'Dancing With the Stars' Winner: Who Won the Season 11 Finale?

Three dancers entered the stage, but only one left with the mirrorball trophy in hand. Who was crowned the 'Dancing With the Stars' winner for season 11? Was it Bristol, Jennifer or Kyle?

A season filled with of twists, turns and shocking eliminations ended predictably, with actress Jennifer Grey and partner Derek Hough landing in first place. Grey topped the leaderboard for seven of the competition's 10 weeks.

Actor Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer finished second.

"I didn't think I was going to compete tonight, and I'm really glad I did," said a tearful Grey, who battled back problems all season. A ruptured disc nearly prevented her from performing in the finale.

And after generating so much controversy -- causing one enraged viewer to shoot his television, possibly being the target of white (talcum) powder and eliciting hundreds of vitriolic comments on our own site-- teen activist Bristol Palin and partner Mark Ballas took third place.

"This has been such a life-changing experience and I had the time of my life," Palin said.

Hough, meanwhile, can now boast of being a three-time champion (having previously won with Nicole Scherzinger and Brooke Burke.) "I'm unbelievably proud," Hough told co-host Brooke Burke just before learning of the results. "It's been such an honor and a privilege and just a pleasure to dance with Jennifer. It's been an incredible journey and one that I'll never forget."

The finalists performed twice more during the finale episode to add to their scores from Monday night's performances. Each celeb reprised a dance from earlier in the season: Palin picked her well-received tango, Massey chose his "rock week" tango, while Grey went with her week 1 homage to 'Dirty Dancing.' The judges placed them in that order, from third to first.

The three couples also did an "instant cha cha," with Grey and Hough again coming out on top. The final scoreboard read: Grey with 118, Massey with 110 and Palin with 104.

Which means that despite all those voting conspiracy theories, the end result mirrored the scores given out by Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

Grey ruptured a disc in her back Monday night, but told a local ABC affiliate after winning that she "couldn't bear the idea of not finishing what we started.

As for how she felt when her named was called? "I think I was a little blank," Grey laughed. "I felt a shot of elation."