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It’s finale week, finally. We’ve been making predictions about it since the beginning of the season, and I think we have the same top three we would have even if the finale had been just a few weeks in, but I think we have a different possible winner. I thought for sure it was going to be Brooke Burke and Derek Hough taking the trophy, but now I have to give the edge to Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer.

Brooke Burke and Derek Hough show us their best ballroom dance of the season which was the quickstep. She recalls it started her season off with a lot of confidence. He thinks if they did it today, they’d get perfect 10s. Watching it again, it allows her good technique to show through, and doesn’t leave a lot of room for her to have to entertain, as the steps are that impressive. They also show their best Latin dance, which was the paso doble. He felt it was the first dance where she was able to show that fierce character she has. Again, it’s one where she was able to shine with her technique. Derek calls her the most consistent competitor, saying she has come out on top 80% of the time and has had the most 10s. Tom Bergeron asks Brooke how hard it was to come back this week after not getting good scores last week. She’s just glad it’s behind them and says they have only had positive thinking this week.

Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer feel their best ballroom dance was the tango, as Lance felt it was the first week they were actually in contention in the show. It was fun, creative, and very risky, he thought. He admits their risks don’t always work, but thought this time it did. Len will be happy that at least they weren’t barefoot. As for their best Latin dance, he knows it has to be the mambo. She recalls she wasn’t expecting it to be that great, as they were focusing more on their jitterbug. I love the way they move together here, and I think he finally proved he was a good dancer. She feels he deserves to win the trophy as he’s the most improved anchor on this show and is the only celebrity to beat Brooke so far, peaking at the right time. Tom points out to them to do so well last week could have given them overconfidence, but they hope not.

Warren Sapp and Kym Johnston decide their best ballroom dance was the Viennese Waltz, surprisingly enough. She was amazed at the way he could glide across the floor, and he felt it showed a different side of him. I have to admit his feet look better here than they did the past few weeks. They, too, picked the paso doable a their best Latin dance. They both liked the black leathery outfits, thinking it made them look intimidating. It worked well with their different sizes too. She thinks he deserves to win because he captures the essence of what the show means, exciting the crowd. He’s had the most second place finishes, and is always a crowd pleaser. Kym also calls it nice to be back in the finale after being here with Joey Fatone a few seasons ago.

The junior champions are named tonight, and I have to say this brother and sister are really good, and I thought it was very sweet of him to kiss her at the end. Speaking of brothers and sisters, I think I just saw Benji Schwimmer in the audience.

Up next is the Samba Smackdown, and drawing numbers, Brooke will go first, followed by Lance, then Warren. Derek wants to pull out all the stops with the best moves, but Brooke is having trouble remembering her steps. Lance knows it’s not his strongest of dance styles, but he’s hoping to show the improvement. Kym notes the first time Warren did the samba, he got his worst scores ever, so they’ll make sure this time it’s technically brilliant. The three couples all dance together to work on the samba, and Brooke notes this time they don’t know what they’re up against with Lance, since last week he shot to the top of the leaderboard.

Brooke and Derek grab the floor first in the Smackdown throwing lots of disco in as they dance to Blame It On the Boogie. They definitely look good tonight on this. Brooke is at her best. They leave as Lance and Lacey take the stage to the same song, and he shows some miraculous improvement. Lacey’s right that he’s the most improved. What he has more than anything else, now though, is confidence. He definitely just put Brooke to shame as far as showmanship goes. Speaking of showmanship, here’s Warren and Kym. They look improved as well, but I think overall, it’s Lance and Lacey that take it. In the end, they all fall down in a circle, and Brooke is off.

Len Goodman first gives kudos to the band, then says he thought all of them performed better than when they did the samba during the show. This time it wasn’t Kym doing all the work, although he is still concerned about Warren’s feet. He loved Lance’s energy and he had a lot more going on in the samba, yet he still wants him to work on the finesse. He thinks Brooke has been the sensation of this season, and she’s still the one to beat, just as she was the first week.

Bruno Tonioli tells Brooke she is a dazzling sexy scintillating dancer. He knows every guy wants to drive that Volvo. Wow, this is primetime, Bruno. Lance is so tight (again, the family hour!) and so clean, and he’s come up leaps and bounds with confidence. He could be a leading man. Warren is irresistible and his sense of fun compensates for his lack of technique. Carrie Ann Inaba tells Lance that something is happening here and that he has the momentum, getting better and better, with something magical. Warren is showing that he is the most improved, despite being technically the weakest. What Brooke does is bring the technical nuance, although in her samba tonight, she and Derek were still a hair too ambitious.

