Star-studded Finale

Tonight was the finale of Dancing with the Stars. After a phone call from my mom at 9 to tell me how excited she was, and to tell me that dad was even staying up to watch(!) Mark and I settled in to watch the results show. Yesterday Laila Ali, Joey Fatone, and Apolo Anton Ohno danced 2 dances, one the judges picked and then a free style. Laila did a Paso, which was fiery and probably her best. Joey did a cha-cha that had some N'sync puppet moves and the judges complained was not cha-cha-ey enough. Apolo did a rumba, without a chair (the judges complained of that the first time they did a rumba) and Julianne wore what amounted to a nightie and Len, the head judge complained that it wasn't romantic enough. I agree with what Bruno said...they practically made love on the floor! But then Apolo and Julianne have great chemistry and are always provoking controversy with the judges. All and all, the first round of dancing wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. But then...then... the freestyle ROCKED!!! Apolo and Julianne did the most fantastic break dance routine, and then Joey and Kym wowed the crowed with "Last Dance" that was full of lifts.





On this evening's results show, they each danced one more, their choice from the season. Laila did her Mambo, which was great, Apolo did the Paso, and Joey did his Star Wars tango. Len gave Joey credit for performing the tango ,which got him 8's the first time around, to show how much he had improved. The two-hour finale tonight was filled mostly with commercials, but they did give a nice look back at finalists, and the comments they made about each of them convinced me that Joey was going to win. They said he has had the most standing ovations, and brought the highest level of entertainment to the show in all 4 seasons. In watching him, his skill and personality just shine and he always seemed to be getting the encore. He's just looks like he's having so much fun on the floor. But Apolo, who has never danced before, looks like he's a pro and the chemistry that he and Julianne have is undeniable. They just sizzle. After the first hour, Laila was counted out and it was down to the boys. My mom called me again to discuss the her dismissal and who she thought it was going to be. We were in agreement over Joey and I even had a dollar riding on this outcome! I was all set to buy a home-made donut with my winnings, and they announced that the Season 4 champions were Apolo and Julianne! I couldn't believe that it wasn't Joey! He's so good. But then, so was Apolo. Both of them deserved to win, and both Kym and Julianne had the best, most challenging choreography. I just felt bad that Joey may have felt like he didn't win over all the people, because of the outcome of the vote. Phone call number three to mom had us agreeing that they were both awesome and so the outcome couldn't be disappointing. Over-all, it made for good television. As much as I hate reality tv, and blame my mom for getting me into watching this, it was really enjoyable and made me want to dance. And after all, isn't that the point,? Time to get up off the couch and move-it, move-it!