S32.E11: Finale

[Fliz]

15 hours ago, Andiethewestie said:

It felt to much trying to be Argentine when we need to see heel leads - her dress made it difficult to see her feet.

Agreed. The skirt was very distracting.

[Recyclorette]

5 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

People on this forum aren't making racist comments, but there are a lot of them on the show's Facebook and Instagram pages. The fact that they don't delete that garbage pretty much says it all.

Just reading the last 2 pages here, I have to wonder.  Regardless of having another favorite, Xochitl was amazing and the win could have gone so many ways.  It feels to me like many of the comments lamenting her win are veiled, just by their sheer number.  For reference, I'm not a teenager, Latina, or a TikTok or Marvel fan.  I'm a senior, so Xochitl had a very diverse fan base.  

 

[realdancemom]

32 minutes ago, Recyclorette said:

Just reading the last 2 pages here, I have to wonder.  Regardless of having another favorite, Xochitl was amazing and the win could have gone so many ways.  It feels to me like many of the comments lamenting her win are veiled, just by their sheer number.  For reference, I'm not a teenager, Latina, or a TikTok or Marvel fan.  I'm a senior, so Xochitl had a very diverse fan base.  

 

I agree that any of the five could have won for various reasons. I'm also a non-Latina senior that doesn't do TikTok.  I watched Dr. Strange but not the second one. I didn't know Xochitl before this season but she won me over. 

As for Charity, I thought she had a strong night. As I previously mentioned, I think she won the redemption round. Her freestyle was the one that was the most unique and showcased her talents.

[boyznkatz]

I don't know if I liked Charity's freestyle as much as her other dances this season, but it was definitely different. Now that they include everything goes "jazz" as a dance for everyone, there isn't really much to get excited about with the freestyles anymore. I appreciate that she at least tried to be unique.

Was Ariana trying to channel Beyonce? Her dance was a hot mess, whatever it was. I really think Alyson was better than her on both dances. I agree with those who said Alyson got ripped off yesterday. 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by boyznkatz

[DkNNy79]

I hope they go back to a 3 team finals.  5 is too many and a 3 hour finale is too long.

[LexieLily]

12 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Back to the shitty manipulation. I think I'll always wonder what would have happened if they hadn't decided to do five in the finale. I do give more credence to some of the more conspiracy minded thoughts from last week. While Charity wasn't that far ahead of Jason or Ariana, her coming in fourth makes me believe I've been right and she hasn't been pulling in the votes. I think she was legitimately in the bottom two the last few weeks. I think the producers might have wanted to save her the embarrassment of being one of the first Bachelorettes in a long time to not make it to the finale, and especially for her to not make it over a "worse" dancer like Alyson. 

The more I thought about it last night and today the more I agree with you on this. Allyson was fourteen points behind Charity on solely judge scores at the end of finale night. Charity was second on the leaderboard both on finale night and the semifinals night and she still came in fourth once the audience votes came in. There is more than a high chance that Charity would have been the one eliminated last week if they hadn't decided to move everyone forward to the finale.

[Recyclorette]

1 hour ago, realdancemom said:

I agree that any of the five could have won for various reasons. I'm also a non-Latina senior that doesn't do TikTok.  I watched Dr. Strange but not the second one. I didn't know Xochitl before this season but she won me over. 

As for Charity, I thought she had a strong night. As I previously mentioned, I think she won the redemption round. Her freestyle was the one that was the most unique and showcased her talents.

Everyone has their favorite performer and freestyle preference.  Jason also had a fantastic night.  Whether Xochitl was someone's pick or not, it can't be denied that she is an extraordinary talent with a humble and uplifting personality that endeared her to many.  Her win was certainly not a shock or undeserved.  I still think all the controversy about her win is very suspect.

[TVbitch]

Was rooting for Jason. Have to admit I was underwhelmed with Pasha's free-style choreo, and with Val's. I enjoyed Mark's dance with Charlie more. It is a shame last season was on streaming, because some of the dances Mark created were downright amazing. The Simpsons dance was was nothing short of brilliant.  

Anyhoo, the show was WAY better out from under the godawful oppressive ego of Tyra, so I am just grateful it was back to being enjoyable. If they would trade out Bruno and Carrie Ann for some fresh judges, I would be thrilled. Those two have become cartoon caricatures of themselves, and I only listen to Derek. 

[Ilovepie]

I'm really bummed Jason didn't win and another social media teen won. I honestly would have preferred anyone besides Xochitl (and Val). I did enjoy this season as there wasn't really any one ringer and Jason, Xochitl, Ariana and Charity were all pretty even as far as talent, and the rest of the cast (except maybe Harry) was fun to watch. The hosting team of Alfonso and Julianne was fantastic, and putting Derek in Len's seat was about as good as it was going to get. But I just feel like Danielle absolutely deserved to win for her choreography and Jason had more personality in his dances. As far as the freestyles, I liked Jason and Allyson the best because their partners were actually dancing with them. The other three pros just were part of a troupe support for the "star" for the most of the dance. So despite being a good season, I went to bed disappointed......oh well, there's always next season! 😜

[MissPriss]

19 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Anyhoo, the show was WAY better out from under the godawful oppressive ego of Tyra, so I am just grateful it was back to being enjoyable. If they would trade out Bruno and Carrie Ann for some fresh judges, I would be thrilled. Those two have become cartoon caricatures of themselves, and I only listen to Derek. 

💯% agree with this. This season was a huge improvement but these judge replacements would be so welcomed! Thank God for Derek. Perfect replacement for Len. Julianne got better (calmer?) as the season progressed. They’ve made some excellent changes!

Now regarding shenanigans, I believe there were some. But people go on this show for various reasons. Winning the mirror ball trophy is not always their top priority. But you can bet your bottom dollar DWTS had one goal. Good entertainment and a winner of THEIR choice. A little drama over shenanigans is just more publicity.

I’m thankful it was on network TV. I hope this continues. 

 

 

[Jal]

4 hours ago, Recyclorette said:

Xochitl was amazing throughout and I think she deserved to win, regardless of any judges comments, which I FF through anyway.  

But racism?  When a Latina won?  I'm wondering about that reading the comments here, but it's not towards Charity, who is also going on the tour.  And it's just my opinion, but I think Artem is the sexiest pro on the show.  

You can be racist towards one group and not as much towards another.

[Andiethewestie]

59 minutes ago, Recyclorette said:

My discomfort reading the comments was that many seemed to imply that she didn't DESERVE to win.  

I didn't think she deserved to win. Over the season I was absolutely flummoxed at the high scores she was getting over poor technique that others were routinely being called out. Why? Because her personality that wasn't particularly interesting or her performance level which was very good?  But her dance technique in particular for me was like nails on a chalk board compared to what others were trying and sometimes succeeding other times not but at least there were attempts to correct them. There was very little change on her redemption dance , I saw no heel leads, very little Foxtrot thanks Val no pivot turns, maybe a feather step  jumbled in with tango movement and there was a mistake again, not clean but ignored.
 

She definitely struggled with the Samba, had a malfunction in the Jazz, that affected the performance, poor technique in the Tango, again no heel leads and overall had sloppy moments tha could have been corrected. She didn't do the rumba or the jive that should have  been compared to Jason's outstanding work She messed up the cha cha and lost it Charity Charity lost to Jason so that wasn't good .  . But why bother to fix things  when you're scored highly?  So if this is the game the show is playing it's sad. Ballroom and Latin dancing is difficult to get right, so to gloss over technique just because you've had lots and lots 

of training in movement to fake it just isn't fair to others. Now, if you were just judging on the superfluous like most who don't know ballroom and Latin then she's hands down the one who fakes it the best. 

