Dancing with the Stars Season 29, THE FINALE – LIVE BLOG

Would you believe that I just NOW realized that I forgot to do a “Who’s Dancing What” post this week?? Well, it’s true. That was the state of my work life all of last week until Thursday night when I just went to bed exhausted. I realized it even more when I read Courtney’s Power Rankings post and realized it was one I hadn’t read before. Good news is…deadline is past and I’m on vacation all week. 🙂

T-minus…whatever. 🙂

Forgot to mention for anyone not paying attention. Derek’s deal with ABC is clearly paying off – he’s hosting a Thanksgiving Day Xmas special with Julianne and it doing TWO songs with Hayley on Disney’s Holiday Family Singalong. And he’s once again in People’s Sexiest Man issue, looking fine, I might add. 🙂

Love the opening number!  Kinda pissed that the shafted Daniella and Pasha on camera time. Two best dancers on the show right now. Not counting Derek of course.

I see we’ve reverted to the Tyrant walk out while the judges applaud her. Ridiculous.

Clearly wardrobe has run out of the correct flesh tone on the costumes of all the women. Geez.

Kaitlyn going first with her favorite dance.  She picked the Argentine Tango.  Pretty good choice, I think.

I love that bead curtain. Pull your butt in, girl. Gorgeous dress. Still a bit soft, lack of attack. Great dance, that is my only complain – the lack of attack that is.

All the judges standing, Derek calls her a true contender. She met the high standard they’ve held her to. Bruno is panting. Literally. Says it was sensuous. Says it was better this time – I would agree with that. CAI says she’s an unforgettable, exquisite dancer, she challenged herself. Spare me on the BS of that being one of her top three dances of all time. She says that every fucking season and it’s always BS. Nothing against Kaitlyn – love her – but please cut the crap.

Scores: After the break. BTW…Artem has the cutest baby in the world. No lie. So extremely cute it’s almost not fair to all the other babies in the world. 🙂

Scores: 10 10, 10 for a total of 30.

It used to be (in the good old days), that they would put the potential winners of the show dancing first and last.  That changed with the new producers, to a degree, but I think Nelly going second makes it more likely he won’t win the show. No guarantees though.

I really like Nelly, and I’ve voted for him in the past (although not last week because you should only vote for ONE person at this point), but I don’t think he SHOULD win.  I think he could, though. That’s the nature of the show. Anyway, he’s doing is samba, which is a good choice for him, as he tends to do well with those dances that allow groove.

I dare say he’s still not a great dancer, but he’s doing much better this time than he did the first time. And hell, he’s having a ball. There’s a lot to be said for that. He’s just so engaging. And daniella  has been my girl crush since I saw her on Derek’s tour.

Bruno says he has spontaneity and a natural feel and is engaging to watch. Watching him is fun. Agreed. CAI says his journey has been fascinating, reminds her that dance is more than just technique, but about the joy of life. Derek agrees with CAI, says the show is about moments and he is a moment maker. He makes people feel good.

Scores: 9, 9, 9 for a total of 27.

So the scores for the remaining contestants will be interesting. If everyone else gets tens, the judges are at least trying to give the better dancers a better shot at the trophy. I expect them to do this. I also expect Nelly to get tens on his freestyle, figuring if the other contestants can’t overcome the three points, then Nelly deserves to win.  He’d be the people’s champion. Not the worst person to ever win – that is still reserved for Bones. By a mile.

Happy to see Jeannie Mai in the ballroom!

Nev is up next. He’s redoing the Swan Lake dance. Pretty good choice, but it will depend on what he does for his freestyle.

He took manscaping to an extreme it appears. :-)He didn’t scape, he shaved.  His arms are still  a bit weird at times, but I think he’s the best dancer in the group. That’s a great dance. No obvious mistakes. Great job.

CAI says that was perfection once again. Loves that watching him is a treat. Technically and artistically amazing. Derek loves the change at the beginning, says it was so fantastic. He can dance. Bruno was flying. Created dramatic structure, more dramatic and he killed it.

Are those abs or ribs??  🙂

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30.

Justina going last. Wonder if she goes last on the second round.  She picked her cha cha from week one.  Good choice – right in her wheel house.

Gah, still hate the stairs. So much time wasted. Other than that, this is a fun dance. She’s not the accomplished dancer that Nev is, but then she’s not got the experience he does.  This is a fun dance, well done, but not a revelation.

Derek says she explodes with charisma, so sensational. Bruno says she’s a diva latina. Almost too hot to trot. Extra spicy sauces. CAI says she knows how to bring it, she has something – fire. She loves the fire.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30.

