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??

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!

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!

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!!

It's Team Dance Week on DWTS!

I think this has become one of my favorite times of each season.  The couples are split into teams and they each get the score of the team they are one added to their score from an individual performance.  I'm not sure about the scoring but I do enjoy the dancing. Captains Hines Ward and Chelsea Kane lead their teams, Kirstie Alley & Kendra Wilkinson and Ralph Macchio & Romeo, respectively, each to be scored as a group by the judges.

We also have a guest judge this week - Donnie Burns MBE, the most decorated Latin dancer of all time and head of the World Dance Council.

In the results show on Tuesday James Blunt and Nicki Minaj perform. James Blunt will sing "I'll Be Your Man" and, in honor of "Ballroom Greats" week, Val Chmerkovskiy and his partner, Daria Chesnokova, will dance. Nicki Minaj performs "Moment 4 Life" -- Lacey Schwimmer, Chelsie Hightower, Kiki Nyemchek and Sonny Pederson dance.

This week's "Macy's Stars of Dance" is a special tribute to James Brown, in celebration of his birthday. Wayne Brady (I like him) stars in the number and is choreographed by creative directors Kevin and Marcel Wilson.

And then someone will  be sent home!

Should We Feel Guilty About "Guilty Pleasures" Week's Eliminated Couple?

Week 6 was "Guilty Pleasures" week which was, I have to admit, highly enjoyable but I can't say I felt guilty at all.  A lot of the songs were mainstream (the Journey one), popular (the theme song of one of the most successful movies ever) or were popular when one was a teenager (a free pass).

But it was all done very well and we were left after the performance show with the following scores:

- Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 28

- Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 28

- Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 27

- Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 26

- Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 25

- Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 24
- Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 22

The results show was preceded by a "road to the finals" show which seemed to be an excuse to not show the Jamie Oliver show which isn't doing  very well.

The results show regressed back to aimless filler with NKOTB, BSB providing the guilty pleasures, Macy's Stars of Dance performing a really weird story and Pia Toscana providing the shark jumping.

The final three couples left were the bottom three in scoring - Kendra/Louis, Ralph/Karina and Chris/Cheryl.

And Chris and Cheryl were sent home.  Chris seemed like a guy that everyone (genuinely) liked - witty, intelligent, fun. Hey ho.

And Kendra is still there.  Oy.

The Judges' Scores in (Not So) Guilty Pleasures Week

This week the couples danced to "Guilty Pleasures" - meant to be songs you don't want everyone to know you like.  Except most of them seemed just fine.  But that's probably a reflection on me of course...

Hansen started off the show singing MmmBop (I can never spell that) accompanied by The DWTS Troupe.  They also performed some snippets of "guilty pleasure" songs throughout the evening - it worked quite well actually.

So - here are the results:

• Kirstie and Maks - 26 - a better performance from Kirstie than the last couple, still some hesitancy.  I hate to say it again but she is marvellous considering her age and body type.
• Chris and Cheryl - 22 - they did a tango to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.  The song isn't a guilty pleasure and it's not a tango song.  A bit of a lacklustre performance this week I'm afraid.
• Romeo and Chelsie - 28 - this performance did not deserve a 30 but it was once of the best I've seen.  Waltzing to "My Heart Must Go On" with lots of fog (that fog machine has been value for money!).  I half expected a fog horn.  "...magical" - Carrie Ann.
• Chelsea and Mark - 28 - great, fun dance to "Walking on Sunshine".  Apparently Mark had a twisted ankle - couldn't tell!
• Kendra and Louis - 25 - "Livin' La Vida Loca" is NOT a guilty pleasure.  Anyway, Kendra did much better this week - dances that make her shake play to her strengths - both of them
• Hines and Kym - 27 - apparently Hines is flat-footed according to Len.  Still a great entertainer though.  Hines really is the one to beat.
• Ralph and Karina - 24 - ooops, Karina tripped.  Ralph helped her up and carried on.  What a team!  The judges were a little generous I felt.

The other thing of note was clips from the music video for "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John.  Bruno was featured throughout!

Chris has the lowest points, but I think a number could be in jeopardy - Ralph, Kendra, Kirstie - it all depends on the viewers!

Week 5 Results Show and Eliminated Couple

After a very enjoyable performance show we moved to the results show which, traditionally, I can't stand.

Having said that, the results shows this season haven't sucked as badly as previous ones, not quite sure why.

We have Toby Keith sing a couple of songs, a very well done Macy's Stars of Dance segment and Mike Catherwood doing a Dancing with the Stars expose which mainly consisted of body noises, swearing and breasts/buttocks.

