He has never had a poor partner, so it has been much easier for him to choreograph great routines. He has never even really had a mediocre partner - they've all been above average.

The judges cut him too much slack and don't mark him down to a great extent when he breaks the rules etc. Very unfair to the other couples. It seems like he's untouchable.

Splendidly put fridgesoup

They constantly over mark him and TPTB are always trying to get him to win the show.

I agree with that. I don't think Kellie is a very good dancer to be honest; she looks good and has great extensions/lines, but that's about the height of it.

In all honestly I don't think Kellie is a great dancer... she's stiff and totally emotionally detached...

Completely agree- whatever opinion people have on them, they'd be lying if they didnt think these two were the strongest of the season.

A lot of her dances were over marked and that because she was partnered with Derek. If Kellie had been partnered with anyone else she would have got lower scores.

There was a rumour that he was going to leave after the last season. He didn't win and I think he wanted to leave on a high. Here's hoping

Congratulations to Kellie & Derek.

That freestyle was fabulous.

I hope that Derek doesn't leave. His choreography is always fresh & different.
The negativity & conspiracy plots have made this thread unpleasant at times this series.

Thanks for all the links & clips everyone

I don't agree with that he never had a poor partner Jennie Garth wasn't good when she started & had no confidence, Shannon Elizabeth was poor, Maria & Joanna got better over time but where mediocre to begin with. Most of his partners improved after training with Derek and Derek choreographs to hide faults. Lil Kim wasn't as great as people though she was going to be. Ricki surprised people.

As for breaking the rules Derek rarely does the main series he did was the all star series which had so many themes and twists that they barely had rules anyways. DWTS doesn't have many rules anyways compare strictly viennesse waltz and dwts.

I hope he doesn't leave as he is a great dancer and teacher who gets the best out of his partner. As for the rumours he was leaving last series it was probably that the ptb didn't want to lose Maksim & Derek in one season.

With DWTS it is usually the best freestyle that wins and Kellie & Derek's was.

Well done to all involved in the final they all did well to get that far. Ali & Mark did some great dances and improved a lot. jacoby & Karina was great entertainment even though I didn't see much progression. Zendaya did some of the best dances of the series and the trio salsa was incredible. Kellie's freestyle was amazing as well as some superb dances throughout the series.

The thing that annoyed me this series was the number of repeat dances. They didn't do all the dances but repeated sambas, cha cha cha & jives all series.

Well, I guess we all see and like different things - I think she's a terrific dancer. So is Zendaya. One of the reasons I was happy these were the final two was that they had contrasting styles and talent which makes the show more enjoyable for me as a viewer and I appreciated their different strengths. They were both good at all the styles.

There's no question that Zendaya was excellent at the fast latins and pipped Kellie in cha cha and jive, for example, but I felt Kellie was stronger in the ballroom dances - and I love a classic ballroom, which they gave me more of than V and Z - but they would both have made worthy champs. In the end, it probably came down to the freestyle and Kellie's had more impact.

I have to say, there was an absolute overload of Latin dancing this season. I am heartily sick of cha chas, sambas and jives - which I normally love (if they're done well ) - but this season was like gorging on chocolate. By the time we got to the instant dances, I just couldn't face any more .

Absolutely.

Me too.
I think that they should do all the classic core dances before repeating dances.

No it did not come down to the freestyle IMO. Kellie has a bigger fanbase than Zendaya and TPTB knew it that's why they gave her to Derek.

Ricki had a performance background, so it wasn't a huge surprise that she was decent. Joanna got the highest score in week one (from memory), so she was hardly mediocre to begin with. He has definitely never had a very weak/old celeb to contend with.

Just watched Dorothy's dance with Kristi. Makes me sad she wasn't able to stay longer in the comp.

Lisa's foxtrot with Gleb (and Len! ) was also really nice.

Finally. Some ballroom! Yay!

The main bits of Finale - results show - reverse order

Much of the same but with extra bits and bobs. Not (yet) complete or in proper order as far as I can see...

