A multi-part series in which we look at the remaining Dancing with the Stars finalists as the season finale approaches.

Highlights:

Week 5’s villainous Disney samba

Week 8’s exciting trio paso doble

Week 9’s hilarious Fifty Shades of Viennese waltz

Lowlight:

Week 6’s jazz number to “Bootylicious,” which belonged in the bedroom, not the ballroom.

Rumer emerged as a surprise frontrunner in this season’s premiere, getting the highest score of the night over presumed frontrunner Nastia. For the next couple of weeks, she never faltered, combining a fierce work ethic with a superb quality of movement. All of Rumer’s dance moves are ridiculously sharp and fast, as much as any pro’s.

Rumer also took a sympathetic storyline from Most Memorable Year — how she grew up in the public eye and was bullied online for being unattractive — and ran with it. Learning to love herself and embrace her beauty has been a recurring theme for her this season, ensuring she has the popular vote even when going up against a showmance or a veteran.

After her best performance as Ursula in “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” Rumer faltered midway through the competition. Her bootylicious jazz did not work, and Val felt so pressured to redeem the couple the next week, he overdid it and risked injuring Rumer. But that served as a catalyst for a regrouping, and Rumer and Val rededicated themselves to performing classic dances without any of the malarkey most couples throw in these days. This gave them the season’s perfect score, and they’ve not been more than two points from perfection ever since.

Rumer’s other big advantage is that she’s an actress, and can act her way through every over-the-top concept given to her. She was slinky and evil as Ursula, did a spot-on impression of Anastasia Steele, and utterly stoic as a swan in Swan Lake. Combine good dancing with good acting and fun concepts, and that’s a recipe for DWTS triumph.

The pro: Val, on his eighth season, is by far the longest-tenured pro on the show without a win to his name. He has come tantalizingly close several times — runner up with Zendaya, third place with Kelly Monaco and Janel Parrish last season. He was also the favorite to win with Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, before their shocking elimination in the quarterfinal. That gives Val the sympathy vote of the longtime DWTS viewers, which can be a powerful factor (see: Maks winning Season 18, Tony winning Season 15). Val is also the only pro among the finalists who has been in the finals previously, giving him valuable experience. And after eight seasons, Val brings his own fanbase with him.

However, Val has not yet mastered the art of crafting freestyles. He did a good job with Zendaya (resulting in his best finish). But his freestyles with Kelly and Janel were nothing to write home about. Hopefully he pulls through for Rumer. It’s also worth considering that the other pros have never been to the finals, so the quality of their freestyles is an unknown entity.

Biggest advantage: Her dance technique, which is the best of the remaining finalists, and the goodwill Val has accumulated over the past four years.

Notable precedents: If we consider Rumer’s claim to fame being an actress, then there is a storied history of actors doing well on DWTS — including reigning champ Alfonso Ribeiro and season 17 champ Amber Riley. If we view Rumer’s parentage as her claim to fame, the precedents are much less optimistic: the Osbourne siblings, who both placed third (seasons 9 and 17), Sadie Roberts (last season’s runner up), Rob Kardashian (runner up of season 13), Chaz Bono (seventh place in season 13), and Bristol Palin (third place in season 11). However, there is reason to believe Rumer will do better than all of them: She dances better than the Osbournes, and is not politically divisive like the others on that list. Also, the star power of the other finalists is no greater than Rumer’s, which works in her favor as well.

Odds of winning: Currently, Rumer and Val are our favorites to win the Mirrorball. If they deliver next week the way they’ve been delivering all season, there’s no reason for them not to win. Odds of victory: 55%.