Here's how the couples found out their fate:

Hines/Kym and Kirstie/Maks were first up - Hines safe (as expected), Kirstie  still in jeopardy.

Next were the top three couples - Chris/Cheryl, Chelsea/Mark and Romeo/Chelsie.  Chris was still in jeopardy, the others were safe.

Finally, the bottom three couples.  Petra/Dmitry were still in jeopardy, Kendra/Louis and Ralph/Karina were safe.

So, that left Chris/Cheryl, Kirstie/Maks and Petra/Dmitry under the red lights.  They weren't necessarily the bottom three as Tom Bergeron always likes to point out.

Kirstie and Maks were the first to be declared safe.

And the couple going home were...Petra and Dmitry.  Such as shame, they are both so nice and Petra was doing pretty well for a model.

I'll be glad when Kendra goes.

Next week is "guilty pleasures" - songs you like but won't admit it.  For some reason New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys are on the results show.  Can't see the connection myself...

DWTS Week 5 - America Night - Judges' Scores

Tonight was America Night.  America-themed dances performed to America-themed music.

It might sound a bit articficial but it was actually a return to the format we know and love.  Last week was classical night with the distraction of a 46-piece orchestra and the week before was story night were the couples had to sorta act.

Tonight was much more of a celebration - back to basics and have fun.

Maybe because it was back to basics, the couples, on average. scored higher than last week (or so it seemed).  The couples remaining are pretty close when it comes to scoring, if not skills, and we saw two more challengers rise from the pack to mix it up with Hines and Chelsea and Ralph.

Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 26
Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 22
Wrestler Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 26
Football player Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 27
Disney actress Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 26
Model Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 22
Reality star Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 22
Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 23

Romeo and Chris Jerico did very well this week joing Chelsea just behind Hines.  All four of these couples were professional and really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
 
Kirstie was just one above the other three and did fine but I get the feeling she's starting to hit a celing.
 
Another that seems to be hitting a ceiling is Ralph.  He did very well at the beginning but doesn't seem to be progressing like (say) Chris.
 
Petra and Kendra did well but you just get the feeling they are starting to wear out their welcome.
 
But we shall see!

Week 5 is "America" Week

This week's theme is "America" which seems to be simply that - the performance should have something to do with America.  No stories about relatives nor having to dance to a 46-piece orchestra.  The show is 90 minutes long this week

The results show has Toby Keith headlining.  He will sing "American Soldier," accompanied by "Dancing with the Stars" pros Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts, and "Should've Been a Cowboy" with Maks Chmerkovskiy, Lacey Schwimmer and the "Dancing with the Stars" Dance Troupe.

Then...one couple will be eliminated!

Kirstie Alley and Maks Appear on Oprah, Maks' Shirt Disappears

Kirstie and Maks appeared on Oprah this week to have a chat and do a dance.

As you would expect the clip from a few years back showing Kirstie in bikini that defies the laws of physics was shown, and Maks had his shirt ripped off.

I must say I'm enjoying Kirstie on the current season of DWTS.

Who Got The Classical Boot in Week 4 of DWTS?

Week four was classical week where the celebrities were even more outside their comfort zone and the professionals were a little bit too.

I  have to confess I really didn't like Classical Week and didn't hold out much hope for the results show.

I was pleasantly surprised that the results show was entertaining - some lovely ballet and the hidden mikes on the dancers always cheer me up.  (Louis to Kendra "I have to say I was very disappointed with what you said").  Plus an atrocious section where Len did a really bad southern accent and was pretending to be Patton.  Best forgotten that one.

Anywho, the final three were Chelsea and Mark (Gasp - they had the highest score), Petra and Dmitry (well, they're so gorgeous, they'll be OK) and Sugar Ray and Anna (he's an icon, he can't be voted off!).

Wait. No Kendra?? Nope.  No Kendra.

And Sugar Ray Leonard was eliminated.  I was a little surprised as I assumed he had a following of sorts, but maybe it's only football players, skaters and gymnasts that have followings.

Sugar Ray is a great guy and a not-so-great dancer.  The show was better to have had him.

So.  Kendra voted off next week?

The Scores in Classical Week on DWTS (Week 4)

Week 4 was classical week on Dancing with the Stars.  The couples danced a Waltz or a Paso Doble to classical music selected for them.

We had a 46-peice orchestra, a sprightly young man playing very intensely on the fiddle and a stunningly beautiful opera singer.

Can't fail right?

