S32.E11: Finale

[Jaundiced Eye]

10 minutes ago, Door County Cherry said:

Especially with three hours.

Okay, I am a little irritated that Xochi seemingly got some preferential treatment in her judging.  I'd rather judges scores not count in the finale.  

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.

[Meowwww]

So who won?   I can’t tell here. 

[Jodithgrace]

Jason was fantastic tonight and at least he came in second since I suspected that Xochi was going to win. Honestly, his was the only freestyle that I really liked. Well, Alyson’s was fun too, but she had no chance.

I really disliked Charity’s cheerleading routine. It might be difficult to have people tossing you around like a baton, but it’s not dancing. 

I couldn’t believe that after 3 hours they announced the winner over the credits! Ridiculous!

Edited December 6, 2023 by Jodithgrace

[nickp1991]

Xochitl represented the Latin American community very well!

I’m so glad Xochtil will be able to tell Milo how it feels to win now! 

[Andiethewestie]

8 minutes ago, 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.

I think for the finale you leave last week at last week and you let the voters decide the winner. Instead of the show being complete jackasses and manipulating Alyson out or effectively manipulating Jason out for dance from a week ago. This smells. it's more than obvious that the winner didn't have the vote, so they had to pad her win with bogus scoring.
 

  So You Think You Can Dance certainly has judges input but the voters decide their favourite. Xochiti is not my favourite, far from it.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[iMonrey]

This was really frustrating. I can't remember the last time judging shenanigans were so obvious. I would pay good money to know what the vote totals were. I'm even suspicious about Xochitl winning. When they announced that Xochitl, Charity and Harry were going on tour I think that explained a lot. Giving Alyson 8s for her redemption dance and 9s for her lovely Freestyle was beyond the pale. It was clear the show was deliberately sandbagging her.

I think announcing the winner while the closing credits were actually rolling says a lot too. Maybe just about how badly produced this was, but I can't help thinking the show knew voters would be less than enthused. 

[Andiethewestie]

Count me out of getting tickets for that mess of a tour. However, I got 4th row tickets for Jason's Tour next July. 

[peachyleisure]

A little disappointed but not surprised about the results. Honestly, I was hoping to see someone older win the mirrorball. Jason was my pick for the win and I thought he had the strongest performances tonight. Xochitl's very talented but this win just felt very predictable to me. I thought she was getting the winner's edit the past few weeks and the judges didn't seem to have much critiques for her even when her technique wasn't the best. 

[Jodithgrace]

BTW, Julianne’s dress was Lady Gaga’s Academy Awards dress, in case you were all wondering. lol. I just read it somewhere. 

[Kristi800]

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

When they announced that Xochitl, Charity and Harry were going on tour I think that explained a lot.

How does Harry get to go on tour??? Must not have much on his schedule. 

[Jaundiced Eye]

2 minutes ago, Andiethewestie said:

I think for the finale you leave last week at last week and you let the voters decide the winner. Instead of the show being complete jackasses and manipulating Alyson out or effectively manipulating Jason out for dance from a week ago. This smells. it's more than obvious that the winner didn't have the. Ore so they had to pad her win with bogus scoring.
 

  So You Think You Can Dance certainly has judges input but the voters decide their favourite. Xochiti is not my favourite, far from it.

But that's kind of my point. I know there are a lot of Alyson fans here who think she was done wrong, but her skills were so far behind the other four finalists, that she wasn't even in the same league. At all. I think the judges tossed her pity 9's the last couple weeks because they thought she HAD to be eliminated before the finale. In my opinion, she was roughly equal to Barry Williams or that Mauricio guy. Lele (if that was her name) and at least one of the male athletes were probably better dancers too, but weren't pulling in the votes. I mean, if the hip hop community had pulled together, Master P would have had a shot. No one needs to see that.

[nickp1991]

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

[DietCokeJunkie]

What a load of BS the redemption dance scoring was. Carrie Ann claims she “thought” Charity made a mistake and gives her a 9. “I HAVE to point it out!” 
Xochi and Val very obviously miss a hand grab in the middle of their Fox trot and all of the sudden Carrie Ann sees nothing and says nothing and they get all 10s. Seems like the scoring was rigged in Xochi’s favor. She’s very good, but if you’re calling out other people for *maybe* making a mistake, don’t try to gaslight us with 10’s for an error we all saw. 

[Andiethewestie]

26 minutes ago, Jaundiced Eye said:

Alyson fans here who think s

Wait a second this is about not the best dancer but the favourite dancer. If your favourite happens to be the best then so be it. But don't manipulate the votes to carry over because the producer's favourite didn't  get enough votes last week with perfect scores, so let's do it again? That's BS' and lacks any integrity. If Alyson was 5th last week she would have went home, and the show would find the filler. But the fans love her and she showed respect for the show and her partner and she improved. 

