'The Biggest Loser' season finale: And your winner is...

Time to crown "The Biggest Loser" for season eight.

Live from Hollywood, the gang's all here. Alison Sweeney is wearing quite the number, which is a better choice than what she wore to the last finale. After what seems to be quite the endless montage of our final four, Koli and Daris make their way to the stage. We even get a shot of the new love in Daris' life... and she is hot! Not sure what Koli was thinking with those pants, and since I'm no fashion maven, I won't even speculate. The hot pink isn't enough to sway America's Vote, as this great country chose Daris as the final contestant for the grand prize.

If you remember from the last finale, Shay was challenged to lose even more weight. For ever additional pound she lost, Subway would award her $1,000. From 304 pounds in December, she's now down to 252 pound, a drop of 52 pounds! Who should pop out to award her the oversized check but Jared... except it's blank! Yep, he's there to announce yet ANOTHER challenge: by year's end, he and Shay will run a marathon that will lead to Subway doubling her prize. You go girl!

In groups of four, Alison brings out the eliminated contestants. Cherita, Victoria, Sherry and Maria are all trotted out looking mighty fine, then are sent back to change almost as quickly. Running late, NBC? Anyway, Cherita drops from 277 to 186, a difference of 91 pounds. Victoria goes from 358 to 222, a loss of 136 pounds. Maria makes a miraculous recovery from her earlier injury to go from 281 to 167, a drop of 91 pounds. But it's Sherry that takes the early lead by dropping 91 pounds, going from 218 to 119, but that's a loss of over 45 percent!

The next four up features the mother/daughter duo of Patty and Stephanie (hot!), along with brothers James and John. Mama Patti looks good 73 pounds lighter, having dropped from 243 to 170. Stephanie (now with Sam), goes from 264 to 165 pounds, a drop of 99. The brothers don't lose as much as I thought  they would: James sheds 128 pounds, going from 485 to 357, while John goes from 484 to 335, a loss of 149 pounds.

Now comes "power" couple Melissa and Lance, along with Migdalia and Miggy. I have to admit, I wasn't all that crazy about Melissa, but not only does she go from 233 to 143, or 90 pounds gone, but she has biceps bigger than mine. Yowza. Lance pulls an equally good number, dropping from 365 to 237, a loss of 128. Migdalia is still struggling, as she hits the low mark of the night by only losing 52 pounds, going from 265 to 213. On the other hand, Miggy rocked that scale by shedding 91 pounds, dropping to 149 from 240.

The feel-good team of the season, Sunshine and O'Neal, along with Darrell and Andrea are next. For all the struggles O'Neal had to deal with, he still manages to lose 159 pounds, going from 389 to 230 pounds. Sunshine is all that, and more after dropping from 275 to 161, a total loss of 114 pounds. Darrell, once dubbed the sickest man on campus, loses an astounding 189 pounds, from 413 to 224. Andrea's loss is less, though she's still mighty fine by me. The daughter goes from 298 to 214, a drop of 84 pounds.

Will Darrell's 45.76 percent hold as the winner? The final three at-home contestants climb-up on the scale. Cheryl goes first, losing 76 pounds by going from 227 to 151. Sam began single and at 372 pounds. Now he's 142 pounds lighter, down to 230 AND he got the girl. Finally, Koli takes the scale and rocks it! Going from 403 to 188, his 215 pound loss translates to 53.35 percent weight lost but $100,000 gained.

After plugs for the Pound-for-Pound challenge and Despicable Me, Daris, Michael and Ashley arrive on stage for the final weigh-in. As Michael was the biggest loser on the ranch, he decides the order will go from youngest to oldest. Daris goes first... and loses 48.55 percent, or 168 pounds. Starting at 346 pounds, he's now down to 178 and still funny. Ashley is next, and has dropped 191 pounds, going from 374 to 191, an amazing loss of 183 pounds or 48.93 percent. Finally, it's Michael's turn. He started the journey at over a quarter-ton: 526 pounds. The verdict? He drops 264 pounds, arriving at 262 pounds and a percentage of weight lost at 50.19 percent. Had America voted for Koli instead, he would have walked away with the bigger prize. Instead, Michael is $250,000 richer and half his former size.

Congratulations Michael... you are this season's Biggest Loser!