Julianne Hough was my favorite from the very beginning when she danced last season with Olympic Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno and she WON last season too!! I'm so happy for both her and Helio. They danced well and had very good chemistry on the dancefloor. It appeared to me that Mel and Max had WAY tooooooo much confidence they were going to win. I am thrilled Helio and Julianne won!!
Helio Castroneves got the checkered flag he never dreamed of Tuesday night when he won ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” competition in Los Angeles.
Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner from Brazil, hoisted the Mirror Ball Trophy with dance partner Julianne Hough before what was expected to be nearly 25 million television viewers.
“This is an incredible moment,” Castroneves said while clutching a jug of milk, his drink of choice after race victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I wanted this so bad.”
Castroneves and fellow finalist Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls each received perfect scores in Tuesday’s final round. Fan voting also was factored in.
“It will look so good between my two Indy 500 trophies,” Castroneves said of his "Dancing" trophy.
Castroneves said that he was “shocked” by the victory: “I was not expecting it. Mel, she’s an incredible dancer.”
Castroneves and Hough came into the finals in second place, one point behind Brown and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
Brown was described as “the most versatile dancer” of the 12 celebrities by one of the show’s judges, Len Goodman.
But judge Bruno Tonioli said Castroneves is “like the sunny side of life.”
Castroneves, the third consecutive athlete to win the competition, singled out the people of Indianapolis for supporting him during the 10-week event.
“It’s been the most amazing experience,” he said. “I have to thank America, and especially Indianapolis, for voting for me.”
Overall, Brown was by far the more polished performer, consistently wowing the judges with her versatility and flair. But Castroneves’ personality and enthusiasm, plus an effortless quickstep on his final performance, earned enough viewer votes to carry the day. His partner, Hough, also had won last season’s competition, with speed skater Apollo Anton Ohno.
Brown admitted that losing “was a horrible feeling. I’m not going to deny it.”
Earlier Tuesday, as expected, Marie Osmond was the first finalist to be eliminated. She and her partner, Jonathan Roberts, came into the finals in third place with 46 points after a doll-inspired freestyle routine panned by judges and bloggers alike.
Osmond, 48, had enjoyed strong viewer support throughout the hit show’s fifth season while enduring the death of her father and fainting on stage.
The show “gave me something that I knew was solid, something I can count on,” she said in a segment recorded before her ouster. “It’s been one of the best experiences of my life.”
Castroneves is scheduled to be in New York today for an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Thursday in New York, he is to be a guest on the TV show “The View,” before flying to Orlando, Fla., to participate in a Christmas parade at Walt Disney World.
The ABC show began with a dozen dancers. Model-actress Josie Maran was the first to be eliminated. Other nixed contestants were actresses Sabrina Bryan, Jennie Garth and Jane Seymour, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, entertainer Wayne Newton, boxer Floyd Mayweather, actor Cameron Mathison (who took off his shirt after his last dance Tuesday) and model Albert Reed.
Web site predicted second place
Earlier in the day, a Web site that tracks fan telephone calls to such reality shows as “Dancing With the Stars” had Castroneves finishing second in the finale.
The Web site (www.dialidol.com) had correctly identified each celebrity to be eliminated since the season began, even noting the surprising knockout of entertainer Sabrina Bryan, the best dancer of the 12 celebrities who began the competition in September.
The Web site expected Melanie Brown to win with Marie Osmond third.
The ABC show averaged around 20 million weekly viewers for each of its twice-weekly episodes in the 2006-07 season, eclipsed only by Fox powerhouse “American Idol.” Last week, “Dancing” drew nearly 22 million viewers, making it the No. 1 show.
