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By Susan Young, Film.com

Dancing with the Stars has waltzed out of our lives for 2008 and we're already fondly recalling when Warren Sapp went all Men in Black for that wickedly fabulous paso doble with partner Kym Johnson.

Or when Lance Bass torched up the stage dancing his own paso doble to the tune of "I Kissed a Girl," and even planted major smooch on partner Lacey Schwimmer at the end. We've seen Cloris Leachman bring back vaudeville with her hammy antics, and Brooke Burke make us think she's the pro instead of the celeb.

This season has been packed with drama, and more trips to the ER than you'd see in an average season of Grey's Anatomy. We've witnessed far fewer wardrobe malfunctions, probably because Edyta had an early elimination. And it seems as if there was a bigger gap between the really horrible dancers and the great dancers. The top of the crop has remained fairly consistent, while the early clunkers got picked off one at a time in order of their lackluster performances.

Here are a few awards we'd like to hand out to this year's participants:

Can't Dance Award – Competition was steep this year, with dismal shows from Jeffery Ross, Ted McGinley, Kim Kardashian and Rocco DiSpirito.But even though he was the last to go in that group, we have to hand this one out to Rocco because the man never could catch a beat.

Quitter Award – Talk about a non-starter. Kim Kardashian never even made the effort. When she and partner Mark Ballas prepared for the rumba, she said that she thought of him as a brother and "so it's really hard to amp up that sexual chemistry on the dance floor." Bruno called her colder and more distant than Siberia. Needless to say, the couple's dancing always failed to seethe despite Mark's valiant efforts to breathe life into this corpse.

Stiffest Performance Award – Speak of the dead, hands down the one competitor who made us cringe with her starchy style was soap opera queen Susan Lucci.

Most Surprising Breakdown Award – Brooke finally showed a weak point last week when she completely fell apart during her jive dance. She forgot her steps and completely choked. Never thought it would happen, but she came back like a super star for the finale.

Slapstick Award – Really, who else could it be? Cloris Leachman made many DWTS fans upset with her crazy behavior. But few took it as personally as Carrie Ann Inaba, who berated Cloris for still being around a week longer than Toni Braxton. Toni certainly beat Cloris in technique, but Cloris kept the entertainment value high while we watched top contenders like Brooke, Warren and Lance dominate.

Most Improved Player Award – No one would have pegged pudgy Warren Sapp as a serious dance contender in the beginning, but this guy's got game – and he was ready to rumble. Sapp's footwork progressed beautifully, but what really kept us rooting for him was that unbeatable personality out on the dance floor.

Risky Business Award– No matter how they were beaten down each week by the judges, Lance and Lacey stayed true to their unconventional roots, tapping out intriguing routines while the other top dancers like Brooke and Derek Hough kept it traditional.

Medical Drama Award – We've had a season of eye patches, stitched toes and pulled muscles, but the two very real medical traumas made us fear for the future of these dancers. Olympic gold medalist Misty May Treanor's injury could prove problematic for her career in volleyball, while Julianne Hough had to go in for surgery for complications from her endometriosis. It's almost a dead heat for these two.


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Read More:
Warren Sapp's Five Best Dances
Brooke Burke's Five Best Dances
Lance Bass' Five Best Dances
Final Performance Live Thoughts
Final Performance Rankings
Season Finale Live Thoughts