DWTS9 Week 10 Final Power Rankings
Oh my wow! Where has this season gone??? I feel like it was just last week that I was trying to rank all 16 couples and it took me bloody forever – and then there were 3. Gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised by both Donny & Kelly tonight, and felt a little let down by Mya (or rather, Dmitry’s choreography). However, the tentative rankings I had in my head after last week have remained intact, and now, without further ado, I give you – the FINAL RANKING!!!
Finishing in 3rd place: Kelly & Louis – I will finally come clean: Kelly & Louis were my favorite couple this season (and pretty much the only one I wasn’t accused of either hating on or favoring unfairly), and what a joy it has been to see Kelly blossom from the nervous & unsure girl in week 1 to the fun-loving & confident gal that danced tonight! Kelly was pure joy to watch in her freestyle – who cares if she fouled up more than once? I couldn’t help but smile watching she & Louis groove – those two are just perfect together. And boy did it show in their tango! I honestly felt more chemistry between Kelly & Louis during their tango than I did all season from Mya & Dmitry…and let’s just say Louis isn’t really into chicks (trying to keep it PG here, folks 😉 ). Kelly’s footwork was crisp & sexy, and there was nary a misstep in sight. The megamix: oy. I’m sorry, I absolutely hated the idea…much preferred the mambo marathon & the relay to this. Honestly, pretty much everyone looked chaotic & out of sync to me, and unfortunately Kelly & Louis stuck out the most. While the fact that Kelly made it to the finals speaks volumes about her fanbase, she has been in the bottom 2 more than once, and she just doesn’t have the judges scores to boost her potential to win. But at the risk of sounding totally cheesy – I feel like Kelly is already a winner for all the progress she has made this season. Best of luck to her after the show ends…I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of her 🙂
Runner-up: Mya & Dmitry – I’ve said it ad infinitum, but I’ll say it once more for good measure: the best dancer doesn’t always win. And in this case of Mya & Dmitry, I would be prepared for Gilles Marini redux – I just don’t see them pulling out a win over Donny & Kym. Her dances tonight only solidified for me that she & Dmitry have about as much chemistry as peanut butter & pickles – they just don’t go together well at all. Paso – can we say “overscored”? They definitely got off-time, and I feel like Dmitry was powering her through every move. Mya’s face looked absolutely blank to me – she does great with sexy dances, but with aggressive ones like the paso, I think she’s a bit of a fish out of water & doesn’t quite know what to do with her face. It also felt a bit repetitive, which seems to be a trend in Dmitry’s choreography – and now we move onto the freestyle. I hated it. I felt like it did nothing to showcase Mya’s talents, was low energy, too simple (C’mon, Dmitry…Kelly’s choreography was harder than that!), and cliched – I feel like the ’50s/’60s themed dances on the show have really been overdone. I have to wonder if their freestyle would have been more exciting had they gone with Mya’s idea instead – after all, when she helped Dmitry with their ’70s samba, it was actually fun to watch, and they got their first perfect 30. Now here’s the conspiracy: I feel like the judges are gunning hard for Mya to win…to the point that they’re deliberately overscoring her. To what end? I’m not sure – maybe trying to shift the focus of the show back to good dancing rather than popularity. So Mya may have the highest point total after tonight, but it’s only 2 points more than Donny…and in the battle of the fanbases (though it will probably be a close call, just like last season!), I think Donny will edge Mya out. Mya really needed to make an impression tonight to really contend for the trophy, and I feel like she fell short (due mostly to ho-hum choreography). I just don’t see her really sticking out in voters’ minds as much as Donny & Kelly do. But what a great run! Seriously, Mya could be the best technician I’ve seen on the show – EVER. It’s a shame she just couldn’t seem to hone her showmanship skills to really knock it out of the park.
The Winner: Donny & Kym – Donny has actually been a pleasant surprise for me this season, overall – I guess I was bracing for another Marie (ai ai ai). But when he wasn’t talking out of turn while getting his scores or perpetuating his fauxmance with Bruno, he was actually very fun to watch. I will give it to him – none of the other competitors this season could measure up to Donny in terms of showmanship. Almost every week (with the exception of maybe the quickstep & last week’s tango) he brought his energy full-tilt, and never stopped playing to the crowd. He really impressed me in his cha-cha – his foot & hip action were better than any of the other guys I’ve seen this season. Plus it was just a fun, fluffy, energetic routine (even if it was less cha-cha and more open work). And he had by far the best freestyle – Kym made a smart choice in chosing a Broadway theme again, as that is really Donny’s venue – it was high-energy, explosive, and engaging. I wish I had more to say about Donny tonight, but he was overall quite good – not much to critique. He has definitely secured the win in my mind, due not only to his large fanbase, but also his good scores and his peerless performance quality – I may have ragged on Donny in earlier rankings, but his routines were always ones I remembered, for better or worse. And I will be thrilled if Kym finally gets the trophy after two seasons of being the “almost” girl! Kudos to both of them…
…and with that, I close my final power ranking for this season. It’s been fun hearing what you guys think week after week, and bouncing thoughts off one another. Hope you guys will stick with us in the off-season – rest assured this will not be my last post until next March! I still have plenty to chat about and hope you have thoughts and opinions about it 🙂 Now speaking of opinions…let’s hear yours! Will Mya manage to pull out the win over Donny? Will Kelly surprise us all and take the trophy home herself??? Will Cloris get naked tomorrow night (oh dear!)? TALK TO ME! 🙂
Girl!! I didn’t read your rankings before I did my Math and we came to the same conclusion. I have to say again – this season was lacking in the freestyle department without the Hough/Ballas contingent. Louis and Kym certainly were up there but were hampered by boo boos and Donny’s age. Dmitry – shockingly bad freestyle. Good lord, when Kelly Osbourne is beating you in level of difficulty, you’re doing something WRONG.
