Well, that's over. I applaud sgtbecktar's analysis a few weeks back that alerted me to the fact that Kelly would be winning no matter what. And so she did. Ehh. I'd be upset except that I've just read 20 pages of everyone else being upset for me. Feh. So when is the next season? :-)

ITA, megsara, and I don't think it will. Since this is pretty lightweight TV fare and isn't gonna make or break someone's career, most people are pretty "meh" about who actually gets to take home the "Disco Ball on a Stick". We just all get to enjoy the dancing and then either yell "Yea!" or "Boo!" at the final results.

"This isn't rocket scientist." (from The Apprentice)

Last night I found myself in the interesting position of defending the Alec/Kelly win to my dancing friends!

Yes, John and Charlotte were the better couple over the course of the series; yes, they danced better in the quickstep than A/K did in the samba. BUT, their freestyle, while cute, was not spectacular, leaving the door open. A/K took greater risks, with roughly (and I do mean roughly...ouchhhhh on the knees!) the same result. Put me in the "the judges overscored J/C leaving themselves no room but up" camp to explain A/K's 10's for their freestyle.

And in the aggregate, Kelly's amazing improvement coupled with some good performance skills gave her the edge. And there was no way for J/C to win without carrying both the audience vote AND the judges' votes last night. Wasn't going to happen.

Whatever the outcome, the tacky trophy was the most authentic thing in the whole cheesefest. I make Mr.Zigletto get rid of the things at least once a year!

It was actually Bruno that coined that.



I doubt it. If it was American Idol where there was something huge on the line, then there would be and I would expect it. But for pride and a trophy that make 1/2 of Survivor's Immunity statues seem like works of art? Nah.

Completely agree with this. I was so fascinated with seeing the different styles and personalities. And I REALLY missed Evander when he left. I know he's just a brutally bad dancer, but watching him was such fun. Of course, the silver lining of having elimination shows was getting rid of that Trista person early, so it wasn't all bad.

I'll sure miss this show. Have no interest in Brat Camp at all.

...really?

Oh my stars and garters... and yet, it makes me grin. It's all good.

Authentic things about DwtS:

* the cheezyness of the music (although ballroom music is more like old-time cheeze, while DwtS used recent pop cheeze)

* the sleazyness of the "Latin" outfits

* the greazyness of the men's hair (especially Alec's)

* the breezyness of cutie-pies like Ashly

...and the fact that no matter what the result, people will scream about it. Although this one was particularly egregious in my mind. (Zigletto and I de-couple our pal-dom on this point :-) :-) )

I think Kelly sucks ass. She's improved, yeah--but she has ZERO natural rhythm, she doesn't feel the music and--eww--just skanks up the stage. HATE. John was the heart and the class of the competition. My stomach sank at the outcome. Perfect 10's? What-fucking-evah. SO rigged.

Definite WORD to this...in the post-dance interviews, Alec could barely put together 2 word answers. ('Course, I wouldn't want to talk to Lisa Canning either.)

I can't imagine that they would bring Lisa back next year. Even she seemed to realize how awful she was. She couldn't put a sentence together without looking at the teleprompter or her cue cards. She cut most people off mid-sentence by just yanking the mic away from them. Did anyone notice last night when John came back from his first dance that he seemed like didn't even want to talk to her. Wouldn't really even look at her and then when she cut him off (mid-sentence, of course) he got this great expression on his face like "of course, ask me a question then don't let me answer it".

She is just TERRIBLE! Please, DON'T bring her back next time!!!! A rock would conduct better interviews!

He seemed to have no trouble talking during the casual segments. Thing is, though, none of the professionals got much of a chance to talk during the 'interview' (and, yes, I use that term extremely loosely) segments after the dances.

Personally, if they're going to do talk shows and whatnot, I can only hope they talk about the rehearsals and things like 'I never even heard of the foxtrot until five minutes ago' rather than hearing the underdog or 'we worked so hard' stuff. While the underdog status was definitely true it got overplayed way too much as did the 'How did you manage to get here from that disastrous first week?' question that will never die.

