'Dancing With the Stars' finalists prepare for biggest test

Any sports championship would love to have the dueling-dynasties, anybody's-guess atmosphere going into the Dancing With the Stars finals tonight. In its fifth season, the drama and the conspiracy theories have been flying almost as fast as the dancers.

With a field that seemed stacked in the women's favor, many fans were convinced early on that the producers were determined to ensure a female winner after a run of male champs. But that theory was upended when the season's No. 1 ringer, Sabrina Bryan – a member of the song-and-dance pop group Cheetah Girls whom some message-board wags had dubbed "Cheater Girl" – was abruptly eliminated in midseason. Melanie Brown, a.k.a. Scary Spice, is now the banner-bearer of the Ringer Theory, but anyone who's ever seen a Spice Girls' video or performance knows that calling Mel B. a professional dancer based on her Spice Girls' experience is a bit of a stretch.

But all this has only served to feed the debate among fans of the show; namely, is Dancing With the Stars a dance competition among celebrities of varying popularity, or a popularity contest among celebrities with varying dance skills? Throughout the season, outcomes have supported either side of the argument.

On the dance-purist side, there is the surprising rise of Helio Castroneves, an Indy 500 champ with zero star status outside the racing world who has danced and charmed his way into the finals, and the unexpected fall of soap opera star Cameron Mathison who, despite his daytime-TV following, got voted off going into the semifinals. On the popularity-contest side, there is the continuing presence of Marie Osmond. As a dancer, she's a great celebrity. But week after week she's remained.

So who will win, and what will that say about the show? Will it be the ringer, proving the fix was in, or the inspired amateur? Will it be the best dancer or the most beloved star? We'll all know on Tuesday night.

Via dallasnews.com