Andanh.com

And it's almost over -- it's finale night on Dancing With the Stars. (Thank heavens; I love you guys, but I want my evenings back!)

The show starts with a montage from last night, even though they just reaired the whole show at 8 p.m.

Then Usher comes out to dance and sing, followed by predictions from past contestants.

Then, results: The third-place finisher is Cristian de la Fuente, so he and Cheryl Burke are out.  I'm actually surprised. I thought if anyone would overcome the scoring gap, it would be him. Before they go, Cristian and Cheryl reprise their paso doble. (HEY!)

Then it's time for some more reprisals. Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson hit the floor to dance again, followed by Monica Seles and Jonathan Roberts. (Monica's having fun, but definitely disproving the idea that athletes have an unfair advantage on this show.) Happy-go-lucky Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya return, too, as do Adam Carrolla and Julianne Hough with their paso doble that begins with a unicycle ride.

Next, it's time for results. No, not those results -- the junior champions. And the winners are Brandon and Brittany. They are excited and get a mini mirror-ball trophy and a visit from some of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.

Time for more former contestants, the first being Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel with the tango.

Then there is a "tribute" to Jason and Cristian's friendship, or bromance, as Cheryl puts it. Host Tom Bergeron says they were going to save it for the wrap party, but they decided to share it with America.

Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez resprise one of their dances, as do Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough.

Then Baltimore R&B star Mario and Karina Smirnoff hit the floor with their mambo, followed by Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani with the paso doble.

Usher returns, singing a Broadway version of "Yeah," while dancing with some of the pros and a floor full of other dancers.

Finally, Kristi and Mark and Jason and Edyta come out to reprise their favorite performance of the season and to get their last scores from the judges. (It's yet another show going with a boxing theme tonight, as they play the Rocky theme.)

Kristi and Mark are first, with the jive, the one where Mark wears Buddy Holly glasses. Len says she is the most consistent dancer of all their season. Bruno says she didn't miss a beat. Carrie Ann says these two set the standard through the season, and also grew throughout the season. Tonight and last night's judges' scores will be combined with the votes from last night to determine the winner. Scores: 10-10-10, for another 30/30.

Jason and Edyta revisit their quickstep from earlier in the season, which is a good choice, because it's probably the dance on which he showed the most personality all season. Bruno says "heavenly bodies" is a term created for them. Carrie Ann says it's a showdown tonight, and then she says something about the elegance of his spirit (OK, Paula). Len calls him the people's champion. Scores: 10-10-10, for a 30/30, their first.

To draw things out, Tom talks to the other contestants. Priscilla Presley says it's been a pleasure. Mario says it's been an amazing experience and pure fun. Shannon Elizabeth cries again, saying she is so happy for everyone.

Can we have some results, please??

And the winners are ... Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas. She graciously thanks everyone behind the show for making this a dream experience, and Mark seconds that. Tom hands them the disco-ball trophy, and the hugs and confetti begin.

How do you feel about the results? After last night, I figured this was the way it would end, and it seems a fitting conclusion.

Tonight's American Idol kicks off with the "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" guy introducing David Cook and David Archuleta like they are boxers, complete with silk robes. So which one of these Davids will take the Idol title?

Depends on how things go tonight, with three rounds of songs.

David Archuleta won the coin toss a few days ago, and will go second.

The first songs were chosen by Clive Davis.

For David Cook, he's picked "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and for David Archuleta, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."

Cook is first. He starts out quiet, and unlike last week's softer starts, his tone is strong and he sounds great. About halfway through, the band comes in, and he ramps it up, too. Nice choice by Mr. Davis. Judge Randy Jackson says it was "a great way to start this duel of 2007" (um, whoops), and that even though he isn't sure David did everything he could with it, it was still "hot, baby." Judge Paula Abdul, "We have found David Cook. ... You are in great voice tonight." Judge Simon Cowell says at the top of the show he looked tense and emotional, and, "taking all of that together, that was phenomenal."

Then, it's Archuleta's turn. He does a nice job with it, showing more emotional range than usual, though the bouncing around the stage is a tad awkward. But another good song choice. Randy says it doesn't matter what happens, that this was one of the best performances of the season, and he had "crazy hot molten vocals." Paula says her heart is still pounding and that "that was a beautiful, stunning performance." Simon says it's easy to get overexcited tonight, adding that last week he was "OK," but that this performance was the best he's sounded so far. "Round one goes to Archuleta," who looks like he is going to bawl.

Round two, each of the David's gets to choose from among the Top 10 finalists from the Idol songwriting competition.

David Cook is singing "Dream Big" by Emily Shackleton and David Archuleta's is "In This Moment" by Brian Gomar. (I'm guessing on those name spellings.)

So, not so shockingly, it's David vs. David tonight on American Idol.

