5/25 Finale Pt 2 - Show Discussion Thread **Spoilers**

[northernviewer]

The best dancer won, the second best dancer came in second, and the third best dancer came in third. I like that all the frogs were in a row on their lily pads this year without a lesser dancer leaping over lily pads to mirror ball glory.

All three celebrities grew through the competition. For all of them there was the strangeness and discipline of ballroom dance, then the commitment to learning the forms. For Erin the next challenge was technical and for Evan and Nicole, emotional. The final three met each of these challenges and learned lessons about growing from them.

I enjoyed this season because it was fascinating to watch the final three improve in their trouble areas week after week. I grinned from ear to ear both nights as I watched them perform; and I sighed when I realized I couldn't watch them again next week.

Nobody's really questioning whether or not she was the best, it's more of a legitimacy thing as to why she was even on the show in the first place... she's a dancer, for goodness sake, and does it on a regular basis IRL...also, Evan was fan favorite and probably could have won if the judges didn't fix their scoring. Erin and Maks weren't really expected to win, but they sure made the show more enjoyable, much more so than Nicole and Derek did IMO. The season just leaves a bad taste in my mouth for the whole concept of DWTS

[ironcat]

I think the fact that Nicole was getting 10s from week 2 sums up why for some her win was anticlimactic (not to mention the constant pimping of her by the judges and the media alike). She didn't help her case much, IMO, by coming across as somewhat temperamental and vapid. Although I don't watch the show, I have the impression that someone with her background and ability would have been a more suitable contestant on SYTYCD.

And this certainly isn't Nicole's fault or responsibility, but I think Derek should have tried to tone down his mugging and antics this season, considering how fortunate he was (again!) to get a partner with such obvious advantages. Overall, it just made him completely annoying at best, and looking like he was gloating, at worst.

[PA Snow Bunny]

IMHO the besr couple won. Nicole was amazing. Derek was just being Derek. Why should he change his personality because he had a great partner?
Yes I agree that Nicole was a superior dancer because she was in Pussycat Dolls but she was dancing HipHop & not Ballroom. That would be like a pop singer like Britney Spears attempting to sing opera.
Congrats Nicole! It was nice seeing Lewis Hamiliton in the audience.

[mize77]

I would love to know how the celebrities are assigned to their partner. IMHO they ought to take the very best dancer of next season and give that woman to Tony Dovolani on a silver platter. He has had more than his share of the "partners who require the most patience." What, so being a nice guy gets him Kate Gosselin?
Derek really does great choreography, but let's see what he can do with a partner with absolutely no rhythm at all. Mark Ballas won season 8 and then he got paired with Shannon Doherty this season. I say let Derek have the real challenge next season!

[northernviewer]

IMHO the besr couple won. Nicole was amazing. Derek was just being Derek. Why should he change his personality because he had a great partner?
Yes I agree that Nicole was a superior dancer because she was in Pussycat Dolls but she was dancing HipHop & not Ballroom. That would be like a pop singer like Britney Spears attempting to sing opera.
Congrats Nicole! It was nice seeing Lewis Hamiliton in the audience.

a dancer is a dancer, is a dancer, I don't care what kind it is, all involves the same basic things .... tomayto, tomahto, it's an unfair advantage

[ironcat]

IMHO the besr couple won. Nicole was amazing. Derek was just being Derek. Why should he change his personality because he had a great partner?
Yes I agree that Nicole was a superior dancer because she was in Pussycat Dolls but she was dancing HipHop & not Ballroom. That would be like a pop singer like Britney Spears attempting to sing opera.
Congrats Nicole! It was nice seeing Lewis Hamiliton in the audience.

I was just trying to explain why for some of us, we can acknowledge that yes, Nicole was the best dancer, but we are left cold by her winning. Derek can continue to be Derek all he wants; his "Derekness" never bothered me before; this season it did. Go figure.

