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Bristol Palin Couldn't Outdance Jennifer Grey on DWTS

1 year ago
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Sarah Palin and her tea party legions couldn't put "Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey in a corner on "Dancing With the Stars."

Grey outdanced Bristol Palin and Kyle Massey to win the fall season of DWTS, made even more captivating and controversial by the presence of the daughter of a potential 2012 presidential candidate. Grey made frequent references to her "Dirty Dancing" co-star Patrick Swazye, who died of cancer a year ago and uttered the iconic line "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" in the 1987 movie.

Bristol came in third in Tuesday's big finale, reacting with a smile and hugs for her competitors.

"This has just been a life-changing experience," she said. "It has been the time of my life."

Placing third is a significant accomplishment for a young woman with no performance experience, let alone dance background. The judges Tuesday continued to praise the progress she'd made on the show, characterizing her as the "girl next door," with Carrie Ann Inaba telling her she inspired hope.

Bristol PalinSomehow, being the daughter of the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee qualified Bristol for "stardom" alongside Grey, who is now 50, the pop singer Brandy, former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson and seven others.

But Bristol's presence brought plenty of attention to the 11th season of the show that pairs celebrities (the stars) with professional ballroom dancers. Hosts said the voting this week was the highest ever for the show, and DWTS producers acknowledged that their voting system cracked a bit under Monday evening's record activity.
"Some viewers reported experiencing difficulties registering their votes for the Dancing with the Stars finale, which affected each finalist equally," show producers said in a statement. "The issue was promptly addressed."
The attention to "Bristol the Pistol," as her mom pegged her, started early on. During the second week, when Sarah Palin stopped by to watch the live show, boos could be heard from the audience. Producers found footage to show the audience booing low scores for Grey -- not Sarah Palin's arrival.

Bristol hung on week after week, despite an out-of-sync jive caused, in part, by the monkey costume she was wearing, and frequent finishes in the bottom of the pack. That led to accusations that her mother's political team and supporters were somehow violating the show's online/phone voting system, which allows multiple votes per person each week.

When Bristol made the finals, the accusations escalated and the Twittersphere on either side tossed insults as if the future of the free world depended on a TV reality show. A Wisconsin man shot his television in anger over Bristol's success, while the young mom received threats. TMZ.com reported Tuesday that ABC gave Bristol a bodyguard and was using a dozen undercover guards and bomb-sniffing dogs to ensure safety at the finals.

When asked Tuesday about the prospect of winning the Mirrorball Trophy, Bristol said, "It'd feel like a big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me."

That moment will have to wait.

After her third place finish was announced on the East Coast, #DWTS lit up Twitter with thousands of tweets.

So what's next for Bristol? Well, at least one Twitterati suggests more reality television.

"I've never watched #DWTS. Figure I'll get enough of Bristol when she does The Bachelorette."
Filed Under: Media, Woman Up, Culture

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51 Comments

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djparker

I was happy that Bristol did well, and she can be proud of herself. It takes a lot of guts to do what she did, and the news media is "tuffing her up" with their coverage and disparaging remarks. You'll pay later. Good for her

November 27 2010 at 11:03 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Steveis world

So honestly, if it wasnt for Sara being her mother , do you really think she would have ever been on the show to begin with?

November 26 2010 at 9:39 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Steveis world

Bristal was good and I enjoyed watching her. I would hope that her mom would have enough respect to leave her alone, like when she was a teen. Shes grown now, and very beautiful .

November 26 2010 at 9:34 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
jmack49168

I am troubled that the ultimate result of the contest may have been "jiggered." Every other program called for voter results after the judges had rendered their verdict. The finale, however, called for the public to vote before the last vote from the judges, so that the final score could be affected by what the judges knew about the public vote. Furthermore, ABC never released the public vote tally, so we have no way of knowing the numbers -- reminding us of the latest Iranian election. The vague "the judges' votes count for 50% and the public vote counts for 50%" tells us almost nothing about what we want to know. The contest was unfair all around. If it was to be a talent contest, ABC had no business putting on a politically-charged figure in hopes of drawing a partisan audience and then complaining that said figure could not dance. If it was to be a popularity contest, why have judges vote at all? If It was to be a combination, but was to be won on talent, why let the public vote in the last rounds? On the other hand, if it was to be a beauty contest with a fixed result, it made sense to have a professional dancer mixed in with a number of amateurs with two left feet. In the end, this was a TV show, and virtually everything that happened on it can be explained in terms of ABC's desire to maximize ratings. In this, it succeeded brilliantly.

November 26 2010 at 9:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bsfurg

to listen to some of these ppl we call adults women you would think that Bristal was the only teen ager that had a baby without being married... we have thousand of adult women who do it all the time.. in fact they think its cute that as a adult women can have a baby with out getting married.. is it just a case of jealousy.. the women of american arent that great any more.. they have let our country down they arent good mothers or even good examples to teen agers any more..

November 25 2010 at 11:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bsfurg

It would have terrible embarrassing if Grey handt won.. aftr all she was a pro since she was a kid.. Bristal didnt have any thing to fall back on so Grey cant brag to much after all... its was just another show that fell flat at the end...

November 25 2010 at 11:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
yourstruly702

Jennifer won because she out danced everyone.. sad that a 51 year old woman beat all the youngins.... now that is a WINNER

November 24 2010 at 8:35 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
orangeb1811

They had to keep her in there for the finals. This show isn't about dancing, its about TV ratings.

November 24 2010 at 2:34 PM Report abuse +11 rate up rate down Reply
Mr Wonderful

I am a tea partyer and I didn't vote at all,why do you think tea partyers are more likely to watch this show than others? Maybe people just liked her more than the stars and Jennifer Grey is not new to dancing neither was Brandy,both dance or have danced in their careers.

November 24 2010 at 11:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Laurel

Her next gig should be on "Survivor." No audience voting there, just fellow tribemates. Come on, Bristol. Build a shelter and catch fish using spears.

November 24 2010 at 11:52 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Laurel's comment
luvtopleaze

She could survive unlike you probably ! Without a credit card and super market most people would perish !

November 24 2010 at 3:46 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply

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