Mark has been much more fortunate with his celebrities than Derek. Shawn, Kristi and Sabrina have dance or movement training, Kristi and Shawn are used to intensive training and have strong fanbases. I think Mark does great dances with them but as soon as he gets a Kim Kardashian or Melissa JH he doesn't last long.
Derek gets the models or Lil Kim who didn't exactly have a wholesome image prior to DWTS, they're not used to training and they don't have strong fanbases.

Have to say I'm missing Julianne this series and I've read she won't be back next year either.

I was sad to see Joanne and Derek leave and Kelly stay.

Joanne had come on leaps and bounds and had delivered some thoroughly entertaining routines due to her pro partner's excellent choreography.

Kelly, on the other hand, has improved very little. Her Quickstep was a mess and she danced most of it with a look of horror on her face. I have no idea what the judges were watching and don't like that they always seem to overlook her flaws because they think she's too fragile to take criticism.

Mya's routines are out of this world. But, she's had so much prior dance experience, so it wouldn't be fair if she walked off with the trophy.

Which leaves Donny. I like him, and I adore his partner Kym. I'd be happy for them to win

I think Joanne should still be here but I don't think she would have won at the end of the day.

Kelly - Not improved a lot from the start but seems to be coming on leaps and bounds in the judges eyes. I quite liked her for the first few weeks but now it's dragging on a bit .

Donny - Has produced better routines than Kelly yet had a very unfortunate Semi-Final - it was a terrible Tango song anyway.

Mya - I often find the "s/he shouldn't be in the competition" quotes childish but the number of things she's done prior to the show makes he virtually unbeatable, dance wise. I was suprised she wasn't at least in the bottom two this weekend, as she hasn't improved at all really so from a "journey" side of things has no appeal whatsoever.

Kelly 3rd
Mya 2nd
Donny 1st

My ideal running order anyway...

Did people not think think before Shawn last year?? and they won due to a better final than the others esp their freestyle. Joanna and Derek's Paso was the highlight of the series so far to me so with a encore of this and an amazing freestyle who know what may have been in the final?


Agree with your opinions on the dancers. Its very close this year as two dancers have big fanbases. As for Black and gold it was better as a jive song than a tango.

All the contestants on Larry King Live with Tom interviewing. Nice interview since we don't have ITT. Part 1. (I have to search for the other parts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXT9FAavhIU

Joanna and Derek interviewed by Tom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwqAfbbCH0M

I can't find part 2 and 3 of the show, I guess it wasn't posted.

That was great fun, thank you for posting. I really like Tom, I think he does a great job as host.

I was going to say the same thing FT.


I didn't know about the Hugh Hefner/Playboy thing before! I guess that's what happens when you hit the FF button too often! I didn't realise she was a glamour model - I thought she was a swimwear model. She grew on me in the last few weeks and as far as dance ability goes deserved to be in the final. I thought Kelly would go this week.

My reasons for not wanting Mya to win are exactly the same as yours FT.

I hope Donny wins now and he has the right combination for me - he can dance and is very likeable. Considering he is in his 50s and still doing his 'day' job, he has been outstanding on the show. I can't believe how much I like Kelly because I can't stand her mother either. She is such a lovely young woman and without trying to sound too mushy, has really blossomed on the show.

Born into a large family with six siblings, Alesha Dixon discovered early on that performing would be her means of acquiring artistic fulfillment and family attention. Dancing became her first love, as she and her childhood classmates would create their own dances during playground breaks and present them later in front of school groups. By the time she was completing her secondary school education at Monk's Walk School, Alesha Dixon still loved dancing, but believed that her career would lead her into physical education, so she made plans to pursue a teaching program at Loughborough University.

While preparing for life at Loughborough, Alesha Dixon worked for Ladbrokes, a gambling company, and also attended classes in street dancing on the other side of town. The distance required her to commute by train and after she was approached twice on the same day -- once in class and once on the train -- by entertainment talent scouts, Alesha Dixon decided to forgo P.E. and give professional performing a go.
alesha dixon in mis-teeq
In 1999, Alesha Dixon continued her to hone her dance steps at a famed London dance studio called Dance Attic, where she was introduced to fellow dancer Sabrina Washington. Their shared love of music inspired them to start their own musical group, which was subsequently joined by two other female performers, Zena McNally and Su-Elise Nash. Branded with the name Mis-Teeq, the foursome released their first single, the Top 10 2001 UK hit, "Why?" only to have Zena McNally depart from the group just a short time later. Despite this setback, the group soldiered on and the release of their first album, Lickin' on Both Sides went double platinum in the UK and spawned the hit songs, "All I Want" and "This is How We Do It." The latter was a cover version of Montell Jordan's 1995 hit that was featured by future Borat and Bruno star, Sacha Baron Cohen, in his 2002 comedy, Ali G Indahouse.

http://uk.askmen.com/celebs/women/si...xon/index.html

I hardly think that because "she and her childhood classmates would create their own dances during playground breaks" at junior school - and "attended classes in street dancing on the other side of town" - and "hone her dance steps at a famed London dance studio called Dance Attic" are the same as going to stage school or learning to dance properly or even do ballet.

