(DWTS logo from wdtvpress.com)
Each week, Watermark writer Kirk Hartlage provides a recap of the latest episode of “Dancing With The Stars.” If you missed his last recap, go here.
It’s been a long and winding road, this season of “Dancing With The Stars,” the series’ first in our pandemic world. Let’s face it: couples’ dancing does not lend itself well to social distancing. Plus, the show elected to install new host Tyra Banks into the driver’s seat. Helming the show, she mostly took the safe route, keeping the wild adventures to guessing what she would wear next.
In these still downtrodden days, we continue to look for goodness and positivity anywhere and everywhere and in in any form. By season’s end DWTS’ judges (Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli) approach to keeping things upbeat, sunny, and bright was to hand out perfect scores like the White House has been giving out COVID at any of their maskless mass gatherings.
By keeping the scores so close, with little differential between top and bottom dancers, the onus fell to the show’s viewers, turning the show into a pure (or impure) popularity contest. It sadly led to the too-early demise of Johnny Weir, a Team Rainbow favorite.
Tonight’s finale finds the final four celebs competing for the oft-coveted mirror ball trophy. Tonight’s end-of-season celebration features this season’s first group number, with all the show’s pro dancers performing en masse. In previous, non-COVID seasons, we’d see these productions weekly. That adage about appreciating something after it’s gone? That’s also been a key theme this season, whether coronavirus-related (no Len Goodman, no group productions) or not (no Erin Andrews or Tom Bergeron). Still, there’s thunderous applause from the non-existent audience.
Tyra’s last grand entrance of the season should be titled “Cleanliness is Next To Godliness.” Her gold triangle earrings, each as large as her face, are adorned with Egyptian emblems. Her dress, in a timely color of surgical mask blue, appears to be made from feathered Swiffers, with a top reminiscent of a bristled bottle brush.
Round one tonight will be a re-do of one of each finalists’ previous performances. Round two will be the always popular “Freestyle” round, where, Tyra excitedly exclaims, there are NO rules! (So, basically, Jazz.)
•Kaitlyn Bristowe and Artem Chigvintsev will repeat their Week 9 Argentine Tango to Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” Rather than attempt to show improvement on a previous performance, Kaitlyn chooses a dance where she earned a perfect score of 30, most certainly with hopes of repeating that score. No surprise, she does.
Tyra has already changed into her second outfit, a rainbow hued, almost tie-dye style creation that appears to be made of shiny foil gift wrap. The outfit comes complete with a gold star-adorned headpiece that looks like a next-gen scoliosis brace, or possibly a dental headgear brace that hasn’t all its wires or cords attached yet. Later, seen from afar, the ensemble appears much prettier, making Tyra look like she’s ready to be the angel sitting atop a rainbow-colored gay Christmas tree.
•Acknowledging he’s been in the bottom for most of the competition, Nelly credits his fans for keeping him from elimination. He and Daniella Karagach will repeat their Week 5 Samba to “The Rhythm of the Night.” That week they scored a 24; tonight’s take is loose, but still lacks some of the technical finesse typically seen at this stage of the competition. Still, he scores a 27.
•Nev Schulman and Jenna Johnson will again perform their Halloween week Swan Lake ballet-inspired Paso Doble. Their first take of the dance in Week 7 was described as an “Instant Classic” and scored a perfect 30. Like that performance, this one scores the same.
•Justina Machado and Sasha Farber are going to repeat their Week 1 Cha Cha ; Justina says it’s a perfect way to show how she’s improved throughout the course of the competition….which, frankly, is the precise spirit that all of these repeat performances should be. Tonight’s dance was joyful, energetic, and full of charisma. She’s rewarded with a perfect 30.
While the contestants prepare for Round Two, Derek Hough takes over the dance floor with a solo performance that incorporates multiple styles of dance and highlights the performer’s skills. When a pandemic keeps you from dancing with a partner, make partners with your props. Tonight, for Derek, that will include a coat rack, wooden crates, a mirrored disco ball, a bench, a rack of costumes, a loading dolly, a ladder, a cane, another disco ball, and a derby hat.
The performance gives Tyra to change into yet another outfit, this one featuring some type of geometric shapes made of what appears to be crinkled tin foil. If this upcoming “Freestyle” round embraces the idea of “no rules” and “anything goes,” Tyra’s latest dress more than embodies that spirit.
•Nelly and Daniella decide their freestyle should be themed on “how we came in, and how we’re gonna go out – as gangsters: Bonnie and Clyde,” says Nelly. It incorporates various styles, with plenty of hip-hop swag. There were several lifts, and more than one a bit clunky in its exit. Still, the judges praise the performance for its fusion of multiple dance styles and reward the couple with what we hope isn’t a repeat of last week’s “Round of Perfection; ne, Entitlement” with a perfect score of 30.
•Kaitlyn and Artem take their freestyle to the screen in their take on “Sparkling Diamonds” from “Moulin Rouge.” Bruno properly praises the dance for being packed full of content and a proper showcase of “Dancing With The Stars.” They do, indeed, receive a 30.
•Nev and Jenna also go to the silver screen for their freestyle with a performance to “Singin’ In The Rain.” The first half is all classic Gene Kelly/Cyd Charisse, before moving to a second elevated stage where it did indeed rain as the song took a techno/electro dance turn. It was, by far, one of the best freestyle performances seen on the show, and rightfully receives a perfect 30.
•Throughout the season, Justina has shown her strength in Latin dances, so no surprise that her final performance with Sasha is a medley of Latin styles and songs. The intro sees Justina dance solo, accompanied with messages of empowerment and a backup army of videoed Justinas, ala Beyoncé, circa Billboard Music Awards 2011. She too, scores a 30.
After all the rounds, Kaitlyn, Nev and Justina have perfect scores of 60, leaving Nelly in last place with 57. The one uptick to having the scores as close as they are is that we’ll where we’ll see just how important viewers votes are.
For months we’ve been hearing just how important it is to vote. Turns out those messages don’t just apply to national governmental elections, folks.
Tyra now informs us that there’s no way we’d have a Grammy Award winner compete on the show this season without having him perform, so, ladies and gentlemen, Nelly! He performs a medley of his hits, and frankly, whatever musicality he may have exhibited in his dancing seems to have been lost now that he has a mic again in hand. (Sorry, AJ McClean that your eight Grammy nominations as a Backstreet Boy weren’t enough to earn you a performance slot in tonight’s show.)
Now for the results!
•In fourth place, Justina.
•In third place: Nelly
•In second place: Nev.
•And this season’s winner and new champions of Dancing With the Stars is: Kaitlyn and Artem.
But the BIG winner tonight is ABC, who, with the former Bachelorette crossing over to the take the top prize at the network’s other reality show juggernaut proves there’s still life – and ratings – to be had in this crazy pandemic world! Hooray!
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