Carrie Anne Inaba Discusses The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Each DWTS Finalist

Carrie Anne Inaba talked with TV Guide about the strengths and weaknesses of each finalist on Dancing With The Stars. To see how she weighed on each of them, see this link. Below is a small take from the link….

“I think it’s going to be a very, very close run,” Inaba tells TVGuide.com. “I hear Bindi’s name come up a lot when people are talking about who they think is going to win. And yes, she’s got this incredible personality and she’s done consistently well. But … not to bring her down at all, because she’s absolutely incredible, but when you’re that good every time, the level of expectation is very, very high. And I think she’s shown us so many incredible sides of herself, I wonder what she’s going to show us for the finale. Because you could be great all season, but if you don’t win that night, you don’t win.”

Any of the other three finalists – Nick Carter, Carlos PenaVega and Alek Skarlatos – could give the young Aussie a run for her money, Inaba says.

“Bindi’s been strong and she’s been the leader horse out in the front, but I feel like these other guys, the three men, are right on her tail,” Inaba says. “And [among] the three of them, I feel like it’s a neck-and-neck run. Maybe Nick is just a hair ahead of the other guys, but who knows? Because they’re all on this incredible growth trajectory.”

One thing Inaba can guarantee is that the pros will be going for jaw-dropping moments – which could either be amazing or totally backfire. “I’m hoping that they will make creative choices that are great,” she says. “Sometimes the pros get ambitious and they want to go for the fan vote, and you’ve got to be careful. I think this year, because it is so tight scoring-wise, everybody’s really close to each other, I think they’re going to take some risks. And I just hope that they’re risks that will pay off for them. Carlos’ risk last week, I didn’t care for it. I thought that it was distracting to the dance.”

The two-part finale will see the finalists performing a number of routines, one of which will be a redo of a dance they’ve already performed, chosen by the judges. (“That’s my favorite part of the season, when we get to go into the studio and work with them a little and interact with the contestants, because we have such limited interaction with them throughout the season,” Inaba admits. “It was fun to get to know them up close.”) Also, for the first time, the finale will include a live segment broadcast from The Grove.