Without all the BS your top 3 probably looks a lot different than what happened. I bet last week was a true bottom and the top three were Jason Alyson and Charity 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[A.Ham]

So I know I mentioned last week that I had felt sorry for Xochitl for a minute there but that did not change my voting for Jason. She was probably getting the votes all along then. 
I mean, I’m not completely mad at the results but I guess out of the women she was a worthy winner. I did like her dances, except the samba. I remember watching her intro package and thinking based solely on her practice that she wouldn’t make it long, but then she surprised me with a solid Cha Cha.

i did have to laugh a Milo’s “let me know how it feels” comment,

[Andiethewestie]

Of all the seasons I have watched the show the best Freestyle won. This was a sham and Jason was robbed 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Spicysweet]

43 minutes ago, peachyleisure said:

A little disappointed but not surprised about the results. Honestly, I was hoping to see someone older win the mirrorball. Jason was my pick for the win and I thought he had the strongest performances tonight. Xochitl's very talented but this win just felt very predictable to me. I thought she was getting the winner's edit the past few weeks and the judges didn't seem to have much critiques for her even when her technique wasn't the best. 

This show is so fixed it isn't funny. (Other than the Bobby Bones year.) This judges and producers have a favorite, and they ride that throughout the season. I've been watching since the first season, and it hasn't changed. 

 

 

[dancingdreamer]

35 minutes ago, Spicysweet said:

This show is so fixed it isn't funny. (Other than the Bobby Bones year.) This judges and producers have a favorite, and they ride that throughout the season. I've been watching since the first season, and it hasn't changed. 

 

 

I agree, I said week 2, they were setting  Val/ Xochi up for the win. Predictable  padded scoring. I enjoyed the dancing though, loved getting  to know Jason and Alyson  better.

[FilmTVGeek80]

Let me start with the positive - JASON MRAZ! He was SOOOOOO fantastic tonight. That Foxtrot was gorgeous! I've had performer that I love whose freestyles either were incredibly underwhelming or just didn't have the rewatchability factor for me. I think Jason's freestyle goes up there with some of my favorites - like Alfonso and Witney's. Will definitely be rewatching many more times tonight - and for years to come. That was just pure dance. The choreography was so intricate and amazeballs! The one moment of sanity - and probably realness - for Derek tonight was when he said "11" when giving him his score. No matter what, he can be so proud of what he accomplished this season!

When I went into the episode tonight, I was actually convinced that I would be fine with however was the winner (except for Charity.) It wasn't like last year - or previous years - where I really loathed the person who was being given the presumptive winner edit (looking at you dead-eye Charli.) The last couple of weeks, I've seen online polls and saw that Xochitl was the favorite to win, so I was preparing myself for that. But, I don't know, maybe it was all the filler (which didn't all suck - Hi Witney!) or how much Jason killed it tonight, or the obvious lowballing of Alyson, but before even the midway point, I was resentful at the obvious set-up to get Xochitl the win. And not just get her the win, but the manipulation to get the order it seemed the show preferred. I don't know what was up with Derek and Bruno tonight. It was pretty clear that Ariana was not as sharp in her first dance and Carrie-Ann was right, there were a couple of missteps. Yet, they threw her 10s and Alyson, 8s. Even though I felt it was partially scripted, I was happy that Carrie-Ann didn't just hand out 10s and was calling some stuff out. But, then she went blind during Xochitl and Val's dance and didn't call out an obvious mistake. 

I can't remember what Bobby Bones score was during his freestyle, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a perfect score. That is what it usually takes to not get all 10s during a freestyle. Either you have to be that bad or there has to be a massive mistake. I knew, with the first scores, they were trying to make sure Alyson didn't have a shot in hell of winning, but I was still surprised that they didn't give her a perfect score. I get that Alyson wasn't close to the technical level of the others, but there was no reason to do her like that. We're not talking about someone who was horrible like BB or Bristol Palin. 

Last week, I mentioned that I thought Charity could be kind of arrogant at times. Tonight in her freestyle package, at one point she said 'I'm the best of the best and I have to do something to really stand out.' Jigga-what now? Best of the best? And that was the result of the "best of the best." An audition for the Broadway revival of Bring it On. I can only assume the audience - and the judges - had never been to a pep rally before. That's the only thing I can think to explain their orgasmic response to her freestyle. What's even funnier is that one of the judges (I think it was Carrie-Ann, who had been doing so well with sanity earlier) actually said what was great about the freestyle wasn't the tricks, but the actual dancing. What dancing? That was 90% Ringling Brothers.

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.

