Somewhat surprising, given the European swarthiness of Gilles Marini and the reported fact that more women than men watch this show . . . and admit it by voting. But all the world loves those kooky Jabberwockeez, don’t they?  Here’s what we wrote about Johnson when the season began: Among my general rules in life: Never underestimate the heart of an Olympian. They operate much differently than regular humans. However, the adorable little Johnson may be way too little — roughly 4-foot-9 — to win the gold medal, er, cheap crystal ball trophy. Odds: 16-1.
Half-right. Not bad. Olympians are wired differently than us civilians. Imagine spending four years of life training to be perfect for a few minutes or seconds. Nuts, right? That’s why they were the rings on their hats, jackets, jerseys and pants and we cheer like crazy for them. And now that we’ve got three Olympians with the “DWTS” championship trophy — the other two are Apolo Anton Ohno (Season 4) and Kristi Yamaguchi (Season 6) — might we see a rule change that prohibits Olympians from competing? Or maybe a “Dancing With the Olympians” special season? Likely not on both counts.  About Johnson:  She’s young, which means all her friends know how to use computers and text messaging to jack up the votes, which count for 50 percent of the total score. Plus, she’s pretty darn good. Old odds: 16-1. New odds: 6-1.  And when it comes down to less than 1 percent difference between Johnson and Marini, always err on the side of the Olympian who spent a career fighting for every tenth of a point or hundredth of a second.  2nd place: Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke  When the season started on March 9, we set 7-1 odds for Marini. What we wrote then:  Can’t confess to knowing much about this guy beyond his IMDb profile. But he’s a swarthy European, which will score votes. And he’s got two-time champ Burke, which will score with judges. Add in the mysterious factor and he could sway the whole competition. Odds: 7-1. Wow, that was pretty much on point, huh?  Nice work from the Frenchman with the Italian last name and the Spanish looks. But when you forget to dance in the finale, these sorts of things happen. Still, how exactly did this guy lose? This has 18-1 New England Patriots written all over it.  3rd place: Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani.  Tough break for the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. At least she wasn’t the runner-up on another reality competition show. She’s a sweet gal with a bangin’ body, but to go from two days of training to the final week is pretty impressive. Still, that’s what happens when you break out the 1991 dance moves from teen night at Escapes in the freestyle finale.

How you voted

282 – Gilles Marini
173 – Melissa Rycroft
157 – Shawn Johnson