Thank you for finding that - it just proves to me that Alesha as a child would make up dances in the playground, learnt street dancing and learnt how to dance on stage in a group. Not quite the same as the stage school kids who are taught to dance properly from a very young age.

Yes, Alesha loved dancing but this is hardly in the same league as Mel B or Jill Halfpenny who are the other two you quoted.

Anyway, let's just agree to differ and hopefully enjoy the Final.

She was 21, working full time and taking weekly hip-hop/jazz dance classes at Dance Attic! She started there in 1999 and in that same year met Sabrina Washington and Su-Elise Nash and formed Mis-Teeq. That's hardly dance training in the professional sense! She was clearly a natural dancer, but not trained!

Watched DWTS on Friday night and loved Robin Gibb's drunken dad dancing.

Barry's voice has almost gone though.

It was just like that on Strictly - sad really. Andy Williams too, but Shirley Bassey can still belt out a tune!

Sorry BuddyBontheNet you wanted prove she had danced before and you got it. Mya has trained as a tap dancer as a child and hip hop dancing when she was 15. Hardly a professional ballroom dancer. I thought the same as you but i have found no evidence that she is a professional ballroom dancer.

http://www.myamya.com/bio/

She also did Ballet and Jazz and it also states she specialize in these styles of dancing which means she could have done a lot more styles that are written there

Also if you compare her videos with the other popstars like Alesha and Mel B you can see she had a much higher standard of dance as she dance next to professional dancers.

Also she was in Chicago doing an Argentine tango with professional dancers.

She may have no formal ballroom dancing but she was clearly a dancer before she went in.

I don't care that Mya has previous experience but she just never impressed me. She is an great dancer but I never feel excited about her dances. I also didn't like her attitude to the judges. She doesn't seem to bring any spark or personality or story to her dance or maybe it's just me.

No one is saying she is a professional ballroom dancer. I know what dancing experience Mýa has and for people (not you) to say she has done a bit of tap and hip hop is distorting the truth a bit.
[LIST][*]She took ballet lessons from the age of two and added jazz and tap dancing lessons to her classes when she was 4.[*]She entered dance competitions with her brother before joining the 'Tappers With Attitude' troop when she was ten.[*]She was so good at tap dancing she studied with one of the best-known tap dancers in the country Savion Glover of the Dance Theatre of Harlem when he came to Washington for a workshop - he later chose her for a solo spot in a dance performance at the Kennedy Center.[*]She continued to study dance until she changed her focus to music as a young teenager.[*]She appeared in the film version of Chicago and she won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Mýa played a murderess called Mona in the 'Cell Block Tango' dance number - she is the last one to dance and you can see her at the beginning and then her bit is about 6 minutes in. [*]She was also in 'Shall We Dance?' and danced the Cha Cha Cha in a competition with Omar Benson Miller who played her fiancé Vern (no clip but there is a photo here).[*]She has taught dance to children since she was about 14 and also teaches/has taught dance at the Mýa Art & Tech Foundation, which she set up in 2005. Its primary purpose is 'to provide education in the performing and visual arts and computer technology for inner city and suburban youth (ages 5 - 13) throughout the metropolitan Washington D.C. area'.[*]Although she is not credited on any of her music videos, she is well known for playing an exceptionally active role in the choreography of all of them and is outstanding at improvisation.[*]She also auditions all of her dancers personally.[*]After she signed up to do DWTS, the biography page of her website was removed and then replaced with the current information, which gives far less information than before about her previous dancing experience. Previously her website said she was a singer/songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, and choreographer (it still says this on her Facebook page).[*]On her MySpace page it still says '1st job: age 15-20: dance instructor. 2nd job: age 16-18: teen summit posse & dance posse member'.[/LIST]
Her fans are overjoyed at Mýa being on DWTS because they know she is such a good dancer and will probably win - they don’t care about anything other than seeing her perform.

Please don't get me wrong, I think Mýa is an extremely talented person and I admire her for her many achievements, but for the first time I do think a celeb has far too much previous dancing experience to take part in DWTS.

This is a good synopsis of what is supposed to happen Monday night.

Yep.Something that you can take from that Boys. I watched the show via Canada website, the only one I like was Donny.

Show Opening plus Kelly & Louis - Argentine Tango

Mya & Dmitry - Paso Doble

Donny & Kym - Cha Cha Cha

Group Dance - Viennese Waltz, Samba and Jive

Kelly & Louis - Freestyle

Mya & Dmitry - Freestyle

Donny & Kym - Freestyle

Thanks for the clips Forceten. I don't know how to post spoilers, so I won't comment further, in case I say the wrong thing! I do agree with Lili, on who the winner will be, but I wouldn't mind if she was wrong.

Thanks for the clips Force Ten, I agree with you & Lili on the outcome.

Why does DWTS seem to have all the excitement that is lacking on SCD this year, thoroughly enjoyed it and really appreciate all the work that you have put in posting the clips.