I don't usually watch the skybox interviews, but I'd seen people mention how Harry would sometimes steal focus up there during interviews. OMG, I wanted to punch him in the face when he interrupted Alyson's interview after her redemption dance. I don't even care if his emotion was actually genuine. It was so cringey. What was worse was he stood there while Alyson and Sasha were about to get their scores. I think Alyson even had to push him back a little. 

I thought Alyson's freestyle was lovely. It felt kind of short - at the end I was like "That's it?" But still, really nice. It helps that Enchanted is one of my favorite TS songs. Ariana's freestyle wasn't bad, but it was just blah. Xochitl's was a step above blah, but I didn't love it, either. It didn't feel like anything new or special. And, I think others were right that she got kinda lost in the crowd during the middle of it.

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. 

I know the point difference between the top four wasn't huge, but I definitely wonder what would have happened if they hadn't rolled over the scores from the previous week. They could have basically done what they did with Iman vs. JoJo - which was give them the same scores and let the audience duke it out. They could have done that if tonight's judges' scoring wasn't combined with last week's. Jason was tied with Xochitl (both had perfect scores.) Could he have eked out the win under those circumstances? I guess we'll never know because of the shenanigans and because we don't know the vote totals.

Edited December 6, 2023 by FilmTVGeek80

[Andiethewestie]

3 hours ago, Kristi800 said:

How does Harry get to go on tour??? Must not have much on his schedule. 

He's the lummox of DWTS. He stands around  camera hogs and cries because as mommy's boy that how he gets noticed. 

[Andiethewestie]

53 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

 

 

. 

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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. 

I know the point difference between the top four wasn't huge, but I definitely wonder what would have happened if they hadn't rolled over the scores from the previous week. They could have basically done what they did with Iman vs. JoJo - which was give them the same scores and let the audience duke it out. They could have done that if tonight's judges' scoring wasn't combined with last week's. Jason was tied with Xochitl (both had perfect scores.) Could he have eked out the win under those circumstances? I guess we'll never know because of the shenanigans and because we don't know the vote totals.

Great post all I can say is the producers made it close enough. Jason's 117/120 carry over BS was 97.5 % of the possible points awarded him. Xochiti with all the padding was 2.5% higher which is enough to clear the trees. 

Jason was able to overtake Ariana who tied his score and Charity who was one point higher. So support was there.

But the carry over was the producers' insurance because they don't normally carry over scores. Every episode is a new challenge, I can't recall it ever been a cumulative score to the finale until tonight. 

[superdeluxe]

Xochitl was set up to win from the very beginning.  Disney, Marvel, ABC connections.  Going on the tour.  Let’s even throw in paired with Val.  It was obvious that she was going to win.

You got the obvious winner, the nonsense and racism towards Charity — I’m just glad that this season is over.

[CheshireCat]

Please remember Primetimer's golden rule: Be Civil. Everyone is entitled to their opinion; if you disagree, do so in a civil and respectful manner.

[Jaundiced Eye]

Overall, I really enjoyed this season. I didn't see the last couple because I don't have Disney, and I didn't watch Tyra Banks, so I probably appreciated it more than usual. 

Four of the finalists were always at the top of my leaderboard. Arianna fell off a bit lately, mostly due to injury, I think, but she also seemed a bit worn out. Charity may have been the most graceful and technically proficient of the dancers, but she came across as cold. She didn't connect with the audience or Artem, for that matter, and she couldn't fake it. Xochitl was a terrific dancer with oodles of charisma, and having Val for a partner certainly didn't hurt. I was pleased with the Final Two -- Jason was terrific, and had he won it all, I would have been on board.

I'm sorry Len wasn't around for this season. He would have loved it! 
 

 

[Andiethewestie]

9 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

I loved Jason's cat but no famous people.  

Alyson might be low balled by the voters but her "good luck" package was perhaps the most star packed.  Although I'd listen to arguments that it was Xochitl's. I just happened to know all of them in Alyson's but didn't know two in Xochi's.

That's the right final 2.

I think votes mean the most in the finale but we never know what the balance is. 

I think if the scores were appropriate we'd have a different outcome 

[boyznkatz]

The top four were very close in scores. In the past, people with a perfect score didn't always win. The popular folks could overcome a couple of points difference. Hell, Bones overcame a huge deficit to win.

Ya'll are forgetting that Xochitl has a lot of stans on TikTok who probably voted for her. Alyson was popular 20-30 years ago. Jason was popular 10-15 years ago. I don't think their fanbases are as huge as people think they are. Remember, Bones actually has a current show that crosses over with the DWTS fan base. He was last in scores and still won.

Xochitl wasn't my favorite (Jason was), but she deserved to win as much as anyone else. Any of them would have been a deserving winner.