[iMonrey]

The problem with the way they scored Alyson versus anyone else is that there was never any explanation for why. Carrie Ann tells Charity she might have seen a mistake and has to take off a point because it's the finals, sorry! But after Alyson dances, all she gets from the judges is praise, they tell her what a joy she is to watch and how far she has come and how proud of her they are. Then they give her 8s. WTF.

What exactly was wrong with her Salsa, to get two eights? Neither Bruno nor Derek pointed out any mistakes. Same with her Freestyle. What was wrong with it? Why only 9s when they were handing out 10s to everyone else?

You know, just for the sake of optics to shut people like me up, they could say something like "We love you, you aren't quite at the same technical level as the other four which is reflected in our scores, but we admire you so much" or something to that effect. Instead they just praise her and compliment her then pull out 8 paddles. It's like they want it to look like a conspiracy.

[babyhouseman]

At least we didn't have Artem and another Bachelorette winning. I agree she would've been eliminated last week, and that's why we got the final five.

The Christmas dance was sweet. Good to have great hosts and no Tyra. 

My mother usually only cares about the Houghs and Mark, but she really enjoyed Jason's freestyle last night and was rooting for him. Xochitl is a good dancer, but I'd rather Jason won. I'm sure Val has a lot of fans though. 

Alyson wasn't going to win, but I agree with those who thought she should've got 10s on her freestyle. 

Overall, it was a good season. 

[FilmTVGeek80]

1 hour ago, Recyclorette said:

It's not people disliking Xochitl's win, since there were several amazing finalists with obviously large fan bases.  My discomfort reading the comments was that many seemed to imply that she didn't DESERVE to win.  

As for your question about Harry, based on his performances, criticism of how far he got was understandable and, if he'd ever won, negative reactions would not be veiled, they would be deserved.

But then again, this is about America's favorite dancer, so . . .

(And just for the record, I can't stand Hannah Brown.)

But people are allowed to think she didn’t deserve it without it immediately being assumed that it’s because of her race. I think most who have expressed disappointment with her win have explained why they didn’t like it or her and I haven’t seen any that flagged her race.

26 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The problem with the way they scored Alyson versus anyone else is that there was never any explanation for why. Carrie Ann tells Charity she might have seen a mistake and has to take off a point because it's the finals, sorry! But after Alyson dances, all she gets from the judges is praise, they tell her what a joy she is to watch and how far she has come and how proud of her they are. Then they give her 8s. WTF.

What exactly was wrong with her Salsa, to get two eights? Neither Bruno nor Derek pointed out any mistakes. Same with her Freestyle. What was wrong with it? Why only 9s when they were handing out 10s to everyone else?

You know, just for the sake of optics to shut people like me up, they could say something like "We love you, you aren't quite at the same technical level as the other four which is reflected in our scores, but we admire you so much" or something to that effect. Instead they just praise her and compliment her then pull out 8 paddles. It's like they want it to look like a conspiracy.

I can only assume that they feel like if they outright criticize her that it would make her fans rally around her (feeling like she was being picked on) more than just giving her a lower score.

[Recyclorette]

The thing is, despite high scores from the judges and high placement on the leader board, some of those couples don't place as high as expected.  It's all down to their fan base and votes so, in the end, the voters decide who wins.

[Recyclorette]

7 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

But people are allowed to think she didn’t deserve it without it immediately being assumed that it’s because of her race. I think most who have expressed disappointment with her win have explained why they didn’

My reaction was to a comment about Charity being unfairly treated as a black woman.  Since a Latina won, there was obviously diversity in the voting.  By pointing out the many comments about Xochitl's win, it could also be imagined that she was being targeted for her race, if that was what someone wanted to see.  

Both women were consistently at the top of the leader board and, clearly, neither would have made it to the finals without the support of a solid fan base, so the accusation of prejudice seemed unwarranted.  One just had more votes than the other.

[Andiethewestie]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

You know, just for the sake of optics to shut people like me up, they could say something like "We love you, you aren't quite at the same technical level as the other four which is reflected in our scores, but we admire you so much" or something to that effect. Instead they just praise her and compliment her then pull out 8 paddles. It's like they want it to look like a conspiracy.

