Dancing with the Stars – Season 16 – The FINALS! (Night 1)

Before we begin, I would like to send out my thoughts and prayers to Oklahoma and all the residents there who have been affected by the horrible weather. If anyone who reads this blog is from there or knows anyone from there, please know the entire country stands behind you and help is on the way! Together, as always, we will get through this. #PrayForOklahoma

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Welcome to the night one of the Finals of season sixteen of Dancing with the Stars. This is it, folks. In just a little over 24 hours, we will crown our new champions. But before we get there, the remaining couples must complete two nights of hardcore competition.

Last week, we said goodbye to Soap opera actor Ingo Rademacher and his professional partner, Kym Johnson. Ingo made it all the way to the semi-finals being an average but forgettable dancer. The fact is, he was never going to make it to the finale against the “top four,” so his exit was pretty predicable. In fact, with the exception of what order they would actually go in, every elimination this season has been predictable since our four highest scoring couples have owned the entire competition since week one. But now that we have reached the end, it is time to really see who has what it takes to beat the others and achieve ballroom glory.

The dancing for the finals will work like this. They will each dance a judges’ choice, a Cha-cha-cha relay, and a super sized freestyle tonight. After adding in the judges scores and America’s votes, one couple out of the four will be eliminated tomorrow night. The remaining three will be tasked to perform an instant dance of a style they already know with music given to them minutes before.

Tonight’s competition should be exciting. The judges have picked what they deem to be the best dances the couples have done to repeat and the relay’s are always thrilling when you have people who are this good. Of course, the highlight of the night will be the freestyle. Troupe members, special staging, anything goes choreography, and lots of bells and whistles should encourage every couple to pull out all the stops to impress.

I wish Kellie, Zendaya, Aly, and Jacoby all the luck in the world as they duke it out for victory. Let’s get this started. :D

The show opens with troupe/pros doing a fantastic quick-paced routine. Some amazing moves here and probably the best dancing we will see all night. Wow! That routine was utterly amazing.

Val is bruised and bloody after an accident in rehearsal with Zendaya, but he will dance tonight of course.

Jacoby Jones (NFL wide receiver) & Karina Smirnoff – (Jive)
Len is at rehearsals to help out Jacoby.
Okay, I am getting a tad bit bored with Jacoby’s interpretation of the jive. There is nothing technically wrong with it but the moves are always the same with nothing really different. I wish Karina had choreographed things a bit different while still keeping the jive elements. As always, the energy is there as well as the personality. But at this point, since these are the styles the couples are excelling at, I want to see something different and amazing. This was basically Jacoby doing the jive as he always has. Remember, I never saw major issues with his feet before so the concentration on looking for improvement here goes over my head.

Len saw improvement. He said Jacoby lost it on occasion but he definitely thought it was a better jive. Bruno loves the energy and charisma. He does comment that Jacoby missed the beat a few times and was flat footed. Carrie Ann says Jacoby knows how to turn the house upside down but agrees with Bruno and Len about the footwork.
Carrie Ann- 9 Len- 9 Bruno- 9 for a total of 27/30
To vote for Jacoby & Karina, call 1800-868-3412. You can also text “VOTE” to 3412. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

Aly Raisman (Olympic gold medal gymnast) & Mark Ballas – (Samba)
Bruno arrives at rehearsal to give Aly some help.
…and we finally have samba rolls. Okay, just one real roll but it was decent. Aly is fun doing the samba but I feel like her energy is just a tad bit below where it should be throughout the dance. Her footwork always seems to be on the clunky side as opposed to gliding, if you will. So much shimmy action here. LOL. On a positive note, I do find this to be a different samba than Aly did previously, so I give her and Mark props for changing it up. Aly is having a blast and showing personality, something she was lacking in the early weeks of the show. A decent samba for sure.

