In the end, Donny Osmond's legions of fans and game attitude beat out the dance skill of R&B singer Mya, as the toothy '70s pop star walked away with this cycle's mirror ball trophy tonight on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

To be fair, Osmond had two advantages; besides being much more famous than Mya, he had a hardworking attitude that lead to steady improvement over this edition's episodes.

I've said before the only thing DWTS fans love more than a good dancer, is a mediocre dancer who gets good over the course of the show. (which also explains why another celebrity offspring, Kelly Osbourne, survived long enough to land third place tonight)

And it doesn't hurt that Osmond's core fan base is smack dab in the middle of the fiftysomething female demographic most likely to addicted to the show.

 Unfortunately, they may have been the only ones excited about this cycle's competition, which struggled to generate the buzz of past editions. In part, that's because the comic relief left early, as politico Tom DeLay was forced to bow out due to foot problems and despite a record number of contestants, there were no shlubby comics waiting in the wings to pick up the slack.

Here's hoping DWTS producers get the message and reinvent the show a bit, with fewer contestants, bigger stars and a more competitive field (the other thing that hurt this cycle was the fact that Mya emerged as the show's best dancer in the first few episodes).

Otherwise, the show's status as one of TV's most popular series might also be in jeopardy.