S23.E15: The Finale

[OnceSane]

Quote

All 13 couples from the season perform an opening number before the three finalists compete to be crowned ``Dancing With the Stars'' champion; musical performers include Vanilla Ice, Rick Perry, Witney Carson, Andy Grammer and more.

[Miss Slay]

I was nervous for a second there.

So happy for Laurie and Val!!!

[WhosThatGirl]

Aw yay for Laurie! Like I said I would have been happy with a Laurie or James win.

The fusion dance round should just be called: We Made all The Couples Learn A Dance at 1 am but the Points Will All Be 10s So The Points Don't Really Matter round. Unless someone really screws it up, everyone gets a 10 here. It's pretty much the participant round.

The finale filler is always fun. I wish they would show more bloopers though. Why hasn't anyone at ABC made a special out of these bloopers?!?! 

I guess Derek is busy with hairspray so he couldn't do the finale. I wonder what would have happened if Derek had been one of the final three/four? He was committed to hairspray even before he was confirmed for this season so I'm curious of how he thought that would work. 

I liked Erin's dress tonight, it was a little too long though. 

Well another season ends... and the speculation for the next season begins.

[mtlchick]

Doh!  Wrong thread.

 

I'm fine with Laurie winning, though James and Calvin made it interesting to the end.  However, can we throw Sharna a freaking win already?!  

[smijca]

So very excited for Laurie and Val! I hope Laurie goes on to get some sleep before the craziness of the DWTS tour takes place. :)

[McManda]

Did they repurpose Sharna's sparkly blue dress into Calvin's blue jacket? I love it.

I had legitimate fear for all the dancers on the stage at The Grove after Artem's slip in the Foxtrot with Jenna, but it must have been really bad if Erin and Tom were concerned with people walking on it. I'm glad they didn't have any serious falls.

Not surprised (though a little sad) about the results ... but they'll get to bill the tour as having the mirror ball champion, so I guess that's good for them. I won't be surprised if Sharna starts to sit out the fall seasons - she comes so close every time!

Quote

I guess Derek is busy with hairspray so he couldn't do the finale.

Is that why he was MIA? I thought that was weird. But he's hosting the Disney Christmas thing with Julianne ... so he couldn't make a trip back to LA for a day?

Edited November 23, 2016 by McManda

[irisheyes]

I would have been happy with any of them winning.  I'm not a dancer, so I don't watch with a real technical eye.  What I like is dancers who have some charisma and draw me in with their dances, and all three finalists did that for most of this season.  That being said, I've been a Laurie fan since I first watched her at the US Nationals, so I'm pretty excited she won.

[Callaphera]

Congrats to Laurie and Val! You weren't my choice but you were production America's choice!

Way too much Jenna tonight. Way too much. I think she sticks out like a sore thumb for me because of the constant camera mugging look whenever it comes near her, so she probably was only out there as often as other dancers but it seemed like she was always there, giving her "I wanna be famous!" stare.

I hope production learned their lesson and will refrain from fake snow falling from the sky from now on. I noticed they stopped after people started slipping. Did that camera-person take a header off the stage at the end or something? And speaking of the camera work and production booth staff tonight... man, y'all have to get better at cutting to another camera so that we're not looking at a pillar instead of the dance or the floor.

Jana is my least favourite type of country singer. She has absolutely no accent when talking but when she sings, she has that affected country sound. Just stop, please.

It was an all right finale. We've had better and more exciting. We've had worse and more boring. As usual, lots of filler, very little meat.

[McManda]

Quote

Way too much Jenna tonight. Way too much.

Oh gosh, yes.

[WhosThatGirl]

3 minutes ago, McManda said:

Did they repurpose Sharma's sparkly blue dress into Calvin's blue jacket? I love it.

I had legitimate fear for all the dancers on the stage at The Grove after Artem's slip in the Foxtrot with Jenna, but it must have been really bad if Erin and Tom were concerned with people walking on it. I'm glad they didn't have any serious falls.

Not surprised (though a little sad) about the results ... but they'll get to bill the tour as having the mirror ball champion, so I guess that's good for them. I won't be surprised if Sharna starts to sit out the fall seasons - she comes so close every time!