Bruno thought Aly did everything he asked of her. He loved everything about it. Carrie Ann says Aly has the momentum and says that she has a little bit of everything that the other competitors have. Len mentioned just a little issue with Aly’s legs but agrees with Carrie Ann that Aly is moving up.
Carrie Ann- 9 Len- 9 Bruno- 10 for a total of 28/30
To vote for Aly & Mark, call 1800-868-3408. You can also text “VOTE” to 3408. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

Kellie Pickler (Country music singer) & Derek Hough – (Quickstep)
Len is back in the rehearsal hall for Kellie, giving some quickstep tips.
Wow. Just like Kellie’s previous quickstep, this is fast paced and a joy to watch. Derek changes up the choreography of the dance a bit and creates a new tone here. Kellie is keeping up so well with Derek. Everything about this dance screams connection and personality, which is right up Kellie’s alley. Watching her feet, I see no issues and everything looks technically perfect. I loved Kellie’s original quickstep and I think this one was just as good while still being different enough to stand out. Nice!

Len loved it. He said the connection was like a stamp on a letter. Bruno calls Kellie the belle of the ball. Bruno loved how much content was put into the dance. He compliments everything. Carrie Ann saw an improvement in the body contact and that’s what she was looking for.
Carrie Ann- 10 Len- 10 Bruno- 10 for a total of 30/30
To vote for Kellie & Derek, call 1800-868-3401. You can also text “VOTE” to 3401. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

Zendaya Coleman (Dinsey Channel star) & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – (Samba)
Carrie Ann gets to visit Zendaya and give her some tips on the samba.
Great choreography here by Val. This is a completely different samba as compared to her previous performance. Zendaya is rocking the samba feel. The connection with Val and tone of the dance is perfect. These are some outstanding moves by Zendaya here. She is completely owning the dance and giving it one hundred percent. Take a look at some of the new samba steps Val has put in here. That’s what I am talking about when I say repeating a dance and making it special the second time around.

Carrie Ann called it a perfect combination of blending authentic samba with Zendaya style. She calls it magical. Len compliments it all. He loved all the basic moves mixed with some other fantastic things. Bruno calls Zendaya incredibly fierce. He loved the technique tonight of the fast steps into the slow ones.
Carrie Ann- 10 Len- 10 Bruno- 10 for a total of 30/30
To vote for Zendaya & Val, call 1800-868-3406. You can also text “VOTE” to 3406. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

Coming up… the Cha-cha-cha relay…

Cha-cha-cha Relay
Kellie goes first.
Jacoby goes second.
Aly goes third.
Zendaya goes fourth.

Kellie and Derek are doing some fantastic cha-cha-cha steps, totally in-sync. Jacoby and Karina are out next and I think Karina short changed Jacoby here just a bit by not letting him to the dance for the entire time but instead, play a comical bit at the end. Aly and Mark bring it back next, doing a fine job. Zendaya and Val take the floor last and make it look easy. In my opinion, this is between Kellie and Zendaya.

Len says this is the four that he thinks deserved to make it into the finals. He gives them all props. Bruno calls them the magnificent four. He gives each one individual compliments. Carrie Ann says they are all here for different reasons and it looked like four different dances. She as well compliments everyone individually.

Scoring results:
In 4th place, getting two points are Jacoby & Karina.
In 3rd place, getting three points are Aly & Mark.
In 2nd place, getting four points are Kellie & Derek.
In 1st place, getting five points are Zendaya & Val.

Coming up… the freestyle…

Jacoby Jones (NFL wide receiver) & Karina Smirnoff – (Freesyle)
Jacoby wants to bring his New Orleans flavor to the ballroom. We have tappers and drummers. We have Jacoby doing his own thing (not a bad thing). Major lift here with Karina and it almost had a bit of an issue. Thankfully, they pulled it off. The kids are out to tap. Well, that was a load of fun. But I do need to say one thing. As entertaining as that was to watch on a whole, I do need to say that it was a tad too much. Put it this way. The goal of the freestyle is to show off Jacoby, yet I was being entertained by just about everyone else. That’s not saying I didn’t enjoy Jacoby but I wish it had more of Jacoby and Karina doing their thing without ALL of that extra stuff. I think this was a bit of an error in terms of showcasing Jacoby.

