Trav's Thoughts

It's the performance finale and it's live from Hollywood!



Our three final couples will perform three dances for judges' scores and our votes as they vie for the fabulous mirror ball trophy. We get an individual dance that the couples haven't performed before, then a competition dance so we can compare the dancers side by side, and then the always fun show dance.

Here we go with round one.

Kelly and Louis dance Argentine Tango. Carrie Ann visits rehearsal to help with Kelly's intensity and passion. This is a grown up, sophisticated dance and Kelly is fully committed to the character and drama. Her footwork and frame is very good. She's proving she deserves this chance that the fans have given her. That was really outstanding. Louis' choreography was difficult and the dance had all the dramatic flavor that it should. It was intense, and Kelly found all the little details and emphasized them. She danced and she performed in this one. Well done. Judges say 9,9,8 for a total of 26. Geez Bruno...that was worth 9's across even if she did have a couple of odd hand positions.

Mya and Dmitry dance Paso Doble. If we were only talking about dancing here, Mya would be the gal to beat. I think she's clearly the best celebrity dancer on the floor. Len visited rehearsal, which could be a bit nervy for these two because he's been so critical of them all season. He demanded that she step up and bring the aggression to this dance. I didn't care for the music...We Will Rock You distracted me from the Paso. Dammit. I didn't like it and that's all to the music. I will say that she captured all the main elements that a Paso needs...drama, aggression, and passion. Plus as always she was technically great. But I didn't like the dance. Why couldn't they just have gotten a normal Paso song? Judges say 10's across for a total of 30. I can't argue whether it was perfect. I can only say that I didn't care for it.

Donny and Kym dance Cha Cha Cha. Bruno visits rehearsal to assist with technique. This was cheeky and fun, but also danced very well. The choreography was difficult too. He mixed technique with performance. This was as complete a performance as their Argentine Tango from week 5. That was so much fun to watch. Did you hear the squees from my girl??? Pam absolutely LOVED it! There were one or two issues with hand placement, but those were minor. Cha Cha Cha can trip you up, but Donny had it under control. He is rewarding his fans by dancing well and earning those votes. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27.


Here's our leader board after the first dance:

30 Mya and Dmitry
27 Donny and Kym
26 Kelly and Louis

Despite my unfortunate reaction to Mya and Dmitry's music, I think all three couples had great first dances. Now we have the mega mix round with all three couples dancing identical choreography, side by side and back to back. It's Viennese Waltz, Samba, and Jive. Did you get that? The routines are choreographed by Nick Kossovich, and all three couples are dancing the same choreography. Then the judges will rank them 1 for 30 points, 2 for 28 points , and 3 for 26 points.

I like this! I can't judge it for squat, but I like the concept. Len agreed, saying they all were really close and it was difficult to judge. I thought Donny might suffer in comparison to the two professional men, but he held his own and did just fine. Both Mya and Kelly were actually a lot closer than I thought. It's great to see them dancing the same choreography like that. Judges rank Kelly and Louis in 3rd, Donny and Kym in 2nd, and Mya and Dmitry in 1st.

That makes sense. Mya really is the best dancer, but I thought Donny and Kelly weren't that far off. And at least from my perspective, I think that Donny and Kelly are each more entertaining when they dance. They are both competing just as much as Mya, but it doesn't seem as obvious with the two of them as it does with her.

Here's our leader board after the mega mix round:

60 Mya and Dmitry
55 Donny and Kym
52 Kelly and Louis

And now comes the show dance. Look for the judges to try and keep the scores very close together, provided nobody has a really bad mistake.

Kelly and Louis. I love that he put so much ballroom into his choreography. So often the pros go completely wild rather than play up the ballroom and Latin strengths of their celebrities. Louis resisted that urge. They had a little trouble with a trick in the middle of the routine. She has learned to work through it and not let it throw her off her game. And because of that, the mistakes just didn't matter. It was a great mix of Salsa and Disco. It was fun and showed off her personality. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. They had to mark down a little for the mistake on the trick...she did fall on her back side and it was awkward. That's too bad because it really was a terrific routine.

Mya and Dmitry. I have very high expectations for this dance because now Dmitry is encouraged to let loose with his creativity and artistry. HA! You Can't Stop the Beat! I thought she could have let it go a little bit more. Don't get me wrong...her dancing was fantastic. But I've seen dancing to this song that was wild and right on the edge. Adam Shankman's work to this kind of music is tough to top. And you know what? I'm gonna call Dmitry out here...he lifted whole parts of that choreography from the Tyce Diorio Broadway routine that Donyelle and Benji performed in Season 2 of SYTYCD. I'll bet I'm not the only dance geek that noticed. I'm very disappointed with Dmitry for doing that. Maybe they should have gone with Mya's Vegas idea after all. Judges say 9's for a total of 27.

Donny and Kym. Kym is going Broadway too, and this should be perfect for Donny. WOW! Pam is dancing her little jig because that was the best routine of the night! And I'm not just saying that. That was so good! He brought 46 years of show business performing to the ballroom floor and worked it. The choreography was perfect for him and this is definitely one of the all time best freestyle routines in the history of the show. I just knew that if he got to the finale, he was capable of pulling off a winning freestyle routine. I'm not even going to try and pull Pam down off the ceiling. She is ecstatic, and rightfully so. Judges say 10's across for a total of 30. YES YES YES YES!!!

Here's the leader board after all three performances:

87 Mya and Dmitry
85 Donny and Kym
76 Kelly and Louis

That's a shame that Kelly and Louis had the bobble on that trick. But her face was radiant after they performed and she couldn't stop smiling. Her fans will really have to come through to get her past Mya or Donny though. That 9 point gap is going to be tough to overcome.

Now let me just tell you about our last night of voting. Pam had both of our personal cell phones and both of our work cell phones...that's 20 votes and they all went to Donny. She did say that it was ok if I wanted to vote for Kelly. I really could have voted for any of the three celebrities.

Obviously Kelly has brought out a little father instinct I didn't know I had. And this is a well deserved place in the finale for Louis. They had three solid and entertaining dances.

Mya has been so good all season, and she's put up with so much from Mr Cranky Pants. Plus, Dmitry is a SYTYCD alumni and I always like to see those kids do well. I don't know if I can forgive that dance plagiarism though.

But come on! You think at this point I'm going to deprive my girl of 5 votes for Donny? After that freestyle? Nuh-uh. She supported me during my Marie obsession a couple seasons ago, so I dialed 5 times for Donny. And he really did earn it with a terrific night of dancing.

So there you have it friends and neighbors. We've almost reached the moment when that fabulous mirror ball trophy will be awarded. After those performances, I really have to say that it's anybody's game at this point.

Tune in tonight for 2 hours of frivolity on our way to crowning the champs.