Dancing with the Stars Recap: The Final Three...strangely anti-climactic


I loves me some Paso Doble, but that was too much even for me

I had high expectations for last night's Dancing with the Stars finale. The best three dancers actually made it to the end, and each of them has had moments this season when it was hard to tell apart from the pros. This should have been the best finale ever!

And yet it wasn't.

Maybe it's because Shawn, Melissa and Gilles may be the best finalists ever from a dancing skillz point of view, but they're not exactly the most vibrant personalities ever.

Maybe it's because they beat us into submission with a Paso Doble dance-off...which simply didn't provide the variety of having each couple dance different dances from one another.

Maybe it's because they're al so good I have no real vested interest in who wins. (And that may mean that tonight's American Idol finale will be a similar let-down!)

All I know is that I felt less than pumped up when it was all over. Is it only me?

Now that I'm done whining, let's dig in:

1. The Paso Doble Dance-off

I really enjoy the Paso Doble (probably because it reminds me of Strictly Ballroom, a movie I could watch a hundred times.) But seeing these three couples do the Paso Doble consecutively...to the same music, and with similar choreographic content? It got old. They were all really good, it just started to blend together. If I had to rank them, I'd rank Gilles and Cheryl first, Shawn and Mark second and Melissa and Tony third. Shawn continues to excel at being sharp and precise, almost perfectly executed, but her face in these serious dances can tend to be more impassive than passionate. Meanwhile Melissa has the most natural grace and talent, but she's also the least confident and most prone to small, noticeable errors. I thought there were enough such visible errors that it was shocking that any judge would give them a 10! Finally, Gilles and Cheryl were as accurate and sharp as Shawn and Mark, but with more emotion, more passion. So they win this round.

2. The Freestyle round

1. Shawn and Mark kicked it off in creepy costumes that were a cross between Cirque du Soleil, Jason from Halloween, and those creepy Eric Clapton acolytes in the movie "Tommy. Seriously...expressionless masks? Creepy. And they were wearing so much (sweats and those masks) that the moment when they stripped them off and started the dance for reals was a bit stressful. Oh no, will they make it in time? Is the mask getting caught in her hair? What is going on up there on the steps? Anyway, once they got started this was really fun, and I did indeed appreciate that they did some tricks, but also danced a lot. And she got to show how she's come pretty far in letting go and letting her personality show through. Very very good, fun and interesting.

2. Melissa and Tony did a number to "Gonna Make You Sweat", and just hearing those opening power chords I think we all expected the best of Melissa's Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders past to come to the fore. She didn't, however, actually seem to be in her element. She has always been at her best when asked to be graceful, elegant, frothy, lovely. She has amazing lines and extension. This routine, on the other hand, focused almost exclusively on lifts and throws. With little connective tissue in between. Each individual trick was impressive (although occasionally clunky) but as a whole, this didn't impress like it could have. I will, once again, question Tony's skill as a choreographer.

3. Gilles and Cheryl got the plum closing slot and nearly botched it with an awkward beginning. Melissa and Tony seemed to go form lift to lift without enough dancing in between. Gilles and Cheryl seemed to go from grope to grope without enough dancing in between. Seriously I felt like prudish Len, wanting to tell them to get a room. I just didn't think it was as hot as they were trying to make it, and that it might have been hotter if they weren't trying so hard.

If I had to rank the Freestyle round it would go Shawn and Mark, Gilles and Cheryl, Melissa and Tony.

So, what's the Bottom Line?

I think Melissa will come in 3rd.

After that, it gets harder to predict.

A woman has won the last two rounds (Kristi Yamaguchi and Brooke Burke) so it might be a man's turn, and Gilles has definitely got the heartthrob factor going for him.

However, Shawn has the wholesome and cute factor gong for her. Folks who kept Ty in the competition so long might find Shawn way more appealing than Gilles. Would Gilles and Chery's grope-fest turn *off* more people than it turned on?

I'm still going to guess that Gilles will win.

What do you think?

Posted: Tue - May 19, 2009 at 12:50 PM       EmailFeedback

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