Jennifer Grey is having the time of her life again after overcoming painful neck and back injuries and a voting bloc for Bristol Palin to become the new Dancing With the Stars champion.
Grey, who consistently topped the judges' leaderboard throughout the season, took the title on the television celebrity dance competition on Tuesday, outscoring fellow finalists Kyle Massey and Bristol Palin, who was buoyed for weeks by passionate voters and online efforts to support the single mom.
Disney Channel star Massey finished second. Palin, the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was third.
Grey dazzled the judges with her routines just as she did filmgoers as Patrick Swayze's partner in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.
Grey gave a nod to her breakthrough film role by performing a waltz on Tuesday with her professional partner Derek Hough.
"It's a great gift to be part of a show that gives people so much joy," Grey said after the show. "And that's really what I think dancing does."
Grey, who overcame painful neck, back and knee injuries to earn three perfect scores in the run-up to Tuesday's finale, said her mind went blank in the moments before she was named the winner.
"I was in a surrender moment of whatever happens will be great," the 50-year-old actress said after the show, an ice pack tucked into the back of her fringe-covered costume as she spoke with reporters. "The absolute destination for me was the journey. The journey was the gift."
Still, Grey was happy to have the mirrorball trophy, and to turn her partner, Hough, into the show's first three-time winner.
The actress plans to keep the trophy in her daughter's room, adding, "She earned it."
Grey's husband, actor Clark Gregg, and their daughter were regulars in the ballroom each week throughout Grey's run on the show. Grey was a consistent high-scorer who earned a string of perfect "tens" for several recent dances. Her victory didn't surprise her fellow finalists.
"I thought from day one Jennifer was going to win," said professional dancer Lacey Schwimmer, who finished in second place as Massey's partner.
Questions:
1. Who won this season’s Dancing With the Stars competition?
2. What is Grey known for?
3. Who was her biggest competitor?
Answers:
1. Jennifer Grey.
2. Her role as Patrick Swayze's partner in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.
3. Disney Channel star Kyle Massey and Kyle Palin, the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.