The end is (almost) here! The finals of
Dancing with the Stars are upon us! It's the night that we've all been waiting for these past 10 weeks. It will be an unpredictable night chock-full of dancing. All three finalists,
Cristian de la Fuente,
Jason Taylor, or
Kristi Yamaguchi, are top-notch performers and anything can happen.
Tonight, the three remaining stars will all dance the cha cha cha to the same song. In addition, they will also get to perform a freestyle round in which the only rule is: there are no rules! I'll be on hand providing you with live thoughts throughout the hour.
Live! From Hollywood! This is the finals of
Dancing with the Stars!
The three finalists draw straws to determine the order of the cha cha performances. Cristian will go first, Jason second and Kristi will be third.
The first ever "cha cha face-off" begins. Cristian and
Cheryl Burke are dressed head-to-toe in cheeky magenta numbers. The routine is one gigantic uber- number in which each pair takes their turn on the floor without any stoppage of music. (The song, by the way, is "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Ritchie.) Cristian's portion is great. Very high energy and precise. Jason and
Edyta Sliwinska enter the dance floor immediately after and It's hard to say, but I think they aren't quite as good. Jason bobbles some of his moves a bit, but it's still entertaining. Woah! when Kristi gets on stage, she immediately sidles over to the judges' table and gives Bruno a kiss on the lips! Kristi has great hips and rhythm. The whole number ends with Jason and Cristian holding Kristi up in the air. Fantastic number but, man, Kristi really rocked the house on that one.
Now, the judges give their critiques. Len loves Cristian's hip action, thinks that Jason would have been better served with a foxtrot rather than a cha cha, and he thinks that Kristi is the complete package. Bruno echoes everything Len says. Carrie Ann thinks that Kristi won, hands down.
And the scores. For Cristian, Carrie Ann gives an 8, and Len and Bruno give 9s, for a 26 out of 30. For Jason, the judges give triple 8s, for a 24 out of 30. And Kristi gets her second perfect 30 of the season! Kristi wins the cha cha face-off.
Before we get to the freestyle round, we must take a brief moment to recognize
DeAnna Pappas of
The Bachelorette in the audience.
Kristi and
Mark Ballas get to do their freestyle first. Mark injured his shoulder dancing with
Sabrina Bryan last season, so he has to be careful not to do the same this time around.
Julianne Hough makes an appearance in their rehearsals to give Kristi some pointers. But enough of that, the freestyle begins! Ha! It's funny! It's little bit disco, it's a little bit funk. Mark does a back flip off of Kristi. It's pretty much perfect. I'm really impressed with the way Kristi came out of her shell this season. Bruno is very, very impressed. He raves that Kristi didn't miss a single beat. Carrie Ann loves that Mark put in every style of dance in the routine. Even Mr. Crankypants, Len, who normally pooh-poohs hip hop, loves this performance. And the scores: another triple 10. Wow! That's 60 out of 60 for the night. You really can't do better than that, huh?
Next up, Jason and Edyta. Edyta is psyched to finally make it to the finals, after six seasons. She invites Jason's wife and kids to come to their rehearsals, and oh my goodness, his kids are the cutest little munchkins. Their freestyle begins and it's very hip hop-flavored. There are lifts galore, which are pretty impressive. The thing is, it's not a
bad routine, per se, but after Kristi's fantabulous freestyle, it's really hard to call this one spectacular. Ooh, just kidding. Jason ends the routine shirtless.
That, my friends, is spectacular. Carrie Ann congratulates Edyta for making it to the finals, and commends them both on their fantastic lifts. The other judges can't stop talking about the lifts as well. And the scores: triple 9s, for a 27 out of 30. And for the evening, 51 out of 60.
We're down to the final performance of the finals. Cheryl suits Cristian up with knee pads and an arm brace during rehearsals. Cheryl is really concerned about his arm, but he is determined to continue. Their freestyle tonight is the most Latin-tinged dance of the three freestyles. His lifts aren't as impressive as Jason's, due to his bad arm, but it's still a great performance. Cristian isn't Latin for nothing, you know. Len loves the Latin flavor as well. However, Len admits that he has to take into consideration the spectacular lifts that the other two teams performed and cannot award Cristian with the same kinds of scores. And the scores: Carrie Ann and Bruno give 9s and Len gives an 8. That's a 26 out of 30, and a 52 out of 60 for the evening.
Read related articles:
Final Performance Recap
Dancing with the Stars Season 6 Results
Photo Gallery: Best and Worst Costumes of the Season
Video Gallery: Five Best Performances of the Season
Video Gallery: Five Worst Performances of the Season
Who are you voting for tonight?
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)