The judging is over and the 2007 “Dancing with the Stars” winner is Helio Castroneves and his partner Julianne Hough. The team of Mel B. and Maksim Chmerkovskiy provided stiff competition but in the end, Helio’s rock solid performance won out. They chose the Quickstep for their final dance. The judges gave them a score of 30.
As expected, Marie Osmond and her partner Jonathan Roberts were eliminated within the first 15 minutes. She joked with the judges and said, “I don’t care what you say – I’m a dancer.” They applauded her remark. The eliminated pair performed a tango as their final dance and received a standing ovation from the audience.
Helio is one of the top North American race car drivers. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2001 and 2002 and took second place in 2003. He has qualified for and started in pole position twice – including this year.
Castroneves has been at the top of the leader board consistently and has been a judges favorite throughout. This marks the second year that Julianne Hough has brought a partner all the way through the competition. Her winning partner from 2006 was Apolo Ohno, Olympic Speedskater.
We’ve included additional pictures below. Click each thumbnail photo for an enlarged view.