Ah well, we will see what happens tomorrow. I’ll be very disappointed if Mya wins after that freestyle. Oh, and if anything looked familiar in Mya’s Paso, Dmitry borrowed heavily from Maks and Derek – Maks called him out on twitter. 🙂 Gotta love Maks.
Hey Courtney,
I totally agree with you. I think Donny had the only really engaging and creative freestyle (Kelly and Louis were kind of cute, and I enjoy the mess-ups, but…) and I think that gives him the win, end of story. I thought Mya’s freestyle was the least interesting and I really disliked their paso. I think it was a bad music choice but that’s probably not their fault. I tend to dislike pasos with American music. I find the music is overly aggressive for an already aggessive dance and then it just looks ridiculous. I disliked Alec and Natalie’s American Woman paso for the same reason. I thnk Donny’s got it and I still miss Aaron Carter.
Anyone else watch SYTYCD season 2 I seem to remember a Tyce routine to that same song performed by Benji and Donyelle. Which was the same season Dmitry was a part of and the all did the routine on tour. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfLfAU7qDRE
See any similarities? oh well not the first time this has happened.
Dmitry’s paso is different from Mak’s paso. The only similarity it had was that they both contained paso moves. Wow a paso looking like someone else’s paso, geez that has never been done before because we know pasos are not supposed to look like each other. I was using sarcasm there if you didn’t get it by now. I actually liked Dmitry’s more because it had more content and didn’t rely on the sex factor like Maksim’s paso usually do. To claim that Dmitry stole from Maks is ridiculous and downright dumb.
I am convinced, Courtney, that you are watching these dances on a stream or on youtube because the screen must have been blurry for you not to see Mya’s expressions. She had the most expressive face with the most aggressive expressions. Maybe you were watching Joanna’s blank face in the futuristic paso. Mya is the one with black hair.
I think the producers wanted this contest to be closer than it is. So I am convinced that the producers told Mya and Dmitry to do a simple routine freestyle because Donny could shine and people would think “oh so the other two do have a chance against Mya.” It is all fixed. Dmitry would never miss a chance to choreograph an energetic, sexy routine unless he was forced against it. He would have made something more dynamic than the 70’s samba.
Anyone care to comment on the freestyle similarity. I thought that would have gotten a response. There were at least 4 eight counts that were exactly the same.
Honestly i was chocked by mya and Dmitry’s freestyle! what the hell was that!! honestly Dmitry u can do a freestyle without copying other dances! the SYTYCD broadway routine in season 2 (where dmitry competed) done by donyelle and benji (tice diorio) so much moves taken from it! i can’t find the word to describe how disapointed i am! if Dmitry can’t be creative and CREAT a free style on his own i really don’t think he should stay on the show! The paso i didn’t like it, mya can do great on sexy dances but on intense ones not that much but though still a good performance! on the mega mix i think they were great! I think Louis’s freestyle would have been great without theese mistakes, but this is live tv! I loooooooved Donny’s cha cha amazing cha cha and free style! Over all after last night performances I think Donny and kym are my pick To TAKE The miror ball!!
Aniteh, just FYI – I don’t watch the show on youtube, I watch it on TV. High def. 52″ (my gift to myself after my tax refund last year 🙂 ). So basically – clear as a bell. And I still say Mya looked blank, and Dmitry let her down with the choreography. As for your comparison to the Derek & Joanna’s futuristic paso – yes, Joanna had a blank face, but that was part of the whole theme of the piece…they were robots. I don’t know that the stern expressions of the paso doble would have been as effective in conveying that. And I am not colorblind, so I didn’t confuse Mya with Joanna 😉
Agree with most everyone’s sentiments that both of Mya & Dmitry’s dances last night did not pass muster for the finals. Whether or not Dmitry copied from Maks and/or Derek on the paso, I’m not sure (although I did catch Maks’ lil jab on Twitter…hehe), but regardless, the choreography was rather simple & repetitive nonethless. Too much open work; and (can’t believe I’m saying this) not enough crowd-pleasing tricks. Dmitry really let Mya down in terms of choreography this week, and it very well may have cost her the trophy. We’ve seen Mya do some pretty difficult stuff this season, and we know she has dancing chops – so why the hell did Dmitry decide to play it safe when it mattered most to make an impression & leave it all out on the floor???
