And the winners of Dancing with the Stars season 17 are… Amber Riley and Derek Hough!
The lesson here is to never bet against Derek Hough, who now wins his FIFTH Mirrorball Trophy! When you think that no other pro has won even three times, Derek pretty much owns DwtS! This was a historic finale, because for the first time ever, all three represented pros are former champions. And this was a big season for both Karina and Cheryl; they seemed more invested than usual (compare their dedication and creativity to the phoning it in they did for Jacoby Jones or Rob Kardashian). In the end, Corbin Bleu and Karina Smirnoff were the runners up, while Jack Osbourne and Cheryl Burke landed in third place.
I’ll admit, I was surprised (and disappointed) to see Jack land in third place. As I discussed, he is the perfect DwtS contestant. However, I have a theory to explain the result: while Jack won the hearts of the DwtS fans, he did not have militant fanbases voting for him like Corbin did (HSM fans) and Amber did (the almighty Gleeks). Jack also had lower judges scores (2% below Corbin and 4% below Amber). But as everyone said, Jack won just by making it to the finals. He matched his sister Kelly’s run, and made it to the top three despite his MS. He is inspiring, and perhaps what I love most is how he inspired Cheryl. Cheryl said that he made her see the whole world bigger, and he pointed out that he’s made her cry three times. I’ve not seen her this vivacious since Gilles Marini in Season 8, and perhaps not ever.
Corbin, meanwhile, joins the growing pantheon of celebrities who are dancers who placed second due to lack of votes – Season 5’s Mel B, Season 9’s Mya, and last season’s Zendaya. He also peaked too soon – we were all wowed by his dancing in the early weeks, but there was no growth (perhaps because there was no room to grow). Corbin did say that he accomplished all he set out to do, so good for him. It was also great seeing what Karina could do with a partner who can dance – she is capable of spectacular routines.
Amber is actually an interesting case for a victor, because she started out on top, fell low, and returned to the top. Usually victors come in two breeds. There are those whose victory is a foregone conclusion Week 1: Season 6’s Kristi Yamaguchi, Season 7’s Brooke Burke, Season 11’s Jennifer Grey. Then there are those who start low and keep growing toward victory: Season 9’s Donny Osmond and Season 14’s Donald Driver. Amber came out on top in Week 1, but then had a fall from grace. For a while, it looked like she’d be another Ralph Macchio (who peaked in Week 1 of Season 12). But she returned to form, kept growing, and rode a wave of momentum all the way to the trophy.
Though it seemed more of an after-thought, the couples all performed a fusion dance tonight. As Carrie Ann said, she “can’t believe we’re still making you guys dance.” The couples all cobbled together the best they could in a few hours, but the results were a mixed bag.
Corbin and Karina did a Cha-Cha-Foxtrot, which was elegant and then rapidly turned fierce. Unfortunately, Corbin got lost in the moment, and flubbed a step. Len actually confessed that he’d had his ten paddle ready, but all the judges gave nines. At least we got a parting view of Corbin’s undulating torso, which will have to tide DwtS fans over until March.
Jack and Cheryl did a Salsa-Paso-Doble, which was good considering Jack had never done salsa before (he’d thought it was a food). Cheryl tried to make it easy on him, putting in much less salsa than paso, and not making the paso particularly strenuous. Jack really delivered the performance aspect of the dance, but he is not someone who can learn to salsa in a few hours, so nines it was.
Last of all were Amber and Derek, doing a Samba-Quickstep fusion. And when I say fusion, I mean it – instead of doing half-and-half like the others, Amber and Derek kept swapping from Samba to Quickstep almost every other move. It was masterfully done and very impressive, well-deserving of another perfect thirty. After this dance, I didn’t mind that Amber and Derek won – they deserved it as much as anyone.
On the whole, I don’t know if I like closing the season with the fusion dances. They seem too challenging to be learned in a couple hours, and I would much prefer them to be done on a standard week (maybe in lieu of last week’s rather stupid plugged/unplugged shtick). Also, we missed out on a DwtS staple: the couples doing an encore of their favorite dance. These are usually spectacular, they are easier on the couples, and they allow everyone to go out on top (perfect thirties are given to everyone). Let’s fix that next season!
But this finale did contain the other staple of DwtS finals: the celebrities reminiscing about their partners on video as they all stand there trying not to cry. And my goodness, did the tears flow freely tonight! Jack said absolutely beautiful things about Cheryl that set her off crying again, and got him misty-eyed. Corbin thanked Karina and got her chin all wobbly. And Amber completely broke down crying in the video, her voice catching, and both she and Derek were wiping away tears. My tears flowed freely; there’s just something about this that gets me. In retrospect, between Valerie and Jack and now this, I feel like I spent half this season crying! I really must get a handle on myself for the spring season, I’m turning into Carrie Ann!
Note to readers: I apologize for not recapping the first hour of tonight’s finale; I regrettably missed it. I’m sure it was full of fun musical performances that I’ll enjoy watching tomorrow, and full of mediocre but entertaining dances from the returning stars. I caught Leah and Tony doing a decent tango, and Bill and Emma doing an atrocious attempt at samba. It was nice seeing the familiar faces back in the ballroom!
And so we are at the close of yet another season of DwtS – definitely one of the better ones. Do you think Amber and Derek deserved to win? Did you enjoy this season as much as I did? And how impatient are you for Season 18?
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