I said before that Kelly can't really come up with any other answer. Please, like she's going to start spouting 'I'm the greatest student ALIIIIIIVE!!' No, it's always going to be 'We worked really hard.' But, true or not, it's been said a gajillion times and I'd much rather see them all talking about the dancing itself... how it became such a hit... talk to Alec about if he thinks it will get people to pay more attention to ballroom. Maybe bring up the Dancesport as an Olympic sport thing... mention John and Kelly losing weight while doing all this stuff. Kelly was hardly a heifer before but the very idea that she lost 8 pounds while doing this for six weeks is interesting, too. Look at all the professional dancers that participated and then try to find an ounce of body fat on them, you know?

Or go to the side stage and do some dancing.

I enjoyed Kelly and Alec's dancing the most, so I was happy that they won. I really thought that John and Charlotte's freestyle was awful, bordering on embarrassing, so I was shocked when the judges gave them all 9s. I really do think that the judges had their "favorites" and were just as biased towards them as any of the "fan groups" were towards their chosen ones.

The bottom line for me was that the show was good, cheesy fun and I'm sorry that it's over. I can't wait to see who they come up with for contestants in the next series.

I think we can all agree that John/Charlotte and Kelly/Alec were the two couples with the best chemistry on this show which begs the question: Will Charlotte and Alec be able to find that same "connection" with their celeb partners next season?

I'd like to see Jonathan's real-life partner (wife?), the redhead (Anna, I think that's her name), become one of the show's professional dancers next season. She looks like a very dramatic and talented dancer and I dig her Strictly Ballroom vibe. She could replace Edyta, who left me cold, then there would be a nice variety of looks amongst the three, female professionals.

And because it can't be said enough . . . Alec is smokin' hot. :)

Kelly and Alec are going to be on Jay Leno Friday night.

I was contemplating that as well. I think for the last three couples I became pretty attached to them as pairs, and it's going to be a bit strange to see Alec, Charlotte, or Ashly with other partners. Do we know if it will be all the same professionals next season yet? My bet is that tptb will switch up some of them just because of the possible changes in life's circumstances that will occure in between seasons. The only one I'd really be happy to see not come back would be Trista's partner. He always looked like he left a grease trail behind him, and gave me the creeps something awful.

I would actually like to see Louis (Trista's partner) with someone else who will give it their all and not be such a prude.

I don't know if Alec and Charlotte can find that magic again with another partner, but that might be more my perception after seeing the almost perfect chemistry they had with Kelly and John. I'll always be comparing.

Though I'm not a regular GH watcher (I'm not even a semi-regular watcher), I did catch episodes here and trhere last summer when I wasn't working. I actually liked Kelly's character of Sam because she was such a thorn in Carly's side. With that said, I still think that she didn't deserve to win last night. Well, I mean, if you're basing votes on "Well, she doesn't suck hardcore like she did the first few weeks," then yes, Kelly deserved to win. However, my thoughts were that the show was going to go for some semblance of fairness, despite the fact that the audience had 50% of the power in determining the winners.

Ah well. That was a bullshit win.

And yes, Alec is hot in all his ungreased up gloriness.

I would have been glad no matter what the outcome, so I'm satisfied with Kelly's win. Once they narrowed down to Joey and Ashly, John and Charlotte, and Kelly and Alec, there was really nobody I wanted to see sent home. It was just a little fun contest, so I think they were really all winners.

I liked John and Charlotte's quickstep and Kelly and Alec's samba, although I thought that both dances were better the first time. I respected that John and Charlotte's freestyle was risky for them, but personally I think they would have been better off doing a medley of classic ballroom Fred and Ginger type stuff. Not that it would have mattered, but I didn't think their routine played to their strengths. Kelly and Alec's freestyle made my jaw drop. Alec was smart, because he choreographed something latin which was strong for her, but stuck in some merengue moves that sort of mimicked a ballroom style to my untrained eye, so it sort of faked versatility as opposed to John and Charlotte's failed versatility.


John tripped on his freestyle, too, and his lifts were horrible. I'd call it a wash.

I'll bet Ashly would have rocked the freestyle, after what she did with their foxtrot.