Len says Jacoby got the freestyle party started. Great energy and well done. Bruno loved the sense of celebration. He does comment that the energy at times makes Jacoby go out of sync and lose the energy. Jacoby’s mother is screaming from the audience. Carrie Ann agrees with Bruno and thinks Jacoby got a bit lost in the shuffle. She does mention that she thought the dance as a strategy was right for Jacoby.
Carrie Ann- 9 Len- 9 Bruno- 9 for a total of 27/30
To vote for Jacoby & Karina, call 1800-868-3412. You can also text “VOTE” to 3412. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

A very classy statement made by Tom regarding the situation in Oklahoma. Nice. #PrayForOklahoma

Aly Raisman (Olympic gold medal gymnast) & Mark Ballas – (Freestyle)
This is a futuristic inspired freestyle. Aly is able to make use of her gymnastic skills right at the start. Some nice in-sync dancing with Mark. And now, they are climbing the poles. Yes, poles. They go up the polls and then down to dance together before switching poles. Now, they are back on the floor to end the routine. That was…interesting. I do appreciate that unlike the previous freestyle, this was all about Aly. She showed off just about everything she has learned this season and it was very entertaining. The best part about all of it was how in-sync Aly and Mark were throughout the routine.

Bruno calls it futuristic with a touch of exotic. He never saw anything like that. He marveled at how they synced the section on the polls. Carrie Ann mentions her previous work on Madonna’s tour. She loved everything about it. Len loved the concept and imagination and says Aly is Alexnadra the great.
Carrie Ann- 10 Len- 10 Bruno- 10 for a total of 30/30
To vote for Aly & Mark, call 1800-868-3408. You can also text “VOTE” to 3408. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

Kellie Pickler (Country music singer) & Derek Hough – (Freestyle)
Instead of doing anything super special, Derek wants to strip the entire dance down and just concentrate on the dancing.
Wow. Just wow. Give me a simplistic freestyle that concentrates on dancing over throwing everything at me but the kitchen sink any day of the week. That was so gorgeous. Kellie is absolutely stunning here. One of the strongest freestyle routines I have seen in the history of the show. Derek is a master at choreography. He just put together something for Kellie that she was able to bring her emotions and dance technique to. That was some contemporary action you would see on SYTYCD- and the judges would give it a standing O. Brilliant! I can’t say enough good things about it.

Carrie Ann is in tears. Kellie comes over to hug her. Carrie Ann says Kellie just bared her soul and it was beautiful. Len says great dancing engages the heart. Len gets up for a standing ovation. Bruno says it was a contemporary work of art and touches everybody.
Carrie Ann- 10 Len- 10 Bruno- 10 for a total of 30/30
To vote for Kellie & Derek, call 1800-868-3401. You can also text “VOTE” to 3401. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote online.

Zendaya Coleman (Dinsey Channel star) & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – (Freestyle)
And Zendaya is answering back with an amazing freestyle of her own. Some technical ballroom steps, some hip-hop, and some nice lifts to start us out. A bit of contemporary action comes into play before the kids come out to play. See what I did there? Yes, kids. They are doing hip-hop with Zendaya and Val. So cute. As opposed to Jacoby’s freestyle, the kids came toward the end, so it didn’t take anything away from Zendaya. This was very good choreography by Val, showing off Zendaya’s best attributes. This is going to be incredibly difficult for the voters and probably come down to who has the biggest fan bases. Another fabulous freestyle routine.

Len loved how many different styles were involved. He loved the parts of the number and how it all came together. Bruno calls Zendaya to the teen idol to admire and inspire. Bruno says everything Zendaya does is always her. Carrie Ann is pleased as punch and is happy that Zendaya brought us home and sealed the deal. She calls her divine.
Carrie Ann- 10 Len- 10 Bruno- 10 for a total of 30/30
To vote for Zendaya & Val, call 1800-868-3406. You can also text “VOTE” to 3406. Finally, register at ABC.COM to vote onl

Val dedicates the number to the kids and parents. Nice.

Final Judges Leaderboard:
Zendaya And Val- 65/65
Kellie And Derek- 64/65
Aly And Mark- 61/65
Jacoby And Karina- 56/65

NOTE- According to Tom and Brooke, voting at ABC.COM is down at the moment, so make sure you get those votes in via text/phone/facebook. I wonder if they are going to fix that problem before the deadline expires tomorrow morning. I know a lot of people who create e-mail accounts to vote online.

Wow. What a night! Head on over to the POLLS thread to vote and make sure you come back tomorrow night for an epic 2-hour event that celebrates this season and determines our champions. I hope you guys enjoyed the show tonight as much as I did.