California Apparel News

Hi Everybody!

At last, finally the finals!

Well, last night was the finals for Dancing With the Stars. The last surviving couples in the competition had to strut their stuff one more time to prove that they are worthy of taking home the mirror ball disco trophy. Each couple had to perform two routines—

one ballroom dance that they didn’t perform previously in the competition and one all-out anything-goes freestyle. The freestyle dance could make you win the whole competition—or lose. This is the time where the dancers pull out all the stops to wow the judges and the voting public.

The first couple on the floor was Rob Kardashian and Cherly Burke. They performed a beautiful Waltz as the required ballroom dance. The couple was mentored by crazy judge Bruno Tonioli to help with performing nuances.

Rob did a pretty good job on the rise-and-fall flowing movement of the dance. He had a few missteps with the footwork, but, all in all, not bad.

For the freestyle routine, he did a surprisingly great job. The dance started out slow then it progressed into a fast Jive with lots of tricks and lifts. Rob really peaked at a great time in the competition. You know what they say, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. (Oh, by the way, he had plenty of support from momager Kris and the whole “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” clan.)

Next to perform was Ricki Lake and The Golden Boy Derek Hough. Their first required dance was the Cha Cha, for which they were mentored by judge Carrie Ann Inaba. She tried to help Ricki with that sexy attitude needed to nail the performance. Ricki did a good job. But there were moments where she wasn’t sure what to do while Derek danced around her.

Next they performed their freestyle and that dance was really good. They had a lot of intricate moves, death drops and lifts. Although, Ricki was a little apprehensive of the lift--still dealing with the weight issue that clogs her mind. Got to let it go, girl! All and all, it was a Hot! routine.

The final couple to hit the floor was J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff. Their required ballroom dance was the Cha Cha and they were being mentored by none other than the curmudgeon, cranky judge Len Goodman (the only one of the judges who really is a professional ballroom dancer). Len showed J.R. how to move those hips, which is very important in the Cha Cha. Unfortunately, this was not one of his better dances. He kind of lost the rhythm in the beginning and could never really catch up. Not a good thing for the finals.

He had to go back to compose and come back fierce to redeem himself with the freestyle. And that’s exactly what he did. Wow!The freestyle performance was a knock out. Personally, I think this is how a freestyle routine should be done. It should be a combination of different styles of dance, not all ballroom dance, just let yourself go. And they did. The routine had a little bit of hip hop, jazz, afro jazz—and some phenomenal acrobatic trick lifts, which could be disastrous if done wrong.

Len summed it up best: “Two things were revealed here, Karina’s body and J.R.’s talent.” Great routine. Hot!

Tonight the winner will be revealed. I’m hoping—and probably sure—the victorious team will be (should be) J.R. and Karina, which would be Karina’s first time ever winning the disco mirror ball trophy.

Cross your fingers—and toes, ladies and gentlemen.

Until tonight, keep on dancing!