey returned to perform with Cheryl.  And previous winners talked us through their dances - Brooke Burke, Apolo Ohno and Donny Osmond.  I have no idea what else happened.

The results show was pretty much the same formula as the rest of the season.  A main guest singing twice, another guest singing once and either  Macy's Stars of Dance or something to tug on our heartstrings.

Tonight we had Stevie Nicks who was very good singing the classic "Landslide" and a new tune from her new album.  We also had Pittbull featuring Ne-Yo and Nayer performing his single, "Give Me Everything" - they were very good too.  We also had a young ballerina who had some sort of disease who's alleged dream was to dance with Lacey Schwimmer and Chelsie Hightower - which she did.

Early on Hines and Kym were told they were in the finals - Duh!

Half-way through Chelsea and Mark were told they were in the final.  Double Duh - they got the 15 points from the bonus Cha Cha!

Ralph and Kirstie were left on the stage at the end.

And, as most expected, Ralph and Karina were eliminated.

I say this a lot about eliminatees but Ralph really was a nice guy.  I felt he didn't build upon his skill as quickly as others but he always put his heart in it.

The celebrities in the final are Hines, Chelsea and Kirstie.  Who will win??

Will Ralph Macchio Be Eliminated Tonight on DWTS?

If you do the math, Ralph and Karina are in a bit of a hole when it comes to share of the judges' vote:

Chelsea/Mark 73 31.1%
Hines/Kym 60 25.5%
Kirstie/Maks 54 23.0%
Ralph/Karina 48 20.4%

But wait!  Last week Ralph was at the bottom of the judges' scoreboard because he was hurt and couldn't move too well - and he wasn't eliminated!

I think it's different this week.  First off, Chelsea and Mark are so far ahead that they're a lock to be in the final.  It would be beyond stunning if they were eliminated.

Secondly, due to Kym's brush with a broken neck there will be a sympathy vote for the couple.  This was something Ralph enjoyed last week when he was injured.

So that means it's between Ralph and Kirstie.  I had some comments about people getting busy tone when they voted for Hines or Kirstie, so I headed over to dialidol.com.

Dialidol.com came out of American idol.  It's a little program that runs on a PC and uses the phone to vote a number of times for a particular contestant. It takes the data and assumes that the contestant with the highest percentage of busy tone has the most votes.  It's not that good at predicting DWTS because the sample size is small and you have the judges' votes as well.  However, if you look at the raw data Hines and Kirstie had a high percentage of busy tones (18% and 16% respectively), Ralph and Chelsea had very low percentages (1% and 4%).

So, I have to think Ralph will be eliminated.  Who do you think will go?

Scores in the Semis of DWTS

Week 9 is semi-final week.  The couples danced a Latin and a Ballroom they hadn't danced before.  Plus, there is a head to head Cha Cha. 

"What's a head to head Cha Cha?" I hear you ask.  Well two couples dance 15 seconds of Cha Cha and the judges pick the winner.  The other two couples dance and the judges pick the winners.  Then the winners go head to head and the judges pick the overall winner.  And they get a bonus 15 points.  Cha-ching.

Speaking of head-head, Kym Johnson danced despite her neck injury.  I suspect they are going to get some sympathy votes from the viewers if the studio audience are anything to go by!

Here are the scores:

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 25 & 23 = 48
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 30 & 30 = 60
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 28 & 30 & 15* = 73
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 27 & 27 = 54

*Chelsea and Mark won the head-head.

• Ralph really didn't seem that engaged this week - perhaps some after-effects from his injury.
• I felt Hines and Kym were slightly over marked but hey, she deserves it.
• Chelsea and Mark were perky as always, the judges seemed a bit down on their first dance
• Kirstie is still doing amazingly well, and she's 60!

Ralph is obviously in the hole with the only other couple in danger being Kirstie and Maks.

Stevie Nicks tomorrow!

Semi-Finals Details For DWTS

Now that we know Kym Johnson will be appearing, we can look forward to
the semi-final!

On Monday the four remaining couples will perform three routines - one
ballroom and one Latin dance they've not yet done, and one
winner-takes-all Cha Cha. Sounds like whoever wins the Cha Cha is a
lock for the finals.

The first part of the Results Show is a "Freestyle Special," in which
Anton Ohno, Donnie Osmond and Warren Sapp provide color commentary on
their memorable individual freestyle routines.  In addition, the pros
and the dance troupe perform two medleys to some of the music from
previous Freestyles.

On the Results Show Stevie Nicks (woo hoo!) will perform two songs,
"Landslide," accompanied by Tony and Cheryl on the dance floor, and
the new single "Secret Love" from "In Your Dreams" - accompanied by
Dmitry, Anna, Peta and Damian. Also Pittbull featuring Ne-Yo and Nayer
performs his single, "Give Me Everything".

Oh, and we'll find out the finalists!

Kym Johnson Cleared to Dance On Monday

Despite having to wear a neck brace for the immediate future, Kym Johnson has been cleared to perform on the show on Monday according to WJLA TV.

Earlier on Friday she fell while practicing with Hines Ward. An ambulance was called and she was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

I must admit I was worried!

