Dancing's Done. Time to Party With the Stars
After Dancing With the Stars' big finale last night, it was time for everyone to kick off their ballroom shoes, slip into something way more comfortable and party as if they had all just won a tacky disco ball trophy. Everyone, that is, except for the man who actually just won a tacky disco ball trophy.
Yep. Champ Donny Osmond was not able to attend the festivities at Boulevard 3 in Hollywood, as he and his fellow finalists, Mya and Kelly Osbourne, reportedly had to hop on flights to NYC to make the required talk-show rounds.
So, while duty called for those three, the rest of Season Nine's participants happily took over the spotlight, with some telling us who they'd like to see strut their stuff during the next go-round…
Dancing Finale: Did Donny Really Beat Marie?
ABC/ADAM LARKEY
Should Donny meet Marie at Thanksgiving tomorrow, the Osmond brother best go easy on the Osmond sister with the Dancing With the Stars trash talk.
See, while Donny owns Marie when it comes to DWTS wins (one versus zip), Marie owns Donny—big-time—when it comes to DWTS ratings.
Last night's Donny-crowning finale fell more than 5 million viewers shy of the nearly 25 million who tuned in the fall 2007 closer, featuring Marie, preliminary Nielsen estimates showed.
But before Marie breaks into a flag-drawing touchdown dance, it should be said that against 2009 competition, Donny's show did just great, averaging a season-high 19.2 million.
Oh, and also, he won the mirror ball, and Marie didn't.
Exclusive
Backstage at DWTS: Mya "Disappointed," Donny "Numb" and Judges In Shock
ABC/ADAM LARKEY
Attention, astronauts: If you see a huge beam of light coming from somewhere near Donny Osmond's house in Utah, be not afraid.
"I'm probably putting it on top of my house with a spotlight on it for all the world to see," Donny told us tonight of his shiny new disco ball trophy.
We hung out backstage after tonight's live season finale of Dancing With the Stars, where Donny was crowned the winner and was downright giddy.
"I'm so happy. I'm so happy. I'm so happy right now!" he sang out. "I'm on cloud nine!"
And he wasn't the only one beaming...
Carrie Ann Inaba Trades Judges' Chair for Hospital Bed
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Spending all season craning your neck over the judges' table is good for catching illegal lifts, but not so good on your already arthritic neck.
As Dancing With the Stars' prettiest judge (sorry, Bruno) practices the former and suffers from the latter, Carrie Ann Inaba will be undergoing the first of what may be several surgeries this morning in order to relieve the pressure caused by her spinal stenosis.
"I have arthritis," she told People. "The space around my spinal cord has become compressed. I have been locked. My neck was so stiff. We're hoping this procedure will relieve that.
"I'll be fine and if this surgery goes well, I may have another one in the future."
The curse spares no one, people.
And just like her show's dancers, who know from speedy recoveries, Inaba plans to be back on her feet in no time. Along with fellow cofounders Katie Holmes, Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman, she plans to be in attendance at the Dizzy Feet Foundation's Celebration of Dance fund-raiser this Sunday in Los Angeles.
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You don't have to be working on the dance floor to get injured. Just like you don't have to be a hot young thing to take home the disco ball trophy, right, Donny Osmond?
Dancing With the Stars: A New Winner Raises the Disco Ball
Wait, Kathy Ireland was on this show? What the heck is Tom DeLay doing here?!
Oh right, the Dancing With the Stars finale is when a whole season's worth of contestants come out of the woodwork and remind the viewers just how right they were in casting these folks aside long ago.
With that behind them, Donny Osmond, Kelly Osbourne and Mya gathered tonight for one last spin around the floor and awaited to hear who would be bringing the illustrious disco ball trophy home for good.
Kelly danced the Viennese waltz more gracefully than ever; Mya brought new sharpness and confidence to her and Dmitry Chaplin's nerd-meets-seductress jive; and Donny performed his Argentine-tango ass off, somehow managing to look intense but not hammy.
But as Len Goodman said earlier, "There can be only one."
Exclusive
Dancing With the Stars' Mya: What She'd Do With the Disco Ball Trophy
ABC/Adam Larkey
What does one do after spending about 14 weeks working on Dancing With the Stars?
Get some much needed rest.
"I definitely need a break to allow my ankle to heal properly for about a couple of weeks," Mya told me earlier today during a break from rehearsing tonight's finale.
Mya and partner Dmitry Chaplin proved last night why they are this season's best dancers. They nabbed two perfect scores for their paso doble and the megamix, and a 27 for their Hairspray freestyle.
