‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 33 Finale Review: Jumps, Twists, and Turns

On Nov. 26, “Dancing with the Stars” closed the curtain on its 33rd season with a three-hour long final episode. Five contestants — former NFL player Danny Amendola, “The Bachelor” star Joey Graziadei, actress Chandler Kinney, rugby player Ilona Maher, and gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik — took their places on the dance floor to compete for the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

The finale featured the return of fan-favorite eliminated contestants. Actor Reginald VelJohnson and his dance partner Emma Slater performed one of VelJohnson’s “stationary” dances. The dramatic showmance of Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko were on full display. “The Bachelorette” star Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber left the audience questioning the status of their will-they-won't-they relationship. Though each performance was enjoyable, the finale felt immensely stretched out— it could have been an hour shorter and it still would have had the same effect on viewers.

Each contestant was to perform two dances: a “redemption” dance, where contestants took another stab at their worst style of the season, and a “freestyle” dance, where contestants were free to showcase any styles of their choice. Final results were decided based on the combination of the judges’ scores from the semifinal and finale episodes and the viewers’ votes from the finale episode.

First up was the “redemption” dance round, starting with Nedoroscik and his partner Rylee Arnold, who performed a quickstep to “I’ll Be There For You.” The two quickstepped around the stage with the strongest timing that Nedoroscik had in a dance all season.

Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson and Kinney and her partner Brandon Armstrong — also proved themselves in their redemption dances. Graziadei’s cha-cha to “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” and Kinney’s jive to “APT.” were clean, full of energy, and packed with difficult choreography.

Maher and her partner Alan Bersten also performed a jive as their redemption dance, set to “Shake A Tail Feather.” The dance was a massive improvement from her first jive, which elicited her viral “I’ve been better, Carrie Ann,” quote, and the confidence she gained as a dancer was evident in each step. However, when compared with Kinney’s, her jive was missing the difficulty and precision that seemed necessary for a mirrorball victory. Amendola and his partner Witney Carson’s tango to “I Had Some Help” was similar — though it was clean, it lacked the passion and energy of the other routines.

In the freestyle round, Nedoroscik and Arnola wowed with a gymnastics-inspired routine to “Viva la Vida.” The routine seamlessly integrated Nedoroscik’s aptitude for gymnastics with his newfound growth as a dancer. Emotional and powerful, the dance was inspiring to watch and set the bar at an unbeatable standard.

Graziadei and Johnson’s freestyle to “Canned Heat” was inspired by Graziadei’s career as a tennis coach and incorporated fast-paced, intricate choreography with light-up tennis rackets. Johnson’s choreography was fantastic and Graziadei hit each movement well, but there was something missing that prevented it from going from great to excellent. Perhaps it lacked the “it” factor his other dances had, such as his country cha-cha and Tarzan-inspired samba.

Maher and Bersten’s freestyle was the perfect testament to Maher’s personality and dancing style. Set to “Femininomenon,” the dance’s transition from hard-hitting hip-hop and jazz to slower ballroom choreography exhibited Maher’s balance between strength and grace.

Amendola and Carson’s freestyle perfectly encapsulated their partnership. A character piece set to “Pink” and “I’m Just Ken,” the dance was enjoyable to watch. Yet, Amendola did no real dancing — he was merely the Ken to Witney’s Barbie — so the freestyle failed to show off Amendola’s development as a dancer.

The only freestyle at — or even beyond — the level of Nedoroscik and Arnold’s was Kinney and Armstrong’s. As the first all-Black couple to compete in any “Dancing with the Stars” finale, the pair performed a tribute to Black contributions to dance. The stage was filled entirely with Black dancers, and the choreography incorporated tap, the Charleston, and jazz styles. Kinney’s performance quality and dance technique were exceptional, allowing for the difficult choreography to shine through. Her freestyle — coupled with her other performances — was deserving of a win.

So did she win? No. Kinney landed in third place, with Graziadei taking home the mirrorball trophy.

However, Graziadei’s victory is unsurprising. A standout performer from day one — despite his lack of dancing experience — Graziadei epitomized the mission of the show and deserved the trophy.

But Kinney only placing third represents some of the problems that arise when placements are determined by viewer votes. Kinney has a much smaller fanbase of viewers compared to Graziadei, as Graziadei is one of the many Bachelor Nation stars that have been on the show. Additionally, Maher — as an athletic icon and social media star — has been immensely popular with viewers. Yet, Kinney had higher-on-average ratings than the other contestants, even earning the first two perfect scores on this season of the show. This isn’t to say that Graziadei and Maher didn’t deserve their votes — they did, and both of their transformations from non-dancers to dancers were magical to watch — but Kinney deserved more recognition than she ultimately received.

—Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.