Dancing with the Stars Season 26, The Finale – LIVE BLOG (SPOILERS)
Plus a few numbers thrown in, since I totally spaced on Dancing by the Number, thanks to my travel schedule. 🙂
Well, advantage Adam, since he has the second “no rules” dance this season while everyone else is doing ballroom. That’s only one reason why I think he’s going to win this season. Another reason is his partnership with Jenna – they’ve really clicked.
He also has an advantage if the numbers spread is similar to what it was at the end of last week. The difference between this week and last week, however, is that there will be two full dances worth 30 points each. That tightens the spread a bit.
I predict that the first dance goes something like this (unless the judges totally cop out, which they could):
Tonya – 26
Josh – 28
Adam – 30
The freestyle? I think Josh and Adam get perfect scores and Tonya gets a 28 or 29. IF that occurs, then Tonya would need 17.4k more votes and 29k more votes per million votes cast to win over Josh and Adam, respectively. I would be surprised if that were to happen. I always thought she had the juice to get to the finale week, but not win. Too much baggage.
For Josh to win, he would need for Tonya not to get that 17.4k more votes and he would need to get 11.6k more votes per million votes cast to win over Adam.
For Adam to win, he just needs for those two dancers to not cover the spread.
If it comes out a three way tie, I think it’s between Josh and Adam and I’m leaning Josh. For that matter, if it’s a two way tie between Adam and Josh – same thing. 🙂
Okay, show time.
What the heck is going on on that stage?? Adam and Jenna are the only ones remotely happy to be there, from all appearances.
Tonya first with V. Waltz.
I saw a little bobble at the beginning of the dance and a possible issue with an underarm pass, but damn she is definitely a ballroom girl. That said, she did fine with latin too, so. I think that color looks good on her.
Len and Bruno are loving it. CAI says she seemed nervous, which I think is a tiny bit of BS.
Nailed that score – she gets a 26 as predicted. Josh is going second – as DWTS often does, I think they are dancing in their reverse order of finish.
So Josh and Tonya get a slower ballroom dance (one favors it, the other – hard to say)…and Adam gets Jazz. Okay.
Josh and Sharna doing a beautiful job…until Sharna steps on her dress and totally lets it show on her face. Girl!!
Judges seem to love it, calling him elegant – although CAI and Len both call out a minor error. That makes it easy to give him all 9s. We’ll see after the commercials.
Josh gets a 27 – I was off by a point.
I have to admit, the Jenna and Adam screaming at each other on the first meeting was what got me. And her choreography has been STELLAR.
This dance is really cute and their sync work seems as stellar as usual. Not sure how CAI is going to feel about lip syncing. Nastia ought to beat her over the head if she doesn’t pick on it. 🙂
Is this dance the closest to actual jazz they’ve had on this show since Derek left?? I think so. Judges seem to love it. Sync not as perfect as in the past, but pretty damn close.
As anticipated, Adam gets a 30. I’m just that damn good. Only off by one point over three dances. 😉
Tonya’s freestyle package is a bit teary. Ohhh…good song….
Holy crap. That was a Derek Hough-style freestyle!! Good job Sasha!! So athletic and so HARD! Damn, color me impressed!! She trailed the music just a teeny tiny bit in a one or two spots cuz it was so damn fast, but she’s not a spring chicken any more!!
Judges are raving…Oh sit down, CAI. 🙂 I predicted a 28 or 29, but I suspect she gets a perfect score. And she does. Not sure this changes anything other than narrowing the margins a bit.
NUMBERS
Or a lot. Tonya needs less that 6k votes to overtake Josh and get second place. To win she would have to get that 6k AND get 23k more votes per million votes cast than Adam. I don’t see that happening, but it’s possible she could move into second place. This is assuming that Josh and Adam both get perfect scores on the freestyle.
For Josh to win, he would need for Tonya to NOT get that 6k votes and he would need 17.4k more votes per million votes cast to get past Adam and win. I don’t see that happening, but I could be wrong. I think right now it’s a battle for second place.
Okay, that was a good freestyle, and danced perfectly, but it seemed that the troupe and Sharna were the ones doing all the dancing. I really like Josh, but I think he gets let down a bit by Sharna’s lack of cross training. Certainly not bad, but it might suffer from going in between Tonya and Adam.
