DWTS Finale

I thought Kellie and Derek's dance was amazing, too. It reminded me a little of another dance they did earlier in the show. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

However, I loved Zendaya and Val's dances, too. I want the two of them to win. I thought their freestyle was just perfect! I think Zendaya is a really great role model.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I didn't like Aly and Mark's dances. I really didn't like the pole dance.

I also didn't care for Karina and Jacoby dances. The group one was just too many people.

I seriously wonder if there will be a tie this year.

I think from an emotion-evoking standpoint Kellie and Derek deserve to win, but you have to give credit to a 16-year old girl who gives it everything she has.

I think Jacoby will go first, followed by Mark and Aly.

IMHO, Aly shouldn't be a contender. She doesn't possess the grace or finesse. Her salsa, African jazz, and last night's samba, all involved a lot of shaking and not much grace. The difference between her and Zen in the samba was night and day.

Kellie's dance is the only one I backed up to watch again. Amazing. It may have clinched a win for her.

Weird. I came here and posted some thoughts last night, but it looks like they didn't actually upload.

I thought Jacoby was scored appropriately (or as appropriately as they ever get in the finale) for his dances. His jive was fun and energetic, but technique still isn't there. His freestyle was just too busy. I didn't like that you couldn't see either Jacoby or Karina during that whole beginning bit with the band, and as the dance went on, it was obvious that he could not keep up with Karina. Again, fun and energetic but not great dancing.

That said, I still liked his freestyle better than Aly's and Mark's. That was just awful. Too much stopping and setting up for a move for my taste. It just really didn't flow. And despite what Mark seems to think, DWTS really hasn't been lacking because we don't include pole dancing. If anything, from what I've seen 'professional' pole dancers do, this wasn't even good pole dancing. It was just blah. Didn't think Aly's samba deserved 10s either. She's just too heavy on her feet and too much shaking. Aly seems like a nice girl, and she's certainly giving it her all, but I just don't see in her what the judges see in her.

Kellie's dances were sublime, as expected. The quickstep was wonderful (although I almost think I liked the first one they did better) and show she can really do the steps. Don't know why Derek was so heavy with hiding her feet the last couple of weeks. Their freestyle was certainly beautiful and breathtaking, and I appreciated the artistry of it. But I'm just not a real big contemporary fan anyway, so I wasn't as in love with it as most seem to be. I was kind of disappointed that Derek chose to do a contemporary dance after Tony did that in his freestyle last year. It didn't feel all that original (although Kellie's was light years ahead of Melissa's). But more than that, I can't figure out why they can do a straight contemporary dance as a freestyle and get away with it. It's supposed to be a "freestyle," not a regular dance. A couple could not get up and do a jive or a cha cha or a samba as their freestyle. They would be docked horribly for it. They can include elements of those dances, but they can't do a straight dance. That is against the rules. Maybe it's because contemporary is pretty much just a freestyle anyway that makes it okay, but I would have really liked to see them incorporate some actual dance steps into their contemporary. But it was beautifully done and deserving of those scores.

Which leaves Zendaya, who is my pick to win. Her samba was technically good (that I could see anyway, but I'm not an expert) as well as high energy and fun, and I loved their freestyle. It was a nice mix of different dance styles, lots of energy, good technique, and (I thought) a great use of the kids at the end. I think she's technically every bit as good as Kellie, but what gives her the edge for me is that I "feel" her dancing. She just comes alive when she gets out on the dance floor, and she has a quality about her that just draws your eye to her. Plus she's just a real level-headed, down-to-earth kid, but she's such a hard worker and has a great attitude.

So I'd love to Zendaya win it all, but I won't mind (too much) if Kellie wins it. A win by Aly or Jacoby would be a travesty, though.

It is possible that there will be a tie, but I really doubt it. I think it will be very close instead.
I think Jacoby will go first. However, as far as I'm concerned, Aly could go first. I don't think Aly's dancing is dancing - it's more shaking and crawling all over the floor.
I don't vote every season, and, in fact, I haven't voted at all this season until last night. While I won't mind if Kellie wins, I voted for Zendaya. I really want her to win. She is a natural out on the dance floor, and she just lit up when those kids came out to back her up. I think she's just a great young lady!

BlueMoon wrote:It is possible that there will be a tie, but I really doubt it. I think it will be very close instead.
I think Jacoby will go first. However, as far as I'm concerned, Aly could go first. I don't think Aly's dancing is dancing - it's more shaking and crawling all over the floor.
I don't vote every season, and, in fact, I haven't voted at all this season until last night. While I won't mind if Kellie wins, I voted for Zendaya. I really want her to win. She is a natural out on the dance floor, and she just lit up when those kids came out to back her up. I think she's just a great young lady!

LOL at the shaking and crawling on the floor! As long as it's Kelly or Zen, I'll be satisfied. I was never a Derek fan, but this season he's won me over. He's choreographing for Kellie as if he's dancing with another pro. Love it!

