It's the grand finale, live from Hollywood!
Tonight we find out who dances off with the Fabulous Mirror Ball trophy!
We've got our fru-fru finery, our nice bottle of merlot, our lasagna for dinner, and our CAKE. We are ready for two hours of frivolity.
Let's get to it!
Our eliminated celebrities open the show, and they each bring out their celebrity partner for a group dance. That's a great way to take the floor, with our three final couples joining them.
Here's a reminder of our leader board after Monday's performances:
60 Jennifer and Derek
56 Kyle and Lacey
52 Bristol and Mark
Apparently, Jennifer ruptured a disk during Monday's performance. She has been cleared to dance and she's going to perform. I hope she's OK.
Christina Aguilera is in the ballroom, performing a number from the new film Burlesque.
Our pairs get two more chances at scores from the judges. There will be two rounds.
Here's round one. Each pair selects their favorite dance of the season. The pairs will be ranked by the judges rather than getting scored individually.
Kyle and Lacey dance their Tango. They scored 23 on this dance, which I thought was the point at which Kyle really started to improve his technique and combine it with his charm as a natural performer. I think he's a bit heavy with his feet in this dance, but his posture is quite good. He also has control of his balance. He is dancing with much more confidence now. I liked the performance. He attacked the dance without letting it get away from him, and was a strong lead for Lacey. Len praised his energy and attack. I think Kyle has always been able to bring attitude and charm to his performance. But over the last few weeks he has added refinement and poise. Judges say 9,8,9 for a total of 26. It looks like Carrie Ann and Bruno ranked them 2nd, while Len ranked them 3rd.
Here's the updated leader board:
90 Jennifer and Derek
82 Kyle and Lacey
77 Bristol and Mark
While our three final couples prepare for their instant dances, we get the parade of eliminated celebrities.
And aren't we lucky? We get a vocal performance from David Hasselhoff, with a little bit of Cha Cha Cha danced with Kym and a couple of other pros dressed as Baywatch lifeguards.
Rick and Cheryl, dressed in Lakers colors, have a dance off with Kurt and Anna, dressed in Cardinals colors. It's an epic Paso Doble battle. That was fun.
Margaret gets to dance a little with Dmitry and Damian, before dancing her Cha Cha Cha with partner Louis. And then Florence gets a bit with Dmitry and Damian too before dancing with partner Corky.
Mike returns to dance with Karina and two other pros, and apparently he had to do it shirtless. Whatever.
Brandy and Maks return with their Quickstep, denying Bruno's request to do a free style. I think it's better that they did this dance instead. Regardless of what some might say, they just didn't earn the opportunity to dance a free style.
Christina Aguilera returns to perform her song Beautiful. I really like this song. Her dancers signed some of the lyrics. That was really nice.
Now we get to round two, which is an instant Cha Cha Cha. I'm glad they brought this back. I think it really brought out the best in every celebrity. Each pair dances their own Cha Cha Cha choreography to Pink's Raise Your Glass. They drew numbers for the order of performance.
First up are Kyle and Lacey. Cha Cha Cha suits him so well. I'm a little surprised by the choreography though, because for a good 15-20 seconds at the beginning, he didn't do much dancing at all. That was kind of disappointing actually. I expected more excitement. The performance was enjoyable, although I wouldn't say it was one of his best. Judges say 9,9,10 for a total of 28.
Next we have Jennifer and Derek. I liked the way they entered the floor. Jennifer was spot on, just like the first time I saw her do this dance. They did classic Cha Cha Cha steps and did them well. Derek managed Jennifer's injury situation and she pushed through it. I'm so sad that this was the last time I'll see her dance. Judges say 9,9,10 for a total of 28.
Last up are Bristol and Mark. This was a good dance for her to finish up with because I thought that of all the up tempo dances, she managed Cha Cha Cha the best during the season. I thought she never really demonstrated musicality in most of the up tempo styles, but she did a good job with this final performance, although she did make some mis-steps just at the end. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27.
So here is our final leader board:
118 Jennifer and Derek
110 Kyle and Lacey
104 Bristol and Mark
That's it. The dancing is finished. The scores and votes are in. Now it's results. Here we go.
Finishing in third place...Bristol and Mark.
Finishing in second place...Kyle and Lacey.
That means the Fabulous Mirror Ball trophy goes to...Jennifer and Derek!
YES!
Of course you know I'm thrilled with this result. She was my favorite before she ever took a step on the ballroom floor. I split votes early, but that didn't last very long. And now I'm a happy DWTS fan!
The only thing that would make me a happier DWTS fan? I think you know.
Please please please please please!
Can Valerie Bertinelli come dancing???
Please?
Later gang!
Yay! Jennifer has come a long way since Dirty Dancing!