'Skating with the Stars' 2010 Finale: Did Rebecca Budig Overcome the Ferocious Frankel Juggernaut?

Skating with the Stars 2010 came to a dramatic end Tuesday night as the two finalists, The Real Housewives of New York's Bethenny Frankel and soap star Rebecca Budig, took to the ice one last time in a no-blades-barred showdown for the winner's trophy. Here's a recap of how it all played out.

The SWTS season finale began in, er, artistic fashion with feather-bedazzled judge and pro skater Johnny Weir gyrating inside an enormous bird cage. He was released shortly thereafter by pros Jennifer Wester and Keauna McLaughlin and then joined by Denis Petukhov. The little foursome went on to perform a spirited, Johnny-heavy routine. Gotta love the boy and his eyeliner.

Hosts Vernon Kay and Tanith Belbin took over as they called the season's skaters to the ice (sans Brandon Mychal Smith, who is still too ill to perform). And then came the Skating with the Stars 2010 season retrospective, featuring a look back at the past month of icy action, including the injuries, Bethenny Frankel's rows with the judging panel and clips of plenty of performances. The season is really too short for such an expansive overview, but whatever: It ate up a good chunk of time!

The action continued with what I like to call the Parade of Dismissed Celebs, featuring encores by actress Sean Young, rocker Vince Neil and Olympian Jonny Moseley. Okay, so Jonny's no pro, but I'm still not getting the Bethenny love. I get that she's popular and all -- hey, in the Jill Zarin v. Bethenny Frankel smackdown, I was in her corner all along -- but Jonny's the better skater. Ah well.

Speaking of actual Skating with the Stars 2010 finale action, next up a brief taped segment featuring the judges' thoughts on the two remaining competitors ared. Johnny asserted that Rebecca "needs to wow us with her performance quality" in order to win, and called Bethenny's "personality" and "fearlessness" her biggest assets. Dick Button hoped to be "mesmerized" by the winning performance. We shall see, oh bow tie king. We shall see.

With the ancillary stuff out of the way, it was time for the two final routines of the season. First to take to the ice were Bethenny and Ethan, who chose to do a juiced-up routine to their week one music. She still looked stiff, but it was definitely an improvement over the original version. She showed more personality and seemed to have fun. Johnny praised her for skating up for the finale. Dick praised her for realizing that the competition was about "the fun and joy of skating that has entranced centuries of people". LaurieAnn Gibson exclaimed "what a transformation" and was pleased with her for nailing her choreography. Bethenny Frankel and Ethan Burgess' Skating with the Stars 2010 finale scores: Technical - 8, 7, 8 plus Artistic - 10, 9, 9 = 51/60.

Rebecca and partner Fred Palascak finished off the season 1 action with a jazzed up Hot and Cold number. Uhm, yeah. She's clearly the better skater of the two finalists. Egads. LaurieAnn began her critique with a war whoop, and called her "electrifying". Johnny loved that Rebecca gave "so much soul" and called her "stunning". Dick called it "sensational" and praised her for opening up "and showing what's insdie of you". I'd say they liked it. Rebecca Budig and Fred Palascak's Skating with the Stars 2010 finale scores: Technical - 10, 10, 10 plus Artistic - 10, 10, 10 = 60/60.

So who takes the title? After a pair of season retrospective segments, it was time for the big reveal. In Dancing with the Stars style, dramatic music played and the red lights shone down as Rebecca Budig and Fred Palascak were declared the winners of Skating with the Stars 2010. Bethenny declared that "Rebecca totally deserves it. She should be a real ice skater". Moments later, Vernon helped Rebecca to lift the Golden Skates high into the air.

And er, that's it! Will there be a Skating with the Stars season 2? Beats me. But if there is, I may surprise myself and watch it. It wound up not being quite as awful as I'd thought from the get-go, and with the right celebs in the mix (Lindsay Lohan, anyone?), it could be quite the spectacle.