PerthNow’s July 23, 2023 preview looked ahead to the Australian Dancing With the Stars grand finale that Sunday night, naming six celebrity-professional pairs and weighing their prospects through judge Mark Wilson’s comments. It was a preview, not a report of the result: the performances and predictions below reflect what was said before the finale.
The six pairs in the 2023 finale
PerthNow reported that the season began with 14 contestants and reached a final six. Its preview highlighted each finalist’s path into the finale and Wilson’s assessment of their chances.
Emily Weir and Lyu Masuda
Weir had appeared in every dance and earned perfect 10s for a contemporary performance. Wilson questioned whether she could sustain the energy behind her vulnerable performance style: “This vulnerability takes a lot of energy,” and “Is there a question over being able to continue?”
Christie Whelan Browne and Craig Monley
The preview described a high-energy, Barbie-themed Cha Cha and noted that Whelan Browne was dealing with injuries. Wilson urged her to find an “X-Factor,” saying, “Grace and elegance is the pathway for her.”
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Phil Burton and Ash-Leigh Hunter
PerthNow presented Burton as a competition favorite. Wilson called him “the big mover” and described his semi-final Foxtrot as “graceful and skilful.”
Mary Coustas and Aric Yagudkin
Coustas’s semi-final Paso Doble included a cameo by her comic character Effie. Wilson called her a “huge improver,” but said, “She needs a Steve Bradbury moment to win but is a huge improver.”
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Virginia Gay and Ian Waite
Gay was described as a front-runner after a perfect-scoring semi-final Foxtrot. Wilson called her “the most consistent” and “most skilled” of the competitors discussed, and said she would be hard to beat.
Paulini Curuenavuli and Igor Ifliand
Curuenavuli’s Samba had topped the first-night leaderboard, while the judges were disappointed by her semi-final Jive. Wilson advised her: “Take a chance and dance a raunchy power number.”
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What the judges’ comments do—and do not—tell us
Wilson’s remarks offered a mix of praise, concerns and suggestions for the final performances. They were commentary on the finalists’ prospects, not a published ranking or a confirmed prediction. The preview supplies no consistent set of scores for comparing all six pairs, and it does not say who won the finale.
Wilson also summed up the season’s closeness, telling PerthNow: “This is one of the best series of DWTS to date. It has been such a tight race.” That observation explains the preview’s sense of uncertainty, but it cannot establish the eventual outcome.
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These details come from Lauren Higham’s PerthNow preview, published July 23, 2023: “Dancing With The Stars: Finalists ready to dance up a storm with grand finale Sunday night.” Its references to “tonight” and “Sunday night” refer to the finale scheduled for the date of publication, not an upcoming event.
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Best Value
- ISBN: 978-0-7697-8715-2
- Color
- Running Time: 141 minutes
- Subtitles: English
- Sound: Dolby 2.0
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