Is that why he was MIA? I thought that was weird. But he's hosting the Disney Christmas thing with Julianne ... so he couldn't make a trip back to LA for a day?

Yeah I don't know why couldn't Derek do a day trip? Maybe the holiday special is pretaped?

[thefog]

Eh, just what we need - more stroking of Val's already inflated ego.

Laurie should spend as much time focusing on getting an education, as she does in competing.

Derek's absence?  Well, this was one of his worse seasons.  His 6th place elim tied with his Season 6 as his lowest finish. 

Edited November 23, 2016 by escape

[Mondayeve]

Congratulations to Laurie and Val.  America has spoken.  I think the show gave it away within the first 10 minutes with the edits and her going last so I knew.   I hope she goes onto big things.  Cute bubbly and talented girl. 

Val kind of stole her moment with his little speech and I am surprised she did not acknowledge him as her pro and how he taught her all these weeks or the other two couples but she seemed happy and Val seemed even happier. 

Edited November 23, 2016 by Mondayeve

[CraftyHazel]

Well, now I can say I've heard Jana sing.  I wish I hadn't...she's not that good.

I knew as soon as they announced that Laurie was joining the tour that she had won.  I preferred James.  Or Calvin.  But whatever.

Well, my Monday nights are free again, so there's that.  Honestly, I'm underwhelmed.

[crowceilidh]

Way too friggin much Jenna.  I do not understand why she gets plaudits for the mugging (and she must, because otherwise...).  That dance with Maks was utter shite.  It looked like Maks had watched another dancer do it on a camera phone and then stepped onto the stage.  I also hated the sparkly girl costumes with tutus bunched on the back.  Very very awkward looking.

[Callaphera]

10 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

I guess Derek is busy with hairspray so he couldn't do the finale. 

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say something about how he was out so much earlier than normal this year and didn't seem to connect with his not-young, not-immediately talented, not-ringer partner and that's why he wasn't there. But the logical part of me figured the same thing. I kept looking for him and getting confused when I would see that troupe dancer with the bleached Zack Morris hair cut.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Callaphera

[McManda]

Quote

Yeah I don't know why couldn't Derek do a day trip? Maybe the holiday special is pretaped?

Oh, probably. Most are. 

I liked the Macy's Stars of Dance dance with the little girl and going in and out of the screen, but Sharna and Emma had been snapchatting it when they were doing it ... Saturday. I mean, I know those dances mostly aren't live, but knowing for sure that none of it was happening in that moment made be like it a little less. Like, it was less impressive. 

I had the same thought about the La La Land dance from last night - first I though, "wow, Artem had like, 15 seconds to completely change his outfit" and then I realized that no, he didn't, because it was probably all pretaped and then I was disappointed.

[Steph619]

I'm ecstatic that Laurie and Val won the mirrorball trophy! I was nervous for a second there too that James would take it. As a gymnastics fan, Laurie has been my favorite from day one and her journey on DWTS was amazing to watch. She seems like such a lovely young lady and I couldn't be happier for her. Congratulations to Val on his second win. I may just go see them on the tour when it hits New York.

Kudos to Calvin and James for making it to the finale. Overall, it was a great season.

I couldn't keep myself from laughing during Maureen's dance and how excited she was to dance with all those guys. It kind of reminded me of a sweet 16 dance.

[crowceilidh]

Wasn't Derek on stage in the intro with Marilu?  That was my first (of many), "oh yeah, that couple!"  I always forget the everyone but the last 6 couples standing by the end and then am gobsmacked that I could have forgotten them when I see them again on the finale.

[stonehaven]

I thought I saw Derek in the opening....

I gotta say I love all three of the dancers...and this season was fun from start to finish...but the mere fact that I cheered for Vanilla Ice AND Rick Perry doing "Ice Ice Baby" made me realize I need help..

This show strikes the right balance of cheese and weird irony....and oh yeah, I can NEVER get enough Tom Bergeron....The spring season will be tough to beat....Congrats to Laurie and Val!

