Dancing With The Stars Season 24, The FINALE – Dancing by the Numbers!
Well, conventional wisdom says that Rashad should win. Best freestyle compared to a rather crap one by Normani. He’s at the top of the leader board. The judges raved over him. They were lukewarm on Normani. Rashad went last. I can’t even tell you how many times they danced in the order they finished. All the “Rashad is the winner” signals were there.
But here’s where I have a problem. We have new producers. And they might not fall into the same patterns that they used to. They could be engineering a shocking win.
But the problem with that is that they’re not that clever nor Machiavellian. If they were that good, we wouldn’t be able to see what they were doing all season long. That was a pretty abrupt shift from Normani to Rashad. Perhaps they only needed Normani to get to the finale. Plus, the judges like to be right and they certainly ranked the contestants tonight, with Rashad in the number 1 spot.
I’m afraid to hope so I voted my ass off. Let’s look at the leader board.
Rashad is on top by 3 whole points. Keep in mind that this could change tomorrow, but I suspect that they will tie Rashad and Normani with David a couple points back. They will be hesitant to change the outcome, unless one of them is so far ahead it doesn’t matter.
David is on the bottom – what is the likelihood that he could win?
In a nutshell, If Rashad gets the most votes, he wins. Normani has to get about 6k more votes per million votes cast to beat him. And David has to beat both Rashad and Normani by 26.5k and 21k more votes per million votes cast, respectively, in order to win.
My original gut feeling since about week 2 was that Rashad was going to win. And then the Normani ass kissing machine kicked into over drive. One of my other original gut instincts was that she might not be getting the votes and they were helping her out; I can’t even tell you how many times a night like tonight happened. They pimp and they pimp and they pimp…and then once they get that person to the finale they relax and the pimpage is over. So the question is, do I go with my original gut and the conventional wisdom of DWTS….or do I go with my later thoughts that they were desperate for Val to win once again (for an as yet unknown reason)?
I’m inclined to go with my original gut feelings and say Rashad is going to take it. But if 5th Harmony has a huge announcement tomorrow that they’re going to have a series on Disney or some such thing, all bets are off. Seriously.
Yeah….here’s what I’m going with:
3rd Place – David (or Normani, second choice)
2nd Place – Normani (or David, second choice)
Winner of DWTS Season 24 – Rashad and Emma
If Rashad and Emma don’t win after their performances tonight (and the totally uninspired and lazy choreo by Val compared to the great choreo by Emma and Lindsay), then this show is an irredeemable POS – and World of Dance should take over. Quit rewarding lazy, boring choreo with MBTs all for the sake of your agenda, producers. Rashad for the win. I wouldn’t even be unhappy with David, but Rashad really deserves it.
Thanks for the numbers!
Your last paragraph is so true. If Val wins with that crapola lazy freestyle then this show is damaged beyond repair and it’s time to move on.
I’m sooooo happy to read that a long time (and PO’d) fan like you was still willing to try one last time and voted their fingers off for Rashad and Emma!
I’m with you Heidi! Rashad FTW!
Val’s choreo had been severely lacking. He has shown us over & over & over again that he is NOT a choreographer. He’s not gonna get DWTS an Emmy..Lindsay, Sharna, & Emma are their best bets.
If Normani wins this. I’m done watching the farce that my once favorite TV show has become 🙁
Just saw this on twitter by a Harmonizer. “This time, we garnered 387,396 votes, the complete total from last week and this week equaling 585,991 votes! AMAZING JOB, EVERYONE! ?❤️” Does this seem realistic or are they just probably playing us?
I think the last dance could be crucial in determining 2nd and 3rd place. I think barring an obvious fall or something, Normani and Rashad are likely to get 40s. But if they give David 9s, his path to 2nd place is a lot easier than if he gets 8s. I still think he could pull it off, but I will be very interested to see how they score David tonight.
Am really shocked by Val because he could have gotten any number of people to help, or so I would assume, but I think he feels he has it in the bag. I’ve seen no desire or drive from him this season except when scores didn’t go exactly as he wanted them to.