[Andiethewestie]

My overall impression is if the show wants to attract the youth audience they got it. I think they thought the bs they pulled to get it was worth it. So be it. I only watch if interesting and accomplished stars actually learn to dance. For this season that was Jason and Alyson. Their respective journeys of ups am downs and hard work is really reflective of life. It's never linear. They would be my first and second place winners. The fact the show had to turn itself into a pretzel to get the desired outcome really affected the quality of the programming. Moreover the mantra of the season was not to take anything too seriously. So Val checked out and Xochiti was never corrected, and Harry gets to go on tour, because no matter how shitty the dancing you gotta sell tickets. That's really the legacy this show leaves behind.  RIP Ballroom Dancing 

22 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

Xochitl wasn't my favorite (Jason was), but she deserved to win as much as anyone else. Any of them would have been a deserving winner.

Agree if the playing field was level. If she was getting such a big vote then I don"t understand the blatant favouritism in the scoring.it should have balanced out. I never heard of her she had no real fanbase coming into this. The show decided to overscore this kid for the season, she had no arc, just smooth sailing to the end. There were a number of instances where she messed up and she still got scored high, her Tango, her Jazz,  Her Samba last week was a hot mess. And what if the dance off where she legit lost to Charity was worth more than a couple of points?  Also she never got Jive or Rumba. A winner should be able to at least attempt all the styles. Maybe Rumba is taboo for young ones. And yet 17 year old Laurie Hernandez did Rumba with Val. Why couldn't this one?

Edited December 6, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[DkNNy79]

Didn't they change the scoring system after Bones' win?  I don't understand the way its set up now.

Jason was amazing last night.  I was voting and rooting for him.

[boyznkatz]

They tried a judges' save after Bones, but that only works if someone is in the bottom two. I'd rather have the fans vote for who stays and goes over the judges, even if one dancer is better than the other.

Unfortunately, social media is here to stay and people like Alyson and Jason are going to have a harder time winning unless they have massive followings on social media and can shill for votes. Charli was good, but does anyone actually think she won because of her dancing? I'm sure her most of her stans who voted for her never actually watched the show.

[realdancemom]

Three hours was long and they still waited until credits were rolling to announce the winner. Sheesh!!

Redemption round - don't know what CAI saw but Charity won this round to me. She was fierce. I think Xochitl should have been the one that scored a 9 instead of Charity since there was an obvious missed hand grab. A little bit after that, there was a slight pause as if their arms got a little tangled. Jason also deserved 10s for his foxtrot. Ariana's samba was not that good and should have been a 9 instead of a 10. 

Freestyles:

Charity - almost anything goes for freestyles so I loved the high flying tricks and flips in her freestyle. If I was going to give a critique, she looked a little hesitant again and it was probably because of her previous injury. I wouldn't say that out loud if I was a judge though and she deserved 10s for her stunts. The top four scores were really close so she might have been the one to go last week.

Jason - Wow!! That was fast and technically difficult. Also, Jason still put plenty of his personality in the dance. I think Jason got what he wanted from the show which is publicity for his tour. I'm sure he didn't go into this show thinking that he would win. He and Alyson were the only finalists that I knew before the show. I'm old though so he probably got new fans. 

Ariana - she is a strong woman and the freestyle would have been great if it was a contestant stronger in hip hop. I think doing this show probably gave her leads on more acting roles. Also so nice to see Pasha thrive this season with a good partner.

Alyson - lovely beginning and fun ending. Freestyles don't always get 10s and she's not on the same level as the others. Still would have given a 10 and let the fans decide. 

Xochitl - I loved her freestyle. It was a nice mix of cultural styles. Production was great. I even saw Derek standing up and taking notice. The audience was shouting her name afterwards just like they yelled Barry's name after his dance off.

Friends and family - highlights were Jason's cat and Milo's comment. 

Extra performances were fun. Happy with the results since Jason and Xochitl were my top two all season. The finalists pretty much finished in the order that I liked them all season although I liked Jason as much as Xochitl. Xochitl is joyous when she dances and I like her partnership with Val. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by realdancemom

[Andiethewestie]

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

11 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

Unfortunately, social media is here to stay and people like Alyson and Jason are going to have a harder time winning unless they have massive followings on social media and can shill for votes

 

[thesupremediva1]

This really was a joy of a season. No Tyra, a 3-judge panel that respected and mentioned Len often, so many fabulous "stars," a return to basic network TV, cohosts who seemed to understand their job... bravo!

I called this final 4 and this winner after week 1. I knew Xochitl was Zendaya 2.0 and they weren't going to get it wrong this time. YAY VAL!!! 3 Mirrorballs, all extremely well-earned. His son was born the same day as mine - can't help but root for the new dad especially after being a fan of his for years.

Xochitl really wowed me all season, but this freestyle did not. The best part of it was Val playing violin, so... maybe not the right track.