That was just a cruel way to ensure she wasn't getting any further than 5th.
 

Len Goodman would have honestly assessed her.Salsa : 

 

He would have said something like, I like the way you attacked the dance, I saw some good rhythmical movement, I liked the dancing in hold. What is lacking is a bit of fluidity, your movement is still halting because you lack confidence. But come on girl, give it some Welly  keep practising until your body does it automatically. 

 

[funnygirl]

Would it have killed Carrie Ann and Derek to give Alyson 10s for her final dance? Like, come on. It wouldn't have made a difference in the results, and it would've been a just reward for someone who worked hard and improved week-to-week, and who could hang with the ringers of the season. I'm glad Bruno gave her a 10. And he's right, she is the people's champ of this season.

[Andiethewestie]

So I'm still gobsmacked over Jason and Daniella's freestyle. Not only was it such an awesome showcase of his personality it was loaded with on point musicality and cheeky sexiness without being in your face. Jason's fully front and centre getting into the dance time steps and a blue eyed soul groove.
 

Blink and you'll miss Daniella's foot placement on Jason dangerously close to his nether regionx and his cheeky reaction to her before they run off and get into some Chicago footwork that we first saw on Iman's freestyle but changed up with double time taking it further to Lindy and Charleston a sexy body roll a little pop and lock and finishing with a Lindy trick. I mean it was everything I ever expected in a Freestyle. The back up dancers were working it but they were dressed to be in shadow to the two principles not overwhelm them. This is really smart and emblematic of Dani's attention to detail, being careful to include all the hallmarks of Lindy, some lifts, some slowing of the movement to fan with a hat, so we can rest the visual before they start back up -Dani the pulling of his tie, the circular opening out and side by side dancing  Watching it back I just appreciate it as one of the best freestyles I've seen on the show. Iman's was great, this was better .
I am amazed at Jason being 46 and dancing like he's 26. I must say that was my favourite outfit on him, absolutely love his fedora and Dani was as cute as a button.

Daniella keeps raising the bar and outdoing herself. Move over Derek and Mark-- Dani's in the ballroom

 

 

 

[marykat71702]

I just finished watching.

Jason should have won with Xochitl in 2nd place.

I don't know who the hell is dressing Julianne, but they forgot part of her dress.

I really like Xochitl, but her first dance did not deserve 10s-there were some missed hand-grabs for one thing. Her freestyle to me was also just meh, unfortunately.

Both of Jason's dances tonight were incredible. His Freestyle will be one I will remember and re-watch.

Alyson gave it her best, and I love her for her spirit and enthusiasm. Definitely most improved. Boo on Carrie-Ann and Derek for giving her 9s on the Freestyle. I thought they pretty much gave Freestyles all 10s unless something really egregious happened 🤷‍♀️

Arianna, you are not Britney. The redemption dance didn't do her any favors either.

Charity pretty much just did a halftime cheerleading show for her freestyle, with maybe two or three actual dance moves. I did catch the flub in her redemption dance-for once I saw what CA was talking about.

'Twas a lot of filler...

Edited December 7, 2023 by marykat71702

[boyznkatz]

22 hours ago, Andiethewestie said:

That's too bad. They've alienated the loyal fans of the show. I stopped watching for a number of seasons, but came back for the pros like Daniella who  I saw on WOD heard she and Pasha were going to be on as pros so I came back to see how they'd do. She really taught students and provided exciting choreography. Too bad the jaded pros like Val are still sticking around. All he gives is re-cycled choreo from seasons prior. But even if the dancing and the out of time violin gets dusted off for another round of look at me I'm a great Pro he's no Mark Ballas

 

Yeah, the show isn't nearly as good as it used to be. I liked Jason because he was an old-school contestant. I think he would have won in an earlier season. If they are going to get social media "stars" I hope they at least get people who can dance like Charlie. Maybe they can hire Ezra and give him and Rylee some young stars who can perform and dance. I know that's going to mean we'll get more garbage like their versions of contemporary and jazz, but it is what it is.

