Amber Riley and professional dance partner Derek Hough crowned 'Dancing with the Stars' champions

Dancing with the Stars has named a Glee star the latest recipient of its mirror-ball trophy.


Actress and singer Amber Riley and her professional partner Derek Hough were crowned Dancing with the Stars' seventeenth-season ballroom winners during Tuesday night's live finale results show on ABC.

"I did this competition because I didn't know if I could do it, and anything that scares me, I want to do. So I want to let women of all sizes out there know, you can do whatever you put your mind to. It doesn't matter what size you are, what color you are, you can do whatever, whatever, whatever you put your mind to!" Riley said after winning the competition.

Riley and Hough -- who is now a five-time Dancing with the Stars champion and also won last spring's season with country star Kellie Pickler -- hugged each other and their fellow contestants onstage amidst all the hype and chaos of the couple's victory. Both Riley and Hough then celebrated on the shoulders of their castmates.

Riley and Hough were revealed to be Dancing with the Stars champions based on the combination of the judges' scores they had received over the course of Monday and Tuesday night's four finale performance rounds and their share of the home viewer votes that were cast immediately following Monday's three initial rounds.


Disney Channel star Corbin Bleu and partner Karina Smirnoff finished in second place.

"I thank God for this experience. I thank my family and I thank the best partner in the world. Honestly, I came here and I did exactly what I wanted to do. I loved performing every day. I had a blast. I love you, [Karina]," Bleu noted after the results were announced.

Former The Osbournes and Armed & Famous star Jack Osbourne and partner Cheryl Burke claimed third place.

"I've learned that I'm definitely not a better dancer than my sister [Kelly Osbourne] for one. We are now tied," Osbourne joked, referencing how Kelly competed on Dancing with the Stars' ninth season and also finished in third place.

"But no, I've learned that if you just dive in and you have a great teacher, it is possible to become a ballroom dancer... Just going the distance, for me, was winning enough. I thought I was going to be out in Week 5 and here I am third place, like, I'll take that! It's like Rocky. He went the distance, he didn't quit... I felt like I won by going the distance."


"Jack has not only been such an inspiration to me but I think such an inspiration to everybody out there, and it's been on a whole other level for me," Burke added. "Jack has shown me that there is so much more life to live, you know, he's just made me see bigger."

Following the four rounds of competition over the course of the two-night finale, Riley and Hough finished in first place overall on the judges' leaderboard with a nearly-perfect 94 out of 95 possible points. Bleu and Smirnoff finished in second place on the combined two-night judging leaderboard with 89 total points. Osbourne and Burke earned an overall score of 84 points.

Riley and Hough topped the judges' leaderboard in first place on Monday night after receiving a near-perfect total score of 64 out of 65 possible points for their three initial routines from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

During Monday night's broadcast, the Top 4 finalists and their respective partners danced in three rounds of competition -- a previously-performed routine the judges wanted each couple to improve upon, a samba relay and the fan-favorite freestyle.

Bleu and Smirnoff finished in second place on Monday night's judging leaderboard after earning 62 total points. Osbourne and Burke followed closely behind them with a total score of 57 points. Comedian Bill Engvall and partner Emma Slater landed in fourth place on last night's leaderboard with 51 points, however, they were eliminated from the competition at the end of the broadcast.


For a more detailed description of each couple's scores and routines from Monday night's performance show, click here.

Tuesday night's finale featured the Top 3 couples each performing one last quickly-rehearsed "fusion dance," which combined two different dance styles, in the hopes of bettering their original judges' scores. The dance styles were selected for each couple by their opponents in a format that required some strategy.

Riley and Hough danced the samba and quickstep. Bleu and Smirnoff performed the cha cha and foxtrot. Osbourne and Burke took the stage with a routine that combined the paso doble and salsa.

Riley and Hough received a perfect score of 30 points from the Dancing with the Stars judges for their "fusion dance." Bleu and Smirnoff, as well as Osbourne and Burke, each received 27 points.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski