Rumer Willis & Val Chmerkovskiy Crowned “Dancing With the Stars” Champions
Rumer and Val, Allison and Riker, and Sharna and Noah waiting to hear the results during last night’s finale.
Last night was the night we have all been waiting for, the night when the winners of the 20th season of Dancing With the Stars would be announced. Now, if you thought you could just tune in and find out the winners like I did, well, you were DEAD wrong! It was two hours of guest performances, bloopers, recaps, and even more dances by the finalists, which honestly seemed like torture at this point in time.
Noah and Sharna danced first; they had 24 hours to plan a new dance that mixed two different dances. The result was an Astronaut’s Wife-inspired performance, dressed in all white – Sharna in a very cool white brocade leotard with an asymmetrical white chiffon detail. It was lovely, but nowhere near as jaw-dropping as the previous night’s freestyle, which would’ve made a way better final dance for the couple. They were the first team eliminated from the finals, therefore earning third place. An impressive showing for Noah, who didn’t think he would make it past the first week.
Next up, Riker and Allison, dressed in matching blue costumes; Riker was in his usual suit, and Allison, in her usual barely-there crazy concoctions (this time a sparkly blue thing with cutouts at the side), did their thing which was good and technically accurate. Is it strange to be bored by consistent excellence? Perhaps. We knew all along they would make it to the finale.
Then it was Rumer and Val’s turn, and in the words of Len Goodman, the show had “saved the best for last.” Their all-black costumes, reminiscent of their outfits from the freestyle the night before, were classy and romantic, which are also words I would use to describe their dancing. At this point it was hard for the judges to keep themselves from showing their favorites, Len actually said to them “if you don’t win, this is a travesty,” and Julianne Hough said to Rumer “you make me want to be a better dancer,” which immediately made me think of Jack Nicholson telling Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets “you make me want to be a better man.” It was the perfect rom-com ending to their incredible journey through the show.
And then after more performances, it finally came time to reveal the winner, and after way too many minutes watching Rumer and Val and Riker and Allison standing on the stage, being consumed by nerves, Tom Bergeron finally announced the winners… RUMER AND VAL!
YASS QUEEN, YASSS! Photo: Getty Images
The level of excitement in the room (meaning the Dancing With the Stars studio and also my own room) immediately shot through the roof! The camera panned to Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Scout Willis, and Tallulah Willis who were FREAKING OUT in the most adorable way. As if I was a member of Rumer’s family, text messages started pouring through my phone, the crying emoji, the dancer emoji, the V for Victory emoji.
What a wonderful thing, to watch this young woman completely thrive, come into her own, and in the process become a total inspiration for America (and me!).
Congrats Rumer, you deserve it!!!
More from Yahoo Style:
Dancing With the Stars Week 10: The Finale!
Carrie Ann Inaba on Being a Fly Girl with J.Lo & Hanging Out Topless with Madonna
Julianne Hough on Blogging, Body Image, and Returning to Dancing With The Stars
