Tamati pulls on heartstrings, Keating 'kills' a classic

Dancing with the Stars winner Tamati Coffey. Photo / Supplied

Last night's

Dancing with the Stars

finale had me in fits and it wasn't just the

Merv Hughes

impersonation that

Chris Hobbs

was bizarrely sporting thanks to a sleazy handle-bar moustache, a snug silk shirt, and accommodating paunch.

Jason Gunn

mused: "I'm loving the moustache." You know somewhere in Albania

Paul Henry

wasn't.

Alison Leonard

's garish necklace and bauble earrings were competing for attention on the judging panel; as was the "international cast of

Mamma Mia

" who performed what seemed an amateurish routine from the musical which is set to open here later in the year. It reminded me of one of those tragic British pantomime productions the Poms love at Christmas. I half expected

Michael Barrymore

to menacingly tip-toe on stage to raucous shrills from the audience screaming, "Look, he's behind you." But the only theatrical Brit present was sitting alongside Leonard and her trinkets to the side of the stage.

Craig Revel-Horwood

has provided some much-needed barbs and bitchiness on the series this year. Loved-up

Brendan Cole

has positively turned into a gushing ninny. And last night was no different. Even CRH got a case of the gushiness, admittedly it was the finale and the two finalists performed wonderful routines. After

Tamati

and

Samantha

's dramatic pase doble, Revel-Horwood cooed in that staccato delivery he's nailed so well: "I ab-so-lute-ly lov-ed it. I couldn't find anything I disliked about it." The pair scored four perfect 10s with that dance.

I'm told

Brendon Pongia

,

Annette Presley

,

Shorty St

's

Kim Crossman

and

Hayley Holt

were in the audience. I saw all the celebrity entrants return for the final, which I suspect is written into their contracts. There was

Geraldine

, the Hobbs siblings, Josh, Lizzy... but no

John Rowles

. Ou est the 62-year-old crooner? Surely he was meant to be there; surely he was contracted to be there. He left the show claiming exhaustion and saying he couldn't hack the rehearsals, but I'd have thought the appearance at the grand final wouldn't have induced much fatigue.

Tamati, as we all know, went on to win the competition despite pulling up four points short of

Barbara

and

Jonny'

s overall score of 117. It came down to the public vote and the public voted for their man. I can't say I'm not pleased.

Ali Mau

reckons she "fist-punched the air" when she heard the news and then shouted an obscenity. Me thinks you've been sitting on that couch with Paul for too long, Ali.

Kendall's performance last night was awe-inspiring, in the manner of those acrobatic performances on

Cirque du Soleil

, but let's not forget it's a popularity competition, and if there's one thing the weather presenter brought to the dance floor, it was a warmth and naturalness that we just wanted a piece of. He's popular. His outstanding performances and his clever tug at the heartstrings in the freestyle section in a nod to the Anzacs, reveals Tamati for the showman entertainer he is.

Weather presenting on

Breakfast

will be a thing of the past now, mark my words. This boy is destined for much bigger things at TVNZ.

Though, I'm not sure

Ronan Keating

is. The

Boyzone

singer performed a schmaltzy rendition of

Time After Time

, a song found on the album he's plugging, hence his primetime appearance. It's a tribute CD to his mother

Marie

who passed away from cancer in 1998. Like

Jonah Lomu

and

Paul Holmes

' attempts at music stardom, it's a compilation album of favourite songs, though Keating's are various tunes he remembers his mum listening to during his childhood. The CD is coming out in time for Mother's Day.

Rachel Glucina

Pictured: Dancing with the Stars winner Tamati Coffey. Photo / Supplied.