'Dancing With The Stars' -- The Fans & Judges Got It Right

Courtesy of ABC

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba looked shocked after the Nov. 27 ‘DWTS’ Finale — I guess she was expecting a different outcome! Did the right couple take home the mirror ball trophy? I think so — here’s why!

Dancing with the Stars: All Stars‘ brought back the best dancers from the past 14 seasons. The top two — Shawn Johnson & Derek Hough and Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani were both amazing. And even though Shawn and Derek got a perfect score in their last dance of the season, I think Melissa and Tony deserved to win!

Shawn and Derek have had plenty of moments in the spotlight — they frequently got perfect scores and were brought back on night two to perform for the judge’s encore dance.

I was almost sure Shawn & Derek would win after their last dance — they received a standing ovation from the audience, a perfect score from the judges and seemed to completely capivate the home viewer.

But then, Melissa and Tony took home the title of champion! I’m surprised, but I’m not disappointed. I thought both pairs did an AMAZING job all season. And I think Melissa and Tony arguably worked harder, overcoming injuries and trying to make up for Shawn’s gymnastic background (advantage).

We saw that playing by the rules does make a difference. Shawn and Derek chose to bend the rules by breaking form in their first dance on part one of the finale on Nov. 26. Their total judges score after three dances was 87/90 — the lowest of the three finalist couples.

Melissa and Tony earned a score of 88.5/90. With the judges scores counting for 50% of the vote and home viewers counting for the other 50%, that 1.5 point difference could have been the deciding factor between 1st and 2nd place.

In the poll we posted on Nov. 27, 45% of HollywoodLifers wanted Melissa and Tony to win, while almost 35% wanted Shawn and Derek.

I think Melissa and Tony deserve the win and I’m so happy for them!

Are you happy with the outcome, HollywoodLifers?

– Dory Larrabee

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You, the writer obviously have no clue to some facts. First, your statement about Melissa & Tony “arguably worked harder’ – how do you know that? Just because Shawn made the routines Derek brilliantly choreographed so easy to perform does not mean that they did not work as hard. I would love to see Tony and Melissa perform Derek’s choreography because it would be a total joke! And overcoming injuries? Are you kidding? Shawn already had 2 operations on her knee and was injured all season long and still managed to dance perfectly. And Derek will have surgery after the show. So clearly, their injuries were more serious than Melissa or Tony’s. And third, Shawn does not have the advantage just because she’s an olympic gymnast. She does not have dance training which Melissa has admitted having 22 years of dance experience as well as being a cheerleader. The show was rigged – one of the producers of the show is both Tony and Melissa’s agent. And if you want to argue that it wasn’t, then the only reason people wanted Tony and Melissa to win is because of the pity/sympathy votes. How many times did the producers show their whining about not ever winning. They should not have been in the all stars season in the first place. This show was about best of the best and that is SHAWN. And many did not want Derek to win his 4th trophy which is a pity because this is still a competition and Derek is by far the best dancer/choreographer on the show. How would it look with Melissa and Tony LOSING again and the best dancer/couple winning a second and fourth MB trophy. Please! So you really need to get your facts straight before making ridiculous statements.

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Are the final viewer votes posted anywhere? The judges’ votes count half and viewer votes count half. But viewer votes win out in the case of a tie. If Derek and Shawn were first with the viewers, and either first or second with the judges, then they would have won. But they were only third with the judges, and viewer votes could not overcome that. That is why I would like to see the viewer vote totals. I think that Derek made a bad decision when he talked Shawn into ignoring the rules. They had little to gain by that, and everything to lose. Kelly was third with the viewers, but who was first? If it was Shawn, then Derek really blew it for her.

No, I totally disagree. Shawn and Derek deserved to win. I have nothing against Melissa or Tony, but we all saw who had the fans on their feet at EVERY dance, not to mention – as was said – that at last one judge was shocked. But this article said it all – why Melissa and Tony won – because the audience felt sorry for them because they hadn’t won a trophy yet. Well, boo-hoo. So what? This was an ALL STAR trophy – NO ONE had ever won one, so just because Tony had not won in 14 seasons, or Melissa lost time, and Derek has won 3 times, and Shawn once, that doesn’t mean anything. And Melissa and Tony worked no harder than Shawn and Derek, or anyone else for that matter. That’s total bull. Matter of fact, I feel that Shawn and Derek worked harder because they wanted to make this season about the fans, and tried to please both judges and fans alike with something fresh and new – unlike the stale or safe content that we saw from Tony and Melissa. As far as acrobatics go – watch the dances again. Melissa pulls out more acrobatics than Shawn does – and let’s not forget that while she may not be an Olympic gymnast, it’s not like she couldn’t do tricks and flips, or had that much problem doing it – she was a pro Cheerleader, right? As for the injuries – hello? Melissa hurt her neck. OK. Tony hurt himself (which I find weird since he fell to the floor without doing any lifting, moving, whatever?) Hmm. Did the writer of this article forget about the knee injury that cost Shawn the Olympics and made her retire – and that was re-injured during the season? Did the writer forget about the pain that Derek soldiered through from dance 2 – because he has to have surgery on his neck? Brooke mentioned he was in pain during rehearsals in week 2 – in week 7 he had to sit out for a week and let Mark dance with Shawn – and he was still in pain the rest of the season. So forgive me if I don’t think Melissa and Tony should have won because of their injuries. Let’s face it – the writer of this article felt sorry for Melissa and Tony and they are trying to justify a win that should never have happened – and doing it badly, I might add. BTW – Shawn and Derek might have danced that one dance that brought them down, but at the end, they were only 1.5 points behind Melissa and Tony. 5 times in DWTS history, athletes have been down by 1 point at the end to win at the end. This was rigged, pure and simple. I will not be watching next season.

I threw my remote control at the tv and then I screamed with my face stuffed in
a pillow I was outraged Shawn and Derek should have won I am way to emotionally invested in this show but still SHAWN should have won

always hated melissa. she’s vapid, and not a star. :(

What an ugly thing to say or even think. Just Sayin….With that kind of outlook on life…..Maybe you need to go back to bed and get out on the other side…..There is more things to worry about in this world besides….Who wins DWTS……It’s a family program just enjoy it.