Bristol Palin in 2010, She may have had the "time of her life," but Bristol Palin bowed out in third place on Tuesday night's much-anticipated "Dancing with the Stars" finale.
"Dirty Dancing" darling Jennifer Grey, instead, showed once again that nobody puts Baby in a corner, snagging the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy for an emotional first-place finish.
The 50-year-old native New Yorker was crowned the newest "Dancing With The Stars" champ, sending Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, back to Alaska empty-handed.
"Yes! We did it!" said Grey, who hoisted the coveted trophy triumphantly above her head with professional partner Derek Hough on the live two-hour finale of the hit ABC show.
Grey fended off competitors half her age to take home the season 11 ballroom bonanza.
Disney Channel star Kyle Massey, 19, was voted runner up, followed by Palin.
Grey, the daughter of Broadway legend Joel Grey, and Hough, 25, now a three-time "Dancing" winner, were the odds-on favorites to triumph after their performances Monday night fetched a pair of perfect scores from the judges.
Grey made her final two dances Tuesday, despite nursing a ruptured disk in her spine and a partially torn knee tendon that capped off a season peppered with injuries.
"I didn't think I was going to compete tonight and I'm really glad I did," said a tearful Grey, a graduate of Dalton School on the upper East Side, as gold and silver glitter rained down on the winning pair.
The judges awarded Grey's gutsy Viennese waltz Tuesday night a perfect score of 30 and gave her a 28 for the Cha Cha.
Palin, an unwed mother and abstinence advocate, was boosted into the finals by her mother Sarah Palin's political supporters, whose votes offset the low scores she routinely received from the judges.
A military jacket-clad Palin let loose for a few seconds with an air guitar riff during her first dance of the finals evening, the tango with partner Mark Ballas, and the judges commended her on her fighting spirit.
"He's got the wow, and you've got the how," judge Len Goodman put it succinctly about Ballas and Palin's complementing styles.
Agreed fellow judge Carrie Ann Inaba: "This is by far my favorite. There's something about it that showcases your core strength."
But looks as though sheer strength wasn't enough to push the controversial competitor forward to a win in the end. The show's resident girl-next-door shimmied frantically and gyrated in a red dress with layered fringes for the final number of the night, an "instant" Cha Cha set to Pink's "Raise Your Glass."
"You all brought your A-game," said Inaba. "And you've all proved why you're here. Kyle, you and Lacey inspire joy. Bristol inspires hope. And Jennifer, you show the value of perseverence and what dancing's all about."
And ultimately, America decided, what winning is all about.
"I have so many memories from this competition," a teary-eyed Palin said as she was the first of the final three eliminated.
"This has been such a life-changing experience. I had the time of my life."
The 11th season of "Dancing" garnered over 11.5 million viewers an episode and was also the most controversial, mostly due to Sarah Palin's Momma grizzly influence.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Bristol Palin in 2010
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