Kelly was just so adorable and gracious when she pulled John into that giant hug. I don't think any of the performers were bitter about the outcome at all. I think she deserves credit. Like people mentioned, she has a full time job, but what I think is overlooked is that her full time job routinely entails 10-12 hour workdays, hence why she had to practice at the studio between scenes. Not only that, but she gets a brand new script every single day which I believe averages a page of dialogue per minute screentime, so not only did she have to learn a new dance--she also had to memorize her lines. Nobody else had to work under such restrictions, and she still managed to pull off some impressive performances. She deserved her win.




You'd be surprised. Seriously. Don't go by the thread here; TWoP GHers are a different breed. Like with all fandom--sci-fi fans, American Idol fans, etc--GH has got its lunatic fringe. More likely, since Kelly's character was not popular, and soaps have a limited audience, I doubt that her being on GH alone would be enough to mobilize enough people to vote for her to outplace everybody else watching DWTS if they didn't like her too.



I disagree. Disco ball trumps classy trophy any day.

Does anybody else think of Mad TV's Dixie Wetsworth from Cabana Chat when Lisa Canning says "Hi, I'm LISA CANNING!" at the top of each show?

I kind of don't want Charlotte to come back because I don't think I could stand to see her with anyone but John! They had such great and awesome chemistry and I was totally shipping them by the end weeks(I don't care that he's married!). The other couple that really connected to me was Ashleigh and Joey I love how she went over to his families house it was cute!

When we draw conclusions -- either favorable or unfavorable -- about a dancer or team based on the behind-the-scenes stuff, just consider who was in charge of selecting/editing the footage: ABC. Of course, they are going to make their star more sympathetic.

[/descends from grassy knoll]

The only thing I will rewatch from last night's fiasco (aside from the Progressive insurance commercial ;) ) is J/C's freestyle routine. Why? Because it was the *only* time during the entire hour that they looked like they were enjoying themselves. I strongly suspect they knew that everything was already determineed and just decided, "fuck it, we're going to have fun for *us* this time!" At least that's how it came across to me. *sigh*

If I remember correctly, Alec actually grabbed a handful of Kelly's a** and then pulled off the wrap.



Count me among those who Alec in his non-ballroom state, when he's not over-producted. But I do like the ballroom pants... I also appreciate that when he dances, he's not over-the-top campy and "where's the camera" with his expressions and movements. Unlike some people (cough, John, cough). I know I'm being manipulated by producer-manufactured storylines and editing, but I enjoyed his "character arc," if you will, of lightening up and enjoying himself in working with Kelly. I think they're cute together in the rehearsal and interview clips. And I'm 12.

ETA: Is he really dating Edyta? Bummer (b/c otherwise, he'd totally, like, date me).

Finally got the courage to revisit ABC to look at the pics... glad things have died down a bit, and some are now musing about hook-ups for our dancers!

Musicalsahoy you are not alone... there's a lot of discussion of John & Charlotte's connection and affection for each other. Kelly & Alec's hair sniffing, eye gazing and forehead kissing after the show. And my favorite are the very cute and vigilant Ashly & Joey shippers, esp. since he took her home!

I know and they know these guys are variously attached to other people, but everyone wants a happy ending more ways than one it seems -- a little fairy tale love. But you never know...

I apparently became a Kelly/Alec shipper unknowingly because when I look at the trophy pics when they were holding each other, all I could say is they should be together (when I know poor Edyta is standing in the background)!

Great job again for ABC casting and matching up these couples! I agree completely that the chemistry of especially the last 3 couples probably contributed a lot to the success of this show.

ETA annlaw78 He answered that they have been dating 4 of the 5 years they have been dancing together. Some Alec fans were disconcerted that it looked like he was wearing a ring on his ring finger during the finale. I think it's just wardrobe accessory (doesn't seem like he has time to fit in an actual wedding given the finale)... or maybe Edyta sensed all the females clawing at him and decided to lock him up! :)

FWIW, I see that over 37000 votes have been registered at the MSN site re "Did Kelly deserve to win?" Much like their poll last week that saw 63% pick John to win, 61% say no. In less than 24 hours, the poll already has twice as many responses as the one last week did.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8490199/

Yes. Kelly played a trashy con woman named Sam who had the nerve to come between Sonny and Carly and Jason and Courtney last year. Kelly admitted that she used to get hate mail from fans of these couples that spewed really nasty things toward her. Kind of like all the crap you can see daily on the ABC board. Kelly is nothing like the character she plays. There are really some psychotic fans out there that don't get that she plays a make-believe character.