Even if they’re telling the truth, a little over half a million votes is not really all that great when you consider that the total vote count after combining last week and this week is likely in the neighborhood of 150 million votes. It’s a fraction of a percent.
I’m with you PH! I think the rumors that Rashad is going on tour and “we must have a MBT winner on tour” leans in his favor. Also, the Esha fans will want to get Emma the trophy because Sasha was denied the finals by judges’ nit-picking. How can you not like Rashad and Emma for the win? No prior dance experience and sweet Emma, finally given a contender, crafted incredible dances for him. Rashad and Emma are two beautiful people, inside and out. What an amazing friendship! I’m going to miss their IG stories!
Could not agree more with every word!!! I, too, wouldn’t mind if David and Lindsay won over Rashad and Emma, so long as it wasn’t Val and Normani. Still keeping my fingers crossed as I have all season though for Rashad and Emma!! ??? Then I’ll be watching World of Dance come May 30th!! ?
If they don’t win, I’ll be thinking long and hard about watching DWTS in the fall-I’m thankful it’s cut down to one season but if any Chmerkovskiy is in it, I don’t know if I want to watch it frankly:/
((relieved sigh)) Well that’s a good thing. I sure wish we’d know how many votes each couple gets! Now I feel better knowing this. Thanks, Court! 🙂
Laura, so would I!
I would not be surprised if David somehow wins this. Keep in mind that Cubs fans are rabid, especially now since they’re coming off the World Series win. Also, he’s the every man. He’s “one of us” – a guy who may not be the best dancer but gave it his all every week. People like the every man. They like people to who come across as approachable and sincere.
Thanks for the numbers post, Heidi! I had a good feeling after seeing the way they scored Rashad and his freestyle. Uhm how amazing was that? I have a good feeling that we are able to get him the win. Yes the harmonizers are all talk about how much they got in, but if they don’t have the general audience on their side, they’re not gonna accomplish anything.
Honestly I’m relaxed. Apart from season 22 I’ve always been fairly confident who the winner would be after watching the finale for the last 7 seasons (season 16 was the last time since season 22 that I couldn’t call a winner). After last night I’m certain Rashad wins. He’s top of the leaderboard, no dance experience, far more votable to the viewing demographic and floating viewer than Normani, a pro that hasn’t won before, hugely likeable with a great story, got judges comments that you’d expect for a winner and is also apparently going on tour. The only question for me is whether David pips Normani into second.
I would be happy with either Rashad or David, as long as it’s not Val, but Rashad deserves it and he’s the one I gave all my votes to. Everyone I know that watches show voted for him to.
I know I’ve said that if Val wins I would wait to see who his partner was next season. If they would give him another ringer or an older partner, with absolutely NO dance experience.
But right now, if he wins, I’m done. It would be so horribly wrong for Rashad and Emma not to win. And, really, I can’t watch him grab the mic and gone on about himself. His ego will be so inflated. And if that happened, I wouldn’t put it past TPTB to pimp him for a three-peat, something I don’t think show has had. His freestyle was boring. There wasn’t any reason to have those kids there. I smiled through Rashad’s and David’s and was completely bored and uninspired by Val’s.
Emma was the perfect partner for Rashad, as Lindsey was for David. These ladies have proven that they are at the top of their game, and to me, are the best female pros on the show right now along with Sharna. TPTB need to open their eyes and see the treasures they have in them instead of pushing a mean-spirited, self-involved man with an overblown ego.
Can’t you picture Rashad going to his father after he wins? What a beautiful moment that would be. If we’re all going to cry when he wins, we’ll be crying buckets after something like that. And you know Sasha would be there for Emma. That would be the perfect, and right ending to this season
Can someone tell me: was Normani’s first dance a Viennese waltz and her 2nd dance a “freestyle” Viennese waltz?
@Mary Griffin – Her first dance was a quickstep. Her 2nd dance was a freestyle.
