Dancing with the Stars has awarded its mirrorball trophy to new champions.

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Iraqi war veteran and former All My Children soap star J.R. Martinez and professional partner Karina Smirnoff were crowned Dancing with the Stars' thirteenth-season ballroom winners during Tuesday night's live finale results show on ABC.

"Oh man, you know what? First and foremost, I want to thank everybody who voted for us for 10 weeks. Thank you America for believing in us, and I want to say you [Karina] are amazing, and I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of your first mirrorball trophy. Thank you very much!" Martinez said after Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron revealed the couple's victory.

Martinez and Smirnoff were crowned Dancing with the Stars' champions based on the combination of their share of the judges' scoring points from Monday and Tuesday night's four finale performance rounds and their share of the home viewer votes that were cast immediately after Monday's two initial rounds.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians sibling Rob Kardashian and partner Cheryl Burke finished in second place.

"I'm not going anywhere," Kardashian told Dancing with the Stars co-host Brooke Burke afterwards.

"I'm going to see him at least once a week. I love him so much and we're going to stay friends forever," his partner said.

"I'm super thankful. This was such a crazy experience," Kardashian said.

"You're my winner," Burke interjected.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely not sad. I'm number one in my book," Kardashian joked.

"Yes, and in my book. You won, are you kidding?! Amazing," Burke added happily.

Former talk show host Ricki Lake and partner Derek Hough claimed third place.

"I've loved basically every minute of this. I really feel like I had the best partner, the best teacher, the best motivator -- and I've done something that I really didn't think I could do. For someone who's a middle-aged mom, I hope that I made my children proud, my fiance and my family. I really appreciate everyone who voted for me and supported me along the way. This is a fantasy come true!" Lake said.

"It has been a fantastic season and really, she is just an absolute winner. She just knocked it out of the park the entire season and I'm very, very, very proud," Hough added.

Kardashian and Burke -- who had never even finished as high as second on the competition's judging leaderboard until last week's semifinal round -- received 57 out of 60 possible points for their two Monday night routines from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

During Monday night's episode, the remaining three couples were each required to perform one routine in a dance style they had not performed yet and a second dance in a freestyle format which allowed them to perform whatever they wished. Martinez and Smirnoff finished the two dances tied for second place on the judges' leaderboard with Lake and Hough with 54 points each.
 
Tuesday night's finale broadcast featured the three couples each performing their favorite dance of the season in the hopes of bettering their original scores.

Lake and Hough decided to revisit the tango and came in first place for their attempt, receiving 30 points from the judges. Martinez and Smirnoff settled on a former jive and earned 28 points for coming in second place, while Kardashian and Burke came in third place after they opted to also re-perform a jive routine which received 26 points from the judges. 

The scores all three couples received from the judges for their favorite dances combined with their prior Monday night judges' scores -- which, when tallied, were only within one point of each other and put Lake and Hough in first place with 84 out of 90 possible points, Kardashian and Burke in second place with 83 total points and Martinez and Smirnoff in third with 82 points -- and the home-viewer votes cast following Monday night's show ultimately determined Lake and Hough's ouster.

After Lake and Hough's third-place finish was revealed, Kardashian and Burke and Martinez and Smirnoff were given the opportunity to square off and dance to Ricky Martin's "Shake Your Bon Bon" in the finale's final "Instant Samba" round, which helped determine Dancing with the Stars' thirteenth-season champions.

Unsurprisingly, both couples' "Instant Samba" routines received perfect 30 out of 30 scores from the judges -- leaving Kardashian and Burke in the lead points-wise with a score of 113 out of 120 possible points from the judges and Martinez and Smirnoff just behind them in second place with 112 total points.

The couples' shares of the judges' scoring from all four performance rounds were then combined with their shares of the home viewer votes which were cast immediately after Monday night's two initial rounds, and both pairs' final finishes were announced.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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