By Rawlein G. Soberano, Ph.D.
Washington, D.C. (November 23, 2010) – Dancing with the Stars (DTWS) has lost its credibility when ABC allowed it to mix politics with show business. The results were totally screwed up. If true talent isn’t recognized and rewarded here, why go through all the strenuous routines week after week only to be humiliated? It is a sad day when a competition designed to be judged on talent is relegated to the backburner because some people are trying to make a political statement. Are we not tired of the political stuff and just want to relax, have fun and admire talent? Bristol Palin should have been voted off 7 or 8 weeks ago. I hope she knows why she is still there; it’s certainly not rhythm. She may be the “most improved dancer” but she is still a terrible dancer.
The producers have lost sight of the show ordinary viewers loved. To place a political spin into the competition discredits the hard work and dancing ability of the dancers. To politicize the competition is an insult to the viewers for tainting a show that they delight in. Voting against Bristol is not voting against her Mom. She just does not have talents. People watched the show, not because of her but because of Jennifer or Brandy or Florence or Margaret of Kurt or Rick or Kyle. If this was