'Dancing With the Stars' 2014 Cast: Carrie Ann Inaba Talks Alfonso Ribeiro's Movements, Bethany Mota Overthinking & More [VIDEO]
The finals have arrived on ABC's Dancing With the Stars and one of the show's judges recently compared each of the four finalists in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
'DWTS' Contestant Janel Parrish On Why This Week Was 'Rough,' With 'Barely Any Time To Rehearse'
DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba spoke with TVGuide.com and revealed that this final four, which consists of Alfonso Ribeiro, Bethany Mota, Janel Parrish and Sadie Robertson, is perhaps the most competitive in a long time.
The judge took the time to break down the various strengths and weaknesses of each of the four finalists.
It looks like Ribeiro might be Inaba's favorite, with the judge praising him for his ability to "please an audience." Inaba thinks he might have a slight advantage due to his pro partner, Witney Carson, who is still very new compared to Derek Hough, Mark Ballas and Val Chmerkovskiy.
"Because we've never seen her this far, or her work at this stage, everything that she could do is going to feel fresh and new to us as judges. We're not going to see something we've seen before."
What may hold Ribeiro back from the Mirrorball Trophy, however, is his back injury. As such, his movements may become even smaller going into finale week.
Inaba believes that Parrish's "passion" and ability to be "versatile" has helped her, however, she also thinks that her "sexual energy" may over-power the actual dances themselves.
"It takes away from the other aspects of her performance, like the technique or bringing to life a character," she explained. "Also, sometimes when she gets uncertain, she also loses her center and ... loses her balance sometimes on her turns."
Moving on to Robertson, Inaba praised her "grace and that innocence and that beautiful smile she has" as strengths that have gotten her to the finals. However, that innocence might not translate to being confident on the dance floor, according to Inaba.
"Sometimes, she goes in and out of her characters," Inaba said. "She and Bethany are very similar in this way. They're younger, and you can see the youth in their performances. They sometimes come in and out of the characters."
Speaking of Mota, Inaba noted that the YouTube star's variety when it comes to delivering an unexpected performance has been a big strength. She added that Mota is a "dynamic" performer. As for weaknesses, Inaba believes that she might overthink too much, which takes the viewer out of the performance.
"Every once in a while, you can see her thinking," she said. It's weird because the moment you see it, the magic goes away. She comes out of it; we all come out of it as an audience as well."
"His movements will be even smaller and more contained, like we saw last week. You could see it in the dancing. It looked painful."
On Monday night the four finalists and their partners will face off for a spot in the finale, with only three couples moving on.
The Dancing With the Stars finale airs Monday and Tuesday on ABC. It will air at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Monday and 9 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesday.
