ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Afterlast weeks karaoke challenge, have you officially retired Sister Christian from your iPod?
CHRIS HARRISON:No way!
First of all, Im a kid of the 80s, so I love it.
Credit: ABC
We had a blast, it was so fun.
The guys from Night Ranger were really cool about it.
They kind of got the whole thing and put on a show for us.
It was really neat.
You seemed surprised Nick performed as well as he did.
I know youve been giving him some gentle ribbing in your blogs.
It was a huge surprise.
I didnt know he was on the show!
It is the craziest story that this guy has survived this long.
I think he wasnt interesting enough to vote out.
He didnt make himself a big enough part of the game to be worthy of being voted out.
Nobody foresaw Erica changing the game so dynamically by taking Michael out.
Then Rachel and Nick became a partnership.
Then in that final challenge, the plan got away from [the dominant players].
You have to give him credit.
Hes played it very well, and hes survived.
Thats what you have to do atBachelor Pad just survive.
This is a really unexpected final four.
The Jaclyn-Rachel thing is very interesting.
Honestly, Rachel would have.
She tried, but Nick got the better of her that night and kind of took advantage of her.
She regrets it, and she was sad, but she definitely stabbed Jaclyn in the back.
Jaclyn was bitter about it, pissed and shes still mad about it.
Its something else that changes the game.
How could you not have taken me with you in the end?
Thatll definitely come into play when they have to vote.
Going into the finale, what are the strengths and weaknesses for the final four?
The fans dont really have an alliance.
Then there are a lot of swing votes this season.
That was the main difference that youll see, and thats what madeBachelor Paddifferent this season.
it’s possible for you to usually look and you know all these people.
Well, youdontknow all of them now, so there were a lot of swing votes up for grabs.
You have to give him some credit in the way he played the game.
Then you look at Rachel and Nick, and theydidntplay the game.
They [practically] just met a week ago and got thrown together.
You could say Nick was a genius, but he was definitely a quiet genius.
What did he do to really earn his [place in the finals]?
Rachel really was riding on Michaels coattails she wasnt calling the shots.
As far as game playing goes, Chris and Sarah were far more dominant.
That says a lot.
They all have their strengths and weaknesses.
This definitely made for an interesting vote.
Michaels come out of every situation smelling like a rose.
He has been this sympathetic figure in large part because of the Holly situation.
Hes played that well.
Now hes the guy who hurt the girl.
Hes the one who broke the heart.
Hes not the nice guy in this situation.
Hes not the victim.
But hes not that poor, sweet, innocent guy anymore.
Thats not to say hes a bad guy.
Rachel is upset, and he definitely has to answer for it.
In hindsight, I could see how people might think he was playing Rachel.
They were partners anyway.
He didnt need to take it to the next level and the level beyond that.
Thats what Rachel is saying, like, Look, what we did was well beyond the game.
She even said that: We were sleeping together.
Thats really different than just playing the game and being buddies.
He has to answer for that.
Its the first time hes been put in that defensive role and had to explain himself and his actions.
I was proud of Rachel.
Its hard to watch, and it was definitely hard to sit there.
What exactly made you call this particular finale the most dramatic yet?
There were so many things that happened.
That was really cool.
All right good season.
We wrapped it up.
This one, we all just were stunned and speechless at the end of the show.
I dont even know how they could edit just two hours.
And then once we did that, we had that intrigue and that drama.
It was awild night.
Any closing thoughts on this season?
I didnt know what to expect this season coming in.
We had a lot of newcomers that werent part of the fraternity, so to speak, yet.
Even Blakeley and some of those girls because theyre new.
We didnt have that built-in fraternal dynamic that youve seen in past seasons.
Thats a little bit scary as a producer and a host.
When you go into an interview, you should know the answer to a question before you ask it.
I was pleasantly surprised at how amazing [it turned out].
It may be our best season ever as far as drama and intrigue.
They perfect in every way.
Its amazing that these couples are coming out of this show.
Judging from this clip of Michael and Rachel, its going to be a stunning finale.
It is emotional, and it is disturbing.
It is an incredible finale.
It may be the best show that weve ever put on the air.
Its one of those things.
It is absolutely amazing one of those Emmy-worthy shows for sure.
