Dramatic music. Glamour shot of the ridiculous mirror ball trophy. And Tom promises us that the end is here as well as invokes the hoary saying about "the only rule is that there are no rules" when discussing the freestyle. It's the finals, and they're LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
They pan the audience before bringing out the finalists, and I see Sabrina, Mel B, Marissa and Tony, and Marlee and Fabian in the front row. And in case you forgot, the finalists are Jason and Edyta, Cristian and Cheryl, and Kristi and Mark. Samantha explains that the stars tonight will perform a cha cha cha side by side so that we can compare them, and then will perform their freestyle. And then tomorrow night, the top two couples will perform one more routine for judges' scores, although we don't get to vote on that one.
We get to see a segment where the dancers draw numbers to see the order for the cha cha cha. Cristian goes first, and then Jason, and then Kristi. Of course, everyone claims that he or she is thrilled with the position. After rehearsing individually, the couples join together to rehearse as a group and check each other out. Jason is discouraged by Kristi's perfection. While Jason and Cristian perform their entire routines. Mark and Kristi only do the first thirty seconds, claiming that they haven't choreographed it yet. Cristian jokingly calls them out for their strategy of seeing what the competition is doing before going back and finishing the routine. I don't know if it was strategy or not, but if it was, it was kind of brilliant.
So the fantastic song that they get to cha cha to? "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie. No, I'm not kidding. Cristian and Cheryl go first, and there doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of cha in their cha cha, but they're putting a lot of energy into it. Jason's arms seems to be just kind of flapping around and despite some impressive stunts, it's kind of blah for me. Especially when he seems to eff up the stunt at the end. Kristi's arms and hip action are really amaazing, especially when compared to the others. I think this dancing side-by-side is probably best for Kristi because you can really see how much better she is than the others. It also seems to me like they are doing more actual dancing. All of the dancers return to the floor for the final moments, and Jason effs up the moves yet again, but they finish by launching Kristi towards the sky. And they did all look like they were enjoying themselves and dancing together.
Len thought it was exciting. He thinks Cristian has "a lot of gear at the rear." He thought Jason was elegant, but didn't think the cha cha is Jason's strength. And he thought Kristi combined the best of both of them. Bruno thought Cristian showed great improvement since week one, Jason's timing was a bit off, and Kristi is in a class of her own. Carrie Ann liked being able to compare them side-by-side. She dings Cristian's posture, points out Jason's awkward arms, and says that Kristi won that one hands down.
Time for scores! Cristian and Cheryl are first: Carrie Ann 8, Len 9, and Bruno 9 for a total of 26. Cristian points out that they got a 21 the first time they did the cha cha cha. After the break, we hear Jason's scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8 for a total of 24. What about Kristi? Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10 for a total of 30.
Kristi and Mark rehearse their freestyle. Mark reminds us that he dislocated his shoulder during his freestyle with Sabrina last season, so no pressure there. They try to rehearse a move where Kristi boosts Mark so he can do a backflip, but Kristi won't commit to it and Mark is worried he'll land on his head. They bring Julianne, who was Mark's former partner, in to show Kristi how it's done. Mark tosses Julianne around like a ragdoll, and I love how Julianne is giving Kristi instruction while, like, upside down and spinning. She's a pro.
The routine begins with Mark and Kristi in pajamas and bathrobes, which they strip off to reveal black pinstriped sparkly outfits. The one thing that bugs me, and I don't know why, is that they're both wearing Converse low-tops. It just looks stompy to me. As with most freestyles, there's not much actual dancing involved; it's moving from one stunt to the . They do a lot of moves, but none of them really wow me, although I'm sure it's easy to say that from the comfort of my couch. And there were no obvious mistakes, which is something. When the dance ends, Tom points out how exhausting it must have been. Bruno thought it was "an inspiring fusion of mambo and hip hop" and was impressed with the difficulty of the routine. Carrie Ann thought Kristi was a huge crowd-pleaser and she loved it. Len doesn't love hip hop, but this routine held his attention from start to finish. Mark and Kristi can't believe that Len liked it, nor can anyone else. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10 for a total of 30, so that's two perfect scores for them tonight.
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Jason and Edyta rehearse for their final routine. Edyta is thrilled that after six seasons, she finally made it to the finals. After Jason tosses Edyta around for a while, he gets a visit from his family, and his kids are ADORABLE. But will it be enough?
Jason and Edyta start their routine to "Miami" by Will Smith. It's noticeably slower than Mark and Kristi's routine, both because the song's tempo is slower and also because there's not as much content. Jason is off a little in the beginning, and even when he gets back on, it's... not great. I mean, I don't blame him. He does fine. The choreography is just boring. It's like "walk walk grind grind walk walk do a lift." Repeat until the song ends. They do rip his shirt off at the very end, so thank Heavens for small favors, I guess. The audience goes nuts to the point where the judges can't even talk at first because it's so loud. Carrie Ann compliments Edyta for making it to the finals. She liked how funky Jason was, and she thought the lifts were ambitious. Len liked the humor as well as the lifts. Bruno thinks that Jason and Edyta are both like centerfolds, and the dance wasn't bad either. Backstage, Samantha asks them a question and then totally cuts Jason off to reveal the scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9 for a total of 27. Then Samantha asks another question and cuts them off again. Why even bother asking a question? Well, it wouldn't be an episode of this show if Samantha didn't screw it up somehow.
Cristian and Cheryl will be finishing up the season with their freestyle. During rehearsal, Cheryl says that she wants to cut back on some of their crazy moves due to Cristian's injuries, but Cristian won't have it. While they practice a sliding move, Cristian lands on his bad arm, but Cristian insists that they keep going. So their freestyle begins to a Latin-themed song I don't know. Hey, way to play to Cristian's demographic. My husband points out that Cristian said in rehearsal that they don't want people to notice his injured arm, and yet during the routine, it's wrapped in a spangly wrap. The whole routine has no hip hop, which I appreciate. It's high energy, but there's not much content, it seems. Len points out that their lifts were not as good as the others, understandably, but it's still true. Bruno loved it. Carrie Ann doesn't know if they were as good as Kristi and Mark, but she thinks Cristian is a winner regardless. My recording cuts off and I miss the scores, but I do know that they got a total of 26.
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So here's the standings:
Kristi and Mark: 30 + 30 = 60
Cristian and Cheryl: 26 + 26 = 52
Jason and Edyta: 24 + 27 = 51
I think Kristi might actually pull it off. She wasn't always the most exciting to watch, but she was absolutely the best dancer. Tune in tomorrow night to see if I'm right.
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