America caught a case of dance fever this summer when the TV sensation, Dancing with the Stars, soared to the top of the ratings. Twenty million viewers tuned in each week to watch celebrities like Evander Holyfield, Rachel Hunter, Joey McIntyre, Kelly Monaco and John O'Hurley spin and stumble their way to the grand finale with their professional dancing partners.
Crowd favorite John O'Hurley, of Seinfeld fame, and soap star Kelly Monaco faced off in the final show, and Kelly and her partner took home the crown!
However, a little controversy arose after the finale. Viewers were not able to vote on the dancers' final performances—and some believed that was unfair.
So Tuesday night, it was Kelly versus John for the big rematch! And this time viewers would decide the winner. Kelly pulled out all the stops…she twirled her way towards victory with sexy spins and daring lifts. John fought back with his "oh-so-smooth" fancy footwork. Now, the people have spoken and the new big winners are…John O'Hurley and Charlotte Jorgensen!
John and Charlotte dazzled viewers on Tuesday night with their fancy footwork and signature style. To celebrate their big win, they are dancing live…just hours after the big announcement!
Though John compares his footwork before Dancing with the Stars to a "beached whale…flopping around," he certainly looks like a pro now!
After the controversy of the original contest, do John and Kelly have any hard feelings?
"Oh, no! Not at all," John says. "Before we went on Tuesday night, I grabbed her by the shoulders and said to her, 'Let's remember this for the rest of our lives because it is a moment that will probably never repeat.'"
Charlotte, a dancer since she was just 2 years old, enjoyed the opportunity to do what she loves in front of millions of people. "It's amazing to share the love of dance with so many people, getting people excited," she says. "And they tune in and they see the chemistry [between us]. It was fun."
Just three years ago, Kelly Clarkson was a small-town girl, working as a cocktail waitress in Texas. Now, she's a triple-platinum musical sensation thanks to a little show called American Idol.
Kelly won the first season of Idol with the song "A Moment Like This," but her moment didn't stop there. She went on to receive a Grammy nomination, two MTV Video Music Awards and four top 10 hits. Her smash single "Breakaway" just broke Celine Dion's record for most weeks at number one!
She also holds the distinction of being the only American Idol contestant to never feel judge Simon Cowell's wrath.
"So a while back I talked to Simon and he says he knew from day one that you would win," Oprah says. "He said he always knew it."
Kelly might still be slinging cocktails if it weren't for the persistence of her good friend Jessica, who begged her to audition for the first season of American Idol. Before the audition, Kelly jokingly told her friend that if she won, she'd buy Jessica her dream car. And she did!
"It was so exciting," Kelly says about the moment she showed up at Jessica's house with the car. "She flipped out. She was like, 'You weren't really supposed to do that!'"
Although she may be "Miss Independent," Kelly still depends on her friends and family to help her deal with instant celebrity status.
"I have a good support system," Kelly says. "I've been with my band for three years, and my family and friends are awesome. So I think it's really that—just having people that keep you real and, you know, you can just chat with."
Kyle Busch spent much of his childhood tinkering around in his father's garage, and his hobby turned serious when he began racing cars at age 13. From there, his life in the fast lane really took off. At just 20 years old, Kyle became the youngest driver in history to win NASCAR's Nextel Cup.
"It was just amazing in its own right to be able to win [my] first race," Kyle says. "But at that level, to be able to beat 43 race car drivers—the best in the world of stock car racing—it was just an awesome opportunity for myself."
What's a 20-year-old going to do with winnings totaling more than $241,000? He and his car's owner, Rick Hendricks, plan to donate their portion of the prize money to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief.
Oprah may have passed on the opportunity to take a spin with Kyle, but now she wants a detailed account of what it's really like to speed around a track at 210 mph.
Kyle: You're going around in circles, but it kind of feels like going 55 miles an hour down on an empty freeway, really. Once you put 42 other cars around you, and then you have to make a sharp turn, that's when you see the 210 mph come into effect.
Oprah: The art is not hitting the other cars and trying not to let them hit you.
Kyle: Exactly.
Actress Julianne Moore is a four-time Oscar® nominee, and a wife and mother of two young children. In her latest role, she portrays an unlikely winner in the movie, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.
In this true story, Julianne plays Evelyn Ryan, a housewife with 10 kids and an alcoholic husband. In order to keep a roof over their heads, Evelyn earns money and keeps the family together by entering contests. From there, she turns her sharp wit and clever phrases into a jackpot, writing jingles for commercials.
"She was a really, really wonderful woman who was so smart and funny and positive and loving," Julianne says. "And, really, her greatest achievement is that she raised these 10 remarkable, wonderful, loving children. Then one of them turned around and wrote a book about her that was then made into this movie."
As a mother of two, could Julianne ever imagine having 10 kids, like her character does in The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio?
"No! I think everybody who has children and a job feels like they're pulled six ways to Sunday all the time," she says. "I feel that way with two. But with 10? The laundry alone would kill you!"
Though she is a famous actress and been listed twice in People magazine's list of the most beautiful people, Julianne is no absentee Hollywood parent.
"Coming here for the show … I took my kids to school; I came back; I picked her up; dropped her off at a friend's house for a play date; went back; packed my bag; went over and picked her up; picked up her babysitter and her friend; took them to ballet; went to my son's school for basketball; watched the end of the basketball game; said good-bye to them; and went to the airport. And I thought, 'Oh, my God!' And that's just with two kids and a babysitter and somebody who can clean my house for me!"
Oprah: I read an interview where you said you think it's a shame that plastic surgery is now an epidemic. It is crazy, isn't it?
Julianne: Yeah, it is crazy. On the one hand you say, "Hey, whatever. If you want to feel better about yourself, then fine." But you don't want to become the standard. It's a false standard, it's not real. It's a different aesthetic. It's not a real aesthetic. You want a person to look like a person.
Oprah: You end up talking to these people where you come away and you're wondering, "Is something wrong with them or is there something wrong with me?" And then you realize they've been Botoxed ....
Julianne: I had an experience with a friend where she walked into my house and I said, "Oh, my God. What did you do to yourself?" And she goes, "Everybody tells me I look fantastic." And I said, "You know what? They're lying to you, because you don't. You're crazy." And you know what? She never did it again.
Kelly performs her latest single 'Because of You' and her smash hit 'Breakaway,' which has been on the charts for one year!
Her album Breakaway is in stores now.