As for Kelly and Alec's freestyle being over scored, I thought it was but I still think it was miles better than John's routine. This isn't the first time that the judges overscored anybody in this competiton case in point the ass kissing they used to give Rachel.

I am happy Kelly won.

Interesting article...is this fella a TWoP-er?

Dissing Dancing with the Stars

I think Louis is completely skeevy and creepy and he dances with his mouth open and I wouldn't want to touch him or dance with him whether I was a prude or not. I don't even want to look at him.

After last night I EFFIN' HATE the judges. If they come back I won't watch.

And for those of you who've never been to a soap board... now you have. Which is not a slam by any means; I'm just saying that I rarely see this much anguished posting about the unfairness of it all outside of soap boards.

Of course John is going to win the online polls today; when it comes to giving feedback, people are more likely to speak up to complain than to praise. Judging from what I've seen here and on other sites (so sue me, I'm unemployed and have way too much time on my hands), I'd guess that John and Kelly's fan bases were actually about the same size. Kelly's was better at working the voting system to their advantage throughout the entire run. The rules were bizarre, but they were right there on the site.

I hope they come up with a more user-friendly scoring scheme next time around, but even if they don't, I'm watching. It's all so sparkly!!

This is my opinion on what happened with the audience votes...

I've been to many sites, including the dance forums, and all I can say is that it was another Tamyra Gray. In my opinion, people thought she was a lock and didn't bring out the vote, whereas Nikki's fanbase voted their little fingers to the bone. I've seen a lot of posts where people either didn't vote, only voted online (one time), or tried to phone vote and didn't have the patience to get through all five times if at all. Kelly's fans were multi-line voting up to the max and using every e-mail address they could get their hands on every single week in order to keep her in the competition.

Every season of AI someone has to pay the price of that type of thinking and now the DWTS crowd has learned the same lesson. Your favorite is never safe.

I called my parents after the show and they were playing the "rigged" card until I asked them if they voted - they didn't.

I've watched Kelly's freestyle in slow motion and her steps were usually right on with Alec. Sometimes I think the hip action from both of them makes it look as though they aren't in sync, but when I watched their feet (which is hard to do with Alec because I kept getting distracted), when his foot came down, hers did too for the most part.

I have to admit I'm on the Kelly/Alec ship too. All the hair nuzzles and the can't keep our hands off each other until we remember that we aren't supposed to be touching so we'll act all stoic and cold made my "they are soooo doing it" radar go into overdrive.

So I felt a bit ashamed at first for actually watching DTWS but after lurking over here for a bit, I'm quite proud of my guilty (very guilty) pleasure now. I heart TWOP.

Anyway, I'm gonna jump into the fray here and add my voice to the (minority?) crowd. I loved Kelly and Alec and was glad they won. I was equally happy that John and Charlotte did not win. I enjoyed Charlotte's dancing and choreography very much throughout the show (except for that last awful freedance. good god... but I think John may have had his big muggy hand in choreographing that last dance so I don't want to blame Charlotte too much) but I have to wholeheartedly agree with Tegan Jovanka:



I just could not STAND John's mugging and lame jokes. He's like the weird uncle you see at family reunions who traps you into boring, humorless conversations riddled with "jokes" that you're obliged to politely laugh at lest you offend "Fernando." That last freedance seemed to encompass everything I dislike about John. Plus, compared to Kelly and Alec's freedance, it simply looked, well, simple.

Of course, I'm no ballroom dancing expert so what do I know. But as a layman viewer, K/A's dance just seemed to be so much more exciting. Even with the mistakes, it was risky and feisty and so much more enjoyable to watch.

