"It will look so good between my two Indy 500 trophies," Castroneves said.

He and his partner, Julianne Hough, came into the finals in second place, one point behind Brown and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Both received perfect scores of 30 from the judges in their final dance yesterday.

Overall, Brown was by far the more polished performer, consistently wowing the judges with her versatility and flair. But Castroneves' personality and enthusiasm, plus an effortless quickstep on his final performance, earned enough viewer votes to carry the day. His partner, Hough, also had won last season's competition, with speed skater Apollo Anton Ohno.

Afterward, Castroneves said that he was "shocked" by the victory: "I was not expecting it. Mel, she's an incredible dancer."

Brown admitted that losing "was a horrible feeling. I'm not going to deny it."

Earlier yesterday, as expected, Marie Osmond was the first finalist to be eliminated. She and her partner, Jonathan Roberts, came into the finals in third place with 46 points after a doll-inspired freestyle routine panned by judges and bloggers alike.

Osmond, 48, had enjoyed strong viewer support throughout the hit show's fifth season while enduring the death of her father and fainting on stage.

The show "gave me something that I knew was solid, something I can count on," she said in a segment recorded before her ouster. "It's been one of the best experiences of my life."