[DkNNy79]

I did not watch the Tyra seasons.  I was watching clips on youtube of her announcing the winner and she was just ridiculous with her fake surprise announcements.  So cringey.  

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, funnygirl said:

Would it have killed Carrie Ann and Derek to give Alyson 10s for her final dance? Like, come on. It wouldn't have made a difference in the results,

That's just it. There is only one reason not to give her 10s for her freestyle, and it's precisely because it might have made a difference in the results. A difference they didn't want.

[coffeebean]

On 12/5/2023 at 10:41 PM, Door County Cherry said:

They don't always give them but almost always.  Not giving them to Alyson is just wrong.  If part of the season is about growth, she showed the most. She's not like Harry.  She's not terrible. She clearly works hard. Maybe she's not as talented as the others but If the voters decide she deserves the win?   She clearly  So be it.  

And I'm especially irritated because Xochitl got 10s on her fox trot but there was a clear mistake that even I saw (and I never see mistakes.)  

Her freestyle started strong but I thought it got weird and boring in the middle. No, it was not brave CAI.  

I just finished watching the show so did not see this live. I saw the mis-connect with Val right away. I played it back and sure enough, it was very evident. Funny, Carrie Ann did not mention that mistake like she mentioned Charity's mistake which I didn't see.

Don't get me wrong......I'm glad Xo won over Alyson. I kind of wish Jason won though.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by coffeebean

[coffeebean]

On 12/5/2023 at 11:17 PM, Jaundiced Eye said:

I think you need the judges to balance out the crazy fans making it a popularity contest. Remember that Bones guy? Or David Ross of the Cubs coming in second place? I actually want to see a good dancer win. Otherwise I'd never bother with the show at all. As it stands, there are always bad dancers who are kept on far too long because you can't trust the public to vote based on talent.

You can't trust the voting public to even watch the show.......hence Harry's fans who probably voted without seeing what a tree trunk he was.

[coffeebean]

On 12/5/2023 at 11:37 PM, nickp1991 said:

Seeing Helio on tonight's DWTS finale was a nice surprise

I was more excited to see Whitney Carson!

[Andiethewestie]

 I read of Derek's wife and her health situation and I pray she has a full recovery. This is such horrible situation for them.  Derek has to be beside himself with worry. Haley was in the skybox on Tuesday as the camera panned up there after Jason's freestyle

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Andiethewestie]

Sounds like Haley Hough is doing okay. That's a relief. 

 

Just as a thought again about my favourite dancer Jason Mraz - he's been a staple in beautiful dance music.  One of the most evocative dances that took Janine Mason on SYTYCD to a win was her Jason Glover's contemporary to Mraz's If It Kills Me

 

[Andiethewestie]

We have all watched Ariana's Redemption Samba. The party dance in an orange costume. Looking back I think the fluffy skirt was strategic to hide the less than perfect hip action. 

I thought it might be interesting to compare hers to another beautiful blond Stacey Kiebler from Season 2. Also in an orange costume but it was designed to highlight the hips.For me Stacey's is the all time best Samba because of how she could move, the precision of the footwork and the overall presentation. Spice Girls vs Destinys Child music. 

Stacey and Tony Samba 

Ariana and Pasha Samba 

Interestingly enough both Ariana and Stacey wound up in 3rd place. Stacey got a lot of backlash for dance training, but she had an injury going into the final and the freestyle wasn't good. Drew and Cheryl won with Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy for the sexual innuendo as much as anything else. When you look back on that freestyle it was more a vibe than great dancing IMHO
 

 

[Andiethewestie]

Charity and Artem got fourth place and wouldn't you know it some really amazing dancers came in 4th over the years.

In season 11 we had Bristol Palin and the votes for her were a political statement as much as a fave dancer vote.  As much as Mark tried to hide her flaws she just wasn't very good.
 

