We’ll Be the Judge of That! – Dancing with the Stars 6, The Finals!

Dancing with the Stars 6 has gone by in a flash! Marissa & Tony made a graceful exit last week, but our three finalists remain. By now you’ve surely read the recap on RNO, so you know what Carrie Ann, Len, Bruno, and Jill think. But what do our judges, Sandy Lamparello and Kate Acosta, have to say?

Cha cha Face-off

Sandy: Well, this was different. Cristián & Cheryl looked hot at the start! They sure were showing a lot of skin there… very risqué. Their dancing was great. Jason & Edyta looked polished and in sync as usual. Edyta looked like she was wearing dental floss. Seriously, I kept waiting for it to snap. Jason just moves so elegantly for a big guy. And I said that before Len!

Kristi earned major points by planting on on Bruno at the start of her and Mark’s cha cha. I liked their black-and-white color scheme but I didn’t like the “featheriness” of Kristi’s dress. It was too much. Other than that, Kristi & Mark did a great job and I think they clearly won the dance-off. AWESOME ending with the stars in the front and Kristi held up in the air by Cristián and Jason! That was a fun way to open the finals!

Kate: I thought Cristián & Cheryl were fun and flirty with their cha cha. Cristián wore the Latin heartthrob look again having his shirt open and he had good hip action as always. It was a good solid performance but it wasn’t impressive. I didn’t like Edyta’s dress. I felt Jason & Edyta weren’t coordinated in places for their part of the cha cha. It looked awkward when Jason slid backwards on the floor between Edyta’s legs. At the end when all three stars danced together, Jason appeared out of sync with the others. This is the finals, he should have been better instead of giving us a disappointing performance.

Kristi looked great in her dress and I loved watching her surprise Bruno with a quick kiss! Kristi had good hip action and fast footwork. Kristi & Mark just looked like they were having a lot of fun and they did a fantastic job in the anchor spot. I agree with the judges that this was the best cha cha of the night.

Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas

Sandy: For their freestyle, Kristi & Mark looked awesome. It was a very high-energy dance and they really turned thing up! Their footwork was flawless and the lifts were all very well exceuted. And they did the backflip! They got a little bit out of sync towards the end but it was nothing major and didn’t take away from their excellent performance at all. Great job! Kristi is the front-runner, and she’s earned it.

Kate: I thought this was a very demanding performance, even before Bruno said it. Kristi’s choice to wear pants was interesting but probably necessary due to some of the difficult lifts. This performance was fun and contemporary without being boring. It was chock full of technically difficult moves and lifts. Very deserving of a perfect score and what I expect to see from the freestyle in the finals.

Jason Taylor & Edyta Sliwinska

Sandy: I’m happy that Edyta finally made it to the finals! She deserves it. I’d love to see her win. And HOW cute were Jason’s kids?! As for the dance, it was a lot of fun and a nice tribute to Miami. It was different than Kristi & Mark’s freestyle, definitely funkier, but I really enjoyed it. Their lifts and spins were very well done, and I’m sure they gained a few votes at the end when Edyta ripped Jason’s shirt off—not to mention at the beginning when Jason ripped Edyta’s dress off… I like them but I don’t know if they have a real chance of winning it all. They can stand proud though, Jason’s come such a long way.

Kate: I wasn’t impressed by Jason & Edyta’s freestyle. It reminded me of a strip show and Edyta looked like Hiawatha. I expected more content from Jason. They did great lifts but I felt Edyta was doing more work in them than Jason was. I felt Jason finally was comfortable with his height in his dancing. Jason ripping his shirt off at the end seemed a cheap trick to try to garner undecided female voters.

Cristián de la Fuente & Cheryl Burke

Sandy: Cristián & Cheryl’s freestyle had them shakin’ it all over the place. It was very well done, but it was hard not to notice that Cristián was using only one arm for most of the dance. I admire him for sticking in the competition though, and I don’t think his one-armed moves took away from the performance at all. But as Len said, in comparison to the other two couples, the lifts were lacking. Truly though, it’s remarkable that Cristián was even able to be out there, so it was a great way to end the finals!

Kate: I thought Cristian & Cheryl were very good but felt this performance wasn’t much different from other Latin dances they’ve done, with the exception of more added lifts. For a freestyle, I like to see them breakout from more traditional dances to do something unexpected and spectacular. This performance was good, and exceptional due to Cristian’s injury and his ability to still perform, but it wasn’t spectacular.

Final Thoughts

Sandy: What a great finale! For the first time in all the seasons I’ve been covering Dancing with the Stars, I don’t really mind which of the three remaining finalists ends up with the disco ball trophy. I think it’s pretty clear that, unless something totally unexpected happens, Kristi & Mark will win, Jason & Edyta will finish second, and Cristián & Cheryl will be in third. They can all be proud though. It’s been my pleasure to judge this season for you once again, and I hope you’ll join me for Dancing with the Stars 7! Ciao!

Kate: Hands down, Kristi & Mark were the best of the night in both performances. I think it’s finally time for a female to win again. Jason & Edyta and Cristian & Cheryl have performed well, but not well enough in my opinion to deserve to win. I hope the mirror ball trophy looks good next to Kristi’s Olympic gold medal.

Conclusion:

Our judges disagree quite a bit on the dances, but they agree on the most important thing—Kristi will be dancing away with the disco ball trophy. Tune in to the special 2-hour results show to find out if they’re right. And make sure to check back at RealityNewsOnline and FoxesOnIdol when next season starts up!

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