And Mya is also fun to talk to—no matter how tired she may be. I'm going to miss waking up to her voice every Tuesday morning. Read on for the last of our exclusive weekly chats.
Donny Discovers Parts He Never Had Before for Dancing With the Stars Finale
From Argentine tango to Viennese waltz, the final round of Dancing With the Stars had a little bit of everything.
Finalists Mya, Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond danced three times apiece on night one of the ABC hit's two-part finale, which will culminate tomorrow with one of these endearing celebs being crowned queen or king of the ballroom.
Though neither Donny nor Mya has ever been in the bottom two (or three) and Kelly and her can-do attitude have obviously developed quite the following, voters' loyalties may well have shifted during the course of the evening, thanks to the hit-and-miss nature of the routines.
We always expect the anything-goes freestyles to be especially exciting...so perhaps that's why we're even more let down when they fail.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First came a Latin round. Then they did a group mega-mix, in which all three couples performed the same Viennese waltz, samba and jive choreography simultaneously.
We broke it all down for you:
DWTS: Who Will Take Home the Disco Ball Trophy?
Adam Larkey/ABC
It's happy feet time!
With just a couple of days to go until the disco ball trophy is handed out on Dancing With the Stars, we thought we'd check in with some DWTS vets to find out what they think will go down when Mya, Donny and Kelly waltz as if their lives depended on it…
Derek Hough Goes Into Hyde-ing After Elimination
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
Life goes on for Derek Hough.
Although he and Playboy model Joanna Krupa were given the boot last night from Dancing With the Stars, it didn't stop stop him from enjoying the rest of the evening.
The 24-year-old professional hoofer hit the Asics record release party for Leona Lewis' new album, Echo, at West Hollywood club Hyde.
Clad in a black leather jacket, Hough showed up at about 11:30 p.m. and hung out and laughed in the club with a couple of guy friends.
Lewis, who performed on DWTS' elimination show despite suffering from a throat infection, arrived just before midnight...
Backstage at DWTS: Joanna Admits Her Shocking Elimination "Sucks"
ABC/ADAM LARKEY
That's gonna leave a mark.
In what can only be called the most jaw-dropping elimination so far this season on Dancing With the Stars, Joanna Krupa (who Carrie Ann Inaba thought might win) was sent packing last night.
We were backstage after the show and can tell you Joanna was feeling the sting.
"Being so close, it sucks not being able to go to the finals," Joanna tells us. "But I guess it is what it is."
Still, part of her saw it coming. "It was a hard competition and I knew that tonight anything could happen, so I was prepared for it."
Oh, and you won't believe who she and partner Derek Hough think may win…
Three Beat the Pressure, Advance to Finals on Dancing With the Stars
They've jived and jitterbugged, waltzed and rumba'd—all with an eye on lifting the disco-ball trophy on next week's season finale of Dancing With the Stars.
Mya and her "tutti-frutti booty" distanced herself from the pack Monday, scorewise, while Donny Osmond suffered an early stumble that left him playing catch-up all night. Making up the middle of the pack were Joanna Krupa, who's handled Derek Hough's standout choreography like a champ, and Kelly Osbourne, whose biggest competitive hurdle all season has been her own nerves.
Though it's hard to believe any of them had time to rehearse, what with all the sound bites they're expected to provide and David Bowie impressions they must do.
But tonight, after a dance sequence from Nine and performances by Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys and the Bee Gees, the competition was eventually whittled down to three finalists.
By the will of the people, who obviously love an underdog...
This Just In: Neil Patrick Harris Should Rule the World
Not So Horrible: In case you turned off the Internet yesterday, you may have missed the news that Neil Patrick Harris joined Twitter. NPH finds Twitter a fascinating and strange new medium for his comedy stylings. See above for proof.
Whee, Glee! New instant-classic Glee music is available online, including a version of "Lean on Me" (we're already preparing to cry during this TV performance), a fabulous pop "Crush," and "I'll Stand by You," which we have to guess (just guess) is Cory Monteith's Finn serenading Dianna Agron's Quinn about her pregnancy and such. Loverly!
Together Again? These new photos of Chace Crawford and Taylor Momsen filming Gossip Girl in New York remind us what a cute couple Little J and Nate were way back in season two. Anybody else want to see them rekindle something once Jenny turns 18?
Taking a Break: Julianne Hough told our own Ryan Seacrest she won't be back for Dancing With the Stars season 10.
American Music Awards: E! got the exclusive scoop that our girl Kristen Bell will be a presenter at the American Music Awards this weekend, along with Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Colbie Caillat.
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Click through our TV Celebrity Stunt Casting gallery for a sneak peek of James Van Der Beek on ABC's The Forgotten.
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