Ah, it appears that Jewel has a fair amount of philanthropy going (according to Wiki), and some degree of overlap with politics thereby. So that would likely explain it.
Well, last night’s elimination was sad, but not surprising. And once again, a bit of actual dancing for their final dance, which was nice!
It’s obvious the two of them like each other a lot, and that this has been a great experience for both of them. I hope she’s back next season – she was a good pro (unlike some SYTYCD alums harrumph).
Watched the whole show, which I don’t usually on Tuesdays. Liked the “pick a new pro” competition – saw the first week of that, and now saw this week. The woman who (whom?) I suspect they’ll pick got paired with Maks, and managed to keep him in his place for two dances – not bad for a 21-year-old.
The “design a dance” dance was pretty sucky, though – not a whole lot of quickstep discernible. I don’t care for frenetic, usually.
Anyway, final three – deserving group, and I’m gratified to have picked them so early in the season. I just hope Cheryl doesn’t explode between now and Monday. I’m rooting for Melissa and Tony, not because they’re necessarily the best dancers – as we’ve been discussing, “best dancers” isn’t always the issue – but because Tony is a sweetheart, and because I watched the Bachelor season in which Melissa was dumped and humiliated on national TV.
Well, the worst dancer was eliminated, which I guess is good. But I was sort of hoping to see him in the final, because I think we might finally have seen a standard dance for the freestyle.
Actually, I think Gilles would be smart to do a foxtrot for his freestyle. Not gonna happen, unfortunately. But his ability to portray “sex appeal shrouded by a veil of propriety” is one of his best assets, in my opinion. His rhumba was a flop because it was one-dimensional - nothing but sex. But when he shows something that’s superficially not about sex, yet has these incredibly steamy undertones, he puts in his best performances.
The best final dance ever?
Anyway, I’m glad he’s gone. I was really surprised that Kim was dumped last week.
I thought it was undermined more by Cheryl putting in that awkward split–which he had trouble with–and roll on the ground at the end. Her ambition has tripped her up before.
But then I love rhumba.
I was just reminded why I hate finals: The Freestyle.
The couple coming out for their freestyle wearing a tux and evening gown (male and female respectively) and doing something that vaguely resembles a heightened form of ballroom and/or Latin dancing would get my vote assuming they didn’t trip over their own feet. As it is, I have to judge which form of Hip-Hop and/or calisthenics and/or acrobatics I dislike the least or ignore the freestyle entirely. Which is what I’m doing this season. Gilles did the best Paso; he gets two votes from me, and that’s all the effort it’s worth. A pity, because I really like Tony the best of the pros, and would have liked to see him win this season.
I didn’t see the Pasos, but I agree with Oy! about hating the freestyles. I guess I liked Shaun’s the best, since it had a few moments of actual, you know, dancing, but I thought it was frantic and disjointed, though slightly less disjointed than then other two.
Melissa and Gilles both seemed to be more about lifts than dancing, though, I will say, Melissa’s lifts were at least impressive. The lifts Gilles was doing with Cheryl were LAME with a capital L and A and M and E.
I will say that that group Paso actually sent chills down my spine; the three remaining couples are about the most talented bunch I’ve seen on this show.
The freestyle, however…jeepers. There was, in my view, something seriously wrong with every attempt. Shawn and Mark: spectacular moves but the whole thing came off as surprisingly shambolic. Melissa and Tony: all I could think during the routine was, “hey, look at the white folk from the 'burbs doing hip-hop”. Cheryl and Gilles: What a Feeling? Are you effing kidding me?
As far as body of work goes, I’ll begrudgingly admit Gilles has been head and shoulders above just about everyone else, but I’m getting maybe a whiff of upset here. Shawn for the gold?
“Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” is still my favorite freestyle.
I don’t like Mark’s “nerd,” and so that did not endear me toward his & Shawn’s. Plus, they seemed out of sync a few times.
