Welcome to the final week of competition in this sixth season of Dancing with the Stars. We have our three finalists: Cristian de la Fuente, Jason Taylor and Kristi Yamaguchi. Each had two last opportunities to appeal to us voters at home, once in the first-ever Dancing with the Stars cha cha cha face-off, and then in the freestyle round. As promised, all rules are thrown out the window for the freestyle round – the teams could do as many lifts as their little hearts desire.
Want to find out how the night’s events transpired? Read on to see the results of the final Dancing with the Stars performance show of season 6.
Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas – 60
Cha cha cha. For the first time in the history of Dancing with the Stars, the three finalists had the opportunity to do a three-way dance-off. The three finalist teams took turns performing to the same song, “Dancing on the Ceiling” by Lionel Ritchie, one right after the other in a big, seamless dance routine. Kristi and Mark performed last in the face-off and really brought down the house. As good as Kristi Yamaguchi is at ballroom dancing, you could tell by this cha cha tonight that she has grown by leaps and bounds as well. Every step was perfect; moreover, she even brought the sassy cha cha attitude to the routine as well. You couldn’t accuse her of being a robot tonight, not even a little. Scores: 10+10+10=30.
Freestyle. Mark Ballas is an extremely talented man. He consistently produces amazing and challenging choreography for Kristi to work with, just as he had with Sabrina Bryan in season 5. And tonight’s freestyle performance was no exception. It had a little bit of every kind of style worked into it. It was fun and fast, with inventive lifts and aerial moves. More importantly, it was perfectly executed. Kristi and Mark both really knocked it out of the part tonight. Scores: 10+10+10=30.
Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke – 52
Cha cha cha. Cristian and Cheryl were the first pair to perform in the cha cha face-off. They performed admirably, with high energy and verve in spades. They danced a solid routine, but juxtaposed with Kristi’s perfection, it came up short. Scores: 8+9+9=26.
Freestyle. Cristian and Cheryl’s freestyle was the most traditionally choreographed freestyle of the evening, with a lot of Latin movements and pair dancing. Even though Cristian’s arm was still injured, he was determined not to interfere with the high level of dancing he aspired to. However, as head judge Len Goodman pointed out, he was unable to complete the spectacular and showy lifts that his competitors did, and so the difficulty of Cristian’s performance was noticeably lacking. Scores: 9+8+9=26.
Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska – 51
Cha cha cha. Jason is not as good in Latin styles as he is in the more elegant ballroom styles such as the foxtrot, and it really showed tonight. He danced second in the cha cha face-off, and sandwiched between the hot Latin-ness of Cristian and the fiery precision of Kristi, it was readily apparent that Jason couldn’t compete with the others. Scores: 8+8+8=24.
Freestyle. Edyta Sliwinska had a lot riding on tonight’s freestyle round. She is the only professional dancer who has appeared on all six seasons of Dancing with the Stars, but she has yet to win the mirror ball trophy. After flubbing the cha cha face-off, the freestyle became her and Jason’s last hope. They danced well in their freestyle number, executing extremely difficult lifts with ease. However, I’m not sure that the heavily hip hop-flavored choreography really worked toward Jason’s strong suits. If it had been performed earlier in the season, I would have been more impressed. But tonight was the finals, and I expected more out of these two. Scores: 9+9+9=27.
Read related articles:
Final Performance Live Thoughts
Dancing with the Stars Season 6 Results
Photo Gallery: Best and Worst Costumes of the Season
Video Gallery: Five Best Performances of the Season
Video Gallery: Five Worst Performances of the Season
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