[McManda]

1 minute ago, crowceilidh said:

That dance with Maks was utter shite.  It looked like Maks had watched another dancer do it on a camera phone and then stepped onto the stage.  I also hated the sparkly girl costumes with tutus bunched on the back.  Very very awkward looking.

That dance was Amber's ... samba? ... I think. I'm confused as to why Amber didn't perform it again, though I think they give the celebs a choice on if they want a solo dance in the finale. (For example, Babyface sang instead.) But a better question would be, why did Maks think we liked that dance enough to perform it again with the pro females? 

[Steph619]

3 minutes ago, crowceilidh said:

Way too friggin much Jenna.  I do not understand why she gets plaudits for the mugging (and she must, because otherwise...).  That dance with Maks was utter shite.  It looked like Maks had watched another dancer do it on a camera phone and then stepped onto the stage.  I also hated the sparkly girl costumes with tutus bunched on the back.  Very very awkward looking.

Not to mention the fact that it was the same exact dance he had already done with his partner, Amber Rose. I don't know why he didn't just repeat it with her.

[katha]

UO alert: I think the importance of the freestyle is overrated. Sure, sometimes someone really fucks it up or someone else really hits it out of the park. But usually, I don't think it changes voting patterns that much. Like, last season people were going on about how if Mark had been more adventurous, perhaps Paige would have stood a chance. Nah, Paige didn't have the fanbase and the narrative and as long as Nyle wasn't terrible in his, there's nothing she could do.

Or this season, Sharna needed two things to happen: She needed to leave everyone, without a single doubt, in the dust with her FS AND she needed Val to screw up Laurie's. IMO neither happened. When you have people squabbling all over social media which FS they liked best, Laurie's or James', that's just troubling news for James. Since my hunch has always been that Laurie's been killing it in votes all season, she's got a super motivated fanbase of her own, Val's fans just ADORE her, and I think she's doing well with the general audience. So IMO she's starting with a stronger voting base than James and James needs to significantly cut into the casual/general audience votes to make up for that. So Val didn't need to deliver a better freestyle than Sharna, he just needed to be in striking distance quality-wise. That's what he did (I thought it was the best of the night, mileage will vary, obviously), and from that point on it became a much steeper mountain to climb for Sharna.

That said, congrats to all three finalists! I thought all three of them did very well and were very entertaining! And yay, for once my fave won! Usually they all go second...(-;

[smiley13]

I would have rather Calvin had won but Laurie is okay.  At least it wasn't the obnoxious Sharna.  She does love the camera doesn't she?  Perhaps now the show will stop trying to make her happen and realize how great Lindsay, Emma and Witney are.  

[kitcloudkicker]

7 minutes ago, McManda said:

Is that why he was MIA? I thought that was weird. But he's hosting the Disney Christmas thing with Julianne ... so he couldn't make a trip back to LA for a day?

He was there, for a quick appearance with Merilu, but missed all the rehearsals, so wasn't dancing really in any other numbers.

Everything he's doing is based in LA, besides the Disney thing which filmed a bunch of stuff in Orlando last weekend (I think). So no trip "back" necessary.

I think a lot of conflicts came from that Disney thing actually, which seems like he signed onto the most recently, so likely if he felt he could have been in the finals he wouldn't have? (Though when the Disney the big boss calls do you say no?)

[k2p2]

"Musical guests include... Rick Perry." I did not see that coming.

[Hiacios]

Well, that sucked! SMH!

[gimmeegimmeegim]

Jenna and Jana sittin in a tree, wish they'd flee and flee and flee

Derek was there, he twirled Ms. M, and that's about all we saw of them

Tried to push P off the stage. Damnit.

Congrats all three. Great dancing!

[scenicbyway]

I wondered if they pre taped some of the opening becaus it did look like Derek was there but he clearly wasn't the rest of the night.  Cheryl was also missing.

What was going on with the Jenna show?  She was front and center in every dance number. I would think they'd split up the starring roles but she seemed to have them all.

I loved Erin's dress, it was floaty and dreamy with just the right amount of sparkle.

