Dancing With The Stars Recap – The Final Dance-off

It all comes down to this. Dancing With the Stars’ final three couples battled it out in the ballroom tonight, dancing their hearts out for the coveted Mirror Ball trophy. Who will be the season 10 champion of Dancing With the Stars? Did anyone seize the advantage? Tonight’s theme was redemption and freestyle. Each couple got a chance to redo the dance they’d botched the most, then the dance they feel they did the best. The finalists are Kyle Massey & Lacey Schwimmer, Bristol Palin & Mark Ballas, and Jennifer Grey& Derek Hough.

In a season where Bristol Palin outlasted Brandy, all bets are off when it comes to judging the competition solely on the quality of the dancing. I know a lot of fans are thinking that Bristol is being shilled by the recent political happenings, and there is probably some truth, but every week that passes that influence is bound to get weaker. The Dancing With the Stars fans that were voting for Brandy weren’t doing it out of political motivation, who they choose to vote for this week – if they stuck around – could cancel out the efforts of conservative mouth pieces out to annoy liberals by voting Bristol Palin queen of the ballroom. Now, let’s look at the competition.

Kyle and Lacey

Redemption Dance: The Foxtrot

Far from perfect, but this duo continues to stun. Kyle is a fantastic worker who really earned this spot. I made an offhand prediction that he would face Jennifer and Bristol in the final a few weeks back, and I’m serious when I say as the independent’s choice Kyle has a chance at winning. Bruno sums up Kyle’s performance this season: “Look at you! All slick, sharp and slinky!” Score: 9’s across the board for a 27

Freestyle Dance is where this couple shines. Much more contemporary and fun, landing the duo a 29!

Chance of Winning: Why not? This is all about fun, right? Kyle worked hard and never looked petty all season.

Bristol and Mark

Redemption Dance: The Jive

The last time they did The Jive they opened up in Gorilla suits, then went on to dance like REAL Gorillas! Look, Bristol is working hard it’s unfortunate the public can’t get that the whole homophobia and profanity thing was just kids having fun. Love her or hate her, Bristol delivers and earns a 27.

Freestyle dance: Bring back the monkey suits, please. Who neutered Mark before he choreographed this thing. He goes in a cage? Really? A well deserved 25. I’d add there wasn’t much charisma to the dance, and Bristol kvetching about the ‘haters’ made her seem petty.

Chance of Winning: Rush Limbaugh says “just you wait and see.” Really, it would be hard to fathom if this were a dancing contest, if she wins it will be tainted. I think she tried hard and deserves respect, but her behavior off the screen has proven she is not ready for prime time.

Jennifer and Derek

Redemption Dance: Paso Doble

Wow, it must have been hard for these guys to find a dance they screwed up. Jennifer has clearly been the best performer this season, in more ways than one. Not only has she danced well and worked hard, but she has projected this complex persona that is interesting to watch. They should create a special ‘dramatic acting on a reality show’ Emmy. Not surprisingly Jennifer and Derek nail a perfect 30.

Freestyle dance: By far the most elegant and structured freestyle of the night. Lots of risks that paid off well, and of course a perfect score of 30.

Chances of Winning: The tension this season seems to be over whether a deserving dancer will lose out due to the popularity aspects of the contest. The amusing thing is that people are acting like this is something new. Jennifer has as good a chance as anyone. We’ll find out tomorrow!