DANCING WITH THE STARS Season 13 Recap: J.R. Martinez dances off with mirror ball

By PAMELA HARLAND / Contributing Editor

Posted: November 23rd, 2011 / 09:06 AM

Karina Smirnoff and J.R. Martinez win the mirror ball (pictured here with Tom Bergeron) on DANCING WITH THE STARS - Season 13 finale | ©2011 ABC/Adam Taylor

Stars: Rob Kardashian, Ricki Lake, J.R. Martinez
Network: ABC, airs Mondays, Tuesdays
Original Telecast: Nov. 22, 2011

In an exciting finale to a nail-biting season, DANCING WITH THE STARS completes season 13 with J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff being crowned the DWTS champions! At times, throughout the season, it seemed Martinez had that mirror ball trophy all to himself, but a few guffaws and an injured ankle led some to speculate maybe his clenching that coveted award wasn’t such a sure thing after all. In the end, it all worked out for the war veteran and now part-time actor as he ended the season on top. Closely behind him, Rob Kardashian & Cheryl Burke placed second while Ricki Lake & Derek Hough came in third.

The festive and frilly DWTS night began with all three couples repeating a season favorite performance of theirs but adding a new twist to it. Lake took on her PSYCHO themed, Halloween Tango easily garnering her and Hough an extra ten points. Kardashian & Burke decided to redo their Foxtrot, a number especially sentimental to Kardashian who dedicated his performance to his late father the first time around. That Foxtrot gave them an extra 6 points while Martinez & Smirnoff echoed their Jive for the judges gaining an extra 8 judges’ points.

In between all the hoopla Lady Antebellum performed a couple of hit numbers while the DWTS dance troupe galloped and leaped their way across the dance floor.

A funny video snippet of the judges acting silly throughout the season was a pleasant treat. It was nice to see them show a more carefree and fun side to their personalities.

Then, there it was. The time for the first big announcement came. Coming in third place…Ricki & Derek. And there goes Hough’s chances at nabbing a fourth mirror ball trophy. It was surprising, but not really.

In a three-parter, we saw the story of season 13 throughout the night while those previously eliminated paraded onto the floor two, and sometimes more, at a time. Some of them performing better than they ever did while competing on the show, Carson Kressley and Chynna Phillips, in particular.

In the third act of the night, Martinez and Kardashian faced off one last time in an instant Samba dance off. Both nailed it and received perfect 30 scores. After a quick tallying up of their final judges’ scores – Kardashian had 113 and Martinez 112 – all that was left was a commercial break before the big announcement was made…the DANCING WITH THE STARS: Season 13 champions are… J.R. & Karina!

There you have it. DWTS’s season 13 is complete and until next year, the dance floor is closed.

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