James should've won.  Laurie had a great freestyle last night but she peaked weeks ago. Calvin was good and I really like the freestyle but he never stood out to me.  James steadily improved each week and was a natural.

[Hiacios]

26 minutes ago, McManda said:

Did they repurpose Sharna's sparkly blue dress into Calvin's blue jacket? I love it.

I had legitimate fear for all the dancers on the stage at The Grove after Artem's slip in the Foxtrot with Jenna, but it must have been really bad if Erin and Tom were concerned with people walking on it. I'm glad they didn't have any serious falls.

Not surprised (though a little sad) about the results ... but they'll get to bill the tour as having the mirror ball champion, so I guess that's good for them. I won't be surprised if Sharna starts to sit out the fall seasons - she comes so close every time!

Is that why he was MIA? I thought that was weird. But he's hosting the Disney Christmas thing with Julianne ... so he couldn't make a trip back to LA for a day?

 

They robbed Sharna again! smh. I knew that from the beginning of the season Laurie was the judges favorite but I thought that because Sharna had better partner she would finally win the MBT, but the judges made sure that wouldn't happen by overscoring Laurie the entire f#*#@%* season!

[Callaphera]

4 minutes ago, gimmeegimmeegim said:

Tried to push P off the stage. Damnit.

Huh? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[mrsmit7]

So happy for Val & Laurie! She's the most adorable little thing, hard to root against.

They had a dip midseason, but credit to Val for stepping it up and really delivering the last few weeks. Sometimes he can be derivative when it comes to freestyles, but that freestyle last night was the best he's done on this show, creative,really served Laurie well.

James and Calvin had excellent  seasons, and their Sharna & Lindsay did great jobs.

[FilmTVGeek80]

For once I agree with the judge hyperbole that this was probably the best final three (I'm not sure of all-time) but definitely in a long time. Still, I'll admit I was hoping James would pull off the upset. I'm more disappointed than I thought I'd be since I saw this coming, which makes her win very "meh" for me since she's been earmarked for the win before they even performed their first dances. I'm not as bitter about this as with someone like Bindi, but Laurie kind of peaked for me a few weeks ago. I hope this doesn't foreshadow what's going to happen when Simone Biles comes on.

James was wonderful again tonight. Awesome dances, classy in defeat. A truly great partnership with him and Sharna. I'll be watching so many of their dances again for years to come. I hope he and Calvin keep up their bromance.

[crowceilidh]

OH.MY.GOD.  No one said that Marilu got to dance with Robert Roldan!!  ZOMG.

[McManda]

Just now, FilmTVGeek80 said:

I hope this doesn't foreshadow what's going to happen when Simone Biles comes on.

I mean, I wouldn't be sad if they stopped inviting the gymnasts on. 

Like, it's almost to the point where "gymnast" is it's own expected category of celeb ... it goes with the older lady, 90s nostalgia, footballer, singer, Disney star, ABC-affiliate employee, differently-abled, current trainwreck looking for a do-over, and reality star categories we've come to expect they cast.

[Hiacios]

3 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

For once I agree with the judge hyperbole that this was probably the best final three (I'm not sure of all-time) but definitely in a long time. Still, I'll admit I was hoping James would pull off the upset. I'm more disappointed than I thought I'd be since I saw this coming, which makes her win very "meh" for me since she's been earmarked for the win before they even performed their first dances. I'm not as bitter about this as with someone like Bindi, but Laurie kind of peaked for me a few weeks ago. I hope this doesn't foreshadow what's going to happen when Simone Biles comes on.

James was wonderful again tonight. Awesome dances, classy in defeat. A truly great partnership with him and Sharna. I'll be watching so many of their dances again for years to come. I hope he and Calvin keep up their bromance.

 

I agree. Bindi is just as annoying as Laurie if not more annoying. This loss is crushing to me even though I saw it coming since week one. 

[LotusFlower]

46 minutes ago, McManda said:

That dance was Amber's ... samba? ... I think. I'm confused as to why Amber didn't perform it again, though I think they give the celebs a choice on if they want a solo dance in the finale. (For example, Babyface sang instead.) But a better question would be, why did Maks think we liked that dance enough to perform it again with the pro females? 

