julianne hough

Race-car driver Castroneves captures 'Dancing' honor
Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
The big question -- could Marie Osmond pull off a beloved-underdog sort of win on "Dancing With the Stars"? -- was answered early in the show Tuesday night with a resounding "no."

Instead, taking home the mirror ball trophies were Indy car driver Helio Castroneves and his pro partner, Julianne Hough, who reprised a quick-step they did earlier in the season, winning a perfect score from the judges.

It's Hough's second trophy; she won last year dancing with athlete Apolo Anton Ohno.

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Apparently America did have a limit to the love hard-wired into its psyche for that chipmunk-cute Osmond charm, or maybe it was that goofy baby doll dance she tried last week, but when Marie was shown the door, there went much of the show's drama.

For the next two hours viewers were treated to a seemingly endless orgy of over-singing (not one but two songs from Celine Dion), over-emoting (many of the losing dancers returned for a farewell spin) and endless plugs for an upcoming ABC dance show featuring Drew Lachey.

But for the last 15 minutes anyway, viewers were left with a fairly evenly matched, high energy ballroom smackdown between Spice Girl Melanie Brown and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and Castroneves and Hough.

The big question -- could Marie Osmond pull off a beloved-underdog sort of win on "Dancing With the Stars"? -- was answered early in the show Tuesday night with a resounding "no."

Instead, taking home the mirror ball trophies were Indy car driver Helio Castroneves and his pro partner, Julianne Hough, who reprised a quick-step they did earlier in the season, winning a perfect score from the judges.

It's Hough's second trophy; she won last year dancing with athlete Apolo Anton Ohno.

Apparently America did have a limit to the love hard-wired into its psyche for that chipmunk-cute Osmond charm, or maybe it was that goofy baby doll dance she tried last week, but when Marie was shown the door, there went much of the show's drama.

For the next two hours viewers were treated to a seemingly endless orgy of over-singing (not one but two songs from Celine Dion), over-emoting (many of the losing dancers returned for a farewell spin) and endless plugs for an upcoming ABC dance show featuring Drew Lachey.

But for the last 15 minutes anyway, viewers were left with a fairly evenly matched, high energy ballroom smackdown between Spice Girl Melanie Brown and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and Castroneves and Hough.

You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or a