ABC, 'Dancing' winner sidestepping criticism

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Oh my gosh! Were you aware that there are a lot of people out there who are downright incensed that Kelly Monaco, not John O'Hurley, won on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars"?

Who knew?

And did you know that those final dances on that final episode of the surprise summer hit meant absolutely, positively nothing? That they could have just handed Monaco the (cheaply made) trophy at the beginning of the hour and dispensed with the dancing and the in-studio judging that proved to be so controversial?

Really.

I just knew that it wasn't going to go smoothly when Monaco, her dance partner, the judges and the show's producers appeared before critics, because, earlier in the day, ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson had been peppered with questions about Dancing-gate. It seems there's a vocal contingent out there that is absolutely, utterly convinced that the show was rigged — slanted in Monaco's favor because she's on an ABC soap, "General Hospital."

And Question No. 1, asked by a TV critic (not me) and aimed like a dagger at the heart of the judges, was, "With all due respect — I'm asking this on behalf of my readers — what in the hell were you thinking in the final finale?" Which was asked with a stunning amount of passion (and redundancy).

The judges — whom McPherson had already said will be back when the show returns at midseason — weren't backing down, however.

"What were you watching?" judge Bruno Tonioli said. "It was obvious. She gave the best performance of the evening. . . . So I stand by my 10."

"I've got to say that I probably, like yourself, felt that the best overall dancer over the six weeks was John O'Hurley and Charlotte," said judge Len Goodman, who added that he thought O'Hurley did a "fabulous job" and thus he gave them a 9. "Out came Kelly with Alec (Mazzo) and I thought they did a better job, so where do I go? . . . I had to give them a 10. I had nowhere else to go."

Which set off an explosion, at least among some critics who said they received "hundreds" of outraged e-mails from their readers. (Note to my readers: Not one of you complained to me — which was also the case for a bunch of other critics I asked.)

Monaco didn't look happy when all this started. And she was absolutely correct when she pointed out, "Either way, someone would have had a backlash."