Waves to everyone, thanks for all the links and keeping the thread going. I don't mind differing opinions or views, I've probably been quite critical at times of the dancing and dancers

Haven't caught the ending yet, but after watching the dances yesteday can see why Kellie and Derek won tbh. Of all the dances his freestyle was the most balanced in terms of showcasing Kellie to her best advantage and whether you think she doesn't show as much emotion in her dances she seemed very well partenered with Derek. The choreography stood out for me compared to the others, Derek has a knack of getting it right.

I think Karina and the extra dancers were great but Jacoby was a bit sporadic imo. If they asked Jacoby to do a waltz reckon he'd fit a bit of pigeon toed jive in somewhere

Aly and Mark's freestyle, think he lost the plot a bit, the last time I enjoyed his choreography was when he partnered Katherine Jenkins. He seems a bit hit and miss this season he's gone off the boil.

Got a feeling Zendaya will be the biggest winner in terms of her career after DWTS. Her and Val have been a very enjoyable partnership all season, they have probably been the best match. I'm glad Val has been able to dance full out and given the chance to shine.

First of all YESSSSSS WOOO

I'm so glad Kellie won (not so that Derek won) but I echo everyone that said Zendaya would have made a brilliant winner too as both did so well.

Thanks to everyone for so many weeks of brilliant chat and fun its been great and I can safely say I will be back next season

Well done to Aly, Jacoby and Z and an extra congrats to Ms Pickler

*waves* back

BIB - Oh, so true



Hidden Gems

Wait a minute- this means I'm now followed by a DWTS champ. Kellie followed me like two years ago, yay!

(i've posted this in the Z appreciation too)

I'm happy with the win for Kellie, in all fairness. I'm not paying attention to PureDWTS as Kellie is a perfectly nice woman and she improved over the weeks. Of course, the same with Zendaya and I'd have rather Z won, but at the end of the day, whatever PureDWTS writers want to say, they need to know that they're only stooping to the level of the fans they write about!

So all in all, I'd have loved Z to win but I'm happy for Kellie and well done to her. (I'd have preferred Kellie being with Tristan looking back, though).

Plus, the Chmerkovskiy bros prove once again that they're my favorite pros. Val's 'lol' was excellently put I think in such short words, and Maksim's points were exact. Thanks to everyone who made this a great series, to sum up.

The fact that Derek KNEW NOTHING about Kellie on this Gma interview says a lot. He couldn't even get 1 out of 5 right . Wow .

-Val got all the answers right about Z 5/5 .
-Mark also knew all the answers about Aly 5/5 .
-Karina managed to get 2 out of 5 right .

And this is one of the reasons why Mark will remain my favorite pro and Val a close second. I always remember Mark and his partnerships : good or bad : its the dancing and partnership.
Still hoping that Mark will get another shot at a mirror ball one day. I know he gets on people's nerve for some reasons but he is really lovely and a very good teacher/dancer .

And Val better hope that he gets another good celeb again.

I totally agree

I watched the finale and it was absolutely fantastic.

Aly was right to place 4th I thought. Did not feel connected to her and her freestyle was just slightly underwhelming. Was a very cruel elimination though but I secretly loved it for the shows atmosphere

Jacoby coming 3rd was a relief. I thought he was going to win like Donny Osmond. *Shivers*

Great to see the past contestants return. Psy's performance made me laugh and Andy's VT was hilarious.

I think Z peaked too early and by the semi finals and finale Kellie really out shined her. If I voted it would have been for Kellie cause I wanted her to win after the freestyle and amazing quickstep she performed. I think its important as viewers we try to vote for the contestant and not the professional. (Derek did annoy me so much but Kellie deserved the win so I am not fussed he got another Mirror ball trophy, However I would like to have seen someone like Tristen with Kellie for a change). Sometimes a celeb is at a real disadvantage whatever pro they get. Eg on SCD anyone who is with James Jordan is at a disadvantage cause he is not very likeable.

Anyway its been great discussing this season with y'all <333. Happy Kellie won she is a lovely woman. Hopefully she will get a boost in the music career due to this win which will be great.

Agree with the comment also, Z will hopefully get some great acting roles out of DWTS