Unfortunately the politics of the season sent great dancers home. Particularly k Brandy who many thought was a top contender. Charity reminds me of Brandy. Beautiful long legs, expressive arms-The difference was Brandy and Maks had a smouldering connection. For the Rumba, Maks may have had corny choreography compared to Artem, but I definitely felt a much stronger partner connection between them. Moreover this was classic Rumba dancing  cucarachas, s opening out, rope turns, movement like an elastic and the all important extension control.. With Charity you really had to look to find Rumba, - it felt more like a contemporary dance. That was a deliberate choice because the Rumba is very difficult technically.

Brandy and Maks Rumba 

 

Charity and Artem -Rumba 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[yourmomiseasy]

On 12/6/2023 at 2:14 PM, Ilovepie said:

I'm really bummed Jason didn't win and another social media teen won.

I don't know that I'd call Xochitl a social media teen, that really down plays her career accomplishments. She's an actress that has had decent success, especially for her young age.

[Andiethewestie]

The winner might not be a social media 'influencer" but there was a huge push on social and teens saw it . She had the most "followers" prior to the show, which is probably due to that uninspiring Marvel franchise.

 

And the show cashed in on the Taylor Swift phenomenon that appeals to mainly the very young.
 

Prior to that she wasn't a household name and certainly not known by the older demo that routinely watches the show. 

Edited December 12, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Acmeproducts]

Taylor’s fan base stretches to women in their thirties who grew up with her, as well as parents of the youngsters. 

[Andiethewestie]

Just now, Acmeproducts said:

Taylor’s fan base stretches to women in their thirties who grew up with her, as well as parents of the youngsters. 

Sure. We saw the lunacy of Alyson. The show skews older tho'

[Acmeproducts]

24 minutes ago, Andiethewestie said:

Sure. We saw the lunacy of Alyson. The show skews older tho'

Alyson is 49.

[DEL901]

38 minutes ago, Andiethewestie said:

Sure. We saw the lunacy of Alyson. The show skews older tho'

13 minutes ago, Acmeproducts said:

Alyson is 49.

…and has 2 tween daughters…Taylor’s target audience.  

[Acmeproducts]

1 minute ago, DEL901 said:

…and has 2 tween daughters…Taylor’s target audience.  

Fair enough. 

[Andiethewestie]

Jason Mraz music is inspirational for all forms of dance. Here's a Japanese contemporary group dancing to another song off his new album -Disco Sun 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0ohsMFS1Nz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Andiethewestie]

The 5th place contestant has always been eliminated before the finals or even earlier when there was a 3 person finale. So we will never know how they would do at the end of the season.  The freestyle for Alyson Harrigan was one of her best scores, and the only 5th place to compete in the finals.

This season we had a celebrity judge who  is well aware of missing the finale.

Neicy Nash never got the tens, but like Alyson she was beloved by the fans and survived a "last to be called safe" and an actual bottom 2 to continue dancing.

Niecy rallied from the threat of elimination week 6 and danced a Quickstep in week 7 her best dance that scored a 25. This was the same score Alyson got for her Quickstep 13 years later. It was also her best dance before the finale. 

Niecy and Louis Quickstep 

Alyson and Sasha Quickstep

And the similarities continue:

Alyson had a 20lb weight loss while being  a contestant. Again, like Alyson, Niecy experienced weight loss according to this article 

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body

Edited December 12, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[vibeology]

12 hours ago, Andiethewestie said:

Prior to that she wasn't a household name and certainly not known by the older demo that routinely watches the show. 

The thing that Xochitl had that appeals to the dedicated fanbase of this show is Val. He is likely the most popular pro and being paired with him is probably a huge boon in votes. As a team, they spanned the whole demo of potential voters which probably was the reason she won since the dancing was pretty equal across the top four for most of the season. 