Judges love it – Bruno’s comment “You’re wet.” was probably the best one all night. He gets a perfect score, cuz that’s what we’re doing tonight.
Oh boy, Adam’s hair for his freestyle might be it. Anna Trebunskaya sighting in the audience!!
Holy crap part 2! That’s what cross training does for you – that’s the most unique freestyle we’ve seen in a very long time. That was very cool. I was mesmerized.
And the judges are going to crap all over it. I feel like this dance might have been too SYTYCD for them. The out of sync comment from CAI was bullshit – that’s all she could think of to say, she couldn’t say she didn’t get it. That could change things.
NUMBERS
The freestyle round might have cost Adam and Jenna, but maybe not. We’ll see. Josh now only needs about 6k more votes per million votes cast than Adam and he needs for Tonya to not get the 6k more votes per million votes to get past HIM. If neither Josh (6k votes per million) and Tonya (11.7k votes per million) can cover the spread, Adam wins. Not coincidentally, those numbers are what Tonya needs to win.
I still think Adam pulls it out, but the last minute voting combined with her traditional, high energy freestyle could pull it out for Tonya. Unfortunately, Adam and Jenna made the margins very tiny. I’m not longer certain who wins, although I’m still leaning Adam.
And we’re already at the end.
The WINNER IS….Adam and Jenna!!!!
Here we go!! And Heidi I love how you have done your number teaser predictions in this post all season. They have been a bright spot with how this season has gone down. Well done and I bet you nail it again.
Way to go to Sasha and Tonya. They have wrapped me around their fingers. Beautiful!
Just turned the tv on and missed tonya and Sasha’s first dance so I can’t really judge too much or give much of an opinion other than she has grown on me and I love how Len pointed out she had those three particular dances. Props to Sasha for getting her to do so well this season given the time frame. Other pros would have struggled lol and he took it all in stride. Tonya should buy/take that dress. It is very wedding ready if she gets invited to any.
I thought Tonya and Sasha danced beautifully. She’s very graceful on the floor.
Didn’t like Josh and Sharna. I found his shoulders very high, he was rushing the steps, and looked awkward.
Vin, I agree on Tonya’s dress. I loved her hair pulled back too.
Wow, Tonya really has lovely musicality. There was a point in the song where the note went high and Tonya threw her arm into the air with a radiant smile on her face. She looked so happy.
I could have done without that spinning move Sharna put into their Foxtrot, also I hated the song. Didn’t seem very Foxy or Trotty.
Ok I hate to say this but josh and sharna were good but I wanted something more from that dance. I’d give that a 9. I love how calm he seems to be at all times. Out of everyone this season he is the one that has struck me as the calmest which usually goes hand in hand with being a football player on this show. They always seem that way to me. But i digress lol. Costumes again were perfect though. If that was a darker color i could see celebs rocking that suit on the red carpet at the golden globes or something.
Man I still can’t believe the finale is only an hour long. It’s like they are determined to kill this show. *shakes head*
Tonya and Sasha are just a joy to watch. Didn’t care too much for Sharna and Josh.
An hour long finale with winner at the end? Do we even get to vote today? Ugh. This season is a joke. Should have an asterisk next to Jenna’s name when she wins but of course, Val will count this win as one of his.
That being said, GO TONYA!!!!!
Adam looks like the elevator/ride operator at the tower of terror ride at Disney world tonight but blinged out lol. Just imagine someone in that outfit telling you “get in the elevator if you dare”(Great ride). The dance itself was adorable in a very Broadway way. I’d give that a 9 becuase I wanted something more out of it given the song was so good.
I couldn’t agree more. Heidi. Jenna’s choreography has been off the hook. Loved her this season!
I really like Adam and Jenna, but they had contemporary last week. Now jazz and a freestyle? It seems a bit unfair since aren’t those three kind of the loosey-goosey styles for the show?
Tonya danced well, but I still can’t get past who she is and what she did.
I really do love Josh. I can’t decide who I want to win more – him or Adam.
My gosh, Jenna is such an exquisite dancer. You can see her ballet training in her long and elegant lines.
“Will you marry me?” Jenna love, somewhere out there is a life partner who will love, adore and cherish you. Don’t settle (Val)!