And there you have it. Nelly is three points behind everyone else, meaning it would be really interesting if he were to win.

Derek next!! Whoo Hoo. I won’t be typing my thoughts during this dance. I want to watch and enjoy.

I forgot how much I enjoy these retrospectives of the season. Not. 😉  At least it appears we’re only getting one of them instead of four or five.

That was wonderful.  And why did it have to end?? Far too short.  Note, for those not paying attention, Derek also took the track and altered it like he has so many times in the past.  Dang. Why was it so short?? I wanted MORE!! And there is no higher compliment.  He is the Gene/Fred of his generation.

Nelly’s freestyle is up first and it’s designed for him in a great way. Look, extra dancers. Daniella…so amazing. Nelly doing well on the lifts. I really enjoyed this dance. Well done!!

Bruno says Nelly is the king of swag and the king of bling. Empire the musical. Pitched it just right for you. CAI says the partnership is outstanding. Dance was a hybrid and it gives her hope. Derek says it felt like a grammy performance, the ending move was amazing. Ended strong.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30.  This time I agree with the judges on those scores.

Mama Mai!!  Love her. I like this little skit with the celebs. Actually forgot that Jesse was on the show, so there’s that.

Another thing that has happened in the past, but not necessarily since the new producers arrived a few seasons ago, is that they final dance is in the reverse order of the finish.  So, we’ll see.

Kaitlyn is up next with her freestyle.

Love the entrance. Finally a ramp!! I love this song too. I like that she’s going Charleston.  Bit messy exit from one of the lifts and she’ almost got off time afterward but the pulled it together.  I liked how they ended it too.

CAI says that movie is her all time favorite. And Kaitlyn met her expectation. Derek remembers the zoom call and now she’s ascending down from the ceiling. Well done. Bruno loves that she captured the feel of Baz Lurhman. Dazzling.

I like how humble Kaitlyn is. I’ve always liked her.

Scores; 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30. No surprises.

Numbers Update: Right now, there is only about 12.7k votes between Nelly and everyone else, assuming that Justina and Nev both get 30’s, which I believe they will.  That is very few votes.  So, for anyone NOT named Nelly to win, they need for Nelly to not get 12.8k more votes per million votes cast than them, and they need ONE more vote per million votes cast than everyone else (besides Nelly). For Nelly to win, he will have to get 12.8k more votes per million votes cast than all of the other three.

Nev up with Singing in the Rain.  He’ll have a hard time impressing me since I’ve seen Derek doing this several times. Oof, got off time there. This transition is interesting.  Water has been done many times as well.  Um, okay. It was good. But as freestyles go, I’m underwhelmed. What was the point of that last bit.

Derek says you can’t pull off SITR unless you’re a leading man and you are. He compliments Jenna. Bruno says you’re aiming very high, but they were successful. It was inspired. CAI says it was three routines in one.

I was hoping for more but I was rather underwhelmed. That’s the danger in doing a routine like this one – the standard is soooo high. Not to mention that Derek evoked Gene Kelly without even using the music shortly before this one.  Yes, Nev is not a pro…but you take a real risk in using that music. That said, Jenna is a rock star. I’ve always appreciated her choreo and this didn’t change that.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30.

That little judges bit was funny.  Weird that Tyra mentioned “very unpredictable” season just now. Makes me worried. Well, not really. I don’t really have a horse in this race.

Justina already off to a better start than Nev. Dancing alone and owning it. Cameras doing her no favor with the distance.  Oh that lever move was amazing. Okay that was really good, but extremely short. Maybe that’s a sign of how good it was?

Oddly, I found all the freestyles underwhelming except for Nelly’s.  I don’t think that the pandemic prevents them from choreographing exciting routines, so what’s the problem?? I think Nelly and Justina were the best.

The judges are raving. Derek says it was the best freestyle to end the season. They crushed it.

Scores: 10, 10, 10 for a total of 30. Not surprisingly. 🙂

Derek spinning in his chair is giving me life. 🙂

Nelly is actually singing, and he’s doing quite well, once you get used to someone actually singing (see AMAs). Derek said dancing with Daniella is like dancing with a ferrari and she is finally getting a chance to show it.

Hell, it’s almost time!! Where did the hour go??

Tyra is so fucking dramatic. Fail.

Fourth Place: Justina and Sasha.

Third Place: Nelly and Daniella

The winners are: Kaitlyn and Artem.

Think Tyra was shocked, by that gasp?  Well. ON the one hand I’m happy for Artem, but I’m bummed for Jenna. I’m torn.