DWTS 2011 Finals!
Kirstie Alley too big to fail on Dancing With The Stars or as Celebrity Senior?
[May 24]
Celebrity Senior Baby Boomer Kirstie Alley has been a huge hit on Dancing with the Stars this season as an over-40 crowd favorite, and she’s proud to admit it. Not only has the star celeb lost weight and become more fit, but she generally is feeling positive about herself. Some would say that the actress and former Cheers star celeb is too big to fail. And by big, we mean talented, not her dress size. At age 60, Kirstie Alley is by far the oldest of the competitors on the dance floor, and she still is keeping up with the younger crowd. As for her special guest appearance as a cast member of the reality TV series Dancing With The Stars, it looks like Kirstie Alley is in it to win it! She might even beat the better dancer Gen Me actress and Disney Princess Chelsea Kane and give NFL football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers Hines Ward.
In fact, keeping up with the younger crowd was one of the challenges in the freestyle competition for the celebrity senior. Kirstie Alley and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy went all out for the freestyle competition, with Kirstie starting off the routine, surprising the crowd by tearing out of a baggish looking dress into a black leotard and turning a cart-wheel. The celebrity senior turned heads. Carrie Ann remarked after the routine: “That dance embodies what you have become – as a poster child for life as it should be lived at 60 years old,” according to USA Today.
Even Bruno and Len gave the star celeb credit for the routine. Bruno remarked that Kirstie Alley seemed to have gone all out, with lifts and gymnastics that she never would have attempted when she started the season. Len, typically the most critical of the bunch, said that she took risks, and he was impressed with the risks she took. In spite of being an audience favorite, the pair scored all nines, leaving them two points behind their competitors by the end of the night.
The audience did not go for the scores, as Access Hollywood reports:
“Look, I think our freestyle was amazing and we should have gotten 10s and so did the audience and that’s why they were booing like lunatics,” Kirstie told Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson Monday night, referring to the loud audience response to the three 9s from the judges.
“I loved that,” Kirstie said of the ballroom’s response. “It was a bit of a revolt.”
It’s clear that celebrity senior Kirstie Alley has held on as an audience favorite, in spite of her age and size. The star celeb may never fit into a size 4, even after all the work Maksim Chmerkovskiy has had her doing, but she’s made such a drastic improvement in her abilities overall that one can’t help but love her for her bold attitude. Look for the audience to continue to encourage Kirstie Alley as the favorite on this season of Dancing with the Stars.
Kirstie Alley might lose the Mirror Ball Trophy, but she is still a winner in the eyes of America and all.
[UPDATE: Kirstie Alley took second place in Season 12 of Dancing With The Stars which aired on May 25, 2011. Hines Ward took first place and won the Mirror Ball Trophy, while Chelsea Kane took third place.]