The oddsmakers are giving it to Cook already, but you can't underestimate the crazed power voters who dial or text again and again.

Sun TV critic David Zurawik has an intriguing story in today's paper about how Idol has changed television. I highly recommend it. 

So as we head into tonight's two-part finale, what are your thoughts?

Either way, both Davids are going to get a record deal and sell like crazy, at least for a while. I think Cook would probably be the bigger commercial success, which might be why it seems like Idol producers are pushing so hard for him to win.

Since I'm covering the show, I don't vote, but who, if anyone, will you be pulling for tonight? 

At long, long last, here we are: The final performance show of this season of Dancing With the Stars.

Tonight the final three will do a "cha-cha faceoff" as well as each perform a freestyle dance.

The cha-cha faceoff is first, with all three couples dancing back-to-back during the song "Dancing on the Ceiling."

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke are the first couple on the floor, and they have a lot of hip-shaking and bare-chest action (his). Then, Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska come out, and they've got all sorts of tricksy moves and body rolls. Lastly, Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas hit the floor, and their routine has a boatload of spins and an amazing amount of energy. The routine ends with Jason and Cristian lifting Kristi up over their heads, which is pretty impressive since they are so tall.

Len Goodman says at his age, it takes a lot to get him excited, but this did it. He says Cristian has great hips and rhythm, and that Jason has a grace about him and style, but he doesn't think Latin is his big thing. He says Kristi was the "complete package." Bruno Tonioli says Cristian "banged like the best" and that he's shown so much improvement. He says Jason's timing was a tad off, but he was still great and athletic. But then he adds that Kristi was in a master class all her own. Carrie Ann Inaba says it was really interesting watching them back to back. She says she thought Cristian was fantastic but that his injury seems to be messing up his posture a bit. She agrees that she feels bad that Jason had this dance since it's his weakest dance, but he still did a good job. She closes saying that Kristi won that, "hands down."

Cristian and Cheryl's scores: 8-9-9, for a 26/30.

Jason and Edyta's scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30.

Kristi and Mark's scores: 10-10-10, for a 30/30.

Kristi and Mark prepare for the freestyle. When they come out on stage, Kristi is wearing PJs and Mark has on this bizarre bathrobe and fake-abs T-shirt. They rip off these clothes to reveal pinstriped sequined outfits and Converse sneakers. They are all over the place in terms of styles and choreography and have a ton of energy. They pull off a bunch of lifts, and Kristi even boosts Mark for a backflip. It's a little manic, but a blast to watch. Bruno says it was an inspiring match of mambo and hip-hop and that it was "worthy of the championship." Carrie Ann says she was the big crowd-pleaser. "Loved it!" Len says he isn't a lover of hip-hop when it's in a Latin dance, but this held his attention from start to finish, and that he absolutely loved it. Scores: 10-10-10, for a(nother) 30/30 and a total 60/60.

Jason and Edyta aim to have a ton of tricks in their routine, but during practice, Edyta gets dropped a lot. They perform to "Welcome to Miami" (of course). Edyta starts in a pretty sundress and hat, but Jason rips off her dress to reveal a tiny outfit. Their performance is pretty much straight hip-hop with lots of tricks. It's fun, but doesn't nearly have the finesse or range of Kristi and Mark's. And to keep the percentage of people who have their clothes ripped off during the freestyle round at 100 percent, Edyta removes Jason's tank top as the final flourish of their dance. Carrie Ann tells Edyta she's so glad to see her in the finals. She says, "Who knew, Jason Taylor can get funky!" Len says he loved the humor and the lifts and that he could see them together at the beach, Jason in his Speedo, "me in my thong!" Bruno speaks for all viewers when he says, "I'm not going to have dinner tonight!" Bruno says it was like "watching centerfolds, and the dance wasn't bad, either." Scores: 9-9-9, for a 27/30 and a total 51/60.

Cristian and Cheryl are last, with a Latin-themed performance featuring a lot of hip-shaking and an amazing number of one-armed lifts and tricks. But no clothes were ripped off in the making of this performance. Len says he loved the Latin flavor and that he has to take into consideration that the other two had amazing lifts and some of theirs weren't up to par (which he of course has to mention, regardless of the injury since everyone is being judged by the same standards). Bruno says he hasn't seen so much shaking in L.A. since the Northridge earthquake. (Incidentally, this seems like a bad time to make earthquake jokes, but maybe that's just me.) He calls Cristian a Latin stallion. Carrie Ann says that this is all about seeing who leaves it all on the floor and that while they might not have compared to Kristi's performance, Crisitian is a winner in so many ways. Scores: 9-8-9, for a 26/30 and 52/60.

So I think it's unanimous that Kristi took that -- finally a 60/60, and both performances were a total blast.

Who do you think deserves to win? And who do you think will win?