I could have sworn I read somewhere that Maks and Amber were going to dance that number from the season in the finale, and I bet Amber said forget it at the last minute (sounds like her), so Jenna probably filled in. 

Speaking of Jenna, so much of her tonight, but where was her partner?  (I forget his name).  Was everyone else there?  I always forget the early eliminations.

[blaase]

This season was really boring.

[crowceilidh]

Wow, they also had Fikshun!  Who was the other conspicuous SYTYCD person in that Macy's Stars of Dance number?  Emilio?  Was there anyone else?  It was kinda fun how they imitated the core story of the Nutcracker, but I think they should have done one or two more vignette-style dances -- it seemed truncated to me.

[RedFiat]

5 minutes ago, Hiacios said:

I agree. Bindi is just as annoying as Laurie if not more annoying. This loss is crushing to me even though I saw it coming since week one. 

I couldn't even bring myself to watch Bindi's season, she always made me want to vomit. Laurie is less upchuck worthy, but she isn't a great dancer. Over hyped, under delivered.  When the vote was cut off completely to Canada from the get go, when it was always open previously I should have known the fix was in.

[Uke]

Oh well, my first choice, James, didn't win. But realistically, Laurie was pegged from the start.  She did well, but IMO she didn't improve at all. I enjoy seeing the struggle and the success like with James and Calvin and I'll root them on every step of the way.  Laurie learned some dance steps but she was as precise in week 1 as she was in week 11 and CAI actually (surprisingly) mentioned one of the things Laurie did not learn: how to turn down the power.  Show a little light and shade.  Oh well. 

I see a number of comments about Derek not being there.  I didn't see him on screen (Alan* filled in with Marilu) but he was there. I saw him once on All Access in the background and he took a pic with Jenna on her Instagram story.  I guess he's busy with Hairspray and didn't bother with finale rehearsals.

Best pro dance: the story with the little girl and all the dancers in the big screen.

Worst pro dance: whatever Keo and Allison were doing during Andy Grammer's performance.  I like Allison, really I do, but I just wish she'd stay in her lane with contemporary.

Jenna sure got a workout tonight.  I think she was in nearly every pro dance.  (I totally forgot she had been partnered with Jake until I saw him on screen and then couldn't remember his name.)  Alot of extra troupe dancers, and now another bleach blonde guy with a brown beard (one is Dennis, don't know who the other guy is).

Anyway, a whole lot of filler.  The finale really doesn't need to be 2 hours long since they're really not doing anything unique with the time (remember Dance Center, Bruno's infomercials, etc.?)

Oh, also, last winter, didn't they have problems with a slippery stage at The Grove?  Wasn't it the same white stage that looks like an elevated skating rink? Now if I can remember the stage was slippery, why didn't production remember and then do something so no one would risk breaking bones?   I truly feared for Julianne when she + the judges went there at the end and I saw her mile-high heels.

*Oops! Not Alan. Some other dark haired dancer I don't recognize.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Uke

[Callaphera]

4 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

I couldn't even bring myself to watch Bindi's season, she always made me want to vomit. Laurie is less upchuck worthy, but she isn't a great dancer. Over hyped, under delivered.  When the vote was cut off completely to Canada from the get go, when it was always open previously I should have known the fix was in.

Does Canada really care that much? Or vote that hard? I know James is Canadian but he's an Indy car driver (right? Not Nascar?). There isn't a whole lot of name recognition there, even for people from his own country. I should know. I'm Canadian, a huge sports fan and... nope. Probably heard his name on the news when the crash happened but otherwise, had no idea who he was until this season. Now, if it was a hockey player, I could see Canada rallying behind them. But I really don't think that the amount of Canadian votes would have made a difference, eh?

And for the record, I was hoping James would win. But I wouldn't have been arsed to get off my butt and actually vote. I just like to bitch about the results afterwards. 

