Dancing With The Stars: Finale

It’s the finale of Dancing With the Stars, the slate has been wiped clean which means that all stars are on an even footing. With R&B singer Mya, performer Donny Osmond, and singer (really?) Kelly Osbourne we enter the final week of competition where anything is possible. Favorites could become losers and a dark horse could rise up and claim the title, because, as we are informed, every dance before this moment is erased… except of course for in those boring montages…

First, Kelly looks over her past performances and just realizes how nervous she was and that she thought she couldn’t do it.

Then, Mya looks over the missteps in her performances over the season and says that she wasn’t expecting Len’s harshness. She still doesn’t quite own how stupid it was to polish Len’s desk.

Donny’s montage is the one where you learn there might be some merit to these flashbacks, as both he and Kym offer entertaining insight on his past performances. Maybe it’s just the fact that these two seem to have fun all the time, but this recap doesn’t seem as much of a duty with them as with the others. Anyway they talked about how Donny progressed from just having fun to being more structured (but still entertaining) in his dance.

This week the performers have three dances we are informed: traditional Ballroom, Megamix, and Freestyle.

Ballroom:
Kelly & Louis: Tango. Carrie-Ann joins them in rehearsal. Seeing that Kelly struggles with intimate dances, Carrie Ann prods her to get closer to her partner. “How does he smell… how does he feel.” Apparently this works as her resulting Tango is smoldering with passion. Len marks that Kelly is what the competition is about, a person with no dance experience coming to perform with such skill. Bruno admires her for her focus and dedication but notes that she had problems with the placement of her hands. Carrie says that she is just so proud of the great intimacy and sophistication. Her score: 26

Mya & Dimitry: Paso Doble. Len joins them in rehearsal and noticing that Mya’s Paso is lackluster, he tells her to show more aggression in the dance and in one of the funnier moments of the show steps into her place to dance with Dimitry. It’s funny because it’s the staid Len showing such passion. Anyway, the resulting Paso was “fearless” and “flamboyant” (this from Bruno.), while Carrie Ann dubbed Mya the “Queen of the Paso Doble.” And Len says that it’s his 2nd favorite Paso of all seasons, behind Mel B. and Max. Her score: 30

Donny and Kym: Cha-Cha-Cha. Bruno comes into the practice with a half-open shirt and a chain around his neck (hello, love it!) and watched their rehearsals telling Donny to focus more on being a good dancer and not just entertaining. He also tells Donny about keeping “up” (posture) in his dance, which Donny makes a noticeable difference in in his performance. Carrie Ann compliments him on his hip movement, Len loves it, and Bruno compliments Donny on his good attitude to criticism. Score: 27

Megamix: a side-by-side competition in which the dancers are placed in first, second, or third place.

The only thing really of notice is that Kelly seemed to have trouble keeping up. This becomes more and more apparent as the dances continue. And then apparently at some point she speeds and gets ahead of everyone else. She blames this on a “wardrobe malfunction.” Seriously, I think that phrase needs to be abolished. Mya and Donny perform admirably and it really is close.

Results: 3rd place- Kelly & Louis, 26 points
2nd place- Donny & Kym, 28 points
1st place- Mya & Dimitry, 30 points

Freestyle:
Kelly’s freestyle was very awkward. With her stiff, sharp movements and bulky shoulder pads it was quite uncomfortable to watch. Here she really showed that she was someone learning to dance, and then she fell. The judges were quite easy on her, calling her a joy to watch. Really? Score: 24

Mya wanted to go all out for her freestyle. Her partner Dimitry on the other hand wanted to do a number from Hair. Reluctantly, Mya gave in even though she thought that it would be too safe. And now the lesson for the day: stick to your guns, as their performance was technically beautiful but really boring. The judges expected more and were disappointed. Score: 27, ouch.

Donny wanted to show his entertaining style in his freestyle. This he did masterfully, with an over the top performance that was fun, exciting, and original. Len called it a showstopper, rightly so. Bruno called Donny the Master of Hollywood. And Carrie Ann welcomed him to the ‘Hall of Fame for Freestyle.’ Such enthusiastic comments can only lead to, you guessed it, a 30.

Final Scores of the night:
Mya & Dimitry: 87
Donny & Kym: 85
Kelly & Louis: 76

Since no results show should be longer than the actual show (Thank you ABC) I’m going to make this short. After a final performance for the judges’ score, point leader Mya fell to a tied number two as Donny Osmond took first place. Kelly Osbourne was somewhere back there, and then not as she was the first to be eliminated. That leaves Mya and Donny who were both thankful for the experience, friendships, whatever… Anyway after an exhausting two hours of filler, an exuberant Donny wins, signaling the end of another, shall we say, surprising season.

Season 9, Week 10: Episodes 20&21 (originally aired November 23&24, 2009)

For more on Dancing with the Stars, click here.

Competition Mondays at 8/7C, ABC

Elimination Tuesdays at 9/8C, ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC, Adam Larkey