Splash News

As I watched the season finale last night for Dancing with the Stars, I couldn’t help but focus on the celebrities’ family members in the audience. As much as the show is over-the-top kitsch and glamorama cool, it seems to all boil down to family.

Sure, it was sweet when Donny Osmond snagged first place and literally ran into the audience to grab his sibling, Marie Osmond. What I’m really talkin’ about is Kelly Osbourne. Her dad, rocker Ozzy looked like a proud papa as did her mother, Sharon. In particular, Sharon seemed to be glowing with radiance only a mother could show. Oh yeah, her brother was in tow as well.

This is why I don’t take the role of celebrity too seriously. Sure, they’re on a pedestal but when it comes down to basics, they’re people. Just. Like. Us.

Their parents still get proud of them. They still care about what their siblings think of them. There’s a sense of humanity that won’t wane just because they have a top-selling album or number one reality show. And as Thanksgiving approaches, they’re really no different than you or me. They will sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table (or in my Italian family growing up, the late lunch table full of lasagna and meatballs – for real!), carving the turkey, enjoying the stuffing and all the fix-ins. They’ll give thanks just like you and me, they’ll be surrounded by family just like you and me. The only thing different? They’re eating on more expensive china, that’s all.

Whether it’s an audience full of your family on a competitive reality show or celebrating a national holiday, turns out the core of Tinseltown, at least how I’d like to see it, comes back to basics. And as Kelly Osbourne came in third place, her family didn’t seem to care. That is, in their hearts she was already number one.

What are your thoughts? Did it also shed a little humanity sentiment with you, too or was it overshadowed by over the top glitz, disco ball and all?