Lorraine and Beatrice face off in finale

Beatrice Faumuina and Brian Jones (left) take on Lorraine Downes and Aaron Gilmore in the 'Dancing with the Stars' finale.

It has been dubbed the "battle of the gods" as tension builds for the only final in the nation that can pull more of a crowd to the sofas than an All Blacks test.

The princess Lorraine Downes goes up against dancing queen Bea Faumuina tomorrow night in a Dancing with the Stars final which the pundits say will be a razor's edge result.

Last year even the PM weighed in behind Norm Hewitt, whose paso doble toes blinded viewers to all other flaws and left poor Shane Cortese bobbing in his wake.

This year, the bookies have the finalists on even odds and Noel Blyth from the Blyth Dance Studio can't choose between them.

"This is going to be almost a battle of the gods.

"It's amazing that two such entirely different types of people could stack up so strongly.

"In the final instance it could come down to the partners, Aaron and Brian, and how they judge just what their dancer can do."

Centrebet's Gerard Daffy was inching over in favour of Lorraine, who started the series at the bottom of the heap, paying $21 to win because of the view her beauty would prove her downfall, as it had with Nicky Watson the year before.

Bea was the firm favourite on $3.

On Thursday morning, Beatrice was on slightly better odds than Downes, but by that afternoon both were paying $1.85 to win.

Mr Daffy said about $2000 of bets placed this week were fairly even, with slightly more being placed on Downes.

After seven weeks of the show, Beatrice was on 311 and Lorraine was on 320.

While Downes has a marginal edge with the judges, Listener columnist Jane Bowron wonders whether her beauty will prove her curse with the public.

"Beatrice is the large but graceful underdog and the public will root for her, whereas they see Lorraine and think she's already got plenty of gold coinage, as it were. The fairies who were around the cot when she was born gave her a lot, so the public probably won't be voting as hard for her."

However, if Faumuina doesn't perform, Bowron thinks Downes could take it.

True to form, world champion discus thrower Faumuina - recently seen warning "you haven't seen the last of me yet" at the Commonwealth Games - has come out swinging.

"I won't be doing anything particular for luck that night as I don't believe in luck. You make your own luck with hard work and Brian and I have definitely put the work in."

The woman she's hoping to roast, Downes, is a former beauty queen.

The Miss Universe has a roasting of her own in mind for today's pre-finals prep.

She's hoping to get away from rehearsals long enough to eat the roast chicken her family is cooking.

TVNZ has not decided whether to do a third series next year, but whoever wins on the floor, TVNZ has won at the bank.

Last year, Dancing with the Stars was the most watched series on television, with an average audience of 741,000. As many as 980,000 watched the final.

This year, nearly 800,000 people on average have watched each episode.

THE DANCERS

* Lorraine Downes and Aaron Gilmore:

Total of scores: 320
Highest single score: 37 for paso doble and rumba
Perfect 10s: Three

* Beatrice Faumuina and Brian Jones:

Total of scores: 311
Highest single score: 36 for the jive
Perfect 10s: One

THE DANCES

* Lorraine and Aaron will dance the paso doble, for which they got one of their three overall 10s, a waltz and the freestyle.

* Beatrice and Brian will go for the jive, where Bea's flip of Brian scored them their only 10 so far, a tango and the freestyle.

THE PICKS

* The critic Jane Bowron: Beatrice. But predicts Lorraine will get an all 10s score sheet for one dance.
* The bookie Gerard Daffy: Lorraine.
* The dance expert Noel Blyth: Beatrice. Or Lorraine.

THE ODDS

* Pre-series:

Beatrice $3.
Lorraine $21.

* The final:

Beatrice $1.85
Lorraine: $1.85