Nicole Scherzinger

Nicole Scherzinger (last.fm)

Let’s give a big applause to Nicole Scherzinger!

On Tuesday, the lead singer of Pussycat Dolls had been dubbed as the 10th season winner of “Dancing With the Stars.” With that result, Olympic gold medalist skater Evan Lysacek followed in second place, and sports reporter Erin Andrews trailed in third, respectively.

The pop star was clearly a front-runner throughout most of the season and repeatedly labeled by the judges the best they’d ever seen on the show. The season of the show itself had been measured as the TV show’s best yet, as judge Bruno Tonioli agreed.

All three couples made Tuesday’s finale the closest yet after an initial round of Argentine tangos that wowed judges. Andrews and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy came on strong in Monday’s performance round with a season high score of 55 points to tie Scherzinger and Hough for the lead. Since the season was considered the best yet, judge Len Goodman also added that during ten seasons of the show, judging the three tangos of Monday night performances is the hardest job they (the judges) have ever had.

Andrews was eliminated in the initial round of tangos, the remaining couples danced a second routine with Lysacek and Trebunskaya failing to impress the judges with a quickstep as much as Scherzinger and Hough did with their jive to the up tempo song “Proud Mary.” “You set this place on fire,” said judge Carrie Ann Inaba, “It has been nothing but amazing.”

“There were 12 days of Christmas, seven dwarves, four Beatles. There can only be one winner of Dancing With the Stars. It should be you,” said head judge Len Goodman as he and colleagues Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli awarded the top contender one last 30. They took home a total of 115 for the two final nights, Monday and Tuesday. Lysacek and Trebunskaya had a 28 on their quickstep and ended with 108 points over the two nights. Combined with audience voting, the night belonged to Scherzinger and Hough.

So, when host Tom Bergeron finally announced Scherzinger was the winner, she seemed genuinely surprised, jumping up and down, screaming and hugging her professional partner Derek Hough. The Pussycat Dolls frontwoman simply screamed with glee at having bested a determined competitor and his flame-haired partner. Scherzinger then blew a kiss to her rival Lysacek and his partner Anna Trebunskaya, and he graciously accepted second place saying he was “totally satisfied with everything we gave.”

This is the second time winning for Hough, who joyfully said, “Everyone’s been amazing and I’m so happy!” He had previously won the title with Brooke Burke in season seven. They lifted the mirror ball high above their heads and rode the shoulders of the other dancers off the ballroom floor.

After the show, when asked how she feels about her winning, “I feel like I just won a Grammy. A dancing Grammy!” Even more valuable than the trophy, Scherzinger said, were the personal lessons she learned during the season. “This has been probably the greatest reward personally, this whole personal journey,” she said. “I’ve learned so much about myself. I’ve learned so much about Derek Hough. He’s made me a better person through this.” She added that she plans to work on winning a real Grammy now that her “Dancing” stint is done.

Tuesday’s action-packed final episode featured back-to-back performances by the season’s finalists and past contestants. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin danced in a bedazzled space suit that host Tom Bergeron joked was from the “NASA Liberace collection.” Kate Gosselin reprised her much maligned performance to “Paparazzi,” then tore off her dress to reveal a sparkly miniskirt to finish the routine to the disco staple “I Will Survive.”

Pamela Anderson and Niecy Nash performed a sexy number together. Anderson emerged from the ceiling wearing a lacy neglige and slithered seductively across three male dancers lying on the floor to finish her routine. That’s when Nash took over, shaking her “jiggly parts” in a hot pink sequined minidress. “The Bachelor” Jake Pavelka danced with his betrothed, Vienna Girardi. Actors Shannen Doherty and Aiden Turner also returned to the dance floor.

The show’s first college dance competition came to a close Tuesday, with the team from Utah Valley University taking home their own mirrorball trophy. The ABC show averaged 21.6 million viewers a night and competed for the title America’s most watched show with popular singing contest “American Idol” on rival Fox.

We’re happy for you, Nicole… Congrats!

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