‘Dancing With the Stars’: final thoughts
Does anybody remember who my original pick to win “Dancing With the Stars” was? I almost didn’t remember it myself, until Tuesday night, when I turned out to be some sort of “Dancing” savant. Yes, after the first dances, I made my pick:
“Racing driver Helio Castroneves. He was fantastic in the first dance, and he has Julianne Hough, last season’s winner, as his partner.”
Actually, I liked a lot of the women better, and I still did last night. (Sorry, Marie; not you.) I wasn’t entirely shocked, however, when Helio prevailed over Mel B. in the final. She was ahead of him by a point in the judges’ scores, so he won on the strength of the audience vote, which counted 50 percent. I would have thought the Spice Girls fan base was bigger than the Indy 500 fan base, at least among those who would watch (and vote in) a ballroom dancing competition, but I’d have been wrong.
Mel and Helio were both so good that it’s hard to complain too much about one of them getting a few more votes than the other. I do think, though, that this result proves a couple of things:
- It will be very hard for a woman to win this (unless perhaps she’s an ABC soap actress). It’s just easier for a man to look great doing the mambo or quick step than for a woman.
- The partner matters a lot — not just in skill and choreography but in getting votes. You can’t tell me that plenty of people didn’t vote for Julianne as much as for Helio. To many viewers, she may have been better known when the show started than he was; after all, she won last year. And she’s a doll. Maks, on the other hand, comes off as a bit smug and obnoxious.
- You shouldn’t be great when you start out. Mel was probably penalized by some voters for being so good to begin with — she could do splits, for heaven’s sake! She could kick over her head. Helio was just a really good wedding-reception dancer at the beginning, and advanced a lot.
- Did I mention it’s harder for a woman?
Another thought I had while watching the finale: In how many cities do you think a business like Josephine’s Tea House in Godfrey, Ill., or the Three French Hens antique shop in Grover, Mo., could afford to buy a commercial during the “Dancing With the Stars” finale?
I haven’t watched the whole show yet, having taken your advice in yesterday’s issue to record and FF, but I flipped over just as L&O:SVU ended to see who won. I was rooting for Mel B., but I’m OK with Helio; he was so excited to win!
The whole doll dance thing was just freaky. Marie should have pulled a Pinnochio and become a real girl soon after Jonathan wound her up with a key. But then, she wouldn’t have been able to get away with the sloppy dancing!
I was surprised and disappointed by Donny Osmond’s xenophobic rant on ET yesterday. He implied that Mel and Helio were foreigners and Marie was the only true American on the show, and so deserved to win. Sorry, it’s not Dancing with the American Stars, just DWTS.
I have been a fan of Marie Osmond since I was a little girl so this season was the first time I had ever watched DWTS. The Doll Dance was just horrible, I kept expecting her to turn into a great dancer and wow us after Johnathan put the key in and instead he just carried her around. What?! I thought the way Marie yelled back at the judges after their comments was very unprofessional. I voted for Mel B. and was disappointed that she did not win but how can you not like a guy like Helio? I was thrilled for him, too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that Mel B. leaves her husband for Mak. They were always all over each other and you can tell Mak really has the hots for Mel. Funny you should mention that commercial for Josephine’s Tea Room, Gail. I was thinking, “Boy, they must really do well to be able to advertise on DWTS. I am anxious to see who will be on the next season of DWTS. I have a big feeling we will see Donny Osmond and Tori Spelling. You can bet Donny will try to get Julianne as his partner.