'Dancing With the Stars:' It's all about Bristol, Bristol, Bristol

 

Say what you want about Bristol Palin, she's in the "Dancing With the Stars" finals and, well, you're not.

There was a virtual uproar over Alaska's most famous teen mom beating yet another opponent on Tuesday night. Yes, the 20-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin has been in the bottom two seven consecutive times and she's still standing.

Is there a "tea party" movement afoot to save this tiny dancer that involves fraudulent voting? Or are people just taken with her underdog spirit? Read this Los Angeles Times story and you decide.

One thing is for certain. The surprising exit of singer Brandy and the Sarah Palin factor have a lot of people talking, including executive producer Conrad Green and judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

"This season has definitely been more shocking than any other season," Green said in an interview Wednesday. "The one feature of this season is how unpredictable it’s been. I thought David Hasselhoff would last weeks. He’s a great character, and he's got great performance skills. So for me it was quite a thing. And then [Audrina Patridge] and [Rick Fox] going. I get that people get annoyed when good dancers leave. But there’s a way to remedy that — vote for them. It’s not rocket science."

Green said he would have loved to have seen a dance-off between Brandy and movie star Jennifer Grey, but he's not disappointed that Palin is still in the running.

"I feel bad for Brandy because I would have loved to have seen her go head-to-head with Jennifer, like she has been all season," he said. "We all have been a bit robbed of that. But, at he same time, if Bristol had gone, I’d been devastated because she’s grown more than any other dancer on the show. It’s an inspiring story, and she’s a representation of the audience on this show. If you take the party politics out of it, she’s inspiring. I feel for her. She’s 20 years old, she’s got no experience, and everything people are springing on her is pretty unfair, really."

Inaba echoed Green's sentiment, saying both Palin and Brandy had grown a lot in the competition.

"Yes, we all expected Brandy to be in the finals," Inaba said. "I think that goes without saying. But it happens. It happens every season. People forget the uproar that we had when Mario Lopez lost to Emmit Smith. Emmit wasn’t as good of a dancer but he had something that touched America’s hearts."

Inaba believes Palin's draw is her underdog status as the one contestant who has no entertainment industry experience.

"There is something about her that touches you when you watch her," Inaba said. "There’s a vulnerability, there’s an honesty in the way she moves. She has good technique. Her dance movements may be smaller than Brandy’s or Jennifer’s. And she doesn’t have the flair of Brandy or the performance level of Kyle Massey or the fine-tuned grace of Jennifer. But she hasn’t gotten their scores either.

"What’s sad is that, while people are upset about Brandy, and I completely understand that, I don’t think they should be taking down somebody else who is doing well," she added. "You can be upset and please express yourself but young kids read message boards. We don’t want to teach our kids that when you don't like something, you should spew."

The election, oops, the competition ends on Nov. 23.


— Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Video: Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas perform a praise-worthy pasodoble in Monday's episode. Credit: ABC.

Photo: From left, Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas wait for the verdict on Tuesday night's show. Credit: Adam Larkey/ABC.


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"Dancing with the Stars: Blogosphere in a tizzy over Bristol Palin's advance to the finals

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"Dancing with the Stars" recap: Semifinal showdown

Comments

[Jack Handler]

Dancing With Teaparty Shenanigans
Done With The Show

Amateur Dancing Night and amateur vote rigging would be a better spectacle. The three puppets called judges could all try dancing in their broom closets, but no human mind could ever stand it. The stars all got used and sold for publicity.

Any beauty pageant judge would know this system as well as any lottery system or online casino administrator. Tell me, can one person vote 10 million times to override a million others? Of course, if he owns the preferred shares in the organization or program's equity.

ABC and Fox News are the same ilk, only in different spheres labeled nebulously as Entertainment. People are indeed stupid if they buy into this. This waste of a show warrants no respect or credibility to the thinking mind.

