Dancing with the Stars recap: ‘Dark horse’ Nina Carberry wins the glitterball trophy
Jockey Nina Carberry, who won the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars. Picture: KOBPIX.
Jockey Nina Carberry has won with her pro dancer, Pasquale La Rocca. It is La Rocca’s second year being in the winning couple on the show.
Carberry, who was called the dark horse of the competition early on by the judges, said it felt “incredible” to win the competition. “This is an incredible show and I'm just delighted to be part of it, all these are incredible people,” she said.
La Rocca paid tribute to Carberry: “I was very honored and privileged to dance with you and to have met you. Coming back to this stage after two dark years of Covid, that was magical.”
Carberry was challenged with “improving on perfection” in her first dance of the night as the judges wanted to see her Vienneze waltz once more and they were not disappointed. “It proves that even the very best of things can get better with time,” Brian Redmond said. Loraine Barry agreed, calling it “a very polished, powerful performance.”
For the couple’s second dance, they dazzled the judges with a routine to ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’, in which Carberry opened the performance solo, dancing on top of a huge prop of her name – something she admits could never have foreseen when she started the competition. Barry said the routine was “incredible” and Arthur Gourounlian said it was “was an honor watching you dance.
Ellen Keane and Stephen Vincent opened the finale with a repeat of their paso doble from last month’s Dedicated Dance show. The judges were impressed, with Barry saying: “You said you wanted to be fierce and I can tell you, you did not disappoint.” In their “last hurrah” Ellen and Stephen went all in with “a really emotional dance” to end their time together. “It's about embracing it and enjoying it and showing everyone how far we've come,” Keane said. “That was a real homage to your time here on ,” Redmond noted.
Keane took a moment to speak about representation and why she wanted to be “that person that I needed when I was a kid” and a role model for other’s who look different. "I know that there are kids in this show who feel different and they look different and their bodies might be a little bit different, but I want to tell them not to hide: embrace what makes you different because honestly it becomes your superpower.”
Erica Cody donned Tiana’s tiara once more and delivered a flawless -themed performance with Denys Samson that built upon the judge’s remarks. “The Charleston masterclass,” Redmond called it. Gourounlian said her routine was flawless. “I know how much this performance meant to you because it was all about visibility, to show everyone that no matter who you are and where you're coming from anything is possible."
Cody’s show dance was a glitzy, gilded affair that moved Redmond to tears. “Everybody comes on the show for different reasons. You came on with a mission. Your mission was to be out there to represent kids all over the country from different ethnic backgrounds. And tonight, there's kids all over the country watching the TV and they are in awe of you, Erica Cody. That was fantastic.”
Jordan Conroy and Salome Chachua repeated week five’s paso doble with an instruction to nail the spins this time around for a “perfect paso” and they succeeded. “You absolutely nailed this. There are no words to say really. It's just outstanding,” Barry said. Their final dance together was an energetic and fun hip hop routine that had everyone on their feet.
“I wanted to end the show with a bang,” Conroy said and he made sure that happened. From Chachua’s gravity-defying reverse worm move to Conroy powering through an injury to deliver incredible lifts, the judges were awed. Redmond said it was “the last dance of season five but I think that could be the best dance of five seasons.”
