DWTS: The Finals pt. 1

We are finally down to my favourite portion of the competion, and I couldn't have asked for a better beginning then a face-off in the Paso Doble.

As in years past each couple brought their own unique flavour to the dance. Shawn and Mark brought precision.

Melissa and Tony brought lots of intensity, and Gilles and Cheryl supplied the sexy factor.

Like I said nothing could be better.

I have to give all of them extra points for pulling off great routines to something as contemporary as Pink's "So What". That could not have been easy. So bravo.

The first round went to Gilles and Cheryl (unsurprisingly) who received a perfect score of 30/30 for their efforts.

Melissa and Tony came close behind with 29/30. Mark and Shawn came in third with 28/30.

They made up for the lackluster results with their Free-Style. Hitting the floor first, looking like as Tom Bergeron described a couple of Vegas bank robbers *lol*.

Changing into the regular glittery wardrobe half-way through the routine. Oh, but what a dance it was!.

Perfect execution of moves in unison. It felt very reminiscent of Helio Castroneves final.

It had everything one could ask for in a Free-Style, energy, fun, and plenty of tricks, flips and spins.

This dance was the perfect opportunity for Shawn to be herself and let her personality shine and she delivered!.

It was also nice seeing her dancing something more suited to her age.

She took risks performing some crazy awesome moves, and got rewarded for it receiving a perfect score from the judges. Kudos to Mark for his choreography. Superb.

Melissa and Tony chose an Urban style. And I have to say although enjoyble, the overall routine was kind of boring. The choreography was really lacking.

I expected Tony to really go for it, but compared to Shawn and Mark it just looked and felt kind of blah. The judges thought so too and only give them 27/30.

Gilles and Cheryl concluded the evening to a "Flashdance" inspired number (and song) that left a lot to be desired.

I was extremely disappointed I expected Gilles to jump ahead of the pack with some mind blowing choreography.

Instead what we got was something that would be given to any of the celebrities in the first week of the show. WTF?!.

Really Cheryl?. Really?. She give Gilles more complicated things in rehersal then what we got to see tonight.

Perhaps that shoulder was bothering him a lot more then everyone let on (which in turn forced Cheryl to change the routine). If not then it's a real shame. Because Gilles is capable of so much more then he was given.

The judges agreed and give him 28/30. Which earned him a total of 58/60 putting him in a tie for 1st place with Mark and Shawn.

Maybe Gilles should have taken his shirt off like Jason Taylor did with Edyta Sliwinska in S6.

I'm sure that would have garnered him a few more points at least ;).

Tomorrow we'll finally find out who gets the coveted mirror ball trophy.

Based on tonight's performance I think it should belong to Shawn and Mark.

They had by far the best routine in terms of content, and great chemistry to boot!. So I'm going with them for the win.

But you never know the audience may decide to stick with the judges favourite and make Gilles the champion.

We'll see. Till tomorrow night.