Green Bay Packer star Donald Driver can add one more title to Super Bowl Champion: Dancing With The Stars mirrorball trophy owner. And the way he did that half-centipede “Stop Drop and Roll” move when his victory was announced, he might consider this one just as important.

Driver became a fan favorite early in the season, with his athleticism, great smile, musicality and shiny bald head (I swear this was a plus.) His competitors in the finals – international songstress Katherine Jenkins and hottie hot whatever-he-does-for-a-living William Levy – were also determined and on-point. But Driver and 9-foot-tall partner Peta Murgatroyd pretty much sealed it with their triumphant freestyle to Cowboy Troy’s “I Play Chicken With The Train.”

Yes. A winning moment featuring Cowboy Troy. I am as stunned as you were. But they embraced the cheese – literally – with cheese head hats throughout the auditorium – slapped on the boots and the cowboy hats, and got their funny-sexy on. It was brilliant, because not since Drew and Cheryl’s “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy” routine has a Big and Rich song translated into something so great on the dance floor. (I always thought that routine was kinda porny. But maybe that’s why people liked it.)
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LOS ANGELES — Maria Menounos earned a perfect score on Monday’s episode of “Dancing With the Stars,” but on Tuesday, she was ousted from the show.

The 33-year-old TV personality was eliminated from the ABC dance-off one week shy of the finals. Judges’ scores are combined with viewer votes to determine who is dismissed each week.

Singer Katherine Jenkins, actor William Levy and football star Donald Driver will compete Monday for the mirrorball trophy.

Actors Roshon Fegan, Melissa Gilbert, Jaleel White and Jack Wagner have already been eliminated, along with singers Gavin DeGraw and Gladys Knight, TV personality Sherri Shepherd, and tennis champ Martina Navratilova.

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Despite giving his best performance on Dancing with the Stars on Monday, Disney star Roshon Fegan was sent home during last night’s dramatic double elimination episode. Despite the setback, the 20-year-old was simply thankful to have his tried-and-true supporters nearby.

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“My family are my biggest cheerleaders,” Fagan told Parade.com. “They keep me excited about everything and make sure I know I did a good job. It’s all good. It’s all gravy.”

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The sweetness is gone for Gavin DeGraw on “Dancing with the Stars.”

The singer-songwriter and his professional partner, Karina Smirnoff, were bounced from the ABC show Tuesday after the judges’ scores were combined with viewers’ votes.

DeGraw has been juggling “Dancing with the Stars” and a concert tour promoting his new album, “Sweeter.”

Returning to compete next week will be actors Jaleel White, Roshon Fegan, William Levy and Melissa Gilbert; singers Gladys Knight and Katherine Jenkins; TV personality Maria Menounos; and football star Donald Driver.

The hosts announced that next week’s Motown-themed episode will feature performances by the Temptations, Martha Reeves and Smokey Robinson.

Jack Wagner remains among “The Bold and the Beautiful,” but his time on “Dancing With the Stars” is done.

The 52-year-old actor was axed from the ABC dance competition Tuesday despite turning in a samba that the judges praised.

Judges’ scores are combined with viewer votes to determine who is ousted each week.

Wagner said he had a great time on the show and wished the remaining contestants good luck.

Returning to compete next week will be actors Jaleel White, Roshon Fegan, William Levy and Melissa Gilbert; singers Gladys Knight, Gavin DeGraw and Katherine Jenkins; TV personalities Maria Menounos and Sherri Shepherd; and football star Donald Driver.

Each will dance to a rock ‘n’ roll song on the next episode.

Martina Navratilova has done her last dance on “Dancing With the Stars.”

The tennis champ was eliminated from the TV dance competition Tuesday and became the first star dismissed from the series’ new season.

She came into the results episode in last place and was disappointed, but apparently not surprised, at her dismissal. She said she gave it everything she had but confessed that she made mistakes during her jive routine Monday.

Returning to compete next week will be actors Jaleel White, Roshon Fagan, William Levy, Jack Wagner and Melissa Gilbert; singers Gladys Knight, Gavin DeGraw and Katherine Jenkins; TV personalities Maria Menounos and Sherri Shepherd; and football star Donald Driver.

Or…people Leslie has always wanted to have dinner with.

“Dancing With The Stars,” a show we adore here at PBPulse.com and have blogged about, just announced its latest cast, and I’m thrilled! It includes Jack Wagner, whose Frisco Jones is my favorite “General Hospital” character of all time and who once sang the line “The glow of your cigarette is like a shooting star” without irony; Gladys Knight, one of my favorite humans, Melissa Gilbert, who I wanted to be, and Jaleel White, who’s kinda fine since he was Urkel. Really. Dig it:

Jaleel White: Did he do that?

