Fall TV Blog

Tears of the DWTS Crown: After ten weeks of competition and three months of grueling rehearsals, it’s no wonder emotions ran high on Tuesday night’s finale. “It was really trying,” Burke told PEOPLE, “physically, emotionally, you name it.” Once their names were announced, the usually composed Burke let the tears flow freely. “I think the emotional release was surreal,” a misty-eyed Burke gushed, “While we were standing up there, I said to Derek, ‘I can’t feel my feet!’

She wasn’t the only one crying in the ballroom. As the silver confetti rained down on the reigning DWTS couple, Hough’s girlfriend Shannon Elizabeth proudly snapped photos just offstage and David Charvet took in his fiancée’s crowning moment with tears of joy brimming in his eyes with the couple’s two daughters by his side. “It’s almost like you’re out there with her,” said Charvet. “I had so much faith in her, but I didn’t think that she could achieve what she ended up achieving this year. She bluffed me completely and she continues to leave me speechless.”
(more…)

After 10 weeks of competition, Brooke Burke and her partner Derek Hough are in seventh heaven after being crowned season seven’s Dancing champs on Tuesday’s two-hour finale.

The duo raised their hands in triumph and hugged one another when their names were announced by co-host Tom Bergeron. Asked by Bergeron how it felt to win, Burke exclaimed, “Unbelievable!”

With her win, Burke joins an elite group of female stars–season one’s Kelly Monaco and season six’s Kristi Yamaguchi–who have hoisted the mirror-ball trophy and helped narrow the gap between the number of men to women Dancing winners to 4:3.

Burke and Hough headed into Tuesday night’s show with a 58 out of 60 for their samba and perfect freestyle. They received another perfect score for their third and final dance, the Viennese waltz, keeping them on top of the leader board with a total of 88 out of 90. They also won the viewers’ votes, which accounted for 50% of their total score.

For a moment it looked like crowd-pleaser, NFL star Warren Sapp, and his partner Kym Johnson had a chance to pull off an upset after Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer finished third in the competition.

But it was not to be. Burke, who was praised by the judges all season for her technical precision and grace on the dancefloor, and Hough sealed the deal Monday with a freestyle dance that simply blew away the competition.

Tell us: Do you think Brooke & Derek deserved to win?

KELSEY MCNEAL/ABC

Clearing Off the Mantle: His Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in 2003, but make no mistake about it – Warren Sapp would LOVE to add the mirror ball trophy to his sports awards collection. “I would put it on my mantle,” Sapp says. “If I got this trophy I would put it right above the fireplace underneath this oil painting I have of myself and Brett Favre. Definitely.” Sapp admits he has one regret about the Dancing season: “I didn’t get to spend enough time with Kym,” said Sapp. “I had other obligations and jobs that took me away at times and made it a little bit tough at times.”

‘N It to Win It: His pal Joey Fatone was season four runner-up, but Lance Bass says he’s in it to win it. “I was so nervous but we went out there and we killed it and I couldn’t be more proud,” Bass told PEOPLE after the show. Bass says he “talked to Joey all week this week. He unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight because he’s stuck in New York, but he said to just use my personality and get the people excited and have fun and that’s what we tried to do.” With the hard part of doing two dances over, Bass said he and his partner Lacey Schwimmer were “going out to Rocco’s (DiSpirito) pizza party tonight and have some good food and then we have to hit the sack because it’s a long day tomorrow.”
(more…)

Leading up to the Dancing with the Stars final, the three remaining contestants echoed the sentiment it’s “anyone’s game.” With that mentality–and their eyes on the mirror-ball trophy–all three brought their A game with some surprising results.

The night’s competition kicked off with the samba smackdown, a group dance that featured the three dancing couples showcasing the samba invidividually, then reuniting to finish the routine as a group. It was clear the moment Brooke Burke and her partner Derek Hough hit the dancefloor they were back.

“You were the one to beat in week one and i think you’re still the one to beat in week 10,” said head judge Len Goodman. Judge Bruno Tonioli was also smitten with the “sexy sizzler of a dancer,” but told Lance Bass that he’d “come up leaps and bounds” with his confidence and “could really be a leading man.” But it was clear to judge Carrie Ann Inaba that not only was Warren Sapp the “most improved,” but he had a “connection that no one else can even come close to” with the audience.
(more…)

The seventh season of Dancing With the Stars has been marked by ambulance rides, Hurricane Cloris and the news that one of the pros won’t be returning. But with the finale looming, the three stars left all can agree on one thing — it’s anybody’s disco ball.

