Dancing with the Stars has determined the franchise's first-ever all-star mirrorball trophy champs.
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Reality TV star Melissa Rycroft and her professional partner Tony Dovolani were crowned Dancing with the Stars' fifteenth-season ballroom winners during Tuesday night's live finale results show on ABC.
After Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron and co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet announced the results, an overwhelmed Dovolani yelled out, "Oh sh-t!" The pro dancer ran around the stage cheering while Rycroft hugged her fellow competitors onstage amidst all the hype and chaos. Both Dovolani and Rycroft seemed absolutely shocked about their victory and celebrated on the shoulders of castmates.
Rycroft was thrilled about her accomplishments, because of the three female finalists who made it to the end, she was the only one who had never won a Dancing with the Stars title. Similarly, after 14 seasons of competing on the reality dance competition with celebrity partners, Dovolani was finally crowned a champion.
The pair had previously finished in third place during the eighth edition of Dancing with the Stars.
Rycroft and Dovolani were declared Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars champions based on the combination of their share of the judges' scoring points from Monday and Tuesday night's three finale performance rounds and their share of the home viewer votes that were cast immediately after Monday's two initial rounds.
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Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson and partner Derek Hough finished in second place.
"Hopefully I made this guy proud, because he's unbelievable -- the talent he has," Johnson noted after performing her final dance with Hough, reflecting on the season as a whole.
"After doing the show for so long, you try to find new ways to make it special, and this one made it more than special regardless of the result. It's the most special season I've had and I think we can all say that," added Hough.
Soap star Kelly Monaco and partner Val Chmerkovskiy claimed third place.
"I mean, it's a completely different experience for me," Monaco said following her ouster, comparing this season to her first time around on the show.
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"The journey was amazing. As I said up there before to you Brooke, the friendships and the relationships that I've made is what's going to be long-lasting. And this guy [Val] is the most incredible man and the most talented dancer out there, and he taught somebody who had no idea how to stand on both of her feet and talk at the same time how to dance gracefully."
Rycroft and Dovolani received a perfect 60 out of 60 possible points for their two Monday night dances from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.
During Monday night's episode, the Top 3 finalists each performed two individual ballroom routines -- one being their favorite dance of the season they wanted to perfect, and the other being a supersized freestyle in which the pairs could take charge creatively and enhance the routine by utilizing extra performers.
Rycroft and Dovolani topped Monday night's judging leaderboard in first place. Monaco and Chmerkovskiy finished in second place on the leaderboard after receiving 59 total points. Johnson and Hough followed closely behind them with an overall score of 57 points.
Tuesday night's finale broadcast featured the three remaining couples each performing one last quickly-rehearsed "instant dance" routine in the hopes of bettering their original scores. The couples were not able to learn the dance style they needed to perform or the music to match until one hour prior to taking the dance floor. All they knew ahead of time was that they could prepare for the three potential dances -- the samba, cha cha or jive -- knowing they were going to randomly select one of them to perform.
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Rycroft and Dovolani earned 28.5 out of 30 possible points from the Dancing with the Stars judges for their "instant samba." Johnson and Hough earned a perfect score of 30 for their cha cha performance, while Monaco and Chmerkovskiy racked in an additional 28.5 points for their "instant jive" routine.
The scores all three couples received from the judges for their final dances combined with their prior Monday night judges' total scores -- which, when tallied, were only within one point or less of each other and put Rycroft and Dovolani in first place with 88.5 out of 90 possible points -- and the home-viewer votes cast immediately following Monday night's show ultimately determined Rycroft and Dovolani's victory.
Monaco and Chmerkovskiy finished in second place overall on the combined two-night judging leaderboard with 87.5 total points. Johnson and Hough earned a two-night overall score of 87 points.
Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars' finals had three female celebrities competing for the mirrorball trophy for the first time in the show's history.
Monaco and Johnson have both been crowned Dancing with the Stars champions in prior seasons. Johnson won the show's eighth season with partner Mark Ballas in 2009, while Monaco won Dancing with the Stars' inaugural season in 2005 with partner Alec Mazo.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski