Donald Driver Goes Country on DWTS

It was down tot he final 3 last night on "Dancing With the Stars."

William Levy, Katherine Jenkins and Donald Driver.

I think Driver stole the show.

The Green Bay Packer was at his very best on his first dance, an Argentine tango with scintillating lifts. One of the judges, Len Goodman complained it was too careful. But Carrie Ann Inaba loved it, and Bruno Tonioli said the dance was effective. Points: 29, with 9 from Goodman.

The freestyle dance was next.

Driver and partner, Peta Murgatroyd went country on a high-energy routine with exceptional lifts. She was remarkable in the way she moved through the routine, with Driver's help.  The crowd loved it and so did the judges.  Inaba said it was her favorite dance of the night. "Fantastic," Goodman ruled. Points: 30, more perfection.

Points awarded by judges on Monday night were: Jenkins 30, Levy 29 and Driver 29.  It's anyone's guess who will win.

The winner will be named in a two-hour extravaganza that starts at 9 p.m. Tuesday on ABC.

Dancing With the Stars Finalists Face Tough Judging

And then there were three!

Three is the number of couples that are left as the finals of Dancing With the Stars starts tonight.  It's not much of a surprise that Ricki and Derek and J.R. and Karina have made it this far, but early on in the season, who would've predicted Rob and Cheryl would still be dancing?

Two dances tonight including the freestyle.  The show is only one-hour tonight so there won't be much wasted time.

Ricki and Derek are up first tonight after being perfect last week.  They get a cha cha and she wants to make it real sexy.  I think Ricki really turned it up a notch with this performance.  The only criticism was that it lacked a little fluidity.  Ricki gets a 27.

Rob Kardashian and Cheryl are next on.  Rob had a great week last week and he will need to do at least that good this time around.  Their first dance is the waltz.  A nice dance, but Bruno talked about his posture and footwork.   Rob scores a 27 as well.

J.R. and Karina are third.  Len gave J.R. some pointers heading into the finals and it appears his ankle is doing better.  Their routine was high energy, but I think he has done better.  Carrie Ann said he was a little off to the music and Len thought his timing was off.  J.R. earns a 24 out of 30.

The second dance tonight is the freestyle.  This might be the dance that determines the winner of the season.  

Derek and Ricki lead off the freestyles.  Derek looks like he is going to pull out all the stops here.  It was hot and energetic.  Lots of flips and lifts and the crowd loved it.  Derek made a tough dance look effortless and they scored another 27.

Here we go with Rob and Cheryl.  Cheryl wants to start out with a slow dance then pick up the pace at the end.  A tough dance and the judges loved it.  He gets a perfect 30.

J.R. is the last one on.  At this point in the competition J.R. and Karina are both tired.  This was a tough dance, lots of action.  Nonstop movement from the start of the music.  The judges loved it and they get a 30.

The two-hour finale is tomorrow.  Lady Antebellum performs. 

Photos from Atlanta Tennis Championships Day 7

Mardy Fish defended his title by beating John Isner again in 3 sets.

Great, exciting tennis all week and of course, hot weather.

Mardy FishMardy FishJohn Isner feels the heatAlex Bogomolov Jr. win the doubles with Matthew EbdenDoubles actionBogomolov Jr. and Ebden show good teamwork

Dancing With the Stars Season Finale: Freestyles Plugged into the National Grid

The final performance show of the season and three teams will be looking to impress the judges the best that can.

Chelsie Kane and Hines Ward have to be the favorites to be the final two, but never underestimate the power of the votes that Kirstie Alley is getting each and every week.

Each couple will perform two dances tonight.  The first dance will be a judge's choice and that will be followed by a freestyle.

Chelsea and Mark are up first.  Carrie Ann delivered the news they will get a samba as their first dance.  It was a red hot samba; they shook and danced to a fast beat.  Overall the judges all liked it.  She gets a 29 out of 30.

Kirstie and Maks are up next.  They met with Bruno to get their judges choice dance.  They also get a samba, Bruno wanted Kirstie to be more precise and Kirstie wants three 10's.  Maks started out almost too fast and Kirstie looked like she had a hard time keeping up.  She finished up well, they get a 27.

Len visited Hines and Kym and filled them in on what he wants to see out of a quickstep.  A quickstep that was a throwback to old Hollywood.  Hines even finished off the dance by popping a bottle of champagne.  Bruno thought it looked like a Broadway production and loes how Hines entertains the audience.  Hines and Kym get a 29 for their quickstep.

Here come the freestyles.