I'll only be happy if Kellie wins. I think that the dance that she and Derek did was the best I've ever seen on this show. Derek is an awesome choreographer and he adds elements no one else even touches. I think Allie and Jacoby were good enough to get in the finals, but definitely not good enough to win. I can't see how Allie got tens?? Although Zendaya is a nice, determined young lady, I see her as a child. Most of her dances were really good, but to me she never looked right with Val, plus her dances all started looking the same. In the end, I think it will be a close call between Kellie and Zendaya. JMHO

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

Well, I honestly thought I would be happy whichever way it went, but now that the winner has been announced, I find that I am seriously disappointed. Not that the winner is not deserving, but I realized I just don't think the best dancer won, and I was far more invested in the other couple than I realized. I think it really struck me after the instant dance and just seeing how the last dancer blew the previous one out of the water with the jive. Oh well. That's been happening to me since Season 1 when Kelly Monaco won over John O'Hurley. You'd think I'd get used to it!

SLA44 wrote:They got a 30 on their last dance so I think they ended up with 86 or something like that.

Thanks SLA. After missing that I wound up missing Zendaya's dance and I couldn't go back because I had accidentally changed the channel when I got up to rush to the phone (to accept a sub job). Wonder if they will post her last insta dance on the abc site so that i can see it. Show's over.

I am happy for Kelly. She has really has had a very rough life. Plus she did not know how to dance.

I'm satisfied. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

victorian3 wrote:Well, folks, it all ended as I predicted. On the first night I said it would be down to kellie, Zendaya, Allie, jacoby and maybe Ingo. They were the last 5 standing. Wasn't sure if Jacoby and Ingo could make it but I saw potential. Didn't like Allie but she had potential to learn routines.
Glad kellie won with Zendaya a close second. Good job all!

I TA

Nice to share with you as always, gin[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

LadyMustang65 wrote:SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

Well, I honestly thought I would be happy whichever way it went, but now that the winner has been announced, I find that I am seriously disappointed. Not that the winner is not deserving, but I realized I just don't think the best dancer won, and I was far more invested in the other couple than I realized. I think it really struck me after the instant dance and just seeing how the last dancer blew the previous one out of the water with the jive. Oh well. That's been happening to me since Season 1 when Kelly Monaco won over John O'Hurley. You'd think I'd get used to it!

Well, I thought I'd be happy, too, if Kellie and Derek won. But, I was really disappointed that Zendaya didn't win. I also thought it was interesting that both she and Kellie both got jives for the instant dance. Surely, the judges had to have planned that for the two who were most likely to win so we could see whose jive was the best - Zendaya's.

I also thought Zen's jive was better. Just couldn't forget Kellie's contemporary.

singlyme wrote:I also thought Zen's jive was better. Just couldn't forget Kellie's contemporary.

Singly, Her contemporary was really good. If I were to get into some of the dancing positions on this show, I would never be able to get back up!

I also don't know where the dancers on this show get all that energy - except, of course, they're almost all pretty young and the others have been in the business for so long, that's it's no big deal to them. I can definitely see how they stay in such great shape.

I've also been wondering if they rehearse those short dances they do during the commercials. Some of them look pretty impromptu.

Singly - I agree that Kellie's contemporary was spectacular, and while I enjoyed Zendaya's, it wasn't really a standout. But I still gave all my votes to Zendaya because in the end I just really felt she was the better dancer. Kellie made the most gorgeous shapes with her body, and she had beautiful lines, but to me that's really all her freestyle was. Very little of anything I would have called dancing but lots and lots of posing. Gorgeous posing, but still posing. The same way with her AT. The work behind the curtain at the beginning was gorgeous, but it was all pose after pose. Contrast that with the AT Val and Zendaya did with Maks and Anna. Z danced all through that. On Monday, it was clear to me in the relay with Kellie and Z dancing back to back that Zendaya was better than Kellie. And on Tuesday, again I thought clearly Zendaya's jive was better than Kellie's. When it came to actual dancing, it just seemed obvious to me that Z was better than Kellie. So while I thought Kellie's freestyle was gorgeous, it didn't sway me from voting and rooting for Z because I've never voted for the final winner based solely on the freestyle. If I feel two dancers are pretty equal, the freestyle can sway me. But a lackluster freestyle just isn't a deal-breaker for me, and it makes me sad sometimes that so many people seem to vote on the last night based just on that one dance. It negates what some people have done all season. But it's always been that way and will probably always be that way.

I see your point, mustang, about the freestyle not being the deciding factor. But for many, I think Kellie's was a vote clincher. For me, the two ladies were fairly equal throughout the season. I will admit Zen's final jive was better. The only dance of Z's that I didn't like was the race car number. (Val, what were you thinking?) I didn't vote, but assumed all along that it was between the two of them.

Through the season, though, I changed my mind about a couple of the pros. I thought he was an overpraised Golden Boy, but Derek proved himself a genius this season.

And Val, last season, appeared to be someone you wouldn't want to be with in the backseat at a drive-in. This season, I appreciated that he featured Zen in the dances and truly exploited her talents.

I STILL don't know what anyone sees in the over-animated Mark. Between his consistently outdancing his partners and the facial expressions, I find him difficult to watch. For me, he's a cartoon character.

And with the exit of some of the old-timers, I DO hope they'll finally give Tristan a celeb with possibilities.

Question: Do people like Dmitri and Louis get a per-appearance guest shot paycheck - or are they still under contract but not used except in spotlight dances? Anyone know?

Louis does a lot of the choreography for the troupe, and sometimes you see him dancing with them. I'm sure he is handsomely rewarded. I suspect at this point he is free-lance, and will have to negotiate a season-long contract if he returns to dancing on the show.