Amber Riley and her partner Derek Hough were crowned Season 17 winners of "Dancing With the Stars" during last night's (Nov. 26) finale. The 27-year-old actress was a constant burst of energy throughout the season impressing the judges and fans with her captivating dance skills.
Riley and Hough were among the top contenders since week one of the dancing competition show. On Monday (Nov. 25) Riley and her partner nabbed two perfect scores from the judges and on the finale they got a standing ovation for their "fusion dance" which combined samba and the quickstep.
"This is supposed to be fusion but you guys just invented a whole new dance," judge Carrie Ann Inaba said. "You seamlessly and effortlessly went back and forth between the two styles."
Len Goodman called their performance "bedazzling."
"You, my little sausage, are a fantastic dancer," he said.
"I counted every beat, and you did not put a foot wrong... incredible," Bruno Tonioli told her.
The "Glee" actress was completely ecstatic to win the coveted Mirror Ball trophy and gave a shout out to women of all shapes, sizes and colors.
"I want to let women of all sizes out there know that you can do whatever you put your mind to," she said. "It doesn't matter what size you are, what color you are... you can do whatever, whatever, whatever you put your mind to."
Riley and Hough beat out "High School Musical" star Corbin Bleu and his partner Karina Smirnoff. In third place was reality star Jack Osbourne and his partner Cheryl Burke.
"I've learned I'm definitely not a better dancer than my sister... we now tie," Osbourne joked pointing to Kelly Osbourne sitting in the front row. "I thought I was going to be out in week five and here I am in third place. I'll take that."
"I've achieved everything I wanted and more," Bleu said hugging his dancing partner.
What did you think of the finale of "Dancing With the Stars"?