[Ilovepie]

5 hours ago, vibeology said:

The thing that Xochitl had that appeals to the dedicated fanbase of this show is Val. He is likely the most popular pro and being paired with him is probably a huge boon in votes. As a team, they spanned the whole demo of potential voters which probably was the reason she won since the dancing was pretty equal across the top four for most of the season. 

You are correct, and yet another reason why I find this a boring outcome. I would much rather have seen Daniella win - for me, her choreography was far and away the best thing this season, and it would have been nice to see a pro who has never won get the mirrorball. This was Val's third win, and second with a young teen. I wonder how Xotchitl would have done if she had been paired with someone like Brandon or Alan????

[Andiethewestie]

49 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

Daniella win - for me, her choreography was far and away the best thing this season, and it would have been nice to see a pro who has never won get the mirrorball

This would have been Dani's second Mirrorball. She won with Iman Shumpert season 30.  

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, Andiethewestie said:

This would have been Dani's second Mirrorball. She won with Iman Shumpert season 30.  

Oops! That might have been a season I skipped 🤪

[Andiethewestie]

So tonight is Tuesday night DWTS withdrawls!'
 

It seems to be the tradition on this show that when a teenager wins, a male older dancer is either first or second runner up. The teens who have won Shawn Johnson season 8 her rival was Gilles Marini. In season 23 the winner was Laurie Hernandez and second place went to James Hinchcliffe  

Last year it was Charli D'Amelio with second runner up Wayne Brady. And of course this season we have Xochiti Gomez and 2nd place Jason Mraz.  
 

Season 8 Shawn was the first teenager and the first to win. Her win came down to the freestyle, Mark and Shawn were told to tone down her athleticism throughout the season but went all out with a high octane freestyle that her gymnast friends wanted and fans voted.Tom Bergeron said there was a 1% difference between the vote for 1st and 2nd if Shawn was on tic tok back then she would have easily won despite  Gilles' great season before injury and subsequent disappointing freestyle sunk his chance. But that season Gilles and Cheryl did an Argentine Tango in week 4 that earned a perfect score. It was the first season for this style, so even if the choreography was simplistic compared to what celebrities like Jason did this season it stands out as a classic due to Gilles' impeccable style. You could not look away and stands out as the dance of season 8

Season 23 Laurie Hernandez's children's play yard freestyle was choreographed at least in part by Mandy Moore which was a smart choice. Conversely, James' pro partner Sharna Burgess had a wonderful year as a choreographer especially the Halloween Viennese Waltz but the Freestyle returned to James' accident aftermath which was the wrong way to go. They talked about his recovery throughout the season. His fun dances like the QS and Jive proved he wasn't defined by his accident. Fun freestyles are normally the better choice especially for people with fun personalities. IMHO James' was best when he could go into character and the Halloween V Waltz perfect score was the best example of his l exciting season. It's gone viral to the point of being the dance of Season 23

Season 31 Charli D'Amelio's freestyle was fun but if Im being honest her body of work throughout the season surpassed this freestyle. She had the ginormous presence on tic tok that even if only 10% of her fanbase bothered to vote she was a shoe in. Also both Wayne and Gaby had freestyles that were a miss. In Wayne's case just another hip hop in a season full of hip hop from Wayne and Witney and Gabys freestyle was an embarrassing re-work of Laurie Hernandez's Argentine Tango. Charli had hands down the better Freestyle of the 3.  There are so many of Charli's dances that were fantastic but the one that really moved me was her Viennese Waltz. For me it is the gold standard for any future VWaltz because the emotion comes from the dancing not simply a facial expression but expression through dance giving us a glimpse of the soul. The technique was impeccable and combined with the emotion was absolutely the reason I love ballroom dancing.

Season 32 flipped the script on Freestyles. Of the teen winners Xochiti wasn't the most technical compared to Charli, Shawn or Laurie but she was a performer, lots of sizzle over substance that the audiemce preferred over the traditional arc of rising back after adversity. Early on Jason and Dani came out strong, struggled through illness and questions over real Jazz and returned strong . Their freestyle far surpassed everyone, even the winner, who probably didn't have even the second best freestyle but she had a huge social media presence and lots of support from the show. Bringing in Charli to pass the Mirrorball to the next teenage winner seems indicative of how the show wants to proceed in the future.
 