If Britney Spears was an incredibly talented vocalist, your analogy would be more apt IMO. OTOH, I think that Christina Aguilera could probably be one hell of an opera singer with the proper training.

[Tigerusty]

I am really trying to understand the logic of all this complaining about Nicole's experience and her being THE ringer this season. How come when Kristi Yamaguchi was on the show everybody was complaining that because she was a figure skater (who of course has to have dancing experience) was a ringer but somehow Evan also being a figure skater is not a ringer. Please help me out here people.

Why Evan's winning would have made you happy but Nicole's winning is the worst thing to happen on the show? Honestly, I don't care who's a ringer or not I just love to see great dancing at the end and that's what we got from all 3 couples but let's be honest Evan was just as much of a ringer as Nicole. I'm happy Nicole won because of two "ringers" I thought she performed the best.

[mize77]

In the past few years on DWTS and AI, voters have often picked a more likable contestant over a more talented one. OK--this is just my opinion, but Emmet Smith over Mario Lopez? Shawn Johnson over Gils? Kris Allen over Adam Lambert? (And yes, I voted frequently for Shawn and Kris.) I thought giving the judges more power was DWTS way of correcting what they saw as a error. I always liked that DWTS gave equal power to the voters and the judges. Seemed like this season, the scales weren't quite balanced, and the experts got more pull. If they keep on doing this, I think they'll lose good celebrities and lots of fans.

[anders332]

I am really trying to understand the logic of all this complaining about Nicole's experience and her being THE ringer this season. How come when Kristi Yamaguchi was on the show everybody was complaining that because she was a figure skater (who of course has to have dancing experience) was a ringer but somehow Evan also being a figure skater is not a ringer. Please help me out here people.

Why Evan's winning would have made you happy but Nicole's winning is the worst thing to happen on the show? Honestly, I don't care who's a ringer or not I just love to see great dancing at the end and that's what we got from all 3 couples but let's be honest Evan was just as much of a ringer as Nicole. I'm happy Nicole won because of two "ringers" I thought she performed the best.

For me it’s not about whether or not she was a ringer – and I agree, Evan was also a ringer. Bottom line is the judges fawned over her all season, rewarding them in episode 2 with a couple of 10s and CA declaring her the best dancer the show has ever seen, also said she couldn’t tell who the pro was, then Len last night saying she should be the winner.

It was clear from the start who the F2 were going to be, I can’t believe this cast didn’t know that (even Erin commented on it after she was eliminated). I think what bugs most of us who are not happy for the Nicole/Derek win, is the entitlement attitude she had all season, and the OTT footage of her crying because she wasn’t ‘perfect’, then she’d come out and nail a routine and the judge’s blatant bias towards them. Personally she bugged me, as much as I tried to like her, the mugging she and Derek would also do for the camera was really the stuff that irritated me the most.

Did they deserve the win – absolutely!! Do the viewers have to like that – absolutely not.

[fluff]

I am really trying to understand the logic of all this complaining about Nicole's experience and her being THE ringer this season. How come when Kristi Yamaguchi was on the show everybody was complaining that because she was a figure skater (who of course has to have dancing experience) was a ringer but somehow Evan also being a figure skater is not a ringer. Please help me out here people.

Why Evan's winning would have made you happy but Nicole's winning is the worst thing to happen on the show? Honestly, I don't care who's a ringer or not I just love to see great dancing at the end and that's what we got from all 3 couples but let's be honest Evan was just as much of a ringer as Nicole. I'm happy Nicole won because of two "ringers" I thought she performed the best.

Precisely. Plus, had Nicole and Evan not been on the show Erin has quite enough dance experience under her belt to be considered a ringer.
Luckily for her the storm over Nicole's inclusion and the incessant desire for her and Maks to be having a fling shielded her from that criticism.

I also don't think it was pre-determined that either Nicole would win or Evan and Nicole would be the top two.
It would be pretty simple to get people to comment on any combination of the top three being the top two, compile different clips for whichever combination made it and then just run the right clips.