Media Center
Media Center » General Interest » Finale - Dancing With The Stars
Finale - Dancing With The Stars
- Author:
- Phillip Stephens (philtex44@aol.com)
- Date Published:
- June 16, 2007
Dancing With The Stars
Well, I didn't have time to write up a summary of the show finale before heading off to England and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of folk who emailed me to ask when my final report would be out or if I intended to do one. Thank you all for your patience and do be aware that time has passed and this is reconstructed from notes taken a few weeks ago!
Laila - Paso Doble: I could see a lot of improvement in Laila's dancing in this routine. She made steady progress throughout the 14 weeks of lessons and shows, but her arms were her weakest point, in my opinion, so I was happy to see that her arm usage became better and more stylish during the last 3 shows. I was a bit disappointed that Maks did all the fast and fancy footwork because we KNOW he can do it but the goal here - in my opinion - is to get the "star" to be the show. Freestyle: Well, there was far too much repitition of moves in this to hold my attention. Also, that was a very ugly lift and the routine certainly didn't need it. Laila is far too big a gal to be hoisted around like that by a partner who is too close in size to her own and Maks had no reason to "prove" he could lift her other than to just show off. They used lots of gimmicks in this number that, for me, just didn't work.
Apolo - Rumba: He was a bit stiff and not very well balanced in this performance. The lines were not finished fluidly, and there were some foot faults. Julianne danced too strongly in this number for my tastes, apearing - to me - as if she was determined to make him win with her own dancing talent. I did agree with Len and Carrie Ann about the lack of romance and that the routine was "over-performed". Freestyle: A powerful and well-syncronized performance of some very difficult moves. The break dancing was quite nice and the whole thing was enthusiastic and energetically performed.
Joey - Cha-cha: There were a great many foot faults in this performance, which was not a very good entry for so late in the game. Joey looked heavy on his feet and the outfit he wore made him look like he'd gained back some of the weight he lost during the season. Freestyle: This was a dynamic routine that showed Joey to best advantage. The lifts were great and were exected with an effortless-looking ease that made the routine even more entertaining for folk who know what to look for when gauging the difficulty level of entries and exits to lifts.
Well, we know that Apolo and Julianne won the trophy. The win was certainly well-deserved as they both put massive amounts of effort into learning and practicing their routines each week. I was impressed all through this season by Julianne, who just turned professional not long ago. She has been a gifted and talented dancer since she started as a young girl, but that doesn't automatically equate to being a good teacher. But she rose to the occasion admirably and, except for (in my opinion) trying too hard in their last Rumba, did an excellent job of performing WITH Apolo to good effect.
This show is great and I can't complain about the free advertising of my chosen craft to millions of viewers a couple of times each week. However: they do need to find a way to soften the impact of sheer popularity and weight the outcome a bit more toward good dancing. In the early weeks, the wrong people were removed from the show due to lack of popular vote, even though they had far more dance ability than some who remained on the show far too long.
OK - they didn't ask me to produce the show. When they do...
and remember