‘Dancing with the Stars’: Ranking the winners (#23-#15)
Maybe the fact that we’re doing “Dancing with the Stars” winner rankings is a sign that we’ve been watching the show for a very long time, or that we’re still filled to the brim with enthusiasm following the completion of season 23 on Tuesday night. Either way, it’s something fun that we’re looking forward to diving into as a fan of the show.
Today, we’re going to share for the first time all of our winners up to #15 on our rankings; then, on Thanksgiving Day come back for the middle of the pack in #15-#5. We’ll save the top five for Black Friday; we’re pretty sure that our top choice will be controversial, just because it’s almost impossible for it not to be when you consider we’re talking about a show that is so inherently polarizing.
23. Kelly Monaco (season 1) – Let’s be real: John O’Hurley should’ve won this season, but this was back when the show operated with a different set of rules; in general, this season is a little bit of an outlier because it was so short, and the majority of the people now watching may not have been around back then.
22. Donald Driver (season 14) – Out of all the athlete winners, Donald probably falls most into the “great but not outstanding” category. We also think that Katherine Jenkins was probably the better overall dancer on the season, but she entered it with many people not even knowing who she was.
21. J.R. Martinez (season 13) – We do think this season as a whole was a little odd, given that J.R. won in a final three against Rob Kardashian and Ricki Lake. We do think he was a very good dancer and a tremendous inspirational figure, but he had a slightly smaller pool of competition than others.
20. Donny Osmond (season 9) – Donny was almost ordained to be the winner of this season from the moment that he first entered the ballroom, and he was very good; however, we feel like his ability in the ballroom stemmed just as much from him as a showman as it did someone who actually mastered technique.
19. Amber Riley (season 17) – In some ways, we do envision Amber similar to Donny in that they were wall-to-wall favorites who were both very good, but if they were put into an All-Star format, we really don’t see them coming out on top with the title.
18. Hines Ward (season 12) – While slightly better than Donald, we do think that Hines benefited heavily from a ton of Steeler fans who were voting for him, and that in terms of pure dance ability, there have been many stronger overall winners over the years.
17. Helio Castroneves (season 5) – In looking back at his time on the show, Helio’s probably remembered mostly for one particular quickstep routine where he wore a yellow suit and kissed Julianne Hough at the end of it. He was extremely fun to watch, but we’re trying to also think about the overall body of work.
16. Jennifer Grey (season 11) – If we’re looking in terms of personal favorites, we were rooting for Kyle Massey this season; yet, it’s hard to deny the incredible poise Grey showed not only in her routines, but also overcoming some of the hurdles that she faced over the course of the season.
15. Kellie Pickler (season 16) – This is where we really start getting into the tough part of this list, since we think everyone from about #15 to #10 is almost even matched. Kellie was extremely good, but we think some people ahead of her on our list have a few more powerful moments.
As we mentioned early on in the article, we will have the next part in our winners ranking list coming out on Thanksgiving Day, so if you’re not suffering from a turkey coma be sure to come back and check out our next list; for now, head over here to get some further news right away when it comes to “Dancing with the Stars” this season! Also, be sure to share your own winners lists with us in the comments below! (Photo: ABC.)