Agree with everything you’re saying, Cindy! The kids were cute but necessary? Not really. Obvious Val was using them to tug America’s hearts. Like, who doesn’t love kids? The show has had a three-peat…Derek. That was before he won again though but still. Currently, we don’t have a three-peat yet. I agree about Emma. I really didn’t know how good of a choreographer she was because she’s always getting “blah” partners before Rashad so I hope she comes back and still get a great partner again. Maybe not as great as Rashad but still great. I really hope Rashad does win with his dad in the audience cheering him on and hugging his boy. It’s been sweet to see Sasha and Emma kiss from time to time through out the season and it’d be neat to see them kiss one more time this season after Emma holds that MBT!
Rashad will win. At least that’s my prediction. I’ve watched the show(like many of you) have for a long time. I see the telling signs. At least I think I do.
I feel like last night’s show really pushed for Rashad. Which makes me believe he’s overwhelmingly winning in votes.
A good example is Alfonso and Rumer. The show is pimping the highest vote getter. Pumping the person giving them the ratings if that makes sense
They’re also pushing his freestyle. Freestyle can win or it loss it we all know that. Prime examples are Kelli and Derek and obviously Donald and Peta. I don’t think Rashad’ s freestyle was all that.
Anyway, that’s my prediction and I love Emma so much so I’m so happy for her. Hopefully this can be a consolation prize for Sasha.
I hope this show starts pushing them both. I believe Emma and Sasha are the future.
I am with you all if Norman wins I am done with this pathetic show Because Rashad deserves it. I told myself after S 22 I wasn’t gonna watch
I gave Rashad and Emma 810 votes and it took 2 combined hours!!! I really hope it paid off.I keep hearing 5th Harmony fans mentioning power voting thousands of times so who knows if they are being honest.I know Rashad should be the winner though so im hoping a miracle happens tonight!
I am with you all if Norman wins I am done with this pathetic show Because Rashad deserves it. I told myself after S 22 when Paige was robbed I wasn’t gonna watch then Derek came back so I did Although if history repeats itself the best freestyle wins and his was definitely the best Normani 2nd David 3rd but would love to shut the Harmonizes up with her 3rd I just hope they are respectable if they don’t win
I’m praying Rashad wins, if not than I’ll be happy with David. I just hope Normani & Val does not win.
Great numbers post, hope it holds!! Rashad is a throw back to when ratings were high on DWTS. People who honestly put in the work, and dance well, but are obviously untrained, they have so much heart and soul that you can’t help but like them. For me, the key though to winning and being a fan favorite is that you truly love to dance ballroom and latin. David, as much as he’s great guy, he has a tiny look of terror every time he’s in hold. Also if you constantly try to go in the other direction like Val you won’t have the payoff. As much as the show wants to be “fresh” it always amazing to see the most innovative dancing doesn’t come from all show dancing, it comes from a basic understanding of your partner. That is why Rashad excelled. He was able to not only do his thang, Emma made sure he gave us more. Real partnering doing a little Salsa, which is a bit amazing to put into a freestyle, not that it’s particularly difficult, but I don’t think he did as a dance all season, It was sort of like how he approached the Jive dance off, he never did it before so had very little time to prep. And Rashad gave us Lifts, but he was not a just a freestyle of lifts he brought the funk, and it was so cheesy and fun and like Bruno Mars at the superbowl. Rashad EARNED it the hard way.
Did Val really think people wouldn’t catch on to the similarities with the SYTYCD routine? Same song, same idea, were they the same kids too? He’s lucky he’s not Derek, or he’d be raked over the coals for it.
Remember when they pimped up Ginger and Val s22 and they got 3rd place? It could happen again, you never know. I’ve seen a lot of harmonizers tweeting about valmani more than Rashad and David. I’m not planning on watching because I feel like they’re going to ruin Rashad and Emma’s chance at winning just so that they can give Val his back-to-back wins.
@Kathy, if Val doesn’t win, I too hope the harmonizers can be respectful, but I wouldn’t make any bets on it. Something tells me that trash talk will be the way they go.
What happens tonight will determine if I stick with this another season or say goodbye for good. Rashad and Emma winning it all is the only just, right, and sane outcome.
I’m soooo looking forward to World Of Dance. Will it be reviewed/recapped on PureDerekHough?
