'Dancing with the Stars': It's the finals!

In this, the penultimate episode of "Dancing with the Stars," we're once again shown how easily the Freestyle can come off flat or make a couple soar to new heights.

For the sake of a baseline comparison, all three couples will be doing a Paso Doble as a group and each celeb will get the benefit of a judge coming to rehearsal and giving pointers (instead of just Len).

Bruno shows up to tutor Shawn Johnson. He advises that since she recently did a Paso, she'll have to come with something different to impress. Also, he fine-tuned her arm extensions. Carrie Ann works with Melissa Rycroft to get her to up her aggression and not fall back on the ballet training. That leaves Gilles Marini to Len. He was trying to make sure Gilles refined his movements so as not to come off hectic.

1. Paso Doble Face-Off
Song: "So What" by Pink - I like the song but really?
Shawn & Mark are the first to get a solo. I had to mute the TV to get a clean impression of the dance. She has good intensity and performed the choreography well. Melissa & Tony are next. Nice to see that Mel B.'s old costume has found new life. I really liked the choreography. Melissa did dance with much more gravity than usual but still had fleeting balletic moments. Gilles & Cheryl, wearing costumes of questionable taste, finished out the solos. He too improved on what his respective judge worked with him on. Cheryl was smart to streamline the choreography. All three couples close it out with the same moves. I wish it was a full shot the whole time so I could actually compare what they did. Everyone did great overall. This is a tough season.
Judges: Len says they all coped well with doing traditional choreography to a song they shouldn't be dancing a Paso to (I'm paraphrasing, of course). He thought Shawn did a great job and excited him this time around, Melissa was more convincing than last time, and Gilles had intensity and none of the hectic-ness. Bruno complemented how they worked together while competing and thought they all did great. Carrie Ann called them all "incredible dancers," thought Shawn didn't have the same level of emotional connectivity that Gilles had but was fantastic, said Melissa finally gave her real emotion, and Gilles was perfection. Score: Shawn - 28 (9-9-10), Melissa - 29 (10-9-10), Gilles - 30 (all 10's)

2. Shawn Johnson & Mark
Dance/Song: Freestyle/"Do Your Thing" by Basement Jaxx
During their rehearsal, Season 4 winner Apolo Anton Ono dropped by to give her an Olympian-to-Olympian pep talk and some tips. They start out wearing sparkling masks and doing some hip-hop flavored stuff then rip them and their jumpsuits off the get into the meat of the number. One think Mark does really well is mix Hip-Hop/Breaking moves with traditional Ballroom/Latin stuff. It's was purposefully frenetic and a lot of fun. I dug it man.
Judges: Bruno said it was "bursting with creativity" and loved how she sold it. It was everything Carrie Ann wanted to see from her. Len started explain how he loved it...and when there was no "but," Mark fell to the ground in happiness and shock.
Score: 30 (all 10's) - When Bruno held up his paddle, he shouted "11!"

3. Melissa Rycroft & Tony
Dance/Song: Freestyle/"Everybody Dance Now" by C+C Music Factory
Tony's choreography philosophy this his second time in the finals is "Go big and get smacked in the face during rehearsal" aka "No risk, no reward." The song explains Tony's see-through, tight, possibly plastic shirt. Melissa really has broken through tonight in that I really do believe she was having fun with the number. It was very trick-heavy (which Melissa really attacked and did fantastically) and the mesh of Ballroom and Hip-Hop was fun, but it wasn't as seamless as Shawn & Mark's number. Also, a slight problem for me is that Melissa looked like a cheerleader doing Hip-Hop - she wasn't bad at it, but it did lack a certain gravity.
Judges: Carrie Ann loved how she's attacking her numbers but felt that the choreography seemed a bit disjointed. He thought Melissa showed her versatility but Len would've prefered they showcase her elegance. Bruno agreed it was a bit disjointed and not as perfect as they'd want for a last dance.
Score: 27 (all 9's)

4. Gilles Marini & Cheryl
Dance/Song: Freestyle/"What A Feeling" by Irene Cara aka "The "Flashdance" song"
With all the lifts, Gilles reaggravated his shoulder injury during rehearsal but after a visit from the doctor, he's good to go. I was hoping, with his sparkly, partially shredded shirt, that their number was 80's flavored. Oh...sadly I just wasn't super-excited by this. It was fun but, besides the lifts, it didn't seem much different than anything else they've done all season. This is a time to break out and they're still kind of in the box. I don't know if they picked the song or if the producers assign them, but if they'd done "Time of My Life" from "Dirty Dancing" complete with The Lift, then I would've been sold.
Judges: Len loved the high-energy and says this proves he's a real dancer. Bruno said it was "retro-fun" and the performance was great but he wanted a little more dancing. Carrie Ann agrees - she found it an odd choice since "Flashdance" is about the female dancer. She still thinks he's great.
Score: 28 (9-10-9)

Overall Thoughts: As usual, the Freestyle was the make-or-break round and to me Shawn & Mark owned it. If the dance order was reversed, the scores might've turned out a little different since they set the bar so high.
Who Should Win: They're all very good and though Melissa really turned a corner tonight, Shawn or Gilles should win.

Okay, what did you think? Was Melissa & Tony and/or Gilles & Cheryl coming with weaksauce tonight or were Shawn & Mark just at a higher level? And how awful was the Paso Doble song choice? Blargh.