LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jennifer Grey is leading the way toward the "Dancing With the Stars" mirrorball trophy.
The 50-year-old actress is in first place coming into Tuesday's season finale. She and professional partner Derek Hough earned a perfect score for their two dances on Monday's show, which was the contestants' final bid for the viewer votes that count for half of their total score.
Actor Kyle Massey finished Monday's episode in second place with 56 points out of a possible 60, while Bristol Palin landed in third place with 52 points.
All three contestants will perform two dances on Tuesday's show.
The judges' scores for those two routines will be combined with Monday's scores and viewer votes to determine the new "Dancing" champ.
See? The judges will make certain Jennifer wins.
...to the 20-year-old competitor, whom others see as an endearing show-biz outsider who has made admirable ballroom progress over the course of the season."It's a crazy brouhaha at the moment," says Green. "It shouldn't be occupying the front page of the nation. It's only a bloody dance show."
Not only is Palin's remarkable journey - low spot on the judges' leader board, high spot in the hearts of voters - occupying the front page, it's also on TV, radio, blogs and websites. The number of Bristol-related news stories listed by Google broke the 4,000 barrier Sunday afternoon. "Korean Nuclear Reactor" checked in at 2,104.
That may be "crazy," but Green's digging it. Last Monday's round of the terpsichorean tourney drew 21.7 million viewers, up 8 percent from the week before. According to ABC, ratings for the show this season are more than 18 percent higher than last fall, when Donny Osmond beat singer Mya and Kelly Osbourne in the finals. Such growth in a six-year-old show is very unusual...
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...Here's how it works: The judges were to have scored two dances from each competitor Monday night, and the audience was to have voted. On Tuesday night, the judges will score two more dances.
Each contestant gets a percentage share of the judges' vote and one of the audience vote. The two are added together. Highest share wins.
Following previous performances, the judges might give Grey four scores averaging 27 (108), Massey four scores of 25 (100) and Palin four scores of 21 (84). Total: 292. Grey's share: 37 percent. Massey's: 34.2. Palin's: 28.8.
For Palin to win, the popular vote share would have to vault past Massey and turn Grey's vote around. Assuming the vast majority of viewers vote once, or not at all, a total vote of 35 million is conceivable. If that's the case, Palin would need 12.985 million of them and her supporters would need somehow to ensure that Grey received only 9.695 million.