I can see this is an unpopular opinion, but Charity won the night for me with that freestyle. It was an absolute circus act and something we've never seen before! I'm puzzled as to the vociferous complaints here when Shawn Johnson won (almost twice) by doing tons of gymnastics. It's a FREESTYLE for a reason. Kudos to Charity for taking a big risk and pulling out the big tricks to separate herself from the pack - especially after enduring yet another season of hugely lopsided criticism as a B-ette. Carrie Ann really DOES have it in for Artem at all times - she'd do better to hide it. 

Speaking of no emotional connection, why the heck was I subjected to Charli again? Was it because she never got to actually perform on TV? I don't remember any former winner getting to present the MIrrorball to the new champ...

I loved the Christmas number! Great to see Whitney back and former champs like Hannah, Helio, and Rashad!

Alyson's freestyle was lovely. I agree that anything but 10s for that was just cruel and unnecessary. 

I love Pasha but he botched that freestyle. It wasn't all that entertaining or flattering. That said, Ariana's body of work was incredibly strong and I think she could have success if she wants to pursue some sort of career in performing after this. 

Loved Jason and Daniela. He  really came to play the last 3 weeks. I really related to him, as I decided not to pursue musical theater years ago due to my own discomfort with dance. I hope this exorcised some demons for him. 

There is no excuse on this planet for a 3-hour, padded show of filler and then not giving the winners even 2 seconds of camera time. I almost threw my remote when I had to see credits before the winner was even announced! American Idol pulls that crap and it's unthinkable after being on the air for 20 years. GET IT TOGETHER, PRODUCERS.

[Lady Calypso]

I was happy with whoever won out of this F5. I've said it before, I feel like each of them had a reason to win. Of course I would have loved to see Jason win, but I fully see why Xochitl won and am happy that she did. I think Val gave Xochitl some excellent choreography; he never took it too easy on her. I can't recall a dance where he didn't give her 90% content in it. Nobody was perfect in their dances this season, but I do think Xochitl was one of the better and more consistent ones this season.

I think this season had a lot more celebs that weren't able to pick up on the dancing as much as previous seasons. I guess it's partially far less ringers, which has balanced out past seasons with great dances (look at the difference between Charli/Mark dancing in the finale vs everyone else) but having a lot of mediocre dancers and only a small handful of good dancers, let alone consistently good dancers, kind of showed the issues stemming from the choreography this season.

The first half hour could have been interesting. Having a detailed analysis of each finalist could have been a fantastic idea. But where they faltered was: a) Analyzing two full routines from each finalist, and not even picking the greatest ones; and b) Not letting people know prior that the first half hour would be filler. The idea of analyzing each finalist could really work. It's a neat idea, but it didn't quite work.

Alyson had so much growth this season, it was probably one of the best growth stories I've seen on DWTS. She really started out as a terrible dancer and grew into one that can actually do it. I know Sasha isn't everyone's cup of tea and his choreography is bland, repetitive and predictable, but the one thing he always does right is making his partner feel comfortable and happy each time. Alyson looked like she was having a blast and sometimes, it isn't about winning but improving while having fun getting there. Sasha gave Alyson the true full journey and we got to see the best sides to Alyson throughout.

Her Salsa this time was SO much better than week 1's salsa (though CAI asked for sexy and Sasha gave silly, as per usual). Her Freestyle was solid, it had so much content but it didn't feel like a Freestyle. I think Sasha could have benefitted from giving Alyson some more BIG moments for herself. Give her some solos, get rid of the extra dancers, and just let Alyson dance. She did great with the content, but she got lost with the extra dancers. Have her shine, damnit! And I HATED that the judges lowballed her. Come on, in all these seasons, the Freestyles almost always get 10s, even if they're not deserved (hello Bobby Bones!). Yet Alyson just barely got a 10 from Bruno? It's ridiculous, as it wouldn't have changed the placement. MAYBE Alyson might have bumped up the fourth, but that's about it. I was so mad for her. Just give her the perfect score. There was no harm in doing so.

Jason has had his ups and downs but I love that Dani figured out that performing is what will make Jason shine the best. Giving performance in his redemption Foxtrot was the best thing she could have done. Jason hasn't done well with strict ballroom, so adding flair to it definitely makes him more comfortable, and that is where his ability to dance shines the most.

His Freestyle was out of this world amazing. It was so much fun, it felt big and like a Freestyle, and he got so much fast content. The only thing I wish he had gotten was a couple of more solo moments on his own. Dani gave him a lot of time to shine, but there were a couple of moments where I felt like Dani and the extras could have really stepped back and giving him more solo content. Otherwise, a fantastic ending for Jason.

