All three couples were deserving, but I’m very happy with this result!
I just can’t stop grinning!!! he he
[SPOILER]Good things do happen to people that work hard. 
Congrats to Melissa and Tony.
I’ve never seen a pro drop weight like Tony did this season. He must have been working his butt off. It’s been very noticeable how thin and haggard he’s looked the last three weeks. Tony’s choreography was so much better in All Stars. Even better than what he did with Melissa in Season 8. They earned this win.
I was really worried about judge’s shenanigans. There’s no way in the world that Shawn’s cha cha deserved a perfect 30. At best it was a 9.5 just like Kelly and Melissa got. I thought for sure TPTB were rigging it for Shawn’s win. I’m glad the fans came through for Melssia and Tony.
[/SPOILER]
Yay! Very happy with those results – the order of the top three was exactly right, IMHO.
The only unanswered question – are Kelly and Val sleeping together or not?
Re: the final sets of scores:
Even with the perfect scores tonight for Shawn and Derek, they were far enough behind from last night that they couldn’t catch up. I think it came down to viewer votes.
Once again the best dancer didn’t win. I know this show is supposed to be a dancing competition/popularity contest but I just can’t seem to shake the conviction that the best dancer should win, and the best dancer is Shawn. Even tonight and with a dance she didn’t want, Shawn nailed her dance. The only one of the three to do so. I’m happy for Melissa, she’s fun and she worked hard and the trophy was clearly very important to her. And I think I’m even more happy for Tony. Still, Shawn should have won.
But then so should almost every first or second runner up for as long as I’ve been watching the show. 
I loved seeing Drew’s daughter dance with him and Anna. That was such a special moment for the little girl that she’ll treasure always.
The two kids with Kym and Joey’s dances were cute too. They seemed to be trained dancers that the show must have found at some dance school.
I credit All Stars for creating so many new celebrity dances just for the final.
Yeah, usually the finale show is a greatest hits thing – also liked several of the new dances. The “Back to the Future” theme was esp. nice.
Pam’s thing, OTOH – ew. Esp. for a show with a lot of kids watching. Ew.
Yeah, ew on Pamela. Bristol seems to have found her niche in swishing her hips and tush. (Not bad looking, actually, but a DWTS stars All Star? nah…)
Dance Center was awesome! Those guys always bring the humor, last night had us rolling.
Overall, I think Melissa danced better. Last night, however, Shawn nailed it. Kelly shouldn’t have even been there, plus her melodrama fake showmance crap was really offputting for the entire run.
An enjoyable finals to top an enjoyable season.
Plus, my pick actually won. Wow.
From the reaction shot of the other dancers/stars when Val said that they were “very good friends” it’s clear that the other cast members think that they were sleeping together.
Everyone thinks so … the question is, are they?
Access Hollywood right after they won. Melissa and Tony holding the All Star mirrorball trophies. This was backstage right after they won. They were still super, super excited and happy.
I’m still smiling this morning. So happy for them!
I don’t think they are, I think it was showmance to garner votes, personally.
I agree. She’s a soap opera actress - if there’s anything she knows how to do, it’s overwrought sexuality.
She – to me, anyway – seems kind of embarrassed by it. For what that’s worth. All the overwrought sexuality is on Val’s side.
Melissa’s TV Guide comment really applies to all the All Stars. The partnership is such a key and often overlooked element on dwts. For example I thought the early rehearsal footage of Drew and Anna was off. There was tension in that partnership. Then week 1 it was apparent that Anna and Drew weren’t meshing as a partnership. I don’t know if they were actually arguing yet. But the support for each other, mutual respect, and collaborative process just wasn’t happening.
There were reports that Joey was goofing off, cracking jokes with the cast and just not taking it seriously. There are many reasons why some of the former champions got eliminated early. But the partnership is really key. I thought Emmitt and Cheryl did a good job recreating their partnership. It took them much further in All Stars than I expected. Emmitt did really well for someone that isn’t a natural dancer. I thought Emmitt matched his prior season’s performance but never could improve on it.
The three couples that made the finals all had improved significantly over their original seasons. We know now that the win was up for grabs. It was a very competitive ending and in that sense All Stars was a success.
Thanks for the link, that was a nice interview.
An update on Brooke Burke-Charvet. Looks like she’s had her surgery and all went well.
Good news.