ABC and Dancing with the Stars made a great decision to keep the Dancing with the Stars 2009 top 3 final performances to only an hour. It was a great hour of entertainment. Any longer and they’d have been stretching for content. Here’s my review of the top 3 from tonight’s show.

Shawn Johnson - Anyone that watches Shawn has to just love her little girl innocence and her cute personality. Her detractors use that against her, but that’s a big plus for me. Sure, she doesn’t have that adult woman’s nuance in her dancing, but she’s so precise in her movements.

Shawn’s freestyle was far and away the best of the night. I was really disappointed that she didn’t pull at least a few tasteful gymnastics tricks, but it was still entertaining.

Copyright 2009 Craig Sjodin / ABC

Gilles freestyle was my least favorite of the night. The freestyle highlighted Cheryl instead of Gilles. If I was evaluating Cheryl, then I’d have given it a 10. Cheryl really danced it with some amazing personality. Plus, I think that Gilles should have stuck with the sensual stuff he started with. When he went to playful, he just didn’t pull it off very well. The effort was there, but it just felt awkward. I should also mention that I think it’s a joke that Len would mark down Melissa for her “choice of style” but would still give a 10 to Gilles who had much less dancing (see Carrie Anna and Bruno’s comments).

Copyright 2009 Craig Sjodin / ABC

I really enjoyed Melissa’s freestyle. It was occasionally disjointed, but unlike Len I really loved that she incorporated her cheerleading moves into the dance. It shows her versatility which is what I think freestyle should be all about. It’s just shameful that Len would mark down her score just because he didn’t like that style of dancing. Lesson for all those doing a freestyle in the future: add in at least some ballroom or get marked down by Len.

Copyright 2009 Craig Sjodin / ABC

I just found this short little story on People that talks about Julianne Hough not leaving Dancing with the Stars for good. Here’s the quote from the article where Julianne Hough talks:

In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, Hough said: “I am appreciative to be taking this coming season of Dancing with the Stars off to focus on my other career paths like touring in support of my album and recording my next one. I look forward to returning to DWTS in early 2010.”

Dancing with the Stars executive producer, Conrad Green, is also quoted in the article talking about how they encourage the dancers to take a break. Check out Julianne Hough’s list of Tour dates and you can see she’s going to be busy without Dancing with the Stars.

Glad to know Julianne Hough will be back on Dancing with the Stars.

Yes, I am on the west coast, so the Dancing with the Stars finale is going on right now. For those interested in hearing some of my commentary on the Dancing with the Stars 2009 finale, you can follow my comments on my Dancing with the Stars twitter account. Go and check out some of my most recent comments like:

“I told everyone that the Dancing with the Stars finale is always a Love fest. They want to pump up the final 3 as part of the storyline.”
and
“I’m really disappointed Shawn Johnson isn’t going to use her gymnastics in the freestyle. It’s called FREE-style. Grrrrrr!”

Looking forward to seeing you on Twitter.

Check out the list of music from the Dancing with the Stars 2009 finale. Always fun to see what the stars bring to the table for the finale. Especially for the freestyle dance they do. I’ll update this as the Dancing with the Stars 2009 finale progresses.

Also, check out all of the Dancing with the Stars 2009 music.

Shawn & Mark, Melissa & Tony, Gilles & Cheryl danced a Paso Doble to the song “So What”—Pink
Shawn & Mark danced a Freestyle to the song “Do Your Thing”—Basement Jaxx
Shawn & Mark danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”—Michael Jackson
Melissa & Tony danced a Freestyle to the song “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”—C+C Music Factory
Melissa & Tony danced a Samba to the song “Jaleo”—Ricky Martin
Gilles & Cheryl danced a Freestyle to the song “Flashdance (What a Feeling)”—Irene Cara
Gilles & Cheryl danced a Argentine Tango to the song “Assassin’s Tango”—John Powell

I just posted the results from the Pure Dancing with the Stars poll. However, I thought it would also be fun to take a look at other ways of determining who the most popular of the final 3 is (since at this point it really becomes a popularity contest).

I recently posted a list of the Dancing with the Stars twitter accounts. Since then, my stats program has tracked which twitter account link has been clicked on the most. Certainly not a scientific way to determine who is the most popular, but still fun fodder while we wait for tomorrow’s Dancing with the Stars finale.

Here is the ranking according to the number of clicks to the final 3’s twitter accounts:
1. Melissa Rycroft
2. Gilles Marini
3. Shawn Johnson

Interesting, no?

