And the Winner of Dancing With The Stars is...

With a season full of surprises and shocking eliminations, it's no mystery that Tuesday's finale of Dancing with the Stars was a nail-biter, right down to the last remaining minutes of the telecast.



As consistently low-scoring Bristol Palin advanced ahead of stronger dancers like Audrina Patridge and Brandy, fans and the media argued about whether Dancing had lost its credibility.

Palin held her own on Monday night's performance show against the season's most dynamic performer, actress Jennifer Grey, and charismatic actor Kyle Massey. Still, Palin received the lowest scores.

Did Palin's fans vote in droves to ensure she takes the Season 11 mirror-ball trophy home to Alaska? Or did America truly vote for the best dancer – which, depending on whom you ask, is either Grey or Massey?



It's Jennifer Grey!

The audience cheered and the actress broke into tears as her professional partner, Derek Hough, jumped up and and down. This is the third win for Hough, who also had victories with Nicole Scherzinger and Brooke Burke.

Grey, 50, endured health problems throughout the competition and on Tuesday night danced through pain from a slipped disc.

Massey, 19, came in second place, and Palin's amazing run ended. The 20-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin had a third-place finish.

Dancing With the Stars: Did Bristol Palin Save Her Best for Last?

Grey has dazzled Dancing With the Stars fans and judges with incredible routines. And on Monday night, the season's final performance show, Grey and partner Derek Hough achieved perfection for the second week in a row.

They received 30 out of 30 points for both of their dances – a paso doble that had the audience and the judges on their feet and a freestyle that had Bruno Tonioli raving about "two dances at the opposite end of the spectrum and both equally brilliant!"

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer didn't disappoint with a suave foxtrot that earned a solid 27 out of 30 points and had judge Len Goodman gushing that the actor had gone from "Messy Massey to marvelous."

The duo's hip-hop themed freestyle earned them a score of 29 out of 30 points and Massey a new nickname from Carrie Ann Inaba, who called him "the Fresh Prince of Dancing with the Stars."

At the bottom, once again, were Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas.

The 20-year-old Palin emerged from a hibernation of sorts – and not just because Mama Grizzly Sarah Palin was sitting in the front row – with the routine that earned a much-deserved standing ovation and a score of 27 out of 30.

But their Chicago-themed freestyle didn't fare as well. The musical-inspired routine fell short, with Bruno Tonioli commenting that it was "not quite at the level" of what a finale night freestyle should be, earning 25 points for a combined total score of 52/60 for the night.

Now that the judges' scores have been tallied, the contestants' fates are in the hands of the American voting public. Will Palin's fans pull her through again? Hopefully NOT!

The season 11 live results show airs tonight at 9:00 pm (ET) on ABC.

Did Bristol Palin Survive Another Week of Dancing?

Bristol Palin may miss her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, but the teen mom is making herself nice and cozy on Dancing with the Stars – in the cellar.

For another week, Palin and partner Mark Ballas finished last with an Argentine Tango and a samba that couldn't match up with the skills of the other contestants.

But Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya were only one point away from the bottom with their waltz and cha-cha performances.

Did Palin survive another week Tuesday, leaving Warner to pack his bags? Or did this week's elimination follow the last two shockers?

Palin will dance another day as Warner was eliminated. The audience chanted, "M.V.P.," to the retired football star.

It's now down to four semi-finalists. Along with Palin, they are Brandy, Jennifer Grey and Kyle Massey.

Spoiler Alert! Did Bristol Palin or Florence Henderson Get Booted Off Dancing With The Stars?

Bristol Palin found herself in a hairy situation Monday night on Dancing with the Stars.

The contestant – who celebrated her 20th birthday the same night – and partner Mark Ballas sported furry monkey suits during part of their jive routine, which failed to impress judges.

Dancing to the Monkees theme song on a night of TV-themed performances, Palin and Ballas earned just 18 points, landing them in last place, behind Kyle Massey, who scored 20, and Florence Henderson, who scored 21.

Did Palin pack up her Dancing shoes and head back to Alaska? Keep reading to find out who was kicked off during Tuesday's elimination show.

