Trav's Thoughts

It's the final encores and results!

We've reached the end of another season, and what a season it was!  I'm not going to lay on the hyperbole, but certainly we can argue that Season 14 has been incredibly competitive and enjoyable to watch.  And by the end of this post, you'll know who danced off with the Fabulous Mirror Ball Trophy.


Here are the terrific performances from Monday night.

Donald and Peta danced an Argentine Tango in round one that was characterized by Len as too careful.  I thought it was emotionally intimate and focused on story.  You can see that performance here.  For freestyle, they chose a cowboy country theme and while I didn't care for the style personally, it was a great demonstration of strength and power with all the lifts.  They earned a perfect 30 for it.


William and Cheryl pulled out all the stops for a high energy, hip rolling Latin extravaganza in the freestyle round.  You can see that performance here.  My favorite from them on Monday was the terrific Cha Cha Cha, for which they were awarded a perfect 30. 


I give dance of the night honors to Katherine and Mark, but I had to really consider which dance was the better of the two.  The Paso Doble was excellent and you can see it here, but I think I'll go with the freestyle, which was full of fast footwork interwoven seamlessly with lifts and spins and tricks.  Whichever one you like, Katherine and Mark ended the night with a perfect score of 60 for both dances.


I'll say it again...WOW!  Somebody told me she missed a step in that freestyle coming out of one of the tricks, but I didn't see it and I was watching for it on the playback.

Here's what Louis van Amstel had to say about the performance finale.

So here's our leader board coming into the results, with one dance left for scores:

60 Katherine and Mark
59 William and Cheryl
59 Donald and Peta

It's really anybody's trophy.  The third dance is a new routine to music the pairs received after the performance finale, so they had less than 24 hours to make the dance and perfect it. 

We've got our fru fru finery.  We've had our bread and cheese, our nice merlot, and our CAKE.  So let's have ourselves a super-duper-mega-double-step-over-lip-lock-finale!

Always a good thing when we start the show with our pros and Dance Troupe.  And let's not forget our eliminated celebrities as they return too.

I didn't think there would be an encore from the judges, but they decided to see the freestyle again from Donald and Peta.

Sherri returns to dance Cha Cha Cha with Val and Maks and Tony and the fellas from our Dance Troupe.  I thought she was eliminated about 2 weeks too early.  She surprised me with how well she danced.  I loved her enthusiasm for the show, and while it was Val's job to bring out the best in her, I thought she had a positive impact on him as well.

Here's our first season retrospective, capturing the early weeks of the season, when we saw how terrific this cast was.  Martina had a respectable first dance before she got tripped up by Jive.  She returns now to dance her Foxtrot with Tony.  Then Jack gets to dance his Cha Cha Cha with Anna.  I think in any other season, Jack probably could have gone another week or two.  He wasn't the worst dancer and he sure worked hard.  I think with a couple more weeks, he would have improved.

I didn't like that Samba the first time Gavin and Karina performed it.  I think a better choice for them would have been their Cha Cha Cha or perhaps their Tango, either of which was much better.  But, I can understand choosing to dance with all those lovely ladies.  I thought Gavin was the most improved celebrity during his weeks on the show, until the Samba disaster.

Next up is a retrospective of Rock Week, Latin Night, and Motown Week.  Gladys and Tristan return to dance their Cha Cha Cha...I missed her sassy style.  She made me smile every week.

Jaleel also returns with Kym.  I thought Jaleel was hot and cold.  He was really dependent on getting the right style.  But when he did get the right style, he wowed the crowd.  He and Kym put together a special Paso Doble to the theme from Shaft, with an assist from the Dance Troupe.  That was really good.  I'm glad they got a chance to do that.

Melissa and Maks reprise their trio dance with Val, which we enjoyed when they performed it for scores.  I admit I was a little disappointed with Melissa because I had it in my head that she would be graceful and elegant.  She really wasn't, but I think she did have a few good moments on the show.  This trio dance was one of those good moments.

Roshon and Chelsie get a chance to put together a freestyle, which I expect will include some hip hop.  I like this...they incorporated a bit of Cha Cha Cha into the choreography.  It would have been nice to see them dance that for scores and votes.  I'm sure I said this at least once during his run...the kid is talented.

Kelly Clarkson is back in the ballroom, accompanied by Tony, Kym, Tristan, Anna, and our Dance Troupe.  She's the original, first American Idol and the best in my opinion.  We'll be watching her on the show Duets this summer.  I hope it's good.

Let's get another retrospective from the last few weeks.  Bonus...we get to see that tremendous Argentine Tango again from Maria and Derek.  I wanted them to be in the finale, but I can't say which of our three finalists they should have replaced.  So although it sucked for them to be eliminated after scoring a perfect 30 for the Argentine Tango, somebody had to go out in 4th place.

Season 15 is an All Star reunion!!  I just did a happy dance.  I'll have to think on it this summer and see if I can predict the cast.

OK gang...let's have the final round of dances for scores.

William and Cheryl dance Salsa, making each of his finale performances from the Latin style.  Play to your strengths, particularly with such a short time to rehearse and perfect what you want to do.  Dance steps you know and dance them well.  Although, I think he could have done just as well with a Foxtrot.  Instead of taking a risk, they went for something up tempo, fun, and guaranteed to get the crowd worked up.  Check...they certainly did that with this performance.  Judges say 10s across for a total of 30.  Predictable, eh?  But not necessarily undeserved.

Katherine and Mark dance Jive.  Similar to her freestyle and certainly a style at which she excels.  I didn't know anything about her other than she sang during classical week last season.  From the first she captured my interest with her personality, charm, and fierce competitive spirit.  Plus, there wasn't a dance she couldn't do.  She was good in every style and in every routine, and her technique was nearly flawless every time.  OK, I'll go for the hyperbole.  She is one of the top 3 female celebrities to have competed on the show.  Outstanding work all season.  Judges say 10s across for a total of 30.  Again, predictable and again deserved.

Donald and Peta dance Cha Cha Cha.  This is a good choice for the final dance.  I have appreciated Donald's appreciation for the dancing and the show.  His strengths have been his power, his charm, and his personality.  I had no idea he was going to develop so well as a dancer.  He dedicated himself to improving his technique, frame, and posture.  He has the competitive drive of an athlete, but he learned to temper his power with finesse.  Every week he added nuance and detail to his performances, and I think that built a following that could possibly earn him the trophy.  Judges say 10s across for a total of 30.  The last predictable score, and again deserved.

That's it!  No more competitive dances for Season 14.  Here's our final leader board. 

90 Katherine and Mark
89 William and Cheryl
89 Donald and Peta

Let's get us some Gladys!  Wow.  No dancers required.  Just the Lady and a microphone.  That was Gladys Knight y'all.


Final results...





That's it!  Season 14 is in the books with a worthy champion.  I think it's very cool that we'll have an All Star season in the fall, which is probably the safest way to follow such an outstanding cast.

But more details on that later.  For now, I celebrate our Season 14 champs!

Later gang!