Preview: Dancing With the Stars Finale, Part 1

This week, DWTS gives us much to be thankful for; in addition to tonight’s episodes chocked full of amazing dances and musical performances, ABC has gifted fans with another episode of Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday, when a celebrity and his or her professional partner will be awarded the mirrorball trophy for Season 19 during the Dancing With The Stars Finale.

Dancing With the Stars FinaleAlfonso Ribeiro & Witney Carson, Bethany Mota & Derek Hough, Janel Parrish & Valentin Chmerkovskiy and Sadie Robertson & Mark Ballas are still in the competition and have one last opportunity to show us why they deserve the win.

So long, Tommy Chong.
So long, Tommy Chong.

After last week’s episode, where Tommy Chong was finally sent out to pasture (I’ll admit I began to love him too, but was tired, man!), I am worried about season-long front-runner Alfonso Ribeiro and his injured groin. I never in a million years thought I’d ever think or write that, but Alfonso wants this so badly, and I want it for him so badly. Or will Janel Parrish keep up her intensity and steal the mirror ball for her own, twisted Pretty Little Liars self? And isn’t Sadie Robertson the cutest thing ever? She is such a role model for girls, wouldn’t you love to see her win? And I am floored by Bethany. True, she’s got the best male pro as her partner, but when you dance with Derek, you have to be a good dancer in your own right and she has really shown that she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Tonight, the four remaining couples have two dances to perform; in the first round, each couple will take on the “Judges Pick” and perform a dance they previously performed. In the second round, the couples will perform a freestyle dance with featuring special effects, additional dancers and unexpected surprises. At the end of the night, one couple will be eliminated based on the previous weeks’ viewer votes combined with the judges’ scores from last week.

One of tonight’s special surprises is a celebration the new movie musical Annie, coming to theaters on December 19. Annie stars Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, and adorable Academy-award nominee, Quvenzhané Wallis, as Annie. Young dancers will join Wallis to perform to “It’s The Hard-Knock Life,” which should be the cutest thing ever. I hope they invite Carol Burnett to sit in the audience tonight, I loved her as Miss Hannigan in the 1980’s movie!

Tomorrow night, the season finale kicks off with Dancing with the Stars: Road to the Finals at 8pmET, a one-hour special chronicling the season-long journeys of the three remaining couples. Highlights of the hour include revealing never-before-seen moments, director’s cut-style commentary on their past dances and the judges giving their expert opinions on what to expect in the two-hour grand finale.

The night continues with the Dancing With The Stars Season 19 Finale at 9pm. The show is packed with exciting surprises and kicks off with an all cast performance featuring all 13 of this season’s couples, the judges and hosts. (Lolo Jones, ‘member her?) Then, as decided on by a Twitter vote, one of the four finalists will perform their Freestyle dance as an encore.

Pop superstar Meghan Trainor will perform a medley of her catchy hit single “All About That Bass” and newest release “Lips Are Moving.” Additionally, viewers will be treated to encore performances by Randy Couture and Karina Smirnoff to “The Way You Look Tonight,” Betsey Johnson and Tony Dovolani to “Material Girl,” Jonathan Bennett and Allison Holker featuring tWitch to “Back In Time,” Antonio Sabato Jr. and Cheryl Burke to “Tonight (I’m Loving You),” Michael Waltrip and Emma Slater to “Born to be Wild,” Lea Thompson and Artem Chigvintsev to “Maneater,” and Tommy Chong and Peta Murgatroyd to “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”

Additionally, the finale will feature musical performances by Nick Jonas, singing his hit single “Jealous,” and Grammy-winning artist Jennifer Hudson and Gordon, performing “Go All Night.”

Then, as if the night can’t get any more packed, with less than 24 hours to prepare, the three remaining couples will fuse two contrasting dance styles that they’ve performed this season into a new routine they’ll perform for judges’ points. At the end of the night, the public vote from Monday night will be combined with the judges’ scores from both nights to crown the Season 19 Champion.

Tommy Chong Image: © ABC/Adam Taylor

1 Comment

  1. I’m glad Alfonso and Witney won, although I also really liked Derek and Bethany. This was one of the best finals the show’s ever had – from the perfect opening number (“In The Mood” by Ricki-Lee which really did set the mood) to all the routines it was really great, but in the end Alfonso and Witney deserved to win.

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