Who Was Eliminated in an Instant in "Instant Dance" Week?

The first hour of the Results Show (technically it was two shows but they just blurred together) were highlights of previous results shows.  This is how bad it's become.  Highlights of shows that are mainly highlights.  Sheesh.

Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed Derek and Julianne Hough's "Great Balls of Fire" dance in season 7!

On to the Results Show proper.  I was thoroughly confused.  Adele wasn't singing all the songs she was supposed to but someone called Delta was filling in with an hour's notice.  They were both very, very good though.

Kirstie and Maks were asked to do the spotlight dance.  I figured they were definately leaving because I couldn't remember if they'd done a spotlight dance before.  Anyway I didn't have to think for long because both Kirste and Hines were safe!  That meant another 40 minutes until more results!

Oh, I forgot Dancecenter was on - Iit was funny in an understated way as always.  As Tom Bergeron said on Monday - "Throughout the years we've had some very good dancers and some very bad dancers.  And we've had Kenny Mayne."  That Tom.

At the end Chelsea, Ralph and Romeo are on the stage with their partners.

Chelsea and Mark are safe.

And Rome and Karina have been eliminated.  Romeo felt it was his best performance and I agree with him.  Ralph was (understandably) not very good and should have gone home.  I think Romeo enjoyed his journey and I enjoyed watching him.  "New York, New York" was one of my favorite dances ever.

Next week is the semi-final!

Judges' Scores for DWTS Week 8 - Instant Dance

This week was instant dance - the couples know the type of dance they are doing, they just don't know the music they will dance to until about 30-40 minutes before i.e. when they finish their first dance!

The big news of the night was that Ralph Macchio had a bad knee and could only practice for nine hours.  He did seem to be in pain (he had a ruptured cyst!).

Here are the scores (Instant Dance second):

Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 27 & 25 = 52
Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 25 & 21 = 46
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 28 & 26 = 54
Disney actress Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 29 & 26 = 55
Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 28 & 25 = 53

The judges seemed to squabble a lot and both Carrie Ann and Bruno were booed a couple of time, but the disagreements didn't really show up in the scoring.

So, Ralph and Karina are a ways behind everyone else.  It's going to be hard to stay in, but we haven't really had any major upsets yet and there is no data to evaluate how popular the stars remaining are.

We shall see tomorrow!

Instant Dancing on DWTS

It's "Instant Dance" week on Dancing with the Stars.  I really enjoyed this last season.  Each couple dances once and then finds out the music for their second performance (they already know the type of dance).  That means they only have 30 minutes to practice!  The hidden mikes should have some gems this week!

The first hour is the best performances from previous results shows which will be good but will be too much for me I think.  The second hour features Grammy Award-winning artist Adele singing two songs, "Natural Woman," with Cheryl Burke and Louis Van Amstel on the dance floor, and the first single from her album, "21."

And at the end we'll know who the semi-finalists are!

We Say Goodbye to a Ballroom Grate on Dancing with the Stars

Warning:  Spoiler below


Team Hines and Team Chelsea



It's "ballroom greats" week this week, but other than Maks' brother guest-greats were absent from the Results Show.  Even the fourth judge wasn't there, although I'm sure the regulars were happy they didn't have to squish up again.

The results show was regular results show fare, Nicki Minaj and James Blunt sang, there was a story about a ballerina that I didn't really understand but she danced very well.  Team Chelsea were asked to dance again and were probably the best part of the show.

I was particularly disappointed with the Macy's Stars of Dance tribute to James Brown.  I really like Wayne Brady but there was too much messin' abaht in the choreograghy and it seemed more like a James Brown impersonation that a tribute.

Back to the reason for the show - the final three staring into the red lights of elimination were Chelsea/Mark, Kirstie/Maks and Kendra/Louis.

Kirstie was first to be announced "safe" and for a fleeting moment I thought there might be an upset.

Fortunately I was wrong and Kendra & Louis were eliminated.  Glad to see she's finally gone!

Who Was Great on "Ballroom Greats" Week on DWTS?

"Ballroom Greats" were the theme of this weeks show.  This ws demonstrated by having Donnie Burns, Head of The World Dance Council and a pretty good Latin dancer, as the guest judge.  We also had guest instructors for the couples - Shirley Ballas (Mark's Mom) or Luca Baricchi depending on whether they were doing a Latin dance or Ballroom.

It was also the Team Dance this week with the members being chosen in playground style by Hines and Chelsea.  Hines chose  Kirstie Alley & Kendra Wilkinson (he left Romeo on the bench!) and Chelsea got Raplph and Romeo.

The started the show with the team dances (I think I prefer them at the end).    And each team scored 30 points.  Which, from a scoring point of view was a real waste of time.  For the record I thought Chelsea's team was the best.

The scores were very variable between the judges - one couple got a 6,7,8 and 9!  Here are the scores:

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 30 & 36 = 66
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 30 & 36 = 66
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 30 & 34 = 64
Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 30 & 31 = 61
Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 30 & 30 = 60
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 30 & 30 = 60

So the scores are very close indeed which means it's down to us again!  Vote!!