Great jazz! I would have preferred a ballroom, preferably Foxtrot, but they did the assignment they were given with style, elegance and fun.
Wow another showstopper. Jenna has really don’t an excellent job with showcasing their ability together.
If this is a freestyle he can pull off with Tonya…..boy did we miss out with what he could have done with Simone or Snooki. Anyways back to the dance. Tonya owned that dance. That was so much fun. Just wow wow wow. I’d give that a 10
Ha! Ha! Numbers are so on point Heidi!! Luv it!
Personally I think Tonya was underscored compared to Josh-CAI with her nervous comments ????
LOVED that jazz routine! I get some people are saying Adam should’ve done more ballroom-personally I think it wouldn’t have mattered what dance you gave Adam this short season. I think he would’ve been able to nail a lot of the ballroom dances as well, especially with Jenna as a teacher. If anything, maybe he might’ve struggled a bit with Latin? But this is just my opinion.
Now that’s a freaking Freestyle! Nonstop fun from beginning to end. Great job!
I want Sasha’s purple, sparkly shirt and pants!
Okay, Tom jumping up and down with Sasha and Tonya right before the break to commercial was so cute.
That was fantastic!
I love that the routine was a celebration of Tonya – started with a solo, so high energy, focusing on her… and the roundoffs (?) Hard to believe she’s nearing 50.
I like Adam and yes Jenna has been awesome
BUT that was one hell of a freestyle I’d LOVE to see Tonya & Sasha win.
Holy cow! Go Sasha and Tonya giving it all up out there and then some.
I am iffy on josh and sharnas freestyle. It was fun to watch but at the same time i can’t really say it was a wow I need to vote for this dance that I was expecting. My least favorite freestyle from sharna that I’ve seen on the show actually. I’d give that an 8. I still love this pairing though.
Go Sharna and Josh. So powerful! LOVED the line up moves (made me think of Derek and Amber’s freestyle). So creative and full of muscle. LOVED LOVED LOVED!
I really liked the intensity and strength oh Josh’s Freestyle. Great job by Sharna. I loved the bits of Aregentine Tango and stepping in it.
Is it just me, or is Sharna looking even more lovelier this season?
I agree that Josh didn’t do the majority of the dancing in that routine, but once again, the judges are blind to his shortcomings. It wasn’t bad by any means, but IMO he should have been behind Tonya in both rounds.
Also, spending so much time chatting with him afterwards will possibly help his votes.
LOVED JOSH AND SHARNA’S FREESTYLE!!!!! PLEASE WIN
Loved Josh and Sharna freestyle. She played to his strengths, power and muscle. Made me want to cheer!
Vogue, are you still 100% Josh & Sharna?
and is the vote only online for today? That would suck…
LOVED Jenna and Adam’s jazz routine!!
Tell you the truth I wasn’t crazy about Sasha and Tony’s freestyle-while it screamed fun and she did great in it, I couldn’t but think it was a bit cheesy-just my opinion.
Josh and Sharna’s freestyle BLEW ME AWAY!! I thought it had fire, originality, and showcased him very well!!
I’m such a sucker for Oriental inspired dances and that was so cool and different. Loved!
Who cares about Adam, Jenna’s choreography is off the hook. Unfortunately he got lost in all of it.
Sorry, but hated Jenna & Adam’s freestyle, as Len would say not my cup of tea.
I guess really didn’t like the song.
So I learned two things tonight. 1)Jenna can choreograph a better freestyle than Val. 2)a great paring but strange freestyle that oddly can work and in a 4 week season?! Props to Jenna big time. I’d give that a 10 but yeah those wigs. Yikes.
Yes, Carol, still Josh and Sharna for me!
And vote quickly right now!!! https://dwtsvote.abc.go.com/
Interesting freestyle, but I felt like Adam got lost…
Hmmmm…..I’m wondering if Jenna just cost Adam his mirror ball trophy with that routine????? While it was definitely one of the most original routines I’ve ever seen danced in a freestyle on the show, I wasn’t blown away by it. I was left kinda shakin my head LOL Don’t get me wrong, the dancing the cool and I LOVED the song but I don’t know….
Amazing how music choice can make or break a dance. I have been behind Adam for the entire season but I did not enjoy his freestyle.
Sorry, did not like Adam & Jenna’s freestyle. She could have done so much more with him!
