Dancing with the Stars: The Season 8 Finals
This week, each judge visited one of the couples to give them some training.By the way, do you think Len had somebody drive him because he’s that rich or he’s that old?And have you ever wanted to see Bruno in a bathing suit, covered in bronzer? (Um hell no. I’m scarred for life.–Myndi)Well, my friend, I have a treat for you.
Bruno gets to visit Shawn and Mark.See, I’m not sure I’d want Bruno as my personal judge.He’s so ridiculously enthusiastic that I’m not sure he’d be constructive.Also, he tends to get lost in his own thicket of metaphors.By the time he compares you to seven different animals, you’d be totally confused.
Carrie Ann is there for Melissa and Tony.Because she and Tony are totally besties, right?She’s stern and picky, but she’s probably the best at being able to demonstrate what she’s talking about as well.
Finally, Gilles and Cheryl get the pleasure of Len’s company.Len’s actually still got the moves and he seems to be really helpful.Old man knows his stuff.
Ooh, and they’re doing the paso as a Face-off.This should be swell.Also, I hate pop-up ads on TV, but I’m ridiculously excited about The Goode Family.Know who hasn’t messed up yet?Mike Judge, that’s who.
The Face-Off:All three couples take the stage together, and there are smoke machines.First up are Shawn and Mark.The music is super-distracting, by the way. (It distracted me because I have an irrational love of the song, “So What?”, by Pink–Myndi)It’s a really good paso, with nice speed and fantastic precision.I’m not sure it was as good as Shawn’s previous paso, but I liked it.
Next up, Melissa and Tony.Melissa is, well, not wearing very much at all.They’re very dynamic with some incredibly striking poses.Really good holds and some cool moves.Tony choreographed the heck out of this thing.
Finally, Gilles and Cheryl take the floor.Once again, these two are just dead-on.They’re probably the pair I’ve enjoyed watching most all season.There’s this real aggression to their dance that we don’t often see on this show.It’s pretty awesome.
Len said that Shawn’s routine was exciting, which he didn’t think before.He saw a slight mistake with Melissa but it was much better than her previous paso.He also liked Gilles’ pacing and intensity.Bruno congratulates everybody and calls them all splendid.He compares Shawn to Dexter (the TV serial killer), which is pretty funny.He loves Melissa’s drama, and thinks that Gilles is a real leading man.Carrie Ann says that this has been her favorite season.She didn’t feel the emotional commitment from Shawn, but it was beautiful.She was proud of Melissa and thought that Gilles was perfect.
Scores!Carrie Ann and Len give Shawn 9 and Bruno goes for 10 for a 28.Melissa gets a 10 from Carrie Ann and Bruno and a 9 up the middle for 29.And Gilles pulls straight 10’s for a perfect 30.Wow, they all rocked that one!
And now for the much loved Freestle Round.I’ll cover everybody in chronological order, since there are only three.We can keep track of their place on the leaderboard in our heads, right?
Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (30/58) – Shawn says they’re going to scale back their gymnastics for the freestyle, which might not be the best move.Season Four winner Apolo Ohno visits their rehearsal, and is too polite to mention that the onscreen captions misspell his last name.Hi, Apolo! (I imagine all Olympians are best friends!–Myndi)
Huh.They start out wearing baggy leather clothes from head to toe and creepy sequined masks.I’ve had nightmares like this.Oh my God, they look like Mummenschanz!They cartwheel over each other, and there’s some creepy posing until they tear off their protective outer shell. (Shawn struggles a bit with the disrobing.)Their dance is kind of like a Jive, only they propel themselves across the floor in some unique ways.There are some cartwheels, and they both spring to their feet from a lying-down position.It seems weird to say, but this dance is all about propulsion – they’re launching themselves all over and moving very fast in interesting ways.This was really fun to watch! (Agreed. And you explained it better than I would have.–Myndi)
Bruno says she’s going for the gold and was impressed by all the tricks.Carrie Ann and Len both unreservedly loved it.The crowd is freaking out and the two kids are just beaming.Samantha Harris compares the Mirrorball to a gold medal, and that’s accurate insofar as both are things that I will never have.The judges score straight 10’s for a 30 and a 58 for the night.Good job!
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani (27/56) – Tony reminds us that he hasn’t been in the finals since Stacy Kiebler in Season Two.He flings her around like a rag doll in rehearsals, and at one point, while she’s flipping, she hits him hard enough to give him a black eye.By the way, and Myndi will probably turn on me now, but I think I like Tony.He rubbed me the wrong way for years, and he finally won me over.
They’re wearing baggy black pants, and Tony has a mesh t-shirt.Melissa is down to a sequined bra in no time fast.Tony tosses her up in the air and she lands on her feet, then he vaults over her.Holy crap, he’s just tossing her around, and she just keeps landing cleanly.Some of it looks like club dancing, but a club where everybody is ridiculously hot and good at dancing. (It’s like Zoolander!–Myndi)They almost do the Worm at one point.Some parts looked a little sloppy, but there were some gorgeous lifts and holds.Also, the whole thing was just exciting and fun.I’m liking everything tonight!
Carrie Ann loves her attitude, but thought the choreography was disjointed.Len thought she showed her versatility but didn’t get it.It wasn’t elegant enough for him.Bruno was happy to see the Running Man, but wasn’t as perfect as he would have hoped.The judges give her straight 9’s for a 27 and a total of 56.I liked that better than the judges did, but I’m easily distracted by lifts and shiny things.
Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke (28/58) – Gilles mentions that he’s having some problems with his shoulder, which worries me.He doesn’t get any celebrity guests or hilarious mishaps in his rehearsal footage.The dance begins with Cheryl in a chair looking sad until Gilles comes over and everything gets all sexied up. It’s a very slow, sultry start with lots of writhing and great posing.It picks up when they hit the main floor.Gilles picks Cheryl up and spins her and looks great.Of the three, they took this most seriously as a dance – it’s actually a piece of choreography, rather than all the tricks they’ve been saving up.It’s not the most immediately memorable freestyle, but it’s pretty stunning. (Hey, I’m just happy for any freestyle round we get through without a contestant dressed as a doll.–Myndi)
Len loved it and says it proves that Gilles is a real dancer.Bruno thought it was a great performance but wanted “more dancing”.Carrie Ann agrees.See, I thought that was the most like a real dance of any of them.I’d be a terrible judge on this show.Len gives them a 10, but the others score 9, for a total of 28 and an overall of 58.
OK, this one’s going to be tight.My prediction is still Gilles, but I’ll be happy for any of them. That’s right, I like all of the finalists.That feels weird.Join us back here tomorrow night as Myndi breaks down the grand finale, including the Pro Competition.It should be swell!As for me, this is my last recap of the 2008-2009 season.Thanks for reading, and providing me with reams of facts – you guys, you’re the real heroes.