Bristol is safe! And so is Kyle! Instead, Henderson was told she earned the lowest combined score and was eliminated.

"I've been in TV for 50 years and I have to say honestly this has been one of the best produced shows I've ever been on," the Brady Bunch star said after she heard the news. "I've loved the show since it began. It's just a tremendous show."

Henderson, who danced with pro Corky Ballas, added, "I hope I've inspired people to get off their behinds and move and dance and live and enjoy life."

Pairs are Revealed for Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars

Bristol Palin and her modest outfits will be paired up with two-time winner Mark Ballas for the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. On the other end of the spectrum, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Karina Smirnoff — neither one exactly a stranger to showing a little skin — have been teamed together.

The nine other pairings — just announced by ABC News — for this season are as follows: Michael Bolton and Chelsie Hightower; Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy; Margaret Cho and Louis Van Amstel; Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke; Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough; David Hasselhoff and Kym Johnson; Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas; Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer; and Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani.

The list of professional dancers notably does not include Edyta Sliwinska, who says she is leaving the show to pursue other projects and finish school. “I’m grateful to the show but my life can’t be limited to DWTS,” she Tweeted on Monday.

The new season begins on September 20th.

Did Kate Gosselin Survive Dancing?

Despite low scores from the judges and criticism from her own dance partner, Kate Gosselin escaped elimination Tuesday night from Dancing With the Stars.

Instead, Shannen Doherty got the boot even though she and partner Mark Ballas performed a crowd-pleasing Jive as a show opener Monday.

“Dancing has never been my thing,” says the Charmed star. “It’s fitting. My partner is hurt, and I wouldn’t want to go on without him.”

Had Doherty not been bounced, Ballas was going to have to take a six-week break because of a serious leg injury.

Although Gosselin survived, the reality TV star, 35, has her work cut out for her. The mom of eight sparred with partner Tony Dovolani over his teaching methods during rehearsals Monday, with the dance pro so frustrated he threatened to quit.

They patched things up just in time to perform a Jive that judge Bruno Tonioli labeled “a disaster.”

Also getting to dance another round was 80-year-old Buzz Aldrin. The former astronaut and partner Ashly Costa landed at the bottom of the scoring pile Monday despite a warm audience response to their foxtrot.

Dancing with the Stars’ Double Elimination

It was a double elimination at Dancing with the Stars Tuesday night and actress Melissa Joan Hart was the first to go.

“I kind of went deaf when he announced my name, and then I went, ‘Oh no, was that us?’” Hart recalled after the show. “I’m going to miss the costumes, the lights, the music [and] walking down the stairs.”

And what about her partner Mark Ballas?

“I feel like I’m going to see him all the time. I’m not going to be able to get rid of this guy,” she joked.

Ballas says he was proud of her dancing, especially since she had never danced before appearing on the show. He reminded Hart about her Charleston, which earned her high marks and sent her to the top of the leader board a few weeks ago.

“You’ll always have that Charleston. You’ll always have that 10,” he told Hart. “A lot of people don’t get that.”

Hart says she will miss the other couples, including snowboarder Louie Vito and his partner Chelsie Hightower who also performed their last dance this week.

In the show’s first ever dance-off, Vito and NFL football player Michael Irvin — who had the lowest scores — were forced to compete and perform 30 seconds of their favorite style of dance. The judges decided who would stay.

“I hate losing. I hate it. It’s probably one of the worst things in the world for me,” says Vito, who danced the jive while Irvin chose the samba. “I really wish I was on the other side of this one and (Irvin) was shaking our hand and congratulating us and they were going home. That’s the competitor inside me.”

SPOILER ALERT: Dancing with the Stars Results

** SPOILER ALERT **

If you have not yet seen this week's results show of "Dancing with the Stars", you may want to stop reading the rest of this posting.

Okay, well I must start off by stating that "Nope, Cloris Leachman was not eliminated ths week".

The third dance couple eliminated from "Dancing with the Stars", with the lowests amount of votes was...

Kim Kardashian & Mark Ballas