The performance finale

Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 by Travis Cody in
13

Oh bother. This happens every Monday. I can't quite finish Manic Monday rounds.

But you know why, right?

Yup! Cue that theme music! Live from Hollywood!



**does a hop jig, a soul twitch, a left leg swing with extra thigh action, and a series of sexy Mambo hip swivels**

Heheheheheheheheheheheheheeeee

Yes, I'm geeking out because this is the performance finale.

In past seasons, the judges have ranked the dancers in a tie so that the fans can choose their favorites. I suspect they will do that tonight with Mel and Helio. But what will they do about Marie?

The first round is judges' choice.


Mel and Maks dance Cha Cha Cha as the judges' choice. Pam just said, "Wow, Maks was fantastic but where was Mel?" By that I believe she means that Maks was kind of dancing for himself instead of making his partner look good. It was a very good dance full of content and difficult choreography. But it wasn't our favorite performance of theirs. Judges say 9,9,10 for a total of 28. We believe that Mel is the best dancer of the three finalists, and perhaps for the entire celebrity cast.


Marie and Jonathan dance Samba as the judges choice. Can I just say how fantastic she looks after so many weeks of dancing? Wow! They look like they are having a blast. And we smiled through the whole dance. She's cheesy and fun and entertaining and she makes it look like everyone should do this. Of course technically she wasn't great. We understand that and we don't care. We enjoy watching her dance with Jonathan. And she remembered to breathe this time! Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. They gave her credit for being the entertainer she is but won't give her the extra point to keep up with Mel or Helio because of technique. We get what they are doing.


Helio and Julianne dance Jive as the judges' choice. This just isn't his dance. He did the technical steps but we thought it was awkward. It didn't seem smooth. We enjoyed it and it was an improvement over the first time they did Jive. It was fun and it had a lot of energy, but we don't think it was great. He's always charming and the fans will be behind that dance. Judges say 8,8,9 for a total of 25.

I have to say that we were most entertained, again, by Marie. Helio and Mel are better dancers, but they weren't so technically better than Marie was entertaining.

Did that make any sense????

Next up, the no rules, lifts allowed, freestyle round.


Mel and Maks. Regrettably we don't care for the hip hop style. They definitely danced well, but we didn't like it. We didn't find it entertaining. We think Maks should have choreographed something that showed her off better instead of letting her Spice Girls back up dancers add stuff to it. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. We still think she is the best dancer. For the first time though, we think Maks didn't do well for her.


Marie and Jonathan. Entertaining to the last! They knew the judges wouldn't give them any credit for technical stuff so they just went for fun. The judges hated it. Whatever. She entertained us and we like her. They didn't dance for the judges, they danced for the fans. And nobody can say those lifts weren't difficult. They had plenty of content and they did ballroom stuff. They just played it for laughs and fun rather than any serious dancing. Judges say 8,7,7 for a total of 22. Sure it might be the right score from a technical perspective, but once again we don't care.


Helio and Julianne. They did a lot of really difficult tricks and lifts but the actual dance steps were very basic. Helio did a great job of flinging Julianne around in the air. Those were really tough. And the dance was high energy. Len thought it was the best freestyle of the night, but he didn't say why. Judges say 9,10,10 for a total of 29. We don't know why. We appreciated how difficult the lifts and tricks were, but we weren't really entertained by the dance.

Here's the final leader board:

55 Mel - technically excellent
54 Helio - high energy and excitement
46 Marie - best entertainer

We didn't think that the dancing was terribly impressive tonight. And we don't think any of the celebrities were dancing for the judges. They were dancing for their fans. You could tell that from the freestyle routines, which weren't designed for the judges to enjoy.

Mel and Maks danced for a Spice Girls audience. Marie and Jonathan went for vaudeville. Helio and Julianne went for charm and high energy.

Pam and I aren't using our votes based on tonight's dances. We're looking at the body of work. And if you are a fan, then we hope you used your votes for the celebrity you enjoyed most this season. Or for the celebrity you thought danced the best this season. Or for the celebrity who you didn't know before but ultimately came to enjoy this season.

Do I tell you who we voted for?

Pam voted for Helio. She enjoyed him the most all season.

Me? You guessed. I voted for Marie because she entertained me all season long and because she gave me some serious nostalgia.

13 comments:

  1. as I watched the Doll Dance...I was wondering what you were thinking. I was not as fond of it as you....smile. But I agree they all danced for the fans not the judges.

    I'm with Pam....but basically I think you've been in love with Marie for twenty years...and you are not the only one....

  1. Katherine: Basically you would be correct in that assessment. I hope it hasn't been too annoying.

  1. Marsha says:

    An interesting night and not at all what I expected....and let's be honest, not nearly as good on the dancing (for the final night) as the past couple of years. What's with that??? This IS a dance competition and I think you are right...they weren't dancing for the judges, they were dancing for the fans to get their votes.
    I've been looking forward to the free style for a couple of weeks now. The only one that even came close was Helio and Julianne...and still admittedly, he still had issues. Marie's 'doll' covered up for the clumsiness of their lifts and Mel's routine was just boring and disappointing.

    Marie looks fantastic after 10 weeks of dancing and she's never failed to entertain BUT this IS a dance competition!

    I was surprised by this entire season. When I first saw the list of 'stars' I had my doubts. But let's face it, this has been the best set of stars they've had so far.

    Who will win?? Last week I said it was Mel's trophy to lose. Last night, she left the door wide open for Helio to take that trophy home. Either of them winning - I'll be happy!!

    After this I guess I'll just have to hang on for SYTYCD's new season.

    BTW...Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

  1. Marsha: For us this has been the most entertaining season. There wasn't really anyone we disliked. I'll be checking out the Bruno vs Carrie Ann show to see what that is, otherwise reviews go on hiatus until SYTYCD.

  1. Shelby says:

    Smiling.. I watched the video.. cute cute cute.. I missed the dance show tho.. great recap.

  1. Schmoop says:

    Marie looked like a creepy Chuckie kind of thing. Cheers!!

  1. It was an interesting night..Marie is the entertainer...I think Helio wins it all

  1. Unknown says:

    This is the first year that I'm okay if the best dancer doesn't win. I'm sort of hoping Marie gets at least in the final two. I am so with you about the nostalgia thing...She entertained me far more than any other performer (except long-past Sabrina). Can't wait for tonight!!

  1. Shelby: Some would say you didn't miss much, but we enjoyed it.

    Matt: Harumph!

    V: We'll be fine with any of the three.

    Steven: Me too!

  1. Julie says:

    Well...mom disrespected Marie and I told her off! The nerve of her! Trav...I did it for you! LMOO!!!

    I'm pushing for Mel and you know why!!! **wipes drool and prepares thud mat for when Maks is on**

  1. Trav, I didn't know you were so...limber.


    **does a hop jig, a soul twitch, a left leg swing with extra thigh action, and a series of sexy Mambo hip swivels**

  1. I can't believe I watched that YouTube video. Aaaaaarrrrgh!

  1. Julie: You and your Maks obsession! And there is no dissing of Marie in this space! Thanks for your support!

    Mags: Well, I'm virtually limber. In reality I have to be a little more careful, although I can do the hip swivels. Heehee!

    Songbird: But but but...it's Marie!