DWTS Finale

As you can probably guess, I wasn’t happy with the outcome of DWTS this season. But it’s a symptom of what’s wrong with the program. It can’t decide if it wants to be a dance competition or a popularity contest. Strike that. It’s decided it wants to be a popularity contest masquerading as a dance competition. So why even bother with judges? Just let the viewers decide.

I don’t really blame the viewers for making such a boneheaded choice. I’ve embraced my misanthropy and realized that people are stupid. Given a choice, they usually make the wrong one. Then you get the Bobby Bones Anomaly. Some celebrity without any discernible dance talent wins the competition.

I do, however, blame the judges. The scores they gave Iman were not earned. Even Len refused to say anything complimentary about Iman’s dance, although he held up the 10 paddle. Maybe he was told that he had to. But the things Julianne and Carrie Ann said were way over the top and totally flew in the face of what was obvious. His dances were poor.

Amanda and Alan in VW/PD fusion

It was a seamless fusion. I loved it. I could have done without the flashing lights, however. It made parts of it hard to see. And that red dress. Wow!

Cody and Cheryl in CC/PD fusion

The boy knows how to throw down some paso. The cha cha was good, but not as engaging as the PD. He just looks odd or ungainly when he’s doing cha cha.

JoJo and Jenna in CC/T fusion

Flawless performance of tango but kicked into high gear for the cha cha. Damn, but they were working it. One of my favorite songs and a cute little switched-lead coffee-grinder at the end. I loved Bruno’s comment, “Freaking awesome!”

Iman and Daniella in CC/FT fusion

I noticed they stuck mostly to cha cha. The little foxtrot he did was a mix of mediocre and just plain awful. No body flight at all and again, he looks terrible in hold. I have no idea why the judges awarded him such high scores unless they had been ordered to. I’ve long thought the outcomes were fixed.

The Freestyles were fun, enjoyable, eye popping and WFT in turn.

Cody’s in your face mess. Uh, no. It lacked sharpness and was just a mishmash with no focus. Kinda fun though.

Amanda’s freestyle was so joyous; a celebration of the end of the season. I loved the elements of traditional ballroom.

JoJo knocked it out of the ballpark. That’s what I was looking for. Lots of sass and pizzazz. A glam-flash extravaganza for the ages. They even got the boy pros to dance in hold with each other. It was the dance of the night. My absolute fave.

Iman did some hip-hop. I saw nothing special. Maybe I’m just not woke enough.