Who Won 'Dancing with the Stars' Season 13?

Although all three of the remaining "Dancing With The Stars" Season 13 finalists were popular throughout the competition, all doing well and scoring relatively high with the judges, none seemed to carry the live audience or the media the way that actor J. R. Martinez did. So who won the "DWTS" Season 13 Mirror Ball Trophy?

The couples went into the second part of the "DWTS" Season 13 grand finale having already performed two routines. Ricki and Derek were at the top of the leaderboard. Surprisingly, however, even with a perfect score on their final dance, the Tango, the couple finished third.

Halfway through the season, Martinez already had the oddsmakers noticing, his odds to win a formidable 1/4 (far better than his rivals). By the time of the grand finale, his (and professional dance partner Karina Smirnoff's) odds of winning were a bit tighter, but still a respectable 1/2 (with actress Ricki Lake at 3/1 and reality show celebrity Rob Kardashian at 4/1). But at the end of all the dancing, Martinez and Smirnoff trailed Kardashian and his partner Cheryl Burke by a single point. It came down to the audience vote to decide who would take home the Season 13 Mirror Ball Trophy. So who won?

The second night's numbers were chosen by the couples themselves from their favorite season routines. When all was said and done, Kardashian and Burke pulled ahead of Martinez and Smirnoff by a point going into the last showdown dance. Both pairs performed the Samba and the judges rewarded them with perfect scores, leaving Kardashian in the lead for the Mirror Ball Trophy.

But in another twist of events, when the audience vote was factored in, the Iraq war veteran and star of the daytime drama "All My Children" was named the winner of the night and the competition trophy.

"DWTS" host Tom Bergeron told the smiling Martinez, "My friend, you have been an inspiration since the first time you stepped on this floor."

"First and foremost," Martinez said. "I want to thank everybody who voted for us for 10 weeks. Thank you, America, for believing in us." He then thanked his partner, adding that he was proud to help her win her first trophy.

Season 13 was Karina Smirnoff's first Mirror Ball Trophy after ten seasons with the popular reality contest.

Season 14 of "Dancing With The Stars" is already scheduled to premiere in March 2012 and the search for the next winner will begin anew.