I know everyone has been comparing their freestyle to Benji & Donyelle’s in season 2 of SYTYCD, but there was also a group routine to the same song that was choregraphed by Adam Shankman in season 3 (y’know, the one where Dominic dropped Sabra on her head? lol) – both routines were miles ahead of Mya & Dmitry in terms of both difficulty & energy. Pretty strong precedents set for performances to “You Can’t Stop the Beat”. With such an energetic song, you really can’t get away with NOT dancing full out. Again, not really Mya’s fault – I think Dmitry is completely to blame for the blandness of their freestyle snd their paso – which actually brings to mind Jesus & Sarah’s paso in season 3 of SYTYCD, which was to the same song. Granted, theirs wasn’t perfect either; but the energy was much stronger and they seemed to really sink into the beat, where I feel like Mya & Dmitry were just skimming on top of it.
But I will agree with Heidi – the Ballas/Hough faction, love them or hate them, has really become the masters of the freestyle. They always seem to play on their partner’s strengths (i.e. Mark showcasing Shawn’s gymnastics, Derek working in steps to showcase Brooke’s flexibility), and end up with really memorable, unique routines that present their celebs in the best light possible – and when it counts the most. I would have loved to have seen what Mya & Dmitry’s freestyle would have looked like if they went with Mya’s idea instead – maybe Mya would have worked in moves to showcase her jazz & tap background, which I think would have been a better strategy for them.
Aniteth, that is just a plain baby excuse. The producers have NO control over what happens, as far as I’m concerned ABC plays fair, maybe not the judges every once in a while. Mya’s freestyle could’ve cost her the competition. Mya’s expressions were alright, but the dance felt akward to me. Still 30 worthy I guess….maybe…I don’t know. How can you comment on Joanna’s paso? It was futuristic themed, her facial expression was right on the money, like her techinque, Mya did well in the megamix and her paso, but her freestyle was…not that likable.
Blaming the producers for a lame routine is not right, i hope u all remember Dmitry when he didn’t like len’s comments about simplifying his routines, He said that simple stuff are boring so u would guess the repond to a routine like that, and not a any routine THE FREESTYLE, wich make it worse than boring 😀 !!! The Guy Dmitry is not to be on the show honestly i don’t think he suits the standards of DWTS Professional Dancers, he let down his partner a few times and i don’t think he got what it takes to be on the show may be he can be good for the tour but not the live show, sorry it’s only my opinion!
Nope, sorry – I’m tired and overworked and I’ve been know to wonder about a conspiracy theory or two in my time. But, at the end of the day, Mya and Dmitry sucked and sucked bad. There is no way the producers want a craptastic finale – they don’t care who wins by the time of the final three as long as it’s exciting. Which Mya was NOT. I would be willing to bet that the producers were unhappy with Mya’s freestyle because of how boring it was.
I think Derek, and to a lesser extent Mark, choreographs the best freestyles (along with jules, cheryl and kym) because Derek feels the music much more than other pros. He is a musician. He plays guitar, drums, piano and god knows what else. And of the wonder triplets, he’s got the strongest voice by a mile. You can see musicality in nearly ever move he makes. That’s why he’s never lost a team dance – I would argue that putting him with either Kym, Louis or Cheryl will guarantee a winning routine every single time. He choreographs to the song and to his partner – people pick on him for singing to his partners while dancing – I say that’s what makes him great. He’s in the music. And where is choreography without music?
Of course it was the producers’ fault. Sabrina Bryan was told by producers to hold back so that she wouldn’t be voted off early. It wouldn’t be a shocker if Mya was told to hold back. The video package for DMya’s freestyle was setting up Dmitry for the blame, it is so obvious. They wanted the contest to be closer than it actually is and wanted the results to be shocking so it is apparent they made Mya hold back so that the other two would shine. This is a TV show, if you don’t think some of its planned, then you are off your rocker. I don’t expect you to care since you have been treating Mya like dirt all season long, you are probably happy that ABC screwed her over. Mya has been very gracious and working the hardest of all the contestants while praising Donny and other contestants. While Joanna, your guys’ favorite personality, went after Mya and Donny on her blog and twitter. Just yesterday, Joanna retweeted a message that said Joanna should have won, that Donny didn’t deserve to win. What did Mya say about Donny’s win? She said he deserved it, that he has been working hard while doing his Las Vegas shows at the same time. She has always said that Donny lights up the floor whenever he dances, that he deserved 10s on his jitterbug and so on. Also I don’t understand why you guys don’t give Mya any credit for her talent. If people are voting for her, if the judges and pros are saying she is great, then obviously she is connecting. it doesn’t matter anyways, similar personalities gravitate towards each other and that is why you guys gravitate towards Joanna.