Dancing with the Stars: Freestyle At Last

Here we are, one day after the final performance episode of what turned out to be a pretty entertaining season of "Dancing with the Stars", and the enduring image was - Bruno in Speedo(!) having a three-way phone conversation (people still do that?!) with Len and Carrie Ann(‘s salad).

OF COURSE, that was the enduring image.

Although the finale included 100% less Lil Kim and Derek than I would’ve hoped for (if ever the case was to be made for a final four, THIS would’ve been it), the three remaining finalists have all shown at different points in the competition that they’re perfectly capable/deserving of taking home the most coveted trophy in the TV ballroom dancing community. That being said, Gilles has probably shown that he’s most deserving.

Let’s just jump right into last night’s episode, which only featured four routines. ONE of them even featured real-live ballroom dancing for an extended period of time!

Paso Doble Face-Off: This Latin dance would appear to favor Gilles, no? Anytime you can add pyrotechnics to the ballroom, I’m all for it. I thought Shawn’s solo was an improvement over her paso from a few weeks ago (more fluid, better performance-wise) - so, of course, she got one less point. Melissa borrowed Mel B’s outfit from a few seasons ago and looked pretty good in her dance - until she screwed up. If the fact that she got two 10s despite putting out the most inferior solo and VISIBLY screwing up doesn’t convince you that this thing is rigged, then I don’t know what to tell you. Even Melissa didn’t think she deserved a 10 (judging by her shocked reaction). Gilles’ paso was more toned down from his effort a few weeks back. It was technically perfect (in that he didn’t make any mistakes), but I still liked Shawn’s a little better, and I preferred Gilles’ own "frantic" previous paso. I can’t really argue too much with the 30 though.

Shawn Johnson and Mark (pictured, right): Still enjoy seeing Apolo Anton Ohno - that guy is just likable. Did Shawn and Mark really stand there on the dance floor in those masks throughout the entire commercial break? I was NOT too encouraged by the Jabbawockee gear at the beginning since Len HATES hip hop. The rest of the freestyle turned out to be incredible. The lifts were executed expertly (which is what you’d expect from an Olympic gymnast) but it didn’t feel like a gymnastics routine the way her Lindy Hop did. Also, how about the fact that Mark is more than keeping up athletically with an Olympian?! The TOTALLY looked like equals. Still, the most impressive thing was the incredible synchronicity in the routine, given the challenging moves and how freakin’ fast they were moving! I agree with Bruno - 11!

Melissa Rycroft and Tony: Finally let that back tattoo fly in the open without the aid of a glittery covering during her freestyle. Unfortunately, the only thing more distracting than how dorky they looked doing hip hop was Tony’s awful rubber shirt. Yikes! The lifts were done very well, but the judges were right in that they didn’t flow together very well. I know Tony basically killed Stacey Keibler’s chances at victory in season 2 by choreographing a boring freestyle, but he went overboard the other way in this instance. It would’ve been more interesting to see something totally balletic than the umpteenth, hopelessly uncool hip-hop routine. Most importantly, Tony’s shirt was just unbelievably, distractingly bad.

Cheryl Burke and Gilles: No I didn’t make a mistake in listing Cheryl first. Watching their freestyle, you would think SHE was the celebrity. (I KNOW she’s more famous than he is, but still!) Why did Wolverine attack Gilles shirt backstage? During their "Flashdance" homage/freestyle, Gilles basically followed Cheryl all around the dance floor and served as her pole toward the end. Too bad. A killer freestyle routine would’ve clinched the competition for Gilles. He still deserves to win, and he still might win, but the door is wide open for Shawn and, especially, Melissa. It’s particularly a shame because it’s not like Gilles isn’t capable of doing an amazing freestyle. I think the freestyle ended up being one of his lesser routines. If they wanted to do an 80’s dance movie homage, they could’ve had Gilles as Johnny and Cheryl as Baby, and "Dirty Dancing" that thing up!

So what’d you think of this episode? What was better - watching Melissa try to charge Carrie Ann or watching Bruno show Shawn how to properly do the "girl" moves in the paso doble? Wasn’t it kind of weird seeing Bruno and Carrie Ann’s legs? Would you have preferred Len doing all three of the tutorials as usual? (I really like Len’s tutorials, but I loved seeing all the judges in action). Finally, who’s going to win this thing? (I picked Shawn very early on, I think Gilles SHOULD win, but I’m still convinced ABC, I mean, the FANS, will give Melissa the win.)