Well, after a brisk ten weeks, we finally have a new Dancing With the Stars champ. But who took home the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy? The winner probably isn’t a surprise to anyone, but the third place finisher was a total shock … well, at least it was to me. I suppose I should have paid more attention to our readers’ poll results. We have a group of smart cookies here!
I’ll list some of my favorite highlights from the finale below, but I want to quickly go over the first round of dances where each team chose their favorite dance from the season and re-performed it in hopes of getting a better score. (Although it was almost a given that everyone would get a better score since the judges were only awarding a 30, a 28, and a 26).
Ricki & Derek chose their Psycho Tango, which netted them a 29 the first time around. This was the dance that made Len tell Ricki that if she wanted a 10 from him, she would have to improve her footwork. She was the only dancer of the three who could have gotten a worse score. Len said it was the most memorable dance of the season, and he liked it the first time and loved it this time. Bruno said it was an unforgettable, grand cinematic extravaganza, and Carrie Ann said it was dramatic, passionate, perfect the first time and beyond perfect this time.
Rob & Cheryl chose the Fox Trot he did in Week 3 as a tribute to his dad. He scored a 24 the first time, and even though he had a little slip that really didn’t impact the dance this time, it was still as close to perfect as he could get. Carrie Ann and Bruno both had to point out the slip, but Bruno said Rob had improved beyond expectations, and Carrie Ann said Rob was elegant and refined. Len was perplexed as to why the other two even felt they had to mention the slip because he felt Rob had the best footwork of any guy on the show ever, he has great musicality and has grown in many ways.
J.R. & Karina chose the Jive, which originally gave them 22 points because of an illegal lift and too much Lindy in the Jive. To me, J.R. still looked sloppy and he made more than a few mistakes. Carrie Ann also noted he had a bit of a rough time, but said that when he stepped out onto the dance floor, he was a catalyst for joy. Len was pleased they took out the Lindy, and said J.R. lights up the room, and Bruno dismissed all the mistakes saying the dance was energetic, fast-paced, and fun, fun, fun. Oddly, they didn’t really critique the dance.
It was at this point that I started getting a little suspicious as to how this was all going to play out. J.R. had the worst freestyle the night before, but still scored a 30, and now he’s making more mistakes than either Ricki or Rob and the judges are dismissing them while picking on Rob’s tiny slip. When the scores were agreed upon, Ricki won the round with 30 (giving her 84 points total), Rob was third with 26 (giving him 83 points) and J.R. somehow managed to take second with 28 (for a total of 82). So at the end of the final three dances, the third place finisher was … Ricki?!?! Seriously? (Okay, that’s how you all voted here too.) I’m gobsmacked that Ricki took third. I could understand Rob getting third even though he was most improved, but Ricki had the highest score! Why did the voters turn on her? Or did they just expect her to win and felt they didn’t need to vote? It’s happened before.
The final dance, the Instant Samba, finally rolled around about 20 minutes before the show ended. J.R. did an admirable job and did redeem himself a bit, but he was still too loose and all over the place with his arms. Rob pretty much aced the dance, and gave much better arm extensions than J.R. Len gave them both a standing ovation, Bruno complimented both men, and Carrie Ann said for one, this was a victory dance but they were both winners. Both dances scored a 30, even though one of them didn’t deserve it, and it didn’t do anything to change the score standings with one point between Rob and J.R. I thought just maybe the underdog was going to pull off a win — because he truly deserved it — but the winner of Season 13 of Dancing With the Stars is J.R. Martinez. What do you think influenced the viewers to vote for him? Sympathy due to his injued ankle? To honor him for his service to the country? Or did people actually vote for Karina (she did most of the heavy lifting in the last couple of dances, after all)? It’s odd to reward someone who started strong and finished, in my opinion, way down from the first couple of weeks while Rob improved each week. And Ricki was consistent week-to-week, having maybe one bad week out of ten, so why did she end up in third? Share your thoughts below.
The season has ended, and congratulations to J.R. & Karina (her first win!). Overall, it was a terrific season with some great moments, and we were left with a few more tonight:
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Nov 23, 2011 @ 00:15 EST5EDT
Ricki was ROBBED. I’ve been pulling for J.R. all year to overcome the very OBVIOUS better dancer in Ricki. Unfortunately, once again, the dominant audience of women voted for the men. Far and away Ricki was the BEST DANCER & Entertainer. J.R. was second, and even though I would have liked him to do better in the end. Although Rob did dance good towards the end, just like Max & Hope said about the judges not judging using the same criteria, their bias towards JR was blatant. This is just another season where the BEST ALL AROUND dancer/entertainer did NOT win. Disappointing!!!
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, I mean either the judges are watching a completely different show, or they’re just dazzled by how the crowd reacts to J.R. His last three dances were full of errors that neither Rob or Ricki made. I could not believe Ricki only scored 27 points on her freestyle and J.R. got a 30 when Karina did most of the work. And then for him to get second in the final three dance tonight when Rob only had one minor slip — which Carrie Ann and Bruno just had to make a big deal of — I could see how it was going to end. I have nothing against J.R., but he got sloppy towards the end, and he was rewarded for it. Ricki was robbed.
Ricki Lake really won, she had the best total scores of the season, JR won on popularity, Ricki is a much better dancer and did a better job dancing
Good job this season, Chuck!
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks! And keep up the good work with Glee! I am so far behind!
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