Jack Wagner: He’s a singer of cheesy awesome love songs, a great soap legend and the owner of excellent hair.

William Levy: I believe he’s on telenovelas and he’s hot. OK. Enough for me! Knows JLo.

Donald Driver: He’s a Green Bay Packer. That’s all I know about him, but at least he’s athletic.

Katherine Jenkins: Opera singer.

Sherri Shepherd: “View” host and “30 Rock”‘s Angie Jordan, who likes ham. And refuses to wear anything in her size or appropriate for her age.

Melissa Gilbert: Half Pint!!!

Roshon Fegan: actor and obligatory Disney kid.

Maria Menounos: “Extra” host and hottie.

Martina Navratilova: An athletic goddess and just a cool human being.

Gavin DeGraw: Singer who doesn’t wanna be anything other than him.

Gladys Knight: Leaving on the midnight train to awesome.

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Suzanne Boyd with Tony Dovolani (Photo by Debbie Schatz)

Standing next to a celebrity at a party trying to have an uninterrupted conversation is incredible difficult. Trying to have one with a star from the staggeringly popular “Dancing With The Stars,” particularly the staggeringly popular Tony Dovolani, is like trying to stave off senior citizens at a free sample table (and you know what a battle that is).

“Can I get a picture with Tony?” the eleventy-seventh well-dressed lady asked, sliding her way toward Tony, as he stood near the pool at Mar-A-Lago at the American Heart Association’s glorious Heart Ball. Tony was standing with the evening’s hostess, CBS12 anchor and my former local celebrity dance competition nemesis Suzanne Boyd, both looking fabulous and, every five seconds, greeting some fan who wanted to talk to Tony.

And that’s not a surprise – over his long stint on “DWTS,” Dovolani has been a modicum of class, in that he’s poised, polite and didn’t lock partner Kate Gosselin in a dressing room and tell people she’d left town. And he even taught a little local knucklehead to waltz several years ago.

“Arthur Murray Dance Studio! West Palm Beach!” he said, pointing at me, when I mentioned that he’d spun me around the dance floor for a story. I didn’t mention that he told me the funniest thing when I’d told him I had issues letting other people lead.

“If you think you know more about the waltz than me,” he told me, “you’re welcome to lead.”

Well then.

On Friday, I commented that although he has his own personal dance space (as in a place to dance in his home, not Baby-Johnny “Don’t violate my personal dance space” like in “Dirty Dancing,” although they spent a good bit of the film violating it all over the place), the ballroom at Mar-A-Lago must be like heaven (It used to be a private home, for both Marjorie Merriweather Post and Donald Trump).

“Oh, absolutely,” Tony said. “I’m all about the 1920s – I’m inspired by that era and that glamour – and that is what this place is all about.”

I also asked him if he was still proud of being one of the people – and pairs of feet – that has helped re-popularize partner dancing in the country, and he said yes. He might have said more, but then some lady dragged him off. That’s OK. Everyone should have a little Dovolani in their lives.

Dancing With the Stars champ J.R. Martinez has captivated the country with his story of strength and courage.

While serving in Iraq in 2003, the Army soldier suffered severe burns when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Following his recovery, he traveled around the country speaking about his experience to veterans’ groups, schools, and other organizations. He even took his talents to the small screen in 2008 with a starring role on All My Children.

Now, the 28-year-old star is turning the attention on other local heroes, joining some of Hollywood’s hottest stars as a presenter at the American Giving Awards (AGAs) airing on NBC Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. ET.

The AGAs are the first-ever televised celebrity tribute to community heroes, offering five charities an opportunity to share in $2 million in grants from Chase bank so that they may continue their work helping others.

Parade.com talked to Martinez about joining the star-studded lineup, which includes performers like will.i.am. of the Black Eyed Peas, country music stars Rodney Atkins and LeAnn Rimes, and singers Taio Cruz and Jackie Evancho, as well as presenters Miley Cyrus, Terrence Howard, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and more. He also dished on life post-Dancing With the Stars.

On the American Giving Awards.
“Anybody that knows me, knows that I’m all about helping and giving back, so for me to be asked to participate in this event is an honor. I love helping out good people who are doing good things.”

On what inspires him.
“Inspiration is everywhere. But when it comes down to one thing, I would have to say that the thing that inspires me is my mother. My mother has persevered through a lot and she raised me and my sister, and she’s an amazing person. She’s definitely my inspiration.”

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