Edited November 23, 2016 by Callaphera

[katha]

Laurie was a lovely surprise this season. I thought she would be too perky and hyper for my taste and IMO the gymnasts usually come in with a set of issues when it comes to movement and performance that hinders my enjoyment of their dances. Laurie had some of that in the beginning, but as the season went on she really shed a lot of that. I thought she steadily improved in dancing and performance and I enjoyed almost all her dances.

I was also very glad that Val barely used her gymnastics background, it made her run on the show markedly different from the other gymnasts we had, and I thought Laurie was a better dancer for this approach. Super work from him throughout the season, I loved that she was the center of every dance, I loved how minimalist it all was, well done.

[RedFiat]

10 minutes ago, Callaphera said:

As a Canadian, does Canada really care that much? Or vote that hard? I know James is Canadian but he's an Indy car driver (right? Not Nascar?). There isn't a whole lot of name recognition there, even for people from his own country. I should know. I'm Canadian, a huge sports fan and... nope. Probably heard his name on the news when the crash happened but otherwise, had no idea who he was. Now, if it was a hockey player, I could see Canada rallying behind them. But I really don't think that the amount of Canadian votes would have made a difference, eh?

Think whatever you want. All I saw were constant complaints from Canadian fans unable to vote. When this show has 2 million viewers any given week, that's winning the night in a country of 34 mil.  So would it make any difference if California was cut off from the vote?  Probably. 

ETA: that's a higher percentage of Canadians watching this show than Americans.  10 million watchers in a country of 330 mil vs. 2 million in a country of 34 mil.  No wonder there's a ton of Canadian fans on line.

Edited November 23, 2016 by RedFiat

[friendperidot]

Congratulations Laurie and Val. She has the most gorgeous eyes! I thought so during the Olympics and all through this season. Yes, I was pulling for her from the beginning. I don't follow any kind of car racing, the names don't mean a thing to me except I have heard of Dale Earnhart, but that's probably more due to a book by Sharyn McCrumb called St. Dale. I had never heard of James, he seems like a very nice man, and I wish him well. I'm sorry those of you who are disappointed he didn't win are disappointed, I've been disappointed in the winners of this show before too.

Erin's dress tonight was gorgeous. I was watching a lot of the costumes and wishing I had some of that glittery fabric to make doll gowns! I'm a fashion doll collector, not Barbie, and I sew when I can. I even went so far as to watch a how to video to make circle skirts.

I don't listen to current music, and have never been a country fan, but I hated Jana's singing. When she sang the word "turn" or "turning" or what ever it was, I cringed.

That was a scary moment when the camera work went zonky and then they showed the finalists, except Val wasn't with the others and they were all looking at each other. Hope the cameraman is all right.

[sinycalone]

James and Sharna may not have won the shiney trophy....but they made the last three months an amazing time for many of us.  And I see from Twitter and FB their fans were certainly plentiful.  Congratulations to Laurie and Val.  Obviously, not my first choice -- but it is what it is.

I don't think TPTB ever expected any real competition for Laurie...but James (and Calvin) surprised them.  

James and Sharna will remain my favorite team....what an amazing bond.

I will probably never understand why they could not open the vote for Canadians...but were able to do just that for Australians for Bindi's season.  And, yes, I think there were many Canadians complaining about the block...and could have made a difference.

But I repeat, it is what it is...and I'm grateful for a season that brought us James and Sharna.

Edited November 23, 2016 by sinycalone

[Callaphera]

11 minutes ago, RedFiat said:

Think whatever you want. All I saw were constant complaints from Canadian fans unable to vote. When this show has 2 million viewers any given week, that's winning the night in a country of 34 mil.  So would it make any difference if California was cut off from the vote?  Probably. 

The news that Canada could ever vote in past seasons is news to me, honestly. With other shows like Big Brother, if I want to vote, I have to do some fancy shenanigans and lie a lot. Well, okay, I have to use a fake US address and I always choose the Museum of Modern Art in New York for it. I just assumed the same for this show and couldn't be bothered.

Personally, I'd love to see vote breakdowns to see how far apart first and second is, but we never will, so we don't know if Canada would've made an impact. And that's assuming that we could tear ourselves away from the hockey game and our Timbits.

