When Tom Bergeron was told he'd be hosting a TV celebrity ballroom dancing competition, his career flashed before his eyes.

Little did he know, the show in question -- Dancing With the Stars -- with its corny disco ball, lame trophy and laughable camera work -- would become one of TV's highest-rated programs.

"On paper this should not have worked," says Bergeron, as he prepares for the finale of Dancing With the Stars 3.

In reality, however, Dancing, now in its third season, works like a charm.

From its cast of B-list celebrities to its ballroom- obsessed judges, the show pours the cheese on so thick, viewers can't help but want a taste.

"Clearly we don't take ourself too seriously I mean, we take the work they (the competitors) are doing seriously and their effort seriously, but we don't have a ridiculous over-blown perspective of what the show is," says Bergeron, who also doesn't take this season's drama too seriously.

"I call this our tabloid season with all the additional intrigues."

Controversy surrounding the series started when contestant Shanna Moakler (MTV's Meet the Barkers) had the details of her private life splashed across Internet when her husband Travis Barker filed for divorce.

Then dating rumours began to fly about Willa Ford and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Mario Lopez and partner Karina Smirnoff.

"It's almost 11 a.m. in L.A. -- those relationships could have ended by now. But last time I checked they looked pretty solid," he laughs.

Bergeron feels by inviting viewers into the lives of its contestants, the show has created an interest in their personal lives.

This was certainly the case when country singer Sarah Evans quit the show after filing for divorce from her husband, Craig Schelske.

In response, Dancing decided to break from its regular format and include an interview with Evans at the end of one of its shows.

"I think it would have been a bit disingenuous to not address it -- people wanted to know why she was quitting and I think it was handled well," says Bergeron.

"It was like 23 or 24 million people who watched that interview."

Producers are hoping an equal number will tune into the season finale to watch Lopez and Emmitt Smith (with dance partner Cheryl Burke) battle it out.

Bergeron says, while each will perform the same dance discipline and a freestyle dance in order to win fans' votes, the contest is no longer about dancing ability.

"There's no denying Mario is technically the best dancer we've got among the celebrities and arguably the best we've ever had. But right now it's about the total package.

"Is the bad boy Mario, with his dimples and rule-breaking ways, going to win? Or is Emmitt Smith going to take it in the last quarter? You never know.

"I think Emmitt is the quintessential Dancing With the Stars star -- someone who came to the show, out of his comfort zone, and surprised himself and the fans."

While Bergeron always thought it would be Lopez and Smith in the finales, he says he has no idea who's going to take it.

"I honestly -- and this isn't like Bush saying Rumsfeld is going to stay with him to the end of the term, one of those convenient lies -- I honestly don't know. I think it could go either way. I really do."

The two-hour finale airs on CTV and ABC tonight at 9 p.m., followed by the results show at 9 p.m. tomorrow.

Bergeron says, while nothing has been officially announced yet, Dancing 4 will debut in the spring with a new lineup of celebrity contestants.