I also completely agree with Dandesun:



In my mind, the 10's didn't necessarily mean "perfect." They simply meant that they were better than J/C. Which I completely agree with. I do think that the judges messed up a bit in giving such a high score to J/C's so-so freedance. I think it scored an 8 tops; more like a solid 7. If this was an actual competition, the judges would've most likely judged the earlier team much more conservatively in order to compare the later teams to them (much like figure skating). But this isn't an actual competition. With all the cheese and fanfare, what better way to end this showy show of shows with straight 10's? That doesn't necessarily mean that I think it's rigged, but that it really is just a cheesy summertime reality show with little consequence (as compared to a more serious scoring scandal like the Sale/Pelletier-Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze incident during the SLC Olympics). But, I guess to each his/her own. I can understand how people can get invested in shows like this. Heck, it only took one show for me to get hooked!

With all that said, some changes definitely need to be made to the scoring system. I didn't like how the audience voting was done the week before. And 0.5's need to be incorporated into scoring or the judges need to score the earlier teams more conservatively (but I highly doubt they would).

They need a Sprinkles! -- I mean Ryan Seacrest, to hold rabid, disgruntled fans at bay. When they boo when a contestant is eliminated he just goes "Well, did you vote?... well you let them down" schpeal.

I myself am a non-voter, voting even just once would just set a bad precedent for me given my OCD type personality :) I just cheared my little heart out for Kelly & Alec and hoped that was enough.

Hair nuzzling sounds much better than hair sniffing! I always wonder if Kelly uses irresistable shampoo, heheh. I like the sneak smooches he gives her on the forehead, I'm like go make out already you hot, young fools.

ETA polka dots you are not alone! I think there are quite a number of us who preferred Kelly & Alec and thought they deserve the win for the night. I think just giving a chance for others to vent in peace. Now that things are more calm, I feel like I can finally rave about Kelly & Alec, and my love for this cheesy but heart-felt show. Also feel like I can also now snark (with endearment) on the 'suxy'-pair instead of having to defend them quite bit.

My daughter is hooked on this show and therefore I've seen it soooo many times (that's my cover story and I'm sticking to it), but Alec and Kelly were all over each other the night of the Samba, when Edyta was sitting in the front row. The next week it's like they were trying very hard not to touch each other. It was like in DH where Mama Solis says to pay attention to the people who aren't talking instead of the ones who are. This week it was hot/cold.

What can I say, I love the fairytale. Boy meets girl, boy dances with girl, girl gets boy shirtless in the pool...

Just a point of trivia...

That was Kelly's Baywatch swimsuit from the show. Who knew that they used high necked swimsuits or that Kelly owned a one-piece?

I have a suggestion for the next installment of DTWS - if they must have a boxer, why not Alfonso Gomez from The Contender? He's such a cutie and he even danced a bit on the show. I think he would be excellent with dances like the rumba or the samba. But, of course, The Contender was an NBC show, so it'd be a slim to none chance that they'd pick him. Sad...

So when are we gonna have All-Stars Dancing With The Stars?

barkley you seem to know a bit about Kelly, do you know of a boyfriend that she apparently has? I saw her in this morning show and the woman was like "What does your boyfriend think? He must be proud." Her answer was a little round about "well I think everyone is proud..."

Have we spotted him in the audience? I wonder what he thinks of the hair nuzzling!

Here, here! I think that is an appropriate opening to any fairytale involving Alec.

To add to the conspiracy theory, Kelly was appopriately dressed in blue for the finale to match stage lighting -- maybe they had the resulting (beautiful) award photos in mind, coincidence? Of course the confetti was silver which matched Char's lovely number also -- to signal they were gonna take the fall that night? ;)

And that Charlotte, wearing that skimpy too-short outfit, wrapping both her long legs around John, humping him? This is ballroom dancing, not stripping! All that wiggling, that is just slutty. Stop corrupting my unconceived child's mind!

Hee. I love you Charlotte, just having some fun. I'm glad you prooved to the world you were not 45 :)

ETA Thanks dr gailey. That actually makes me even like her more. Too bad, I guess I just have to sail the Kelly/Alec ship in DeNile!

I thought the show was the equivalent of "summer beach reading material." This means I loved it, didn't expect to expand my mind with it, and was just happy to enjoy its lightness. Although I had my favorites (JohnO in particular), it didn't really matter who won because I thought all the celebs worked hard, learned a lot, and sent me into a fantasy world where "I could do that too..."