Susan, the Derek parts will be on PureDerekHough…but the rest will be on PureWorldofDance.com our sorta new website. 🙂
I bet a lot of people switch votes after their favorite PRO goes home! I split votes between Sasha and Emma; after Sasha went home I voted only for Rashad and Emma.
I don’t know what to think about freestyles anymore. In the past, I’ve believed it’d make a difference. For Bindi and Nyle, it helped them a lot. When James had his heart-felt freestyle, he didn’t win so since then until last night, I no longer believed freestyles made any difference. Now if Rashad wins, then I might reconsider and think maybe last season was just a fluke, where the best freestyle didn’t win. I’m sorry but why the hell did Val choreograph a freestyle appropriate for a 5 or 6 year old for a young woman who is 16??? I get that Laurie is young and they wanted to do something youthful but something THAT youthful? What about a shopping mall or something like a school dance? Girls Laurie’s age loves to shop and go to school dances with cute guys!
***edited to remove link to another website***
Also, harmonizers can be rude sometimes. I was on instagram and I noticed that under Rashad and Emma’s post on the DWTS page, some harmonizers were commenting #teamvalmani and that kind of stuff and then I saw a DWTS post with valmani on it and I commented #teamshadsquad for the win. Then, a harmonizer replied to me asking why I was under this post then when there was some other shadsquad fans replying besides me but I replied saying how it’s my opinion and I’m not hating on them and that you harmonizers are commenting under Rashad’s post. Sorry for the rant but it annoyed me.
I kinda feel bad for Normani.. TPTB suddenly dropped the hammer on the poor girl last night.. while giving Rashad -The Golden Tour Boy the most pimpiest pimping ever done in the history of DWTS, IMO.
Gosh WTF was that editing about? ”I never won, boo hoo, i’m a loser, boo hoo” with Emma crying & all that! That was some high level pimping of Rashad that literally made me gag. How can you not pull a win after THAT edit? The ‘sheeple’ as we call them (the demo viewers) will go with the flow thinking ”aww poor boy, never won a thing in life. So what he ain’t that great of a dancer? but still let’s vote him so he can win the MBT”..
Their goal was to make sure David & Normani makes the finals.. as they bring in the viewers due to their huge fanbases.. but give Rashad the pimpiest pimping on finale night, to make sure he wins.. cause you know golden boy is touring! & need to make sure, he’s winner & hence can headline the tour since Val, their current most popular pro ain’t touring.
Anyways, i hope the harmonizers can smack the pimping & producers agenda with their voting power. If Normani wins, then i’ll believe the harmonizers are actually as big as they claim to be.. as 3 points difference, that HIGH LEVEL pimping of 1 contestant is very hard to beat.
It’s always been my opinion that a great freestyle won’t get you the win – but a bad/boring one can cost you a win. I still believe that’s true. The only person it might not be true for is Kellie Pickler – cuz that was groundbreaking for DWTS.
“Nice” Miriam, nice try. But Normani has been pimped all season. If Rashad wins it will be a miracle that he overcame the trash talking from the judges all season.
David needed NO help making the finals – that much if very obvious from the fact that he’s spent the whole season at the bottom of the leaderboard (unlike Normani who was given inflated scores all season to help her out).
And, for your information, a three point difference is NOTHING. 6k votes. Why do Harmonizers not know how to read? Too much time trolling the internet?? If she manages to win, it will be neither surprising nor a huge success – after being pimped all season to high heaven, it will just mean she managed to eek out 6k more votes than Rashad. BFD.
Really, this wasn’t even a moderately good attempt at revisionist history. I suggest you take it elsewhere.
If the harmonizers had been nicer to Simone fans, there would be an outside chance of Simone voters that would go to Normani – I seriously doubt that will happened.
I doubt I’ll ever figure out why they (producers) chose Normani over Simone. Unless they have something going on with that girl group. I actually believe they humiliated themselves and the show.
Rashad for the win.
Gunny, my feeling is that the producers picked Val over Sasha. I don’t think it’s fair that Val gets preferential treatment when he isn’t producing good work.