DWTS Results Recap: The Winner is…

I can’t even believe we’re here at the finish line for the Season 14 edition of Dancing with the Stars. After a stellar first half of the finale, the competition is close and now it all comes down to viewer votes and one more dance scored by the judges.

After Monday night’s show, I selected Katherine Jenkins as the person who I thought would win it all. The judges love her and I think her performance style and sweet demeanor has possibly won over the voting audience. However, the champ could easily be William Levy or Donald Driver. The crowd loves them some Mr. Sexy William. As for Donald, he had a stellar freestyle routine and he probably won a ton of votes on the strength of it alone. All three are fabulous contestants and all three are deserving of the win.

Here we go…

9:00 PM/ET

A full cast performance launches the show. It’s always nice to see all those folks come back to the ballroom.

9:12 PM/ET

The judges select Donald and Peta Murgatroyd’s freestyle for a little encore performance. I can’t argue with that selection. I could watch this dance every week…ha.

9:21 PM/ET

Sherri Shepherd is back to dance the cha cha to “It’s Raining Men” with a bunch of male pros which is appropriate. She is loving it and having so much fun with it during the rehearsal footage. Sherri cracks me up. She was great to have on the show this season.

9:31 PM/ET

The first two eliminated couples – Martina Navratilova and Tony Dovolani and Jack Wagner and Anna Trebunskaya - are back to perform. Martina is just as bad as I remember…bless her heart. She was just out of her league on this show especially this season.

9:36 PM/ET

Yay! Gavin DeGraw is back! He performs a version of his island castaway routine from the week he was eliminated. I loved his self-deprecating humor during the course of his run on the show.

9:42 PM/ET

Gladys Knight returns with Tristan MacManus. Wow! I think she’s actually improved since her elimination. That’s not supposed to happen, is it?

9:45 PM/ET

Haha…Jaleel White is dancing the paso doble to the Shaft theme. This is genius! I so wish he had done this routine during the competition. Can you dig it?

9:52 PM/ET

Melissa Gilbert performs her trio dance with the Chmerkovskiy brothers.

9:56 PM/ET

Since Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower didn’t make it to the finals, they didn’t get their chance to perform a freestyle dance. But, lucky for them, they do for this show! And, it is fierce. Roshon is so talented at hip hop, so there are a lot of elements of that within the routine. Very cool.

10:01 PM/ET

Musical guest Kelly Clarkson sings a medley of her new single “Dark Side” and her big hit “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” 

10:08 PM/ET

Maria Menounos returns to dance with Derek Hough. They were so fun to watch this season despite her annoying laugh. I really thought they had an excellent shot at making the finals, but alas, they didn’t.

10:12 PM/ET

Finally! The final round of competition is here. They sure made us wait a while for it.

* William Levy and Cheryl Burke – William and Cheryl are sticking to the Latin family of dances as they tackle the salsa. Smart thinking.

Wow, their performance was so fantastic. It was filled with energy and joy. At one point, William slipped a bit on the floor, but he recovered really well and kept going. It wasn’t flashy, but it was solid.

Score = 30/30

* Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas – I kind of wish that Katherine and Mark would have chosen a more elegant dance like the waltz or something because she is so great at those types of dances.

Katherine hit the ballroom floor and went for it! Just like with William and Cheryl’s dance, there was a ton of energy. It was a good time and both the artistic and the technical aspects were spot on.

Score = 30/30

* Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd – Donald and Peta are kind of sticking with the whole up-tempo theme by performing the cha cha.

Donald starts the dance with some flirting with Carrie Ann Inaba. It’s always smart to play to the judges. His cha cha with Peta took some risks. It was a unique take on the dance and definitely veered away from a traditional version. I think it paid off though. Nicely done.

Score = 30/30

Everybody gets a 30!!!

Combined Total Judges Scores:
Katherine and Mark = 90/90
William and Cheryl = 89/90
Donald and Peta = 89/90

10:22 PM/ET

Gladys returns to do what she does best and that’s sing. She does a gorgeous version of “The Way We Were.” That woman is pure class. Her performance has Katherine in tears. Awww….

10:25 PM/ET

Oh my…it’s elimination time. I seriously have chill bumps…

William and Cheryl are awarded third place.

Now there are two…

Donald and Peta are the Season 14 champs!!! Wow…Donald is so pumped!

Well, that’s all, folks! Season 15’s All-Star edition of Dancing with the Stars will be here before you know it. See you in the fall!

Images: Adam Taylor/ABC

Nikita Palmer (@RTNowRadio) for Cumulus Media © 2012