My critism is on the editing and filler. Not only do I NOT care to hear from either Tom or Lisa, but why in the world did I have to hear from two emcees anyway? One couldn't do it? Especially one who didn't need to use inane babble all the time. I suppose it was intended to mimic the ballroom competitions I've seen on PBS, where I guess the "suspense" of a locker room interview is so important (to whom I've yet to determine). I really don't care for the long-winded crap these emcees are spewing, which seems to be the basis for all reality shows. Hint to all reality show producers, I thank goodness for FF, because that's how I view them. So you are wasting your time having talking heads--I leave the room or fast forward it all! So there! I am more tolerant of the judges, for the snark factor if nothing else.

I agree with other posters here who've suggested giving us more footage of the contestants (pro and amateur), their learning processes, etc.

Oh yeah, if you don't want to be accused of rigging, try to ensure the contestants are equal in the "has been" or "currently working on a popular show/band" or whatever department. Either have all the contestants be part of current popular shows, or none of them.

I am not barkley but Kelly does have a boyfrined. She is furiously protective of her private life. She won't talk about that aspect of her life but she is pretty much open about anything else.

Re: Voting

I tried to vote. Several times. But I couldn't even get J & C's number to ring. So I gave up and placed my one vote online. A lot of us really did try!

Wow--a Dixie Wetsworth shout-out--first I've seen on TV w/o P. Lurrrve her! Anyway--why is Lisa Canning so unbelievably horrid and where did she come from?? She reminds me of a beauty pagaent MC, except a low-rent one, such as Miss USA vs Miss America or Miss World vs Miss Universe (at least they were all still around the last time I saw a pagaent, approx 1982)

Charlotte should never wear sparkly tights again. They made her legs look *gasp* chunky, and if they made her legs look bad imagine what they do to anyone else who wears them...

I know Kelly has a boyfriend, but I'm still on the ship sailing right away... I still held out hope for Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan right up until she became pregnant with the Ben Affleck spawn (although that was more so that Sydney and Vauhgn wouldn't be so awkward in scenes).

Even more in the "rigged" camp this morning as it has occurred to me that it could very well explain why ABC didn't even offer a $$ prize to the winner's charity as an incentive. If $$ were at stake, then it would be against the law to rig the outcome. Because all the participants were paid the same upfront, win or lose, there are no damages and the feds wouldn't get involved as they did with the 1950's quiz show scandals.

But anyway, I have consoled myself with the fact that what's done is done and that, IMHO, J/C are the real winners based on my honest answers to these 2 questions:

1. Putting hormones aside for the moment ('cause I agree Alec is hot), if you and your husband/wife/SO were really serious about wanting to learn to ballroom dance together, who would you want as your coach -- Charlotte or Alec?

2. Who do you think would do a better job today, if they had to dance with someone new -- John or Kelly?

1) Alec, hormones-excluded, only because I am more interested in Latin -- it's more my cup of coffee. It would be Charlotte though if I was interested in Standard.
2) Say if I had to coach them, I would pick John for short term (months-time), Kelly for long-term project (year-time). But answering the question, John -- more of a natural.

ETA NoFatChicks, dominar said no hormones, no hormones! lol!
Although, taking boyfriend into consideration, even if I could not lust after Alec, he might actually be really intimidated by Alec's dancing, men can be quite insecure sometimes :)

So if I was with my dance partner, Alec hands down, but with bf, might have to consider Charlotte.

1. Charlotte, because my husband would get really jealous of me staring at Alec's ass.

2. John, because he's a strong leader

I cannot bring myself to read the posts about the finale because I am so heartbroken. Not by the outcome--but by a tragic electricty/cable box glitch that occurred while I was out of town, so I returned to find my TiVo had recorded a black screen for every show it was scheduled to capture. I could live without the Jeopardy episodes, but I was distraught over missing the finale of Dancing With The Stars. Anyone know of a scheduled repeat?

Hip 2 Be Square don't know about repeats, but I actually came back to say all the performances had been posted in RaphaelPungin'sBlog. Hope this can tide you over until then :) Btw, all DwtS episodes are available at Bittorrents sites, not sure if the finale is available yet, but I'm sure it will be up within day or so.

