Trav's Thoughts

We shall carry on with our spring frivolity, keeping the victims of the tornadoes in our thoughts.

It's the finale!

We've got our fru fru finery.  We've had our cheese and bread.  We've had our nice merlot.  We've had our CAKE.  We are ready for our finale!

There was so much to like about Monday's performances.  I've chose one routine each from our Final Four to show, and then provided a link to the other performance for you.

Were it up to me to rank the couples, I'd put Jacoby and Karina in fourth place.  You all know that those turned in feet have bothered me all season.  Then there's that whole Super Bowl thing.  I didn't really care for their freestyle, but I did really like their Jive.  Scroll forward to about 2:30 for the dance.


It's a tough, close call, but I'd put Aly and Mark in third place.  I'm so impressed with how much Aly has grown as a dancer this season.  I thought their freestyle was different and very enjoyable, but my preference was their Samba.  Scroll forward to about 2:35 for the dance.




Dangit!  Only one couple can win.  I wouldn't be unhappy to see Zendaya and Val win, but I'd rank them just barely in second place.  I liked that they didn't make their entire freestyle about hip hop, but I much preferred their Samba.  Scroll forward to about 2:35 for the dance.


Yup.  I choose Kellie and Derek to win.  I loved both of the routines they danced for us.  Their Quickstep was brilliant, but their freestyle was stunning.  Scroll forward to about 2:23 for the dance.  The balance move at about 3:35 is amazing, but shortly after that Kellie does a run and jump at Derek that defines the trust in this routine.  Then she walks out of the spin as effortlessly as you please.  Incredible.  That's as good or better than what we're going to see professional dancers get up to over the next couple of months during SYTYCD.


So that's the way I'd rank them, if you forced kitty to choose.  I think any of the ladies can win it.  Those top three scores are close enough that the fans can turn things over.  Plus there's still one more dance for scores.

Here's a look at what Louis van Amstel had to say.

And here's a reminder of our leader board pending that final dance.

65 Zendaya and Val
64 Kellie and Derek
61 Aly and Mark
56 Jacoby and Karina

It's a packed night so settle in with your favorite snacks and enjoy one of my favorite things to do...tell you all about the final results!

Pros leading off the show with our Troupe.  And here come all of our eliminated celebrities too.  And our Final Four.  You know its a finale when the ballroom floor is crowded with the entire cast.  That was choreographed by Lacey Schwimmer.

I think I told you at some point this season, but I'll say it again.  One of my favorite features has been the pros and members of our Troupe dancing us into and back from commercial breaks.  The more dancing the better, I say!

Tweeters chose the freestyle from Kellie and Derek as the encore.  I wouldn't have expected them to be able to dance that as emotionally as they did on Monday, but even their mistakes in the encore were done well.  LOL!  Honestly, if I'm not watching a Broadway show choreographed by Derek Hough some day, I'll be much surprised.

It's unfortunate about the technical issues with the online voting Monday.  Producers decided that the fair thing to do was throw out the online votes, which could certainly impact the result.

First results...Aly and Mark finish fourth.  That caught me just a little by surprise.  I would have thought a 5 point advantage would have been enough to earn her that final dance. 


We've got a special routine with our female pros and Troupe dancers joined by Kellie, Zendaya, and Aly.  Sharna choreographed that routine.

YAY!  Wynnona is in the ballroom to sing for us.  Her dancing didn't go as well as I would have liked.  But that woman can sing y'all.  Tony and Peta provide a lovely assist.

Lisa Vanderpump returns to the ballroom to Foxtrot with Gleb.  Oh nice!  Len steps in to do a little dancing too.  I should remind you that Mr Goodman is a former British national champion and he's still got plenty of moves.  Stink eye aside for the way he treated Kellie and Derek earlier in the season, Len is my favorite judge because more often than not I learn how to watch the dances better from his commentary.

I was so disappointed when Dorothy Hamill's injury forced her to withdraw.  She's such an inspirational hero of mine.  I just wanted her to stick around.  Tristan can't dance in the finale with her, but he did choreography a piece for Dorothy and Henry to perform.  I get my wish though...to see one of my childhood heroes Waltz. 

Oh they did not!  Kristi Yamaguchi joined the performance with Sasha, to dance a beautiful side by side Rumba.  You'll remember that Kristi's championship season five years ago helped Dorothy get through cancer.  I need a minute.  That got me choked up to see two fantastic Olympic champions together like that.


Of all the moments I have enjoyed from this program, that one was among the most special. 

OK, let's see what's next.  Ah, it's the return of Andy Dick, Sharna Burgess, and the demented Jazz routine.  This was one of my favorite moments from the season.  I thought this was a really good performance and that Andy's innate awkwardness was actually a strength in the concept and choreography.

Now we have a performance from Psy.  I don't like this music or this phenomenon.  But that's OK.  Plenty do so if it's your thing, I hope you enjoyed that performance.  Wait...there was something I liked.  Andy, Victor, and Sean got in the act and did the dance that goes with the song.  They did pretty good, too.

More from our fantastic Troupe, joined by the guest dancers from the season.  I love our pros and I don't know who I'd want to see replaced, but I'm definitely on board with Henry, Sasha, and Witney joining the cast as pro partners next season.

Pit Bull returns to the ballroom.  You know, I don't like this party style club rock.  It's just not my thing.  But I do like this guy's style.  He brought some of his own dancers, but our gals joined in too.  I didn't hate that song either.

Ready for some instant dances for final scores?  Our three remaining couples got the music to match their dance styles early in the show, then had about an hour to put together their last routine.

Jacoby and Karina dance Salsa.  This is a great style for him to end on.  It would have been nice not to see that damn purple again, but I can't imagine he'd wear a red shirt, eh?  This was never about technique for Jacoby, although he did make some improvements over the course of the season.  For him, it was always about being cool and entertaining, putting his own particular swag and style on the competition.  Geez, that ending was almost a disaster.  The camera got too close and screwed up that last trick.  Judges say 10s across for a total of 30. 

Kellie and Derek dance Jive.  I have so enjoyed her on this show.  What a delightful personality.  She makes me smile.  All that complaining the judges have done about her not putting emotion in these dances.  I never bought it.  She just exploded all over these routines and styles with personality and flare and outstanding technique.  She got so good that she was able to cover mistakes with detail and make them look like she meant to do it that way.  This Jive was a culmination of the entire season.  They danced together like they'd been doing it for 10 years rather than just 10 weeks.  Excellent work!  Judges say 10s across for a total of 30. 

Zendaya and Val dance Jive.  She has been so much fun to watch this season.  What a talented young lady.  Gotta love the pink sneaks.  She's a kid gang!  That was a terrific Jive.  Lots of energy and fun, with a heavy dose of Zendaya style.  She's cool and funky and I love how much fun she has shared with the audience throughout the season.  She carries herself with so much maturity.  Her timing is always spot on.  Hats off to her, and hats off to her parents who have raised her to be such a great kid.  Well done young lady.  And well done to Val too.  I have enjoyed watching him embrace the opportunity to be a teacher to such a special teenager.  Judges say 10s across for a total of 30.

What, you thought any of these dances would score less that a perfect 30?  Silly you!  You haven't been paying attention over the last 15 seasons, have you? 

Here's our final leader board of the season:

95 Zendaya and Val
94 Kellie and Derek
86 Jacoby and Karina

One final musical performance from Jessica Sanchez, and a video of our final three. 

And now we're at the end.