Chicago's Winningest Year Ever?

Second City provides first-place competition

We Chicagoans are a proud bunch and it seems recently we have that much more to boast about.

Wednesday night, Lee DeWyze of Mount Prospect came home with the title of "American Idol," beating out Crystal Bowersox by the slimmest of margins.

Viewers adamantly root for their favorite contestants, and the competition's results spur heated debates every season. However, the Windy City should be proud of both finalists this year, since they were both discovered via the Chicago auditions.

Chicagoland isn't just home to reality TV's biggest winners though. "The Biggest Loser" shed several of his pounds in the western suburb of Bartlett.

Michael Ventrella, 30, weighed in at 526 pounds at the beginning of NBC's weight-loss competition. But he gave up the deep-dish and the Italian beef in order to lose 264 pounds, over half of his original body weight. All that hard work earned Ventrella a $250,000 prize on Tuesday night.

Evan Lysacek from Naperville also sweated off quite a few pounds during the rigorous and physically challenging "Dancing with the Stars" season. But even with all their hard work, he and partner Anna Trebunskaya came in second place Tuesday night to Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and her partner Derek Hough.

Lysacek can't be too disappointed though. The figure skater still has his Olympic gold medal to come home to, which he earned in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

And while Lysacek's work on the ice earned him gold, the Blackhawks are now hoping to take home some silver. Some very big silver.

Chicago has come down with an incredible case of Blackhawk fever, as the team stands a very good chance of bringing home the Stanley Cup, a trophy we've been waiting 49 years to own.

Oh, lets not forget about that whole President being from Chicago thing either.

Cheer on, Chicago! This "Second City" is coming out on top!

Matt Bartosik is a Chicago native and a social media sovereign.

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