First the Teabaggers hijack televisions shows. Then its the Teamsters. What a horrible plot arc for this completely scripted sideshow.

[mia]

first off the name of the show is dancing with the stars! Who is Bristal Palin? A kid of a poliical figure that got pregnant at the age of 17! I hardly think that make her a star! If she didn't have the tea party voting every week she would have and should have been gone 5 weeks ago. I think politic should been kept out of the show. I think this is really going to do alot of damage to the show. Many people are going to boicot the show.

[Donna]

The producers of Dancing With the Stars need to take a different approach to the voting. I think each week the number of times the public can vote should decrease, so that for the semifinals, people should only be allowed 4 votes, and for the finals 2 votes, the rest should be up to the judges. Bristol Palin improved, but any of the voted off contestants if they stayed on would have done the same. She didn't achieve some great feat, she just did what anyone who practices daily could do. It is a dance competion, and I don't know how she can feel good about still being on the show and Brandy and Audrina gone. She has to know herself that she doesn't compare to them. I also think all the contestants mothers should get as much air time as Palin. It is like the show is pushing for the Palins, and it's not fair. Now quite sure how she is considered a star, did I miss something? Only in America can we make a teen mom some sort of celebrity. Don't get me wrong she doesn't seem like a bad person, but she is no star, and certainly not a dancer. The person I feel the worst for is Max, he deserved to be in the finals. He is such an excellent dancer, and again he gets screwed.

[Cora]

1. Brandy and Jennifer Grey are effectively professionals -- professionals on stage with dance experience. So that kind of takes the fun out of watching them.

2. Brandy's movements were totally overdone and stagey. She seemed like she was more overacting than dancing.

3. Also, Brandy takes this way too seriously. She stripped the fun right out of it.

[Barbara]

Teabaggers cheating you are just as guilty you will never prosper in life...I am sorry but you cannot dance you have a son to raise...and how would you feel if someone done this to your son The Palin seem not to have a heart...but I am going to give you benefit of doubt and say you have a heart..if there is cheating going on you need to make a stand and do the right thing!!!!!!!!!!

[charlana]

bristol is not the only teen mom out there the difference is she has everything and some have nothing!old saying goes the rich get richer..............

[tom]

Everybody are blaming the Palins for Brandy elimination and it is not true. The producers chose to eliminate Brandy to protect Jennifer. The truth is that the producers would have been embarrass if the person who did receive the lowest votes went home. It was Jennifer who was suppose to leave and the producers would have looked like a jackass after Jennifer receive 2 perfect scores dancing.

[Get A Grip]

I think Sarah will run for the Presidency in 2012 based on if Bristol wins Dancing with the Stars. I believe Bristol will be one of the Top Two, but I do not think she is going to win... but who really knows.

[Wow.]

Seriously?? you people honestly thought this show, that allows America to vote for the winner, would be fair??????? hahaha! WHO CARES!!! i hope Bristol wins. I started watching the show for the first time this year because i saw that Jennifer Grey was on it, and after watching her, i can't stand her. i now watch it for Cory and Bristol. Cory is hilarious, and Bristol has thought from the beginning that she was going to be voted off every single week, that right there, and the fact that she HAS improved greatly, makes me root for the underdog. Go ahead and make your snide, rude, comments about how she shouldn't be where she is, blah blah blah, you don't like her mom, blah blah blah. GASP! she had a child and she wasn't married AND she was under 18??? thats never happened before, has it?? what ever shall we do???

[tinydancer]

Inaba is extremely easy on Bristol. In fact, the other judges are also giving her high scores that she does not deserve. Therein lies the problem. Stop telling her she is good when it is obvious to many viewerd she is among the worst dancers on the show. I am extremely bored of her dancing, it is AWEFULL! If she wins I hope viewers boycot the show for insulting our intelligence by giving high scores to Bristol. Get real, her dancing does not come close to an 8! Let alone a 9! Politics is now on DWTS and I am no longer a fan and refuse to waist my time watching Bristol dance like Jerry Lewis.