Loved Tonya’s. She exceeded my expectations and almost voted for her.
Josh & Sharna underwhelmed a bit on the first dance, but brought it for the freestyle. Still hope they win.
I was so gobsmacked by that Freestyle that I posted in the wrong post!
I loved the uniqueness, unexpectedness and sheer big balls of that dance! I also appreciated the nods to gay culture in it like the double death drops. So creative, fun, and delightfully weird!
Sorry but I didn’t like Adam and Janice freestyle. This may cost them the MBT. Looks like Sharna might get her first MBT.
Who would’ve ever thought at the end of the night my favorite freestyle hands-down was Tonya and Sasha.
Congrats to Adam and Jenna.
So happy Tonya made it to the finals!!
They DID shrink the MBT!!!
Yeah, Susan2 – I loved it too. I really appreciated that it was so far outside any kind of standard DWTS box. Very creative.
Congrats to Jenna and Adam!! They did do a great job (although I’m iffy on that freestyle. I guess I didn’t get it).
I do kind of wish Josh/Sharna would have won but I’m still very happy for A/J. Sharna’s freestyle was fire. Some of her best choreography.
Curious who would have claimed second?
You set the bar kinda low there, Vin. 😀 Most pros can choreo a better freestyle than Val. Whether this particular freestyle was your cup of tea or not, Jenna is right up there with some of the best that are still on the show. This season on DWTS and last summer on SYTYCD she’s really proved herself, IMO. She might be top 5.
There’s no “getting” a freestyle really. One that is so stylistic is going to either cause you to love it or hate it. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
WOW!! Adam and Jenna won anyway!! I kinda had a feeling based on last week’s votes. Good for them! Well-deserved!!
I loved Adam&Jenna’s FS.
1. It was unique. We’ve never seen anything like that before.
2. It was danced beautifully by both.
3. It had nods to gay culture like the double death drops. It took giant balls to do that in a climate that seems to want to marginalize and stifle that.
4. It was quirky, weird and funky. I LOVE weird stuff!
Congratulations to Adam and Jenna. My only regret is that we didn’t get to see a full season’s worth of dances from them. My takeaway from this season is:
Be Yourself
Love Yourself
Celebrate Yourself
Spread Fun, Love and Joy
Just a note. My local ABC news spent a full 10 minutes on AI. They recapped, had some video & invited everyone to watch.
The ONLY mention of DWTS was that it came before AI.
Shame.
Truly believe the online voting gave Adam & Jenna an edge.
Younger fingers type faster.
I did not like the ending at all. Who came in 2nd? Who came in 3rd? They just announced that the winners were Jenna and Adam, and that was it. Kinda surprised the entire “fam” didn’t rush up and hoist Jenna and Adam up on their shoulders. I was surprised to not see Val’s face anywhere in sight. Kinda strange there.
So who came in second and who came in third? Or is this kinda like strictly come dancing and we never find out lol. I am very curious to see if Tonya got in second place after that fun freestyle or if josh wowed America. In any case, Adam was my pick to win so I’m happy.
Congratulations Adam and Jenna!!❤⛸
I doubt very much that the last minute online voting tipped it one way or the other. I’ve been predicting Adam since day one – I don’t think it was a stretch at all.
I figured Adam and Jenna would win….not a shocker.
Happy that Tonya had a good run. I was a detractor at first but her efforts really wowed me! And you can’t help but to LOVE Sasha! He has EARNED a permanent Pro spot and I hope isn’t pushed back to troupe to make way for the egomaniac C-bros in the Fall. It was a nice season without them (and Peta).
I’m sure The Fam will try to claim Jenna’s win as theirs. In my opinion, she’s in a class of her own
Wow!!! Sasha and Tonya hit their freestyle out of the Park!!!! I couldn’t take my eyes off of Tonya even though there were several troupe members! I loved her joy and journey.
I agree with the above comments that Sasha deserves a permanent pro spot!! He’s so much better at choreo and partner chemistry than Val, Maks, Keo, and Gleb!
I’m EXTREMELY disappointed that the west coast couldn’t vote. Extremely unfair!! This whole season has been utter vs. They should have thought this whole thing through!!!
Heart, totally agree.
From day one there has been this calm, centered air about Sasha. This may be the happiest time of his life. He & Emma are so in love. Nice!