Melissa & Tony’s was every dance team/cheerleading squad dance of 1990 & 1991 - they were all to that exact song. And they all contained the running man and the roger rabbit. And I thought “wow, going back 20 years - that’s an odd choice.”
Until Gilles & Cheryl started and they’d made the odder choice to go back 25 years. Complete with the pointing. So I was laughing for the wrong reasons there.
Agree with y’all on two of the three freestyles – but actually liked Shaun and Mark’s. I thought it was a lot of fun, I was impressed with how in synch they were, and it had a fair amount of dancing in between all the tricks.
Don’t care for hip-hop anyway, and what the hell was Tony thinking, knowing that Len is the head judge? And Cheryl – WTF. Seriously. What the motherfucking fuck? Your job at that point is to showcase Gilles, not to reenact a movie that came out right around the time you were born.
Both Cheryl and Tony did their pros a disservice, Cheryl a more substantial one – but I think the Gilles momentum is such that he may win anyway.
Re: tonight’s finale – no “Dance Center” with Kenny Main and Len? 
Dance Center was a couple of weeks ago … maybe 2? You missed my favorite part of each season.
Ah, phooey. Mine too.
Definitely agree with this – they had seriously awesome synch throughout that routine.
It’s funny, because a few weeks ago, I thought she should go home for lack of showing significant improvement, but I suddenly feel like Shaun might be winning this competition.
I’d be happy if Shawn wins but Gilles was more versatile thru out the season. I just don’t care for Melissa though she seems like a nice enough girl. But hey Tony Dovolani has been on the show forever so it may be his turn. A real nail biter tonight!
http://zen-denizen.blogspot.com/2009/05/dancing-with-stars-season-8-week.html
Dance Center, part 1 (starts at about 3:20)
Dance Center, part 2 (starts at about 1:10)
I likes Gilles’ freestyle best, just because I am so totally over the hiphop freestyles. I still maintain that he could have won with a sexy foxtrot.
Well, I really can’t argue with the end result, as the three were so incredibly closely matched that any of them deserved to win. That said, I really would prefer that they not have seventeen year olds (or younger) competing. Can’t we reserve a few things for grown-ups, at least in public? Yes, Shawn danced extremely well. She’s a freaking Olympic gold medalist in a sport that requires grace, agility, and strength; of course she danced well! I would have preferred to see her in a year or two, maybe even five.
And, yes, ENugent, I’d love to see a sexy foxtrot, waltz, or quickstep as the freestyle. Or a tango - that’s a precision dance that’s also a real crowd pleaser. As I said in an earlier post, I’d vote almost automatically for a couple who performed their freestyle in ballroom dress (assuming the dance matched the clothes).
Well, that was a surprise!
Kind of. If I’d voted, I think I’d’ve voted for Shawn on the basis of her freestyle Monday night, which I thought was significantly better than the other two. The problem with the other two, of course, was the choreography, so it sucks to be partnered with someone who so completely missed the boat on choreography … but fact of the matter is, Shawn danced best Monday night.
Poor Gilles, though. And what a gracious loser he was – I was truly, truly impressed with how completely he controlled his facial expressions.
But the streak of “if an Olympian makes it to the finals, s/he wins” continues …
ETA: ENugent, thanks for the links!
Hearing how close the end result was, I just love the thought that Cheryl’s “look at me - I’m the sexy stripper/dancer” free-style ego trip might have cost her the victory.
I also thought that Shawn’s free style dance was great, and I was happy with her winning.
Oy!, if we get rid of all the youngsters, who is going to be dancing. Corky Balas?
I think that Shawn (Shaun? Sean?) needs a few more years of life experience before she really matches Gilles, just because she doesn’t do sexy well. That being said, she really improved an enormous amount the last four weeks. Gilles was very gracious, Mark much less so. I thought Shawn showed much more grace and poise than he did as a winner. I was really turned off by him.
StG