ETA: That's also assuming that all of those Canadian viewers would've voted for James simply because he's Canadian. 

Edited November 23, 2016 by Callaphera

[RedFiat]

13 minutes ago, Callaphera said:

1 minute ago, Callaphera said:

Personally, I'd love to see vote breakdowns to see how far apart first and second is, but we never will, so we don't know if Canada would've made an impact. And that's assuming that we could tear ourselves away from the hockey game and our Timbits.

 

For the record I can't stand Tim Horton coffee and I hate hockey and especially rude misogynist hockey players.  And if you were around in season 10 they opened up the phone lines and the  FB vote for Canada because Pam Anderson requested it.  They never closed it until this season. Completely sealed off. 

[vibeology]

9 minutes ago, Callaphera said:

The news that Canada could ever vote in past seasons is news to me, honestly. With other shows like Big Brother, if I want to vote, I have to do some fancy shenanigans and lie a lot. Well, okay, I have to use a fake US address and I always choose the Museum of Modern Art in New York for it. I just assumed the same for this show and couldn't be bothered.

Personally, I'd love to see vote breakdowns to see how far apart first and second is, but we never will, so we don't know if Canada would've made an impact. And that's assuming that we could tear ourselves away from the hockey game and our Timbits.

ETA: That's also assuming that all of those Canadian viewers would've voted for James simply because he's Canadian. 

Agreed that we can't know what impact it would have had. I suspect barely any. If this show gets 2 million viewers a week in Canada, most of those people wouldn't vote if they could. Most viewers of shows with voting don't vote. And there's no guarantee the ones who would vote would vote for James. So let's say 10% of viewers actually vote, that's only 200,000 voters and Laurie would have likely picked up a decent number of those as would Calvin so unless James just lost by a couple thousand votes, it didn't matter.

I'm happy for Laurie. She had a strong season and was a really charming person which goes a long way. James was also great and if he'd won I would be just as happy. Calvin had a strong finish these last two nights but I think over all he was a bit weaker so he would have been my last choice for the win. Overall it was a great season. I really enjoyed the contestants hand partnerships.

[tessaforever]

I think Keo and Alison's dance was supposed to be a rumba...but it was a frantic rumba. She and Keo dance together a LOT, just like Artem and Jenna seem to. I thought it was sweet that she was up there since she and Andy had been partners. 

So interesting to see what they included in the recaps and what they left out. They included the Lochte protesters but didn't include Amber's "body shaming" incident. Actually there was hardly anything about Amber...maybe because after she got voted off she went around saying she wished she hadn't done the show? She bugs. 

I do think I saw Derek at the beginning but in nothing else...such a far cry from when this show was mostly Derek. Isn't there a happy medium? I remember when the Macy's dances were conceived, choreographed, and performed all by Derek. He must have REALLY not wanted to dance with Marilu again!

I think after the cameraman fell, Val went to help him up. 

Well, congrats to Laurie and Val. She is a wonderful dancer and a fiery performer. James is an absolutely wonderful dancer but the pressure must have gotten to him later in the competition because he started making mistakes and letting it show. I would have barely noticed their slip-up last night during the library dance except that James telegraphed it a mile away with his expression. Sharna should have been able to help him not show his mistakes on his face. 

[PBGamer89]

I'm glad Laurie won. Aside from being a great dancer and an adorable partnership with Val, it's nice to see some diversity in the winners. She's now the youngest winner and the first Latina celeb to win.

James had the edge in a lot of polls online, and the pimp spot last night made me think he could do it, but when Laurie danced last and got announced as doing the tour that's when I knew. Which is fine. I might actually go to the tour now because I find her very exciting and dynamic to watch.

James did well and surprised a lot of people. He wasn't challenged enough in Latin but he was a good celeb for the show. Funny, had charisma and took it seriously and that's all you can ask. Sometimes you just get celebs that come in 2nd/3rd that could've won in another season. Paige, Janel, Katherine, and Amy come to mind as great dancers that just got stuck in a season with an unbeatable celeb.