Ariana has had such a consistent journey this season. It IS such a shame that the most important night for her this season was filled with mistakes. Her Samba was absolutely terrible. It was riddled with mistakes and I don't think it was just because of Spice Up Your Life randomly being slowed down. As Ariana pointed out, this samba was the same tempo as Xochitl's samba last week. But Xochitl was still able to make it work while Ariana was slipping up a lot. Her score was a bit too high, honestly.

I actually did like her Freestyle, for the most part. Pasha had the right idea; a lot of solo content for Ariana, a lot of moments where her or Pasha were the clear leaders in their sections, and some great material to showcase that it's a Freestyle. I do agree that maybe the overall content wasn't up to par and Pasha should have added more ballroom instead of all hip hop. But otherwise, I actually did like the idea of this Freestyle the most.

Charity has had her own journey, albeit a smaller one, and I think she really did try to push past that issue with emoting. She's worked so hard and I do think she's been the best technical dancer, but the performance was never really there. Her Tango was amazing, though, worthy of a perfect score. CAI giving some bullshit reason to give her a 9 was ridiculous. It was definitely a redemption worthy of a perfect score.

Her Freestyle had all the makings for a Freestyle and those lifts and tricks were insane. But yeah, her Pageant Presence failed her once more. The performance was almost there but it felt low energy and I was looking at Charity's facial expressions and I think she needed to give 110% into that aspect. She needed to give some fierceness, some power, some passion, but it wasn't there. It felt like she was just going through the motions. Alas, it was a fun Freestyle and could have used a BIT of ballroom but otherwise just needed more performance. 

Xochitl has had a much smaller journey but I do feel like she's been just slightly ahead of everyone the whole time. As I said above, Val's given her tough content and she's delivered. Factor in her amazing performance ability, and I'm not surprised she won. She's been consistent, she's been able to mask any mistakes she's made with her performance ability, and she's looked more and more certain as the season has gone on. I do think her Foxtrot was lovely, but there was a mistake that should have been called out. I don't think docking one point would have made a difference in her winning or getting second place so someone should have called it out.

Her Freestyle was fun. It was filled with some interesting aspects, but I think Val's one mistake was not giving her some more BIG moments. She did a lot of group content and that showed her ability, but besides the beginning with her solo and Val playing the violin, she didn't get a lot of LOOK AT ME moments. He needed to add a moment at least at the end. Otherwise, a great Freestyle, one of Val's better ones.

How is it that they STILL run out of time at the end? They were rushing to announce while the credits were rolling! DWTS really sucks with timing their live shows. They need to fire whoever plans out the timing of commercials and live show aspects because other shows are able to give their stars more than 10 seconds to blabber something at the end.

Still, a decent season, not as good as others and not as many memorable dances, but it seems like this cast is going to be quite close for a long time. You can feel the appreciation, respect and love from all of them.

[thesupremediva1]

Gotta love it... you'll never make everyone happy.

I remember MANY seasons with people going off the wall about voting blocks for bad dancers (Bobby Bones, anyone?) and needing judges to balance it out. Jesus, poor Sharna (who did her job and did it well) lost out on a season's pay due to this whinging. 

Now, because we have a lovely woman with 2 decades of TV goodwill, everyone wants to burn down the judges' table! The pendulum, it swings fast my friends. I like Alyson as much as anyone - she was scored accordingly on everything but the freestyle (there's no way those few points made any difference). 

Not 5 years ago, I recall the outcry of how hard it was for a woman to win this show, because men could hide behind their partners and be mediocre and they'd get to the finals based on viewer goodwill and lax judging. Now, people are losing their marbles about teenage girls having an easy road to victory.

I firmly believe Xochitl won fair and square - even if not everyone agrees with the outcome. Val's fanbase is HUGE. 

I'll be back next year to see where the debate takes us...

[Andiethewestie]

Fair and square is NOT rolling over scores and adding them cumulatively to the following week thereby creating a huge chasm -That's a first.  I'm out I won't be back next year. I may watch Dani and Pasha but as far as becoming invested I'm done. 

[Jaundiced Eye]

I think so long as the show is marketed as a COMPETITION, people should be judged on their performances, and not given extra points because they're nice or they tried hard. I wouldn't want to be a contestant who "won" based on the popular vote only. I'd want to feel I earned it -- and I bet that most celebrities feel that way too. 

Across the seasons, I've been impressed by any middle-aged performer who made it to the finish line while competing against teens and 20-somethings. That's an amazing feat, and something anyone would be proud to achieve.
 

[Jaundiced Eye]

I apologize if I'm not remembering this correctly, but I believe there have been occasions in the past when no one was eliminated at the end of a show, and the contestants' points were carried over to the next episode. I might be having a senior moment here, but I don't think that I am.