Chelsea and Mark are ready for their freestyle.  Mark is known for some unique freestyles.  It was fast, it was showy, it was high energy.  The dance had a little bit of everything in it.  Chelsea took to the air, she hit the ground, and almost flew out of her shirt.  The crowd loved it, the judges loved it.  They get a perfect 30.

Let's see what Maks has in store for the freestyle.  The dance included lifts, flips, and cartwheels, and that was just by Kirstie.  The crowd goes wild!  The dance was risky and they were rewarded her with a 27.

The last dance tonight will belong to Hines and Kym. I didn't know what to expect, but Hines did say it would have a marching band theme.  Hines proved not only can he lead the team to victory, he can lead the marching band.  Carrie Ann compared it to the Super Bowl.  Bruno loved the creativity.  They earn a 30.

More dancing tomorrow night, also Sara Evans, the Go-Go's and a special guest.  Let's hope it isn't Michael Bolton again. 

Bristol Palin in the 'DWTS' Finals: Everyone has an Opinion

In the elimination shocker of the year, pop singer Brandy and dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy were the ones sent home on Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars." Brandy, who was consistently at the top of the leaderboard this season, received a perfect 30 for her Argentine Tango Monday, and was in third place.

The person that advanced to the finals, Bristol Palin.  Until recently, we knew Bristol Palin as the teenage mother and daughter of Sarah Palin.  Now, we all follow her every dance move on ABC's Dancing With the Stars. 

Should Bristol be in the finals?  Based on dancing alone, no.  But it's not just about the dancing and that is what show producers wanted all along.  This is the perfect storm for this show which draws tons of viewers each week anyway.  Now there is a Palin controversy or conspiracy to talk about as well.  Have the Palin's orchestrated a voting campaign to get Bristol to win?  They may have, but usually when we get to the finals, the best dancer usually wins.

I received a tremendous amount of e-mails and comments from my article over at the Yahoo! Network.  The link is here:  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6019914/dancing_with_the_stars_semi_final_results.html

But I also wanted to print some of comments the readers left to see how much people are into this show and what it means going forward.

I guess the tea party is more concerned about who wins a dance contest than they are about the real issues in America!

I have watched this show from the beginning and I can tell you if Bristol wins, I will never turn this on again - this is pathetic to even think she came this far just because of her mother who has tremendous PULL. You'll see this show go down the tubes if she wins.

I now have 3+ hours a week more to dedicate to reading, listening to music, writing, and not watching DWTS. This is my last episode of my last season as a viewer. The finals are pointless since the winner will not be chosen for their dancing ability. I sincerely hope that the DWTS producers and ADVERTISERS read the posts of the shows used-to-be fans. This season has been riddled with rude, mean-spirited judging and unfair voting. The thrill is gone ABC.

What a disappointment, clearly Brandy was the better dancer! Bristol SUCKED from the very beggining and barely made improvements. This show is BS and so are the PALINS! I will not be watching again, this show is a farce, It's not DWTS, it's Dancing for Ignorant Politicians. Makes me want to never vote for anything again

This is a joke. I knew it was goin gto happen and I'll bet it happens next week. The Pee Party has screwed up something else...what else is new.

Tired of all the politics... (Guest) 11/16/2010

I love...LOVE..reality television. I can't believe that politics has crept its way into reality television! Looks like I'm going to have to tune out of DWTS for the seasons to come. Not only does Bristol Palin's undeserved run to the finals tarnish this season of the show, but it makes a mockery of the earlier seasons too. If the show is not canceled (I'm certain a large monetary contribution will come from the 13 Million Dollar (and growing) Mom, it should be renamed "Dancing With Politicos" -- clearly you have to organize a political action committee and get the grass roots machine in action week after week... Who cares about talent, that's for "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent"...for now!!!!

This is an absolute shameful example of the power of the Palin Stepford Wives! They want to shroud themselves in their so-called "Christian" beliefs, but how "Christian" is it to put what they believe to be the "power" of their politics over doing the right thing--based on honesty and ability, not on political affiliations or beliefs. They will continue to hide behind their self-proclaimed holier-than-thou personna, but fail others and themselves for talking too much of the talk and not walking more on the walk!!!

Sadly, I'm not shocked about what happened to Brandy tonight. We've seen more of Sarah's Palin's big head this season that many of the dancers who've been working their butts off. What's truly shocking is that ABC has turned it's network into a political vehicle for the tea-baggers. Mediocrity prevails yet again. And "teen activist"?? C'mon, she had unprotected sex, had a baby out of wedlock and is now going to preach to the rest of us how to live our lives. She's a wannabe reality star, just like everyone else.

And there are many and many more to go with these.