SPOILERS!!! DWTS Season 10, THE FINALE – And the Winner is…
After a bazillion weeks of dancing, it came down to the final two I expected. And the winner is…
Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough!!
Congratulations to Nicole and Derek – such a high level of dancing tonight. Amazing.
Congratulations to Evan and Anna on a fantastic season – very worthy competition. I would have been happy if you had won, I predicted you would win, but I’ve never been so glad to be wrong. Nothing against you, Evan – on the final night of dancing, Nicole and Derek delivered.
Congratulations to Erin for making it that far and taking 3rd place with a lot of grace and dignity. Well done.
Stay tuned for the Cheesecake Awards – tomorrow night. They gave us a ton of material, to be sure. 🙂
Nicole & Derek sooo earned it. I’m glad I finally cheered on a winner! After Monique Coleman, Jennie Garth, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Lil’ Kim & Mya, I have finally found the gold in Nicole! Congrats to both Nicole & Derek! You did it!
Congrats to Nicole and Derek! I thought Evan had it for sure. I’m really surprised that she pulled it out. I really wish we had access to the votes. Would make this a lot more interesting.
my cousin recommended this website. Seems very useful website.
I don’t have my notes in front of me, but I can tell you that by the time the final dance was completed, Evan needed either 20 or 23k more votes per 1 million votes cast to catch Nicole – I can’t remember which. I may do a final season wrap up post later in the week.
I’ve never watched before this season but I feel the final was heavily skewed towards Nicole. As soon as Len made his final comments to Evan and Anna last night, I knew Nicole was going to win, even before it was announced. I also thought it was inappropriate of Len to say Nicole should be the winner before Evan and Anna danced their final number. I still think Evan’s freestyle was underscored and his AT could have just as easily gotten the 30. In any event, what’s done is done. Congrats to all the top 3 couples.
I hope that in the awards you comment on Kate and Pam’s dances. I could not stop laughing during Kate’s:)
Oh don’t you worry, Heather – no one is immune in this week’s awards 😉
I almost feel like the judges NOT acknowledging Nicole’s exemplary performance throughout the season would have been more fishy than them praising her so heavily – at that point, with Evan backsliding a bit and Nicole still wowing everyone, to try and argue that they were “neck & neck” or that Evan was the more skilled dancer would have just been silly. Yes, the show storyboards a lot to create suspense; but at some point it just becomes blatantly obvious and the judges just have to acknowledge the reality – in this case, it was that Nicole was the better dancer. Yah, it wasn’t maybe the most tactful thing for Len to say – but at that point, the verdict seemed pretty locked in (regardless of how well Evan did on his quickstep – maybe Heidi can back me up with the math on that one), so I doubt it had much of an effect on anything.
Maybe someone should tell Derek that the finale isn’t ALL ABOUT HIM. The way he kept hogging the trophy while his pal Mark Ballas was lifting him up, even when Nicole was reaching for said trophy, was disgusting. A display worthy of a five-year-old.
the judges just have to acknowledge the reality – in this case, it was that Nicole was the better dancer.
Maybe, but she was not such a stupendous dancer as to merit all the fawning. She needed improvement with respect to several areas, most noticeably her dancing in hold. But you didn’t hear the judges say one word about that. It’s one thing to acknowledge the reality that Nicole is a better dancer than Evan, but calling her the best dancer ever was simply ludicrous. And I agree with the other person re: Len’s comment. Classless, tacky, and uncalled for. If Evan and Anna had already danced, it would have been one thing. But saying something like that before Nicole’s competition had even taken the stage? No wonder those two looked discouraged, and Anna looked like she was about to cry.
Just want to clarify that I don’t have a problem with Nicole winning. She WAS the better dancer, after all. And, despite her occasional cluelessness, the girl seems sweet and nice. 🙂 I just have a problem with how she won, and how the show seemed to feel the need to stomp all over Evan and Anna to ensure the win. Their quickstep should not have received a 28. That was a joke. Someone else said that it was because they briefly broke hold… but considering how many times Derek and Nicole broke the rules and weren’t penalized so heavily for it, that’s not a valid excuse. The judges normally hand out 10s like candy on the last night, and their being so stingy with Evan was fishy.
woooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEK and NICOOOOOOOOOOOOOLEEEEEE woooooooooooooon!!! we did iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt!!!! amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing i was scaaared at the annoucement i thought yeah Evan is going to take it for suuuure, i tought yesterday that would be in tears if Evan wins, but the thing is that i was in teaaaaaaaaaaaars when DEREK and Nicole wooooooooooon! OMG they so deserved it!! they killleeeeeeeed the night! the AT waaaaaaaas the absolute best dance of the Shooooooooooow in his all 10 seasons!! the jiiiiiiiiiiiive just exploooooooooosive they were dancing with nothing to loooooooose they knew how much olympians got a solid fanbase, so they thought it all out there!!! but DEREK AND NICOLE GOT A PRETTY SOLID ONE TOOOOOOOOOO!! i’m so happy it made my day!!
the way he was handling that trophy was completly unerstandable with the shock of winning and Mark there trying to lift him that was funnyyyyyyy!! so prouuuud of our boooooooy he didn’t disapoint the untire season!! woooooooohooooooooooooooo so haappyyyyyyy
Both dancers were awesome, and I was really surprised & happy at the end!
I was so happy when I heard that result, Nicole is not only the best dancer but she and Derek are the best couple ever for me! It’s so great too see the best dancer win, and beat the Olympian for once! The door has officially been opened on DWTS!
Julie, you’ve convinced me that I need to write a final post on the math. 🙂 It is highly unlikely that a 30 instead of a 28 would have mattered. I think it was more of a symbolic thing on the part of the judges. I do agree that Len should not have said what he did – I groaned when he said it, convinced that he knew Nicole had LOST.
FWIW, I think that Derek and Nicole were pretty heavily penalized for all manner of things throughout the season – the most recent was that so-called illegal lift at the end of the rumba – Carrie Ann has let similar lifts slide many times (I should know, I had numerous people sending me links to dances 🙂 ). Hell, Len gave them a 6 for a dance when a score that low was completely unwarranted.
Well, “me”, I personally have no problem with what happens in a moment of extreme excitement of winning the whole shebang – besides, as many times as Erin and Maks acted like spoiled brats/poor sports (even as recently as this morning), including throwing both Derek and Nicole under the bus, I have a hard time criticizing one moment of crazy joy. It’s all relative I guess.
Now, Evan Lysacek – there is a class act, baby. I love how he’s handled himself throughout this entire thing.
Erin and Maks did come off like spoiled brats while Anna and Evan were pure class acts. They were so sweet and Erin could not muster up any excitement or happiness for Nicole. Maks also said in a post show interview anyone would have won with Nicole. Maybe he is just bitter for losing when he had a ringer but if it is that easy to win with the best dancer or a ringer, then how come so few ringers have won? I also want throw in Evan fans for being sore losers. Maybe in their MBs where they only see other people who agree with them Evan was robbed but if you talk to most people, they also said Nicole was the best and thought she deserved to win.
I saw that John and I just laughed. Like Bruno said last night, Derek’s choreography (and Nicole’s talent) led them to some of the most creative routines ever on the show. No, if Nicole had been with anyone other than Derek, the Evan would have won. Maks underestimates Derek’s appeal (and overestimates his own) for some reason, and it was the combo of Derek with Nicole that got them there. I read on Comcast, too, that writer was also tired of Maks/Erin’s antics.
Anyone have thoughts on why Evan didn’t close his mouth and trust his pro after he gave his initial opinion on the freestyle? Yeah, I know Mya and Gilles trusted their pros on the freestyle and finished 2nd, but both still got high (though not perfect) scores. Evan and Anna would have been in a totally different frame of mind on night 2 with Mya/Gilles scores (27, 28).
Judging by the rehearsal packages, Evan didn’t seem to question Anna (even on the other 3 finale dances), and he had no reason not to trust her judgment. So, I was shocked that he actually told her flat-out that her freestyle (that she’d been working on for awhile) “won’t beat anybody.” OUCH! Why would he think that he’s a better judge of that than the professional dancer who had been coaching him for 3 months? And would he talk to his skating coach that way? I can only think that he was expecting the flashy, intense “Mark/Derek-type” choreo and didn’t think anything else would work. We’ll never know what Anna originally choreographed (we only saw a couple snips), but I have to believe that it would have suited him better even if it didn’t light his fire quite so much. 😉
To be honest, the scoring for the last 2 dances probably would have come out the same anyway (that “Proud Mary” jive was great), but IMO it would have been a closer race if Evan had trusted Anna on the freestyle.
BTW, love this website! Looking forward to Season 11 postings already…
Evan’s got a lot of experience winning competitions with free style type programs, so it seems logical that he’d have more of an opinion on that then on the choreography of ballroom dances. And compared to every other disagreement between couples highlighted on the show, it seemed pretty mild.
Congratulations to Nicole! She wasn’t my favorite, but she’s an amazing dancer!