If nostalgia and fond reminders of our youth determined the outcome of this particular show, then Barry Williams should have won the mirror ball. He's a senior citizen and a former star of The Brady Bunch, which wasn't my thing, but I'm sure it was huge with most of the people who watch this show (that is, older people like me). I'm grateful that scenario didn't play out. 

Come to think about it, Florence Henderson was ROBBED!

[realdancemom]

3 minutes ago, Jaundiced Eye said:

I apologize if I'm not remembering this correctly, but I believe there have been occasions in the past when no one was eliminated at the end of a show, and the contestants' points were carried over to the next episode. I might be having a senior moment here, but I don't think that I am.

If nostalgia and fond reminders of our youth determined the outcome of this particular show, then Barry Williams should have won the mirror ball. He's a senior citizen and a former star of The Brady Bunch, which wasn't my thing, but I'm sure it was huge with most of the people who watch this show (that is, older people like me). I'm grateful that scenario didn't play out. 

Come to think about it, Florence Henderson was ROBBED!

Yes, it has happened before but not for the semi finals. 

I had a crush on Greg Brady growing up but I'm glad that Barry didn't win.

Edited December 6, 2023 by realdancemom

[Lady Calypso]

Just now, Jaundiced Eye said:

I apologize if I'm not remembering this correctly, but I believe there have been occasions in the past when no one was eliminated at the end of a show, and the contestants' points were carried over to the next episode. I might be having a senior moment here, but I don't think that I am.

If nostalgia and fond reminders of our youth determined the outcome of this particular show, then Barry Williams should have won the mirror ball. He's a senior citizen and a former star of The Brady Bunch, which wasn't my thing, but I'm sure it was huge with most of the people who watch this show (that is, older people like me). I'm grateful that scenario didn't play out. 

Come to think about it, Florence Henderson was ROBBED!

There's been plenty of seasons that have done this. MMY is usually the week where there's no eliminations. Either that or Disney Night or week 1. Season 30 had no elimination on the first week, leading the scores to be accumulated into week 2. That same season had a two night Disney Night, so scores rolled over into night 2. Season 28 had no elimination week 3 because Ray Lewis had to withdraw. There's been many seasons where scores have rolled over into another night.

I do love when the show has a non-elimination week for the first week. That makes the most sense to have no eliminations. I also don't mind it for MMY, because sometimes production really digs into the past of people for content so it can be an emotionally draining night.

I don't think an elimination for semis would have impacted the finale's results. I think Xochitl still would have won, Jason still would have placed second, Ariana third, etc. I think the placements didn't change, regardless. 

[Quickbeam]

The only thing I knew Jason from was a plot point on ‘Joan of Arcadia’ 20 years ago (a character stole a CD of his from a store). Now I’m a fan. So even not winning, he’s brought a whole lot of interest to his music. Plus that freestyle was everything.

[Andiethewestie]

27 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

don't think an elimination for semis would have impacted the finale's results. I think Xochitl still would have won, Jason still would have placed second, Ariana third, etc. I think the placements didn't change, regardless. 

Oh but we don't know. Again it's a FIRST for this type of shenanigans so late in the season. Of course there's weeks with no eliminations up to say week 6 but then you had to get ready for a double elimination the following week.

This happened week 10 unprecedented 

[Lady Calypso]

11 minutes ago, Andiethewestie said:

Oh but we don't know. Again it's a FIRST for this type of shenanigans so late in the season. Of course there's weeks with no eliminations up to say week 6 but then you had to get ready for a double elimination the following week.

This happened week 10 unprecedented 

With points so close together, I actually don't think it would have. But we'll never know (as we usually don't) as the number of votes will never be released. But I genuinely don't think much would have changed. Jason/Xochitl definitely would have been closer together in votes, but I still think Xochitl had the advantage. I mean, look how fast voting closed after Xochitl's Freestyle and she still won. And, had the votes been SUPER close, I feel like production would have had Alfonso announce the super tight race between second and first (something they did with Taylor Swift Night, for example).

[MerBearHou]

2 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

Ya'll are forgetting that Xochitl has a lot of stans on TikTok who probably voted for her. Alyson was popular 20-30 years ago. Jason was popular 10-15 years ago. I don't think their fanbases are as huge as people think they are.

What concerns me after Charli last year and now Xochitl this year -- is this what the show is destined for every year going forward?  Super young and big on TikTok?  That would be sad for anyone older who's giving it their all.  And really, literally every other dancer would be older so that's concerning for a competition where you would want there to be hope for non-Charli-Xochitl dancers to have a chance to win.  

Edited December 6, 2023 by MerBearHou

[DkNNy79]

I remember Mya did not get a perfect score on her freestyle.  Granted I was not blown away by their freestyle.  I think Dmitry botched that opportunity up.  He was a great choreographer but for some reason did not show up in the freestyle.