[desertbrat]

I so agree with the majority of other posters that 'two-left-feet' Palin doesn't deserve to be in the finals. And, yes it does appear that the fix is in considering consistently low judge's scores. It's difficult to believe that those who voted for 'best' dancer would choose this wooden mannequin over the more polished and accomplished Brandy. Palin's performances were hardly stunning, about as good as Kenny M's and David H. Though I wonder if it isn't just a publicity stunt to garner a bigger audience share for the final - they will claim a computer glitch gave a false vote or the call-in numbers were wrong or some such crap. Let's hope this is the case. If not, well, sorry DWTS, you've just lost another viewer.

[Skyler]

This is about ratings plain and simple. Palin is bringing in the viewers and keeping the program alive. This is not a talent show it is a reality show. Who is having an affair with who, the "tea party" conspiracy, blah, blah, blah. Anything to create a buzz and keep you coming back for more. Everyone talks about Palin's vulerability, etc. Hello . . . she is a teenage mother (not very vulnerable in my book).

ABC knows exactly what it's doing and the viewers are failing for it hook, line and sinker. Stop watching the show and problem solved!

[Elaine Stewart]

I think it's pretty funny that everyone is freaking out about Bristol Palin advancing when she has worked so hard to improve with having no previous dancing experience......It wasn't so long ago when Kate Gosslin (? spelling) kept advancing when there was little to no improvement in her dancing.....This seems like an obvious double standard to me!

[Alice]

Bristol is the laughing stock of DWTS,she looks like she has 2 left feet and is thicker then anyone else on the show.For Brandy to be kicked off and Bristol still dancing is a insult to those that have been kicked off.Bristol and her mom are not true Alaskans,look at Sarah she left her role as Gov. of Alaska before her term even was up.As for Bristol trying to be spokeswoman for teens to abstain from sex is so 2 faced of her.Sarah would never be President of the United States she would no doubt be able to finish her term..They are both losers and to missed lead people about how they live in Alaska is a laugh init itself.Who would put their kids at risk to fish withoin a few feet of feeding Bears is stupid.

[Curtis]

The show use to be good, now it has become a political stage for exploiting your and cleaning up your hypocritical image

[Michael Compton]

"...If you take the party politics out of it..."

Right. She's there purely because of politics, and the audience is at fault for recognizing that fact. People with entirely political motivations have kept her in the competition (with both legal and fraudulent votes, thanks to an insecure voting process).....But when people cry foul, it is THEY who are called down for politicizing the show. Right.

As they persist in showing such little respect for the intelligence of their audience, I don't intend to continue watching. I've had it with this nonsense.

Yes, I know....'Who cares what you do'......Well, I'm not along in my frustration and disgust. They overplayed their hand this time (after pushing Tucker Carlson & the indicted/disgraced Tom Delay in previous seasons)....No more of this for my family, thank you. If they don't want politics to enter into it, STOP CASTING PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH POLITICS.

Once upon a time, it was a fun show that provided a bit of an escape from the tensions of life in modern America; Now it is something else entirely. While I enjoy politics, I do NOT enjoy having a particular political party shoved down my throat at every opportunity.

Enjoy the show, teabaggers....You broke it, you 'buy' it.

[Louis O'Bryan]

Michael, I Bet the tea party is shaking in it's boots because of your so called threat.

[Nora Davis]

You got rid of one of the best dancers you had when Brandy left.This one can't dance,sorry.

[bianchikidd]

I got a great idea..

Lets everyone vote for Bristol...and nobody else

That way the show can get cancel due to viewer ship going down hill
Nobody is going to look at this show any longer as long as The Tea Party is calling the shots

[Brian]

Why does everyone seem to miss the fact that Brandy couldn't even beat Kyle? If she was so awesome it would've been Kyle that left.