They did the tango, the samba and the quickstep, and when the music stopped Brooke Burke and Derek Hough won U.S. television contest “Dancing With the Stars,” waltzing away with the coveted mirror ball trophy.

Their victory on Tuesday night capped a stunning season for Burke, the 37-year-old former host of E! television show “Wild On,” and her professional dancing partner Hough.

The pair came in first place in eight episodes of the show and topped the season of one of U.S. TV’s most popular shows with a perfect score of 30 on the final night and 88 points out of 90 for their last three dances.

Dancing a Viennese waltz, Burke and Hough beat former ‘NSync singer Lance Bass, 29, and his dancing pro Lacey Schwimmer, as well as one-time professional football player Warren Sapp, 35, and his partner Kym Johnson.

“Unbelievable,” was all that Burke could utter upon finally winning the program.

Hough, who suffered from a sore back in a season filled with injuries to other competitors, also seemed overwhelmed.

“The journey’s been so long. It’s been tough. It’s been wonderful. It’s been everything I could ever hope for,” Hough said.

Sapp, who finished No. 2, had become an audience favorite for his showmanship, but his lack of skilled footwork hurt his chances with the show’s judges. He and Johnson did the hustle in their last dance on Tuesday and earned a total 80 out of 90 in the final round of dances.

Finishing third was Bass who struggled early in the season but improved throughout. He had gained momentum going into Tuesday’s finale by becoming the only contestant to beat Burke. But a final jitterbug earned Bass a total 81 of 90 for the last three dances and was not enough to top Burke.

Winners are decided by a combination of judges’ scores and audience voting.

“Dancing with the Stars,” on the ABC broadcast network, is among the most popular U.S. TV shows and while ratings slipped slightly in its seventh season, the program still drew around 20 million viewers a week.

Along with the dancing, Tuesday’s finale was filled with appearances from singers Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus and former contestants such as 82 year-old Cloris Leachman, who delighted audiences this season with her sense of humor.

Other former contestants who danced in the finale included actor Cody Linley, daytime TV star Susan Lucci and comedian Jeffrey Ross.

This week’s introduction of four new dance styles challenged both the stars and the professionals who had to educate themselves on styles: the hustle, the West Coast swing, the salsa, and the jitterbug.

With the coming week bringing triple the choreography for the dancers to learn, I think the weak dancers will be weeded out, leaving some of the more obvious contenders to fight for the mirror ball.

The giant pink bird has flown the Dancing coop, but he insists to us his ruffly feathers aren’t ruffled.

“It’s all gravy! This was a wonderful experience and there’s nothing to complain about,” Rocco DiSpirito told us backstage tonight after getting the heave-ho from Dancing with the Stars to the surprise of, well….no one. ”I got to learn how to dance. I got to make friends with Karina. I even got Bruno to dance!”

Speaking of, Rocco’s mother gave us a few choice words for Bruno (meow, mama!), and we got the inside scoop on why Cloris Leachman will be the next to go…

“Someone had to make Bruno dance at some point, he can’t just sit behind the desk and talk about it for ten seasons.” This is what Rocco tells us of his motivation for calling Bruno out onto the dance floor tonight to “show me how to make my hips move properly”…which he did.

For the record, Rocco’s mother Nicolina was not impressed with the judge’s moves. “Listen to me, Rocco shaked more than him!”

Rocco admits he wasn’t surprised by tonight’s outcome, and adds humbly: ”You should miss [my mother] more than me. Frankly she’s far more interesting. She’s probably a better dancer, too.”

Meanwhile, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for you fans who have been clamoring for Cloris to get the boot! Her partner, Corky, tells us they will be doing a “spicy salsa” next week, which sounds to me like a Rocco-samba-ish disaster in the making. Am I right? 

Add some hot pink ruffles to that bird and she may be cooked.

Are you hoping Cloris goes next? If not, who?

Kim Kardashian and her champion professional partner Mark Ballas were axed from Dancing with the Stars Tuesday.

The date was also the five-year anniversary of Kim’s famous attorney father’s death. Robert Kardashian represented O.J. Simpson along with attorney Johnny Cochran, and comprised a “dream team” of lawyers who kept OJ free.  Kardashian died in 2003 at age 59; Cochran died in 2005 at age 67.

“I just know he’s really happy and watching over me and I made him proud,” Kim, who earned 17 out of 30 points for her rumba with Mark, told hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris, before taking the stage for a final dance.

Mark’s father Corky and his partner, actress Cloris Leachman, who scored the lowest of all the teams with 15 points, were the last pair to be sent to safety backstage, and will return to compete next week.

Judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba unanimously chose Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson, who earned 24 points Monday, to perform their leather-clad, Matrix-inspired paso doble, hailing their performance.

Country crooner Jessica Simpson performed her hit single, “Come on Over,” and later covered Robbie Williams’s “Angels.”

Siblings Derek and Julianne Hough were declared safe at the same time.

Kim Kardashian, once off cameras, rushed to the waiting arms of her family and broke down into tears.

“What can I say… I am obviously sad to go,” Kardashian blogged on her Web site the next day, “but I am more sad to not be seeing this amazing cast that really has grown so close together.”

“It was a tough day for her,” Ballas said after the show, “and we talked about it, and I imagine it will always be a sad day for her. I just hope that her time on the show was magical for her, and, at the end of the day, I will always be so proud that I was the one holding her hand up there.”

Kardashian’s shyness was her Achilles heel. “What people don’t realize about her,” stepfather Bruce Jenner told People magazine “Is that she is incredibly shy. She’s a smart business woman, but a very shy and quiet girl.”

With a real sex tape, we add.

“I know I wasn’t the best dancer and I never claimed to be,” Kardashian blogged. “I have never taken a dance class in my life until now! But WOW what an incredible experience!”

Kim Kardashian is doing Dancing With The Stars because she wants to challenge herself and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. She also plans on using the strict regime of the routines to tone up her body and shake her fear of dancing in public.

Kim told OK magazine, “I’m the girl who’s too shy to dance in a nightclub — maybe for one song, and then that’s it.”

Don’t worry though about Kim losing her curves, she definately plans on keeping them. When asked by OK magazine if she wanted to lose her famous curves Kim said, “No, not at all. I don’t even think that’s really possible. I’m going to probably have kids soon, so I want to have the perfect body before then. It’ll be harder to get in shape afterward, so why not do it now.”

She also told them, “I really want to be toned. Every girl has her insecurities, whether she is skinny or not. You want to look good when you’re on vacation in a swimsuit.”

When asked how dancing is different than working out at the gym she said, “You use different muscles. I definitely feel my legs toning up. It’s really good to mix it up and do something different.”

Kim may be on her way of achieving her goal of shaking her fears of dancing in public. Her second dance of the week was a Mambo to the song… “I Like Big Butts!”

You can see Kim on Dancing With The Stars this Monday at 8 PM ET on ABC.