Jennifer Grey named 'Dancing' champ

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - 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 Tuesday, outscoring fellow finalistsr 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 climactic ballroom dance to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" in the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing."

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 professional partner, Derek 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.

via ca.news.yahoo.com