I took a break for a few seasons after that when Donny Osmond won.

[iMonrey]

8 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Last week, I mentioned that I thought Charity could be kind of arrogant at times. Tonight in her freestyle package, at one point she said 'I'm the best of the best and I have to do something to really stand out.'

What she said was that she was among the best of the best - meaning the other four were absolutely the best dancers, and she was among them. But saying it that way didn't sound great, LOL.

2 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

Ya'll are forgetting that Xochitl has a lot of stans on TikTok who probably voted for her. Alyson was popular 20-30 years ago. Jason was popular 10-15 years ago. I don't think their fanbases are as huge as people think they are.

"Probably" is key here. What is the venn diagram between TikTok users and people who vote for Dancing With the Stars? There was no reason for the judges to give Alyson such low scores in the finale unless they were deliberately trying to countermand her vote totals. If she wasn't getting the votes she would have been eliminated last week, or the week before. And the judges would have been fine giving her 9s and 10s if they knew she didn't have the votes to win. It just reeks of shenanigans.

Her TV career might be old and her fans might skew older, but so does the audience for this show. And there are also fans who maybe didn't even know her that well but were impressed with her growth, improvement and attitude. 

There's nothing especially compelling about Xochiltl, IMO. She's another Disney kid who can dance. Big deal. She had no arc.

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I do think her Foxtrot was lovely, but there was a mistake that should have been called out. I don't think docking one point would have made a difference in her winning or getting second place so someone should have called it out.

But, clearly, she needed those 10s. There were mistakes everyone here seemed to notice and the judges turned a blind eye to. At the very least the judges were worried that one point would make the difference.

[crowceilidh]

 

Quote

This really was a joy of a season. No Tyra, a 3-judge panel that respected and mentioned Len often, so many fabulous "stars," a return to basic network TV, cohosts who seemed to understand their job... bravo!

I never thought I'd come back once Tyra started.  I don't like anything about Julianne Hough, but I feel she does this job very very well.  I like her being able to dance with Alfonso, I like Alfonso.  

I always like Derek Hough as a judge -- he is generally thoughtful and intelligent.

I could do with replacements for Bruno and Carrie Ann lemme tell you.

But this was an amazingly wonderful season.  I ffed much less than in the past.  There is always a Harry and at least this time he didn't make it to the finals.

I agree that Len would have loved this season.

I liked all the freestyles, including Charity's even though she was clearly not quite on point, at least she survived.

I liked much of the filler except the first hour.

It was fun.  There was very good dancing.  There were entertaining partnerships.

I wondered about the style that Xochitl was dancing in the second half of her freestyle.  I felt that I missed some cultural point there.

[Andiethewestie]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

But, clearly, she needed those 10s. There were mistakes everyone here seemed to notice and the judges turned a blind eye to. At the very least the judges were worried that one point would make the difference.

Absolutely. Blind eye judges were pretty transparent in their intention, it was never a clear win without "help"
 

In addition to overscorimg the winner  the perceived bottom 2 at the semis were Ariana and Xochiti . Clearly the show was keeping Xochiti propped up with inflated scores, but they weren't necessarily doing the same with Ariana who didn't get a perfect score until her Foxtrot.
 

What I noticed among a lot of on line chatter is those who were fans of Pasha were also fans of Dani so they were splitting votes amongst both teams. If one of those teams were eliminated in the semis fans of the married couple would likely throw their full support to the spouse still standing.

If they were both still standing at the end the vote would be split, allowing for the outcome we saw. So if the show wanted to ensure what they wanted they would keep the crowded 5 until the end.

[dancingdreamer]

1 hour ago, Quickbeam said:

The only thing I knew Jason from was a plot point on ‘Joan of Arcadia’ 20 years ago (a character stole a CD of his from a store). Now I’m a fan. So even not winning, he’s brought a whole lot of interest to his music. Plus that freestyle was everything.

Exactly.I never knew much about him. He's my winner, Xochi won the trophy, but Jason won for me,  Alyson  was second. That's  the nice thing about any show, they have judges, the public votes (I never know about  those votes) I just watched Jason again this morning,  the guy was perfect , and had the best freestyle,  regardless  of what anyone else says. Jmho.

[Recyclorette]

8 hours ago, superdeluxe said:

Xochitl was set up to win from the very beginning.  Disney, Marvel, ABC connections.  Going on the tour.  Let’s even throw in paired with Val.  It was obvious that she was going to win.

You got the obvious winner, the nonsense and racism towards Charity — I’m just glad that this season is over.

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.  

Edited December 6, 2023 by Recyclorette

[boyznkatz]

15 minutes ago, Recyclorette said:

But racism?  When a Latina won?  I'm wondering about that reading the comments here, but it's not towards Charity.  

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.