After weeks of twists, turns, conspiracies, upsets and surprises, the winner of "Dancing With the Stars" ended up being the one contestant everybody assumed would win way back in the first week of the show. Former "Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey outlasted Disney actor Kyle Massey and teen mom Bristol Palin to take home the championship trophy on Tuesday night's (November 23) grand finale. It was a roller coaster of a season for Grey, who started out as the presumptive favorite, knocked a number of dances out of the park, slipped a bit when fatigue and expectations caught up with her but rallied in the last three weeks to dominateThere was a lot of speculation surrounding the rise of Palin and whether or not she would be able to summon enough votes to knock Grey and Massey down for the victory despite her significantly lower scores from Monday night (November 22). But the final voting tally shook out the same way as the scoring, as Massey finished in second place and Palin in third. Though it was inconvenient for the likes of Brandy, Kurt Warner and Rick Fox, the rise of Palin probably helped Grey in the end, as the challengers to Grey's place atop the pile kept getting knocked out of the competition just as they were gathering momentum. That left Grey to simply execute stellar dances and walk away the victor.
Though "Dancing With the Stars" has been active for 11 seasons now, it shows no signs of slowing, and this season was filled with enough great choreography, distinct personalities and dramatic narratives to justify many, many more competitions. What celebrities will be the next to step up and join the ranks of the great batch of famous folks from this go-round? We'll find out in the spring of 2011.
Read more:The 'Dancing With The Stars' Situation: Jennifer Grey Brings Home The Trophy