I was hoping that Josh and Sharna would pull out the win. I loved their freestyle. While Adam was a great dancer, I never warmed up to he and Jenna. I enjoyed Tonya and Sasha as well.
That tiny Mirror Ball trophy was funny looking!
Time to close this train wreck, and I hope that DWTS season 27 knocks my socks off because this was truly disappointing for a finale. The only highlights were Tonya’s freestyle. Everything else felt so rushed or forced one couldn’t enjoy it as much as a full 2 maybe 2.5 hour finale. Thank God next season is a full season.
Cable went out due to a thunder storm in my area and missed the show. But I got to see all the dances on youtube.
I loved Adam & Jenna’s Jazz dance and the song. Didn’t care for the song in the free style. Loved the costumes and choreography.
I was not real impressed with Josh & Sharna’s Foxtrot, Freestyle was better, and one of Sharna’s best. It showcased John’s FB career.
I thought Tanya & Sasha V.W. was beautiful. She is a natural with movements. I loved their Freestyle the best.
I’m happy Adam & Jenna won as they along with Mirai & Alan were my favorites couples.
I do have to say that Tonya made me teary eyed. I was her biggest fan, and she just stole my heart back. I think she could have a real journey in a full season.
I would like to thank, PHeidi, Vogue, & Courtney for all your time and work to keep us informed. Love this live blog, even if I can’t keep up during the show. LOL and the dancing by numbers (don’t know how you do all that figuring, PHeidi) And, I also want to thank Courtney for power rankings which I always enjoy reading. And, thank you, Vogue, for always finding those rehearsal clips/videos, etc.
Wishing all a happy, fun and healthy summer. See you in the Fall season. (or the DWTSjr show)
I haven’t commented a lot on this season because I didn’t like the format at all. It gave the celebs no time to grow as dancers.
For the freestyle I didn’t enjoyed any of them, I like when a dance is polished and clean and it’s not the celebs fault nor the pros but it bothered me a lot but if I had to chose one, it would be Josh.
Tonya lost sync at some point, it was fun and she was happy but that’s it for me.
Adam, as much as I like him, didn’t even dance in his, nor did any of the dancers. They all just walked around and posed, I was really disapointed. But I’m happy he won.
Also @PH, I think most of the female pros are cross trained but I’m sure Jenna being on SYTYCD gave her the occasion to learned more about contemp and jazz.
I can’t believe it… DWTS-Judges give it to a new family member, Jenna- Val’s girlfriend. Being honest, Sharna and Josh won that one. Tonya and Sasha had the best free style. Please get some new judges that will do it right at least sometimes. Sharna is a good dancer -I don’t know why they keep over looking her talent. Let us pray. I do like watching the show because everything else on Television on Mondays in that time spot -bored..
Not surprised that Adam won even with that odd freestyle which left me scratching my head. I still maintain that Adam might not have won if this were a ten week season.
I might sound a bit dramatic here but – I really think ABC has totally disrespected this show. This show that has been on for how many years and ABC just gave this show the crap treatment for it’s “rookie” American Idol. Why couldn’t we get a one hour finale on Tuesday? Why couldn’t fans properly vote on Monday night? Why was everything all season long so rushed? Horrible, horrible treatment!
I really look forward to a proper season in the Fall. But – congrats to the finalists. I’m happy especially for Tonya. It must’ve been such a sweet experience for her!
Well…according to Kristyn Burtt, the Fall season of DWTS is ONLY going to be 9 weeks because NBC will be airing the Emmy’s on Monday Sept 17th (instead of it’s usual Sunday night slot).
Which means that it will push back the start of the Fall season by 1 week to Sept 24th…so, again, we are getting screwed! It affects ALL networks though and not just DWTS! #notimpressed
Also was not impressed with American Idol…was never really a fan and felt that ABC picking it up cut their budget for DWTS spring season. Because ya know, Katy Perry DESERVES a 30 some million dollar paycheck
+1 Kelly. I use to love AI but I stopped watching this new season on the second week. I’m not a fan to Katy Perry as a judge at all. I think it’s sad DWTS has to take a back seat to AI or anything else.