However for my money the dance that will be replayed as iconic for season 32 was Jason and Dani's Freestyle. It felt like a full circle moment from when Jason owned their Jive in week 3 to going back to an original dance style that pre dates Jive to Lindy Hop and as Dani said on her Instagram - Jason just bodied that dance.  

 

 

 

 

[Andiethewestie]

More exciting choreography to another great Jason Mraz song Butterfly. This one is by Misha Gabriel. He choreographed the Super Mario freestyle that Mark Ballas did with Sadie Robertson. 
 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Andiethewestie]

Good to know I'm not the only one going through withdrawals 

https://instagram.com/stories/jason_mraz/3257152574985141782?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Edited December 14, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Awesome]

On 12/6/2023 at 2:54 AM, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Xochitl also kind of annoyed me when she was talking about having to represent the Latin community. I don't begrudge her wanting to do that, but she was making it sound like she was the first person to ever do that on this show. When, hello, Val's previous winning partner was Laurie Hernandez.

These were the only words in the finale I found where she even referenced her roots:

"With this freestyle, I get to incorporate my culture. So we are starting with Latin dances with some Paso, Tango vibes. And then, once that beat drops, I think you're going to see one the most hype freestyle dances you've seen on DWTS".

I have to come to Xochitl's defense on this. As a Latina woman myself, I looved that she said that and cannot begrudge her for it. Since when should someone not discuss their heritage and lived experience and want to honor that? That's the choice she and Val made because it's close to her heart. Also, does the fact that Laurie won 7 years ago mean that no other Latina can highlight their heritage for a long time? 

And I did not even prefer Laurie in her season, I wanted James Hinchcliffe to win.

[Andiethewestie]

In my post about Teenagers and older men usually ending up 1st and 2nd I forgot the example of Bindi Irwin and Nick Carter, season 21  It just wasn't a great season for me. I didn't like either one. I thought they were both clunky dancers. I also just absolutely hated the constant cry edit over Bindi's father's death. The show successfully made this all about a man who wasn't a contestant and who always courted death with his choices. Go figure.

 Tamar Braxton had a lot promise but she got the difficult black female edit, in part I think because she didn't fawn over Val her partner, got sick and then it became a serious health concern when she got scary ill with the blood clot issue and had drop out before the finals. I loved her Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation Jazz routine much better than Iman's cha cha in season 30. She was really quite I'll at this point week 6 but powered through and matched the pro dancers movement. She worked herself ragged for another 3 weeks until she basically collapsed. 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Chalby]

On 12/11/2023 at 7:41 PM, Andiethewestie said:

The 5th place contestant has always been eliminated before the finals or even earlier when there was a 3 person finale. So we will never know how they would do at the end of the season.  The freestyle for Alyson Harrigan was one of her best scores, and the only 5th place to compete in the finals.

This season we had a celebrity judge who  is well aware of missing the finale.

Neicy Nash never got the tens, but like Alyson she was beloved by the fans and survived a "last to be called safe" and an actual bottom 2 to continue dancing.

Niecy rallied from the threat of elimination week 6 and danced a Quickstep in week 7 her best dance that scored a 25. This was the same score Alyson got for her Quickstep 13 years later. It was also her best dance before the finale. 

Niecy and Louis Quickstep 

Alyson and Sasha Quickstep

And the similarities continue:

Alyson had a 20lb weight loss while being  a contestant. Again, like Alyson, Niecy experienced weight loss according to this article 

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body

I've often noticed celebrities taking part in DWTS, leave the contest looking amazing (physically). I bet participating in this activity, for however many weeks, allows them to see how healthy and fabulous they could look if they wanted to maintain this. BUT it also reminds us of how hard it is to maintain our physical best, and I'll give a pass to those who gain, etc afterwards.