May 24, 2017

Celebrities & Fans React To Normani’s Shocking Third Place at DWTS Finale

Tuesday’s Dancing With The Stars finale left celebrities and fans shocked when frontrunner Normani Kordei and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy came in third place. Hashtags including #NotMyDWTSWinner and #RiggedWithTheStars began to sprout up across social media, with many of tweets calling out ABC for using Harmonizers as a ratings boost all season long.

The Fifth Harmony singer received highest total score throughout the season with 552 points an average score of 36.8 (on a 40 point scale) beating out this season’s winner Rashad Jennings by a total of 10 points. Runner-up David Ross finished this season with a total of 534 points, averaging a score of 32.2 (on a 40 point scale) which leaves him in the middle of the pack. Although this competition is judged on a weekly basis, the Dancing With The Stars judging panel does take into consideration how stars have performed throughout the season. As Tuesday’s finale focused on each finalist’s journey, it appeared as if Normani was getting a winner’s edit from the way the judges & professional dancers praised the contestant.

Source: Wikipedia

Out of all 24 seasons of the show, Amber Riley (formerly of Glee) is the only black woman to have ever won the Mirrorball trophy. To some extent, the results of this season aren’t shocking as 10 of the 24 winners have been athletes of sorts. In this season alone, the top five consisted of four athletes (football running back, baseball catcher, Olympic gymnast, bull rider) with the Fifth Harmony singer being the single outlier. It is undeniable though that Normani Kordei is the winner of Season 24 based on her overall performance.

As Kordei received the news that she came in third place, the camera panned to her fellow girl group members Lauren Jauregui, Dinah Jane, and Ally Brooke Hernandez who were present during the live finale. Their faces expressed nothing short of disbelief. Screenshots and videos of their reactions quickly spread throughout social media. One post (tweeted out by user ctfuconnor) featuring their reaction was liked by Lady Gaga. After the show wrapped, Jauregui and Jane took to Twitter to further express their puzzlement over the situation.

YouTube personality Kingsleyyy responded to one of Jauregui’s tweets, drawing comparisons between the 2016 presidential election and the Dancing With The Stars finale results.

Tamar Braxton & Zendaya, both former partners of Val Chmerkovskiy were also pulling for a win from Kordei. Back in Dancing With The Stars‘ 16th season, Zendaya finished as the runner-up to country music’s Kellie Pickler. Although the Disney Channel star lost to Pickler in the end, both contestants ran a tight competition against each other. Many Twitter users, including Zendaya herself, feel Normani was robbed of the win just as Zendaya was.

Braxton, who competed with Val in the show’s 21st season, had to back out of the show after health concerns interfered with her time on the show. Earlier tonight, she voiced her opinion of this season’s finale results in a tweet that was deleted afterwards. In the world of social media though, screenshots are forever. In the tweet, Braxton echoes similar sentiments to Zendaya’s tweet, implying that Kordei was robbed of the win.

Singer-songwriter Alessia Cara tweeted out in support of Kordei. Shortly afterwards, Academy Award nominated actress & pop star Hailee Steinfeld quoted Cara’s tweet, agreeing that the Fifth Harmony star deserved the coveted Mirrorball trophy. Steinfeld had performed her hit song “Starving” as well as her latest release “Most Girls” earlier during the live Dancing With The Stars finale.

Citizen Four’s Josh Levi, long-time friend of Kordei, also contributed to the mass confusion over the shocking loss. Although they appeared in separate seasons, Kordei and Levi both appeared on the U.S. version of The X Factor.

Additionally, the Fifth Harmony singer got some love from a member of another iconic girl group. LaTavia Roberson, two time Grammy winner for her work in the group Destiny’s Child, referred to the entire finale as a “blooper” pointing out that Kordei doesn’t need a trophy to be crowned a winner.

Throughout her time on the show, Kordei served consistent, tight dancing, combining the best of showmanship & technicality in each dance. Even if ABC brings back a second All Stars version for their 25th season of the show, Dancing With The Stars doesn’t deserve any more of Kordei’s time.

UPDATED May 24, 2017 at 1PM:

Dawn Richard, formerly of Danity Kane, also chimed in to acknowledge that Kordei deserved the Mirrorball trophy.

Additionally, Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland voiced similar concerns, emphasizing that the best dancer deserves the win.

La Toya Jackson referred to Rashad’s win as an “upset.” Although Jennings and Kordei both performed consistently well throughout the competition, the Fifth Harmony signer proved to be the shining star of the entire cast.


Check out other fans’ reactions below.

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