Season 23 - Finale - Episodes 11 & 12

Here is ABC's Press Release for the Finale - Episode 11 & 12:


Four Couples Remain in One of the Tightest Races Ever, on the Two-Part Season Finale of ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ November 21 & 22













“Episodes 2311 & 2312” – After weeks of stunning competitive dancing, the final four couples advance to the finals of “Dancing with the Stars,” live, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network. Len Goodman returns to the ballroom as head judge for the two-part season finale. It’s one of the closest races ever on the show, with some of the most skilled dancing celebrity contestants have ever pulled off. At the end of the night, one couple will be eliminated. The remaining three couples will have one last night of competitive dancing as they perform a “24-Hour Fusion Challenge,” vying to score some extra judges’ points, and one couple will be crowned the “Dancing with the Stars” champion, culminating an incredible season, which will be announced live from The Grove on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 (9:00-11:00 p.m. EST).
 
On MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EST), the four finalists will each perform two dances – a Redemption Style dance (paso doblé, Viennese waltz or tango), and a freestyle dance – one of the biggest competitive dances of the season.  In addition, Grammy Award-winning Train will perform its hit “Play That Song,” and there will also be a special performance from this winter’s most talked about movie, Lionsgate’s “La La Land” (in select cities December 9, expanding December 16), choreographed by Mandy Moore.

The couples will dance to the following songs (in alphabetical order):

Laurie Hernandez & Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Redemption Style: Paso Doblé – “Wicked Ones” by Dorothy
Freestyle – “Brand New” by Ben Rector

James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess 
Redemption Style: Tango – “It Had to Be You” by Harry Connick Jr.
Freestyle: “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets” by The Piano Guys

Calvin Johnson Jr. & Lindsay Arnold 
Redemption Style: Viennese Waltz – “I Am Your Man” by Ryan Shaw
Freestyle: “Please Mr. Postman”/”I Want You Back” medley by The Marvelettes/Jackson 5

Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko
Redemption Style: Tango – “Stay the Night” by Zedd
Freestyle: “Unstoppable” by Sia

At the end of the night, one couple will be eliminated, and the three remaining couples will go on to vie for the coveted Mirrorball.

In the two-hour season finale on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 (9:00-11:00 p.m. EST), the three finalists advance to the final stage of the competition. There will be live dancing and show-stopping performances at both The Grove and in the “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom. The night kicks off with a high-energy opening number, featuring a reunion of all 13 of this season’s couples, at The Grove, Caruso’s award-winning retail, dining and lifestyle destination. The season finale will be filled with performances from Vanilla Ice, who will perform “Ice Ice Baby,” featuring Rick Perry and Witney Carson; a special guest performance by Andy Grammer of his global smash hit single, “Fresh Eyes,” 11-time Grammy-winner Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds performing “Winter Wonderland” from his Christmas album, featuring pro dancers Artem Chigvintsev, Cheryl Burke and Allison Holker; and an all-male number to Bruno Mars’ “24K,” featuring the men from this season, including Ryan Lochte, Calvin Johnson, James Hinchcliffe, Maks Chmerkovskiy and Val Chmerkovskiy, among others. In addition, the season finale also features a special performance choreographed by Mandy Moore. This innovative and magical dance celebrates your favorite and heartwarming holiday traditions and stars some of your favorite “Dancing with the Stars” dancers, including Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Witney Carson, Artem Chignvinstev, and many more, and uses technology that will have to be seen to be believed! This is one performance that cannot be missed! There will also be a special performance from the upcoming “Dancing with the Stars: Live! We Came to Dance” tour, hitting the road this winter.

Couples from across the season will celebrate their time on the show by repeating one of their favorite dances, including Laurie & Val’s trio with Maks, Amber Rose & Maks dancing to “Woman Up” by Meghan Trainor, Maureen McCormick dancing to “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” with Artem, Jana & Gleb’s infamous dance to “Hands to Myself,” by Selena Gomez, and more. 

In the last element of competition, the couples will perform a new routine as part of a “24-Hour Fusion Challenge.” The remaining couples will fuse two contrasting dance styles, and they’ll have less than 24 hours to prepare that dance for judges’ points. The votes from November 21 will be combined along with the judges’ points from the “24-Hour Fusion Challenge” to determine the winner. At the end of the night at The Grove, a champion will be named, and the winner will be presented with the coveted Mirrorball trophy.

Hosted by two-time Emmy-winning host Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews (sports host and ”Dancing with the Stars” season 10 finalist), “Dancing with the Stars” is the hit series in which celebrities perform choreographed dance routines which are judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts, including dancers/choreographers Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba and Julianne Hough. 

For week 11, viewers may cast their votes for their favorite couples via phone on Monday night during and up to 60 minutes after the end of the “Dancing with the Stars” broadcast in each time zone. Online voting at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on Facebook at https://apps.facebook.com/votedwts/ is open for 24 hours, beginning from the start of each episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST and closing at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday evenings.

“Dancing with the Stars” is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Rob Wade, Ashley Edens-Shaffer and Joe Sungkur are executive producers. Phil Heyes directs. “Dancing with the Stars” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound. This program carries a TV-PG, L parental guideline. 