If Kirstie Alley's shoe hadn't fallen off it would have been the most boring Dancing with the Stars ever.

Yes, I might be a philistine when it comes to classical music but I think it was a mistake for the following reasons:

• The celebrities aren't up to the level of dance needed to do justice to the music
• The professionals don't have as much experience of choreographing for classical music
• Classical music is much better in person that on TV
• The vewers are not big fans

It just became a parade of tinny music with one dance indistinguishable from the next.

Can you tell I wasn't impressed?  Anyway, here are the judges' scores:

Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 23
Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya - 21
Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 25
Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 23
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 25
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 26
Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 23
Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel - 18
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 22

Kendra looks most at risk to me.

And yes, Kirstie's shoe really did fall off!  She recovered well though.

Judges' Scores in "Story" Week

(Possible spoilers ahead!)  Week 3 is "Story Week".  This is where the celebrity comes up with an event/phase/story in their life that is dance-able.  The professionals then try to come up with a dance for it.

The problem with story week is that the celebs aren't quite good enough to finish a "standard" dance at week 3 and to have to put some emotion and acting into might be a bit hard.

"Paparazzi" with Kate Gosselin was a great idea, it was just too much for Kate's skill level.

Having said all that the scores were generally quite high!

• Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani - 15 - Wendy tried to express here career struggles through dance.  It was a struggle to watch the dance.  She tries hard but she just gesn't have the grace to go far.
• Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas - 23 - they danced to "Chelsea" which was written for her by an old boyfriend - cool!  No mistakes this week and I think they were under-scored.
• Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke - 21 - Chris danced "as himself" (Chris Irving) in honor of his deceased mother.  He really put his heart into it.
• Kendra Wilinson and Louis van Amstel - 23 - apparently she was really sexy - I couldn't see it myself.
• Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin - 25 - the waltz is a much better dance for Petra - it's and her grace go together.  An impressive improvement.
• Romeo and Chelsie Hightower - 20 - the judges didn't like this one.  I thought it was fine.
• Hines Ward and Kym Johnson - 25 - the judges LOVE Hines!
• Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya - 20 - a much improved performance but Sugar Ray always seems so stiff to me
• Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 21 - going just great then Kirstie seemed to break Maks' knee and he hit the floor in pain.  He finished the performance but lost points - a good score still!
• Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - 21 - a good performance, but is Ralph getting any better?

Wendy is far behind the others - she must be the next to go.

The First Celebrity Voted Off DWTS 12 is...

...further down the page.

The first results show of season 12 was actually relatively filler-free.  Early in the season there are lots of celebrities to put under the lights I guess.

The show had a couple of dances from the new pro dance troupe.  They played them up a lot but they only did one real set.  Maybe they'll dance more in the future.

They also had a singer.

The first group of celebs to be told their fate were the sports stars.

Hines was safe, Chris was safe, Sugar Ray had to wait "to find out his fate".

They miked up the dancers this season (or at least I never noticed before) and you heard them talking to each other.  It was really interesting, especially Louis is a chatterbox while actually dancing!

Next group - actors (some unkind people might say the wrestler should be in this group - I'm never unkind...).

Ralph was safe.  Kirstie was safe.  Chelsea and Mark waited in anticipation...and they were safe too.

Romeo and Mike next - Romeo safe, Mike still in jeopardy.

Final group - Petra, Kendra and Wendy.  Wendy was still in jeopardy.

And then Mike Catherwood was voted off Dancing with the Stars season 12.

He accepted it very graciously, and actually danced better when he was goofing around at the end than he did in the competition.

Mike is an incredibly nice guy who can't dance and has a small fan base.

Bless him.

Who'll go next week?  We shall see!

Who Will Be The First To Go Home in Season 12?

I have no idea.

Here is the distribution of the judges' scores:


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff 10.6%
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson 10.4%
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy 10.2%
Romeo and Chelsie Hightower 9.9%
Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke 9.9%
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas 9.2%
Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel 8.7%
Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin 8.5%
Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya 8.0%
Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani 7.3%
Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer 7.1%

These are combined with the voters' scores to give the overall rank and then the lowest is sent packing.

I guess the bottom five are all pretty close with Mike needing only 0.2 percentage points more of the viewers' vote than Wendy to be safe as an example.

The popular view is that it's gong to be Mike or Wendy but people vote on who's the best, not who will go home, which is a lot harder to get at.

Dial Idol has a system where they measure busy tones on the phone but the sample sizes aren't big enough to give a clear view.

I would have to go with Mike simply because he doesn't come with a broad fan base.  We shall see tonight!