Dancing with the Stars, Season 23, Week 11, Finals, Night One

A couple of stumbles and a couple of lifts make the scores interesting; four freestyles tailored carefully to their stars make the night a good one.

It’s the Finals of Dancing with the Stars, which means Len Goodman is back! They don’t do much fanfare for that, though. The attention and the opening montage are all about our four stars. They’ll be doing two rounds tonight. First comes a Redemption Dance, where the judges pick a rhythm they think each couple can do better than they did earlier in the season.

Calvin Johnson, Jr. & Lindsay Arnold

Viennese Waltz; “I am Your Man” – Ryan Shaw

The fluff includes a lot of pep talking, and Lindsay reviewing footage with him in the style of a sports coach. That includes their Viennese Waltz from week 3, of course. They go differently with it than they did, though. This Viennese Waltz is much more light and poetic than their last one. It’s very sweet and romantic, and Calvin in his upper body especially is perfect. However, a little mist doesn’t disguise his good but not perfect footwork. That flaw becomes a bigger problem when Carrie Ann says she saw Lindsay’s feet leave the floor. So she docks a point for a lift and only gives them an 8. Len says Calvin’s the most improved of the four, though, as the other three give them 9s, for 35. Not that Calvin seems to care much at that point, since his two-year-old son pays a surprise visit to the ballroom!

Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko

Tango; “Stay the Night” – Zedd feat. Hayley Williams

Last time they did this dance, in week 2, Jana was struggling to dance through injury. She’s really happy to get a crack at tangoing again with less pain. Except then Gleb gets so sick he can’t practice. She even has to do camera blocking with Alan Bersten! But tonight he’s recovered enough to join her on a platform amid flashing lights, which itself is a striking matter they just try to dance up to.  They kind of manage it, but this doesn’t feel knockout. Plus during a spin everyone sees her feet leave the floor. It leaves Len and Carrie Ann actually debating whether it’s really right to penalize that, but Carrie Ann always has, so she lowers her score to 8 again. Julianne and Bruno debate how much spark they had, but the other three break out 9s for 35 again.

Laurie Hernandez & Val Chmerkovksiy

Paso doble; “Wicked Ones” – DOROTHY

Much of the fluff is about how she coped with losing her grandmother last week. But there’s also footage of her getting hysterical while rehearsing the paso doble in week 5. She handles things much better this time. She then saunters out of the woods that have grown on the dance floor and tackles the dance with her normal ferocity. This is her showing all her skills. Her feet also leave the ground at one point, but that’s obviously part of a jump, and Carrie Ann doesn’t speak of it. Len declares there was nothing in that dance he didn’t like. Bruno calls it “wicked in the best possible way.” The two of them break out the 10s. But the ladies only give 9s, so Laurie & Val end up with 38.

Between Laurie & Val and James & Sharna they decide to put Train on to sing their new single, “Play that Song.” It’s definitely not a song everybody will like, but the routine the pros come up with to dance to it, starring Cheryl Burke, is pure delight, mostly because Cheryl is a Queen.

James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess

Foxtrot; “It Had to Be You” – Harry Connick, Jr.

As they prepare a new take on their first kind of dance they did, the fluff is mostly about Helio, the other race car driver to win this thing, visiting the studio. He and James to a dance off, but he’s foolish enough to choose Sharna as judge. Of course she chooses her partner as the winner. The dance itself has a kind of stereotypical premise involving them as librarians. It’s much better during the middle section, where they mostly leave that behind and just dance, with a couple of cute character moments. Except he makes a stumble. Three of the judges lament that. Although Carrie Ann thanks him for the lack of lifts. But Bruno says he didn’t see the stumble and gives them a 10! 9s from the other three leave them with 37.

The second round, as always, is the freestyle:

Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko

Freestyle; “Unstoppable” – Sia

Gleb describes this as the story of her emotional journey on the show. Although coming up with such a routine while sick gets him so stressed out at one point the fluff has him walking out of the studio and there’s a scene outside. They also spend most of it tied together by a piece of cloth. That sounds kind of silly, but the routine he comes up with really does reflect her story. For the most part this is a good, emotional program. Unfortunately, she too has something of a stumbly moment when coming out of one of the lifts. The judges all praise the concept and try to be nice about the mishap. Carrie Ann even tells her to walk away proud of herself. They have to lower thier scores to 9s, though. She and Gleb end the night with 71.

Calvin Johnson, Jr. & Lindsay Arnold

Freestyle; “I Want You Back” – Jackson 5 & “Please Mr. Postman” – The Marvellettes

Lindsay describes this as “high energy” and “happy.” She’s right when she says that’s pretty much what Calvin is about. A little riskier, but also far for the course, are the crazy tricks she puts in. She also throws in a subway setting and a section on a moving track! Calvin masters and thrives on it all. The number being such a big one just seems to make his presence get bigger to fill it. It takes a moment or so for the audience to calm down enough for the judges to speak. They’re pretty excited too. “If I were the postman,” Len tells Calvin, “I’d send you a love letter.” Since they’re judges, then instead send him straight 10s. Calvin & Lindsay finished out the night with a total of 75.

Another interlude number here: some dancing promoting an upcoming musical movie called La La Land. The choreography of it is apparently by longtime show choreography Mandy Moore (not to be confused with the pop singer of the same name), and they talk about how old fashioned it is. What they perform in the ballroom tonight definitely has the feel of an old school Hollywood musical. It does leave you wanting to see more, so guess it’s done its job.

Laurie Hernandez & Val Chmerkovksiy

Freestyle; “Brand New” Ben Rector

Val describes this number as celebrating Laurie’s energy. Putting her in what Tom calls the world best-dressed playground, in a yellow dress and barefoot, and making it like they’re literally kids might be a bit over the top. But Laurie absolutely throws herself into it, and this may be the most exuberant she’s ever been. By the time it’s over, even the biggest curmudgeon can’t help but feel a little joy. The judges are feeling a lot of it. Len claims it made him feel twelve again, and Julianne describes it as “Jack and Jill go up the hill to fetch a pail of awesome!” Out come another set of straight 10s, and with a total 78, Laure & Val are already guaranteed to lead at the end of the night.

James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess

Freestyle; “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets” – The Piano Guys

They too tell his story, though they focus on the actual moment of the crash. It’s one James actually doesn’t remember, but by the time the fluff is over, he’s thanking Sharna for giving him something to fill the mental gap with. Sharna plays his guardian angel, and there are other dancers too, as this gets pretty metaphysical. We get the feeling of him looking into the face of death and heaven. But maybe the most powerful moments of a one of the most powerful freestyles the show has seen are the beginning and ending, where James & Sharna are alone on the floor with his own words about the crash. This is more than the best freestyle of the night. As the judges note, it’s one of the best freestyles ever. Of course they get straight 10s, finishing with 77.

But now we must have one final elimination before tomorrow night. Laurie & Val are first to advance to night two. Calvin & Lindsay, a little more unexpectedly, are called safe next. Right after that freestyle, James & Sharna find themselves standing next to Jana & Gleb, whom they were only a point ahead of last week. It’s a terrible thought, that they might have already been out…

But no, it’s Jana & Gleb out. Jana reiterates how much being on the show has rebuilt her confidence and changed her emotionally. When she and Gleb take to the floor, the easy joy with which they spin around even seems to reflect that.

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They say Dancing with the Stars is won in the freestyle. If that’s true, James & Sharna have already won. Except they aren’t in the lead. Laurie & Val still have that point advantage, which could easily increase, decrease, or stay in place tomorrow. Perhaps it will be the final dances this time which ultimately determine it. Season 23 concludes tomorrow at 9.