About BBC Worldwide Productions 

BBC Worldwide Productions is a key business under BBC Worldwide North America, the U.S. division of the main commercial arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), BBC Worldwide.  Based in Los Angeles, BBC Worldwide Productions develops and produces scripted and unscripted projects based on BBC formats/brands for cable and broadcast networks, as well as digital platforms. Key titles include “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC), “Getting On” (HBO), “Top Gear” (History), the limited series “The Night Of” (HBO) and the upcoming game show, “Hypnotize Me” (FOX).

ABC Media Relations 

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Looking forward to all of the freestyles except maybe Jana's.  So far nothing she's done has stuck with me, so I expect the freestyle to be more of the same.  But the other three?  Oh yeah - I can't wait to see what they'll come up with. 

You could be right about Gleb's choreography.  I haven't been terribly impressed with it.  Jana dances it well, but I think it's mostly uninspiring.

SLA, I was also impressed by Calvin's freestyle.  He looked adorable.

And I loved Laurie's "joyful" freestyle.  It was a feel-good performance.  And she looked every bit the kid she is.

While Jana's dance was supposed to represent her journey on the show, it seemed more a throwback to her abusive relationship, which has already been overly exploited on the show.

The same goes for James' racing accident.  The voice-over ruined it for me before the dance even began.  I know the judges were crazy for it - but, for me, it was another of those overly dramatized personal stories translated to dance.  A turn-off to an otherwise well-danced number.

It seems obvious that James has been chosen as the winner, but part of me wants to see Laurie take that trophy.

What a great night!  Mostly.  < lol >

Seriously I wanted to strangle CAI and her stupid "lift" police routine.  I absolutely agree with Len - when it's an unintentional foot off the ground in a swinging move like that, it's not a lift.  It really isn't, and it doesn't deserve to be penalized.  That 8 for Calvin was beyond stupid. 

Loved Laurie's redemption paso.  Thought she nailed it.  Felt bad for James with that stumble in his foxtrot.  It was an otherwise gorgeous dance.  But just as I thought it was stupid for CAI to dock for the unintentional foot off the ground, it was equally stupid for Bruno to give a 10 to a performance with a clear and obvious mistake.  A subtle one that some might have missed is one thing - but there's no way he "didn't see anything."  And it was obvious from the way he said that so coyly that you know he saw it. 

Didn't care for Jana's freestyle at all.  That's on Gleb.  Horrible choreography.  And once again he slipped.  I know he wasn't feeling well, but how many times now has he been the one to flub up one of her dances?  He slipped twice in one routine either last week or the week before.  They could have both been hurt if he'd gone down last night.

Calvin's freestyle was so much fun.  Very innovative with the treadmill, and Calvin looked like he was having a ball.  Kudos to Lindsey for that.  It was terrific.

Val has often been criticized for his freestyle routines, but last night's was fantastic!!  My favorite of the night.  Clever choreography - loved the "mannequin challenge" Loved loved loved it.

I kind of agree with singly that James' freestyle was one of "those overly dramatized personal stories translated to dance," but I didn't dislike it the way I did Nyles' freestyle last season.  I thought it was excellent choreography from Sharna to mix the contemporary with a lot of actual ballroom styles.  I still dislike that kind of manipulative freestyle, but I have to give her credit - I thought her choreography was gorgeous.

I would love to see Laurie win, but I really couldn't fault a win by either James or Calvin.  They've been good and entertaining and likeable and hardworking all season.  Maybe the best final 3 I can remember. 

Congratulations to Laurie and Val on their win last night!  Well deserved.  And congratulations to Calvin/Lindsey and James/Sharna as well.  Any one of them would have been a good choice to win.  They all came through this season giving it their all, never whining or complaining, no real "drama" to speak of.  Great competitors all. 

I thoroughly enjoyed last night.  I loved the way they brought some of the contestants back - like Rick Perry playing DJ while Vanilla Ice sang.  It was nice that they gave Babyface and Jana time to sing as well.  My only gripe is that they start it at 9 instead of 8.  I'm usually in bed by 10, so I'm dragging this morning.  It was nearly 11:30 by the time I turned in last night.  < lol >

I'll add my praise for the best season in ages.  I, too, would have been satisfied with a win from any of the three.  Subconsciously, I've been pulling for Laurie, but I felt a twinge of disappointment for James last night.  Go figure, huh?

They've also cleaned up the finale night.  I used to f-fwd through most of it. It seems the last couple of years they've dropped the boring stuff and simply entertain us.

Was it just me, or did it appear that Jenna was in every single non-contestant dance????  lol.  I have the same aversion to her that I do with Allison.  Hopefully, I'll lose it because it seems they're both permanent members of the "pros."
With Jenna, I think "sex-kitten."  With Allison, "Atilla." 

Nice being with you guys for the season.

I know what you mean.  I've been rooting for Laurie all season, but I felt kind of bad for James last night.  I think in part because the judges just really went kind of over-the-top in their praise with things like Julianne's comment about best male contestant ever.  I'd never heard of him before the show but he seems like an all-around nice guy with a great attitude.  I wonder if he'll be on the tour.

Anyway, great season.  It's been a pleasure talking with you.  See you all next season!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

I believe Laurie is home-schooled, so that could be done while she is on the tour.