Of course, another way to look at it is by number of followers that each star has on their twitter account. Those would go like this:
1. Shawn Johnson - 6768 Twitter Followers
2.3. Gilles Marini - 1444 Twitter Followers
3.2. Melissa Rycroft - 258 Twitter Followers 4797 Twitter Followers

Granted, Shawn and Gilles definitely are using Twitter more than Melissa. Although, it is interesting that it’s the same as the poll results I just posted previously. [UPDATE: One of my twitter followers informed me that Melissa Rycroft has another twitter account with many more followers. I've updated the post to reflect the difference. I wondered why Melissa wasn't updating the account I knew about. By the way, you can follow this website on Twitter as well.]

Any other cool ways that I should look at who will become the next Dancing with the Stars winner?

I recently invited readers of Pure Dancing with the Stars to vote for the Dancing with the Stars 2009 winner. I posted 2 polls asking “Who do you WANT to be the Dancing with the Stars 2009 winner?” and “Who WILL be the Dancing with the Stars 2009 Winner?”

The following are the predictions for will become the Dancing with the Stars 2009 winner:

Who do you WANT to be the Dancing with the Stars 2009 winner?

Who WILL be the Dancing with the Stars 2009 Winner?

Looks like Shawn Johnson has a lot to look forward to on the finale of Dancing with the Stars season 8. Although, I have to admit that this has to be the closest race ever in the history of Dancing with the Stars. I said previously that it reminds me of back when Mario Lopez and Joey Fatone were really close.

I picked up a couple of DWTS stories on various entertainment news shows and thought I’d share.

Extra

Access Hollywood - Ty cracks me up!! As does the Gilles/Tony Bromance. Does this make me a shipper?

USAToday.com article called “‘Dancing’ Stars find new fans and more opportunities”.  The focus of this article is mainly on Gilles, but it’s a pretty interesting read all the way around. Here are a few excerpts and the picture they used:

LOS ANGELES — Hours after actor Gilles Marini and dance partner Cheryl Burke wrapped up a rumba that drew a standing ovation from the Dancing With the Stars studio audience, he needs a body tuneup.

Soft New Age music and a soothing tabletop waterfall in chiropractor Tom Rudenko’s office are a quiet contrast to the boisterous theatrics at ABC’s hit ballroom competition. But they’re just the tonic for weary Marini.

The potential payoff is far bigger than bragging rights and the cheesy mirror-ball trophy awaiting Dancing’s winners on the May 19 finale. Yes, the actors, athletes, singers, models and reality stars who have appeared since its 2005 debut have risked injury and humiliation on live TV. But Dancing also has jump-started careers, polished tarnished reputations and generated opportunities in ways most of them couldn’t imagine.

Lil’ Kim, the pint-sized rapper best known for R-rated lyrics, breast pasties and prison time for perjury, was ousted last week. But during her stint, viewers saw the sweet demeanor and feisty spirit of a hip-hop artist shaking her booty to the cha-cha. “I think I’ve already won,” she says. “This has shown another side of me. I’ve got new fans. Acting makes sense; I could see doing a kids’ show. Definitely, the music will be different.”

For Johnson, 17, who may aim for the 2012 Olympics, Dancing provides more options. “It’s really given me the opportunity to see what else is out there. I never thought about acting. Now? Maybe,” she says, giggling.

Even show regulars have managed to parlay Dancing into opportunity. Co-host Samantha Harris is subbing as host of syndicated game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Burke, who opens her third dance studio this week, also has an apparel line and endorsement deals. Pro dancer Julianne Hough is leaving to focus on a promising singing career.

Mayo Alanen is a really great dancer. I enjoyed his dancing with Kym. The only problem for him is that Anna Demidova was off the charts. It’s sad that Dancing with the Stars can’t take both of them, but doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of having a competition? Either way, his performance was still tremendously entertaining and worth another watch. Looks like season 9 of Dancing with the Stars is still in good hands.

Mayo Alanen & Kym Johnson danced a Cha-Cha-Cha to the song “Shake Your Groove Thing” —Peaches & Herb

Mayo Alanen & Kym Johnson danced a Tango to the song “Jalousie” —Alfred Hause’s Tango Orchestra
*I’m still searching for this video*

Anna Demidova really lit up the stage on Dancing with the Stars. I’m with the judges for once and really hope that America votes Anna Demidova as the next professional on Dancing with the Stars season 9. She definitely deserves it. Don’t believe me, check out the videos below or check out Anna Demidova before Dancing with the Stars.

Video of Anna Demidova and Maks Chmerkovskiy dancing a quickstep on Dancing with the Stars to the song “Almost Like Being in Love” — Frank Sinatra

Video of Anna Demidova and Maks Chmerkovskiy dancing a Samba on Dancing with the Stars to the song “Crayons” — Donna Summer feat. Ziggy Marley

UPDATE: Fans of Anna Demidova will also like this video of Anna and Derek Hough dancing at the Grove to the Ballas Hough Band. Anna comes on at about 2:17 into the video.