Brooke and Derek get 9, 9, and 10, and leave to get changed for their freestyle. Lance and Lacey get scores of 9, 8, and 9, as Lance admits they hope to regain some points in the freestyle, having been looking forward to it since week one. Kym and Warren get 9, 7, and 9 as Warren cracks up at Len’s 7.

Derek and Brooke are first up for the freestyle as she talks about choking on her jive last week. Derek tells her if it happens again just look at him, and they’ll pick it up together. They know the others will be puling out some fantastic lifts, so they have to pull out all the stops. Derek keeps getting sore, so they move instead to someone’s pool, working on their lifts there. It must be Brooke’s pool, as her kids are there with them. Derek admits he’s wanted first place after watching his sister and best friend take it. They dance tonight to You’re the One That I Want, and they’re going for a more traditional freestyle that I’m sure the judges will like more. The strip down with their clothes right in front of the judges, which I’m sure Bruno will love. They do great, but it’s all lifts.

Bruno challenges anyone to follow that, saying she is the one that we all want. They are spectacular lifts and ended up in positions that he has only seen in the kama sutra. It’s one of the best freestyles he’s ever seen. Carrie Ann tells them they have been incredible throughout the season, but she loves the integrity they dance with, and when they had to bring it, they brung [sic] it. Grammar am us. Len admits to getting all hot under the collar, and agrees it was the best freestyle he has ever seen. Even though we know damn well what the scores are, we get to see them officially get three 10s, giving them 58 on the night.

Lance and Lacey are up with shirts referring to them as Lancey. She tells him she is happy for his newfound confidence, and he thinks it’ll take a catastrophe to slow them down now. She wants the bigger and cleaner than ever, and knows after last week Lance proved he has the whole package, with the showmanship of Warren and technique of Brooke. She even asks him to show her a few of his own moves and teach her. They aren’t doing any lifts, as they want to stick to a true hip hop. However, he wants to throw a little Bye Bye Bye in there, as that’s what Joey did. A little shoutout to his buddy. They start out behind the judges and hold 10 paddles, then take the stage dancing to It’s Tricky. While they don’t do lifts, they do get in a lot of great tricks, with him throwing off his shoe in the end.

Carrie Ann loved the beginning and end, reminding them of who they were and where they’ve been, but she also says there was one section that threw it all off, when they went into the cha cha. Len gets out his best funk, calling it tricky, then says he does like hip hop and liked the little bit of fun they brought into it, and he did like the cha cha they brought out. Bruno calls it vibrant, beautiful, and exciting, and says what’s good about them is they always are able to put creativity and wit together, mixing it up, always making smart choices. We know they won’t get 10s, and they don’t, getting three 9s, giving them 53 out of 60.

Warren and Kym are last but not least, as he says each week he gets 8s or 9s, but this week he’s striving for perfection. He knows they say his routines don’t have content, so this week it will be all content. Kym tells him that the freestyle pretty much determines who the winner will be, so they start throwing in the lifts, as she admits to doing one death-defying one that’s really scary. They dance to Proud Mary, and I’m thinking this is going to be very interesting. They, too, strip down into different outfits, and really pump it up once the music jumps up. Mr. Showman actually has me laughing out loud.

Len says through eight seasons everyone comes out of the blue, becoming an actual star. He says it’s not only about dancing, but also entertaining, and no can touch Warren there. Bruno can only say all resistance is futile. You can only sit back and enjoy the ride. Carrie Ann admits that out of all the routines, this one is her favorite, and I have to agree. She did notice a mistake, though, saying Warren gave it away with his face. Oh, give ‘em 10s! Warren says more than anything else, he knows he’s gained a friend for life, plus he knows 13 new dances. Of all people to give them a 10, they get it from Len, as they get 9s from the other two, tying them with Lance and Lacey with 53.

Tom Bergeron gets the line of the evening as he holds up a tiny piece of sparkly costume that fell off Warren and Kym, saying on Edyta it’s a whole costume. As for the dancing couple of the evening? I’m not sure anymore. It was Lance and Lacey’s to lose, and while they didn’t lose it, they didn’t wow the same on the last number. It was really fun, but the thing that got to me about it was that it didn’t show us all the improvement Lance had made, as he did the same type of dancing he was capable of before Dancing With the Stars. Yet on the samba, he was the best by far. If I were to pick a favorite based on freestyle, it would have to go to Warren. Brooke was good, but it didn’t wow me like it did the judges.

I just can’t pick an overall of the night. It’s a tough one. I think I have to wait until after the last dance tomorrow night. I don’t think I’ll be surprised no matter who wins the mirrored ball trophy.

Photos courtesy of abc.om

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