Dancing's checkered flag goes to Indy 500 champ
11/27/07 10:39 PM
By ED BARK
Showing off his other motor skills, two-time Indy 500 champ Helio Castroneves took first place Tuesday night in the latest Dancing with the Stars finale.
The bouncy Brazilian road racer bested Britisher Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown in becoming the fourth straight male celebrity to win the ABC hit's gaudy "mirror ball" trophy.
Pro partner Julianne Hough also entered the winner's circle for the second straight time after guiding speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno earlier this year on Dancing's fourth edition. The show's other victors are former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and ex-boy band singer Drew Lachey, who now will host a Jan. 7th spinoff titled Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann.
Soap star Kelly Monaco topped Dancing's inaugural edition, but not without controversy. Most viewers seemed to think that runnerup John O'Hurley got robbed during times when the judges' scores carried more weight. The two later met in a ballyhooed but little-watched rematch that he won.
The fifth's edition's original 12-celebrity field included Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who made it through four rounds alongside picturesque partner Kym Johnson. They returned with fellow evictees Tuesday night, reprising their opening night fox trot to the tune of Roger Miller's "King of the Road."
Cubes otherwise had little to do, other than lend his black coat and cream-colored vest to fellow competitor Cameron Mathison. That became more or less necessary after the All My Children star doffed his sleeveless Superman T at the urging of gurgling co-host Samantha Harris.
The night's third finalist, Marie Osmond, was jettisoned just 15 minutes into the interminable two-hour finale. A queen-sized "fan base" had kept her alive longer than her dancing deserved. But a disastrous rag doll bit during Monday's climactic "freestyle" competition doomed any real chance of victory. Cripes, Uncle Barky, you're acting as though any of this really matters.
Belo8 cared enough to abruptly cut away from Dancing a minute early, just as Cuban was embracing the victorious Castroneves.
With just Wednesday night remaining in the November "sweeps," Belo8 was angling to pad its runaway victory margin in the 10 p.m. newscast race. It no doubt inherited a huge lead-in audience from Dancing, which has dominated the Monday and Tuesday night Nielsens since September's season premiere.
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