Trav's Thoughts

It's the final performance show and it's live from Hollywood!!

Each pair gets to pick their favorite Latin and ballroom dances from the entire season. Click on the names of the dances for links to each performance.

Brooke and Derek select Quickstep as their best ballroom, and Paso Doble as their best Latin.

Lance and Lacey select Tango as their best ballroom, and Mambo as their best Latin.

Warren and Kym select Viennese Waltz as their best ballroom, and the Paso Doble as their best Latin.

We have junior champions now! And the fabulous mini mirror ball trophy goes to Craig and Samantha.


And poor kitty did not have to choose.



Now the competition is on with a group Samba. Brooke and Derek lead off with ambitious choreography - it was a bit too much for us and there's still something off about Brooke that we can't quite put our finger on. Lance and Lacey follow high energy and solid tricks - Lance has improved so much, and the two of them together are clicking at just the right time. Warren and Kym keep the momentum going with one of his best performances of the season - he cleaned up his sloppy footwork and really danced well. And as a group they finish off strong.

That was outstanding!

Judges scores are:

9,9,10 for 28 Brooke and Derek
9,8,9 for 26 Lance and Lacey
9,7,9 for 25 Warren and Kym

Next up is the freestyle round. Anything goes, including lifts and tricks. My favorite freestyles are the ones that incorporate something of the actual ballroom or Latin styles into the choreography, and then push the boundaries in those styles.

Brooke and Derek are up first. The music is from Grease, You're the One that I Want. The choreography is basically Jive and Jitterbug. There were fantastic tricks and great dance steps. They had a terrific mix of actual dance with lifts and throws. I didn't see any missed steps and the lifts looked so effortless. The judges went nutty over it and called it the best freestyle they have seen. It's up there. It was really good. And one of the best things about it was that Brooke didn't sacrifice her technique at all. Judges say 10's across for a total of 30.

Lance and Lacey are next, wearing their Lancey T-shirts. They both should absolutely shine in this freestyle format. They chose a hip hop style, but I don't know the music. We loved the whole thing. It was modern and creative and upbeat. It was accessible hip hop with fun choreography that engaged the crowd. We liked that they threw in a bit of Cha Cha Cha toward the end. That was a good style choice for them, consistent with what they've brought to the ballroom all season. And the performance was solid. Judges say 9's a cross for a total of 27.

Warren and Kym close out the night. Great choice of music...it's Proud Mary, the Ike and Tina version. They went for a show dance full of lots of different ballroom and Latin styles. It was heavy with amazing tricks. They threw in the Tina Turner shimmy several times. The dance was so entertaining and fun, and Kym's choreography really showed off Warren's strengths. It's a shame that the judges have the double standard about technique, but it is what it is. We've got no complaints about that dance...not a one. It was terrific. Judges say 9,10,9 for a total of 28.

Here's the leader board:

58 Brooke and Derek
53 Lance and Lacey
53 Warren and Kym

One pair will be eliminated on the results show, and then the final two will have one more dance for judges' scores, but the voting is now done. My votes went to Lance and Lacey. And in a stunning development, Pam has defected from Brooke and Derek! She also voted for Lance and Lacey.

HA!

We can't predict the winner. We want Lance and Lacey to win. Brooke and Derek have been the most consistent, and are likely to win. But the voters have 50% say in who wins. With that, could Warren and Kym charm and entertain their way to that fabulous mirror ball trophy?

We shall see.

Our plane leaves at 6:04am Tuesday morning, headed south for a Turkey Day celebration with my family. We're very excited, but it does mean that we won't be able to post a recap of the final results show.

We'll be watching though!

We'll be back late Sunday. I'll put together a full and proper recap post sometime next week.

I've got a few posts scheduled for the next several days. We wish you all a grand holiday! We're outta here!