Hey All! When you can, please take our new “Grading/End of the season” questionnaire: https://www.puredwts.com/2018/05/22/dwts-season-26-end-of-the-season-questionnaire-grade-your-top-three-dances-and-more/#comment-836938
That’s your opinion, Sonya42ful. I think Adam won it fair and square through stellar choreography and dancing. All three of the finalists did a good job, but I think Adam and Tonya went a lot farther and danced more and better.
You could have fooled me that Sharna is cross trained, Philomene. I tend to doubt it very much, after seeing her last couple contemporary dances. Even her freestyle contained a lot of ballroom. Nothing wrong with that, really, but it doesn’t shout “cross trained”.
The biggest surprise for me this season was the partnership between Sasha and Tonya. I thought he did a stellar job and proved his mettle as a pro. Tonya is a lovely dancer and except for a few things she said that irked some viewers, she did a wonderful job. I also loved Josh and Sharna’s partnership. I knew from the first package that it would be a good one and I think in a normal season he would have won, especially after that dismal freestyle by Adam and Jenna. I’m seeing so much more support for him and Sharna on social media right now than I do for the winners.
The best part of the season though was the shrunken disco ball. If that doesn’t say it all, nothing does 🙂
Vogue and Kelly K.,
I watched the AI finals just to see who would win. I could not believe Katy Perry, performs with one of the contestants, come to her seat and rips off her wig. She is so immature on this show, I could not stand to watch it. She is a terrible judge and just loves to show her immaturity when a young male shows up. She sat there pouring champagne or whatever drinking like she is at a bar. I hope they can find another judge for this show.
The season was a huge mess. So much wasted talent. I saw Tonya’s freestyle and it had so many mistakes in it that you know would’ve been avoided with a proper 10 week training, or however long a regular season is. Many of these people deserve a chance to come back.
The only way this season could’ve worked was as an All Star of sorts. That way everybody is already “good”, and we know them and get excited to see them. I liked Adam, Mirai, Chris and Tonya, but sometimes I just didn’t care.
As for the finale, common. A 1 hour finale? That’s just sad. Meanwhile the same tiresome over the top, bloated finale is going on over at American Idol.
Adam’s freestyle was a huge mess and an even bigger disappointment. While the use of Scooby Doo Papa was hilarious and I love that they did their own thing as with Sissy that Walk, was there any dancing there? It was like a Britney choreo. Just walk around because this girl forgot how to dance. Or do hand choreo like Bebe on Drag Race because you can’t dance at all.
Now Jenna is a winner, which I suspect wouldn’t have happened for a regular season as I can’t help but assume she wouldn’t have been given Adam. Of course Witney got Alfonso, so there’s precedent for something like that, but I could also assume that maybe Jenna wouldn’t have been a pro either. I do love that she won because sometimes I find the Chemerkovski hate hilarious and this will sting. And in the end she’s a great dancer and did a good job, so for this, the win is deserved for both of them.
Can’t wait for the real season next fall.
I’m not a C-bro fan & don’t find Jenna’s win to ‘sting’. Jenna is in a league of her own when it comes to choreography. Val, Maks and Peta pale in comparison. I wouldn’t miss them if they never returned to the show.
What’s funny is that The Fam claimed Jenna’s win as their own…as if they REALLY had anything to do with it! Now THAT is hilarious!!
I hope somebody can, and would maybe be willing to say, why the west coast was unable to vote. Sorry for the bad attitude, but I’m still PISSED!
Yeah, Mafer, you might want to read ALL the comments before commenting, cuz now you just look like a dumb ass.
The Fam claiming Jenna’s win as their own is the only way they can come close to what Derek has won on this show. And Val and Co. are all about their Hough envy.
It’s pretty patriarchal and misogynistic, actually. She’s her own person and won that thing largely when they were on tour. Now Val’s trophies? I wager he owes half to Jenna for her help on choreo.
Counting Jenna’s win in their trophy count, gives them 7 among 5 people. Derek has 6 on his own…now if you add Mark’s 2 and Julianne’s 2…its still Hough/Ballas 10, Fam 7. I didn’t even include the Hough’s 3 Emmys. The Fam can’t even get nominated….now Jenna might for this season’s body of work with Adam but I don’t see it. We’ll see in July when the nominations are released.
I think that World of Dance and SYTYCD are going to suck up most of the noms. WoD nominated some great people, including Keone and Mari who I think stand a real shot at winning.