Videos online!

From wayback...

See, now I thought the routine was similar to J&C's in that Alec was the "teacher" and Kelly was learning how to follow along. I remember there being a couple of places where he actually stopped and held up a finger like "watch this" and then Kelly would mimic what he did. And when they ran up onto the stairs right in the beginning and stopped to "set" themselves before they started?

Anyway, add me to the "happy-they-won" and the "J&C-9s-gave-the-judges-nowhere-to-go-but-10" camps. And also the...

[fangirl] They should soooooooooo be together, squeeeeeeee! [/fangirl]

...camp.

Edyta and MysteryKellyBoyfriend be damned. I'm ashamed to admit how long my viewing partner and I deconstructed the touchy-feely/wait-we-can't moments during the finale. An excerpt:

Kelly, (onscreen): "This is the last time I'll be dancing with this kid".
Viewing Partner: "Yeah. Until your WEDDING."

Guess I'm in the "I'm 13" camp too.

I must de-lurk to chime in that I am happy that Kelly and Alec won (and not just because she's on GH). I was rooting for her from week 1 because she seemed like such a nice person. I really liked her personality and her spunk. I liked that she took this seriously and seemed to have such a great time. Lastly I was glad that they won because Alec is muy caliente without the Crisco oil slicking his hair back and I can admit to being shallow.

I guess I'll go all fangurl too and say that I can see where I would think that Kelly and Alec are totally doing it. Those two couldn't keep their hands off each other and the looks that Alec was giving Kelly almost melted my TV screen.

I did like John and Charlotte and they did dance very good. John seems like a fun, nice guy. However, I was never excited by any of their dances therefore I had no urge to pick up the phone and vote for them.

I hate to dash all you Alec'n'Kelly dreamer's hopes, but rumor has it he and Edyta are now engaged.

1. I'd have to say Alec, because I'd rather learn the Latin, but my husband would drag me out of the studio during the first lesson. After he pried me off of Alec, of course! (If anyone has heard the totally hilarious "Latin dance class" commercial for Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs AR, you will know what I mean!)

2. I'd also have to say John, because learning the steps AND learning to lead a partner are much more impressive IMHO than learning to dance with a strong (oh, and totally HOT!) male lead.

Watching these responses regarding Alec versus John confirms to me that the DwtS finale wasn't rigged, but rather was the classic dancesport matchup of flash/pizzaz/hotness versus technique/classicism/elegance. And so it goes....and the funny thing is, there are a thousand guys as hot or hotter than Alec in dancesport. You want some eye candy? Get thee to a live competition! There are over 100 a year in the USA alone! And seeing some of these guys' buns in 3d is...swoon-inducing.

ETA: I forgot to mention...Alec isn't just a gorgeous man, but he is very smart too. He's got a degree from UC Berkeley.

So, anyone who has been watching Alec & Kelly on the talk show circuit -- have they let any hints drop about DwtS II? I'm dying to know who, when, how long, etc.

Alec, but only in his non-greasy state. "Ooops, my hand slipped onto your butt." Mr. Isiscloud is secure enough to handle it.


John, absolutely. I don't think what Kelly did was dancing as much as shaking the boo-tay(sorry). However, Kelly does a much better Latin Dance because she can shake her stuff. John just can't. He's definitely a Standards kind of guy. He may, with a lot of work and pain killers, become a little more flexible, but not in the way Alec is.

ETA: I thought I hit "add reply" but I must have hit "post".

There hasn't been much talk about the second season, but I think I caught something from one of the producers and he sounded pretty upbeat about getting picked up again. Most of the entertainment shows have been treating Season 2 as a pretty done deal.

I would have to say Charlotte as a coach because that would get Mr. B to keep going to lessons. I can take some private Alec lessons on the side to improve my technique (sorry, hormones in full gear)

The second is a really hard question. I think they would both do well, but it would depend. John didn't seem to have much overall improvement - his beginning pretty much looked like his ending, but Kelly improved so much over the course of the series that I really would have loved to see her for another few weeks and how far she would have gone.