“It’s one of those rare instances on this show where it’s a finale where no one knows what’s going to happen,” Brooke Burke tells PEOPLE. “We all bring something different to the competition and I always thought that Warren [Sapp] would make it to the end because he’s such a crowd-pleaser and he has that infectious smile, but Lance really has surprised everyone in the past few weeks.”

“It’s crazy,” Lance Bass says, echoing Burke’s assessment. “Brooke’s been the one to beat the entire season — the judges absolutely love her — and Warren is so much fun to watch, but I really think that it’s anyone’s game and what it’s going to come down to is the people voting.” (more…)

Between making it all the way to finals of Dancing with the Stars and handling football analyst duties, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp hasn’t fumbled yet.

After performing on Mondays and returning to the ballroom for the results show Tuesdays, Sapp gets back to his day jobs–analyzing football on Showtime’s Inside the NFL (which airs Wednesdays) and the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football, plus Sunday’s NFL GameDay Morning.

“If I haven’t fallen over right now,” Sapp tells PEOPLE, “I don’t think I will!”
(more…)

After becoming a household name on Dancing with the Stars, Julianne Hough is concentrating on the next stage of her career.

“I’m actually going to take next season off and really focus on my music,” Hough told PEOPLE backstage at the 36th annual American Music Awards in L.A. Sunday. “Get ready for the next record, start writing, going on tour, [and] promoting this record.”

In fact, after Thanksgiving, Hough, 20, plans to go to Nashville to record and settle into her new place. “I’m so excited to go back,” said Hough, who just bought a condo down South.

Hough, whose self-titled debut CD debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Album chart, announced last week she’s hanging up for Dancing shoes next season.

Hough, 20, first appeared on DWTS in March 2007, quickly became on the show’s most popular dancers and has reigned twice as Dancing queen, with partners Apolo Anton Ohno and Helio Castroneves.
(more…)

After four seasons, two mirror-ball trophies and plenty of bragging rights, Julianne Hough has announced that she’s hanging up her Dancing shoes–at least for a while.

“I’m not gonna be back next season,” the Dancing pro told Ryan Seacrest Thursday. “I really, really want to focus on the music and, ya know, be taken seriously a little bit. And I think it’s hard to be on [Dancing] and be singing.”

The news comes two days after Hough, 20, who just released a Christmas album at Target stores, and her season seven partner Cody Linley were eliminated on Tuesday night’s show.

The Hannah Montana star “kinda had an idea that we were gonna go home,” Hough added. “He was just emotional.”

It’s been a roller-coaster of emotions for Hough as well, who underwent appendectomy surgery in October and was nursed back to health by boyfriend of five months, country crooner Chuck Wicks. When asked by Seacrest, “Are you in love,” Hough said, “Yeah, I am” and giggled.
(more…)

Since Julianne Hough got eliminated from Dancing with the Stars this week, Lance Bass is breathing a little easier.

“She was the one I was scared of the most,” he told PEOPLE Wednesday at Paris Las Vegas. “She’s the queen of Dancing with the Stars and I know that she knows how to win this thing. I love her so much, but I’m glad she’s gone and I don’t have to face her.”

Bass’s competition now is Brooke Burke and former NFL star Warren Sapp. Burke, however, poses the biggest threat to Bass, he said.

“She’s definitely the one I’m looking at,” he said. “She’s been in first place every week and the judges seem to absolutely love her. She could pee on the floor and they would give her 10s for it.”

He adds: “Really in the finals it comes down to who dances the best. It doesn’t have to do with personality or anything, it’s just really who dances the best that night. It’s been a rough ride but I can’t believe I made it.” – Mark Gray

Revolutionpix/INF

The One-Shoe Jackpot: With a semifinal “show-stopping” mambo, followed by a “shoe-tossing” jitterbug, Lance Bass went from dark horse to Dancing’s surprise front-runner and judges’ favorite. “Getting a nine and then a 10 from Len–that’s a feat in itself!” Bass exclaimed. “Going into the finals, we suddenly have Len on our side, it’s so odd, but so perfect! Len didn’t like my dances when I was wearing both shoes, didn’t like my dance when I wore no shoes, but he loved the dance that I did with one shoe!”

Bass’s partner Lacey Schwimmer did her best to temper her partner’s enthusiasm going into the finals, saying diplomatically, “All three of the celebrities have what it takes to win, so it’s anybody’s ball game from here on out. Lance and I are going to pull out all the stops so that we can to win this thing!” With the audience and the judges (finally) backing them up, the one-time “outcasts” have the mirror-ball trophy in their sights. “Our confidence is definitely high,” Bass said, “We’ve tried taking chances all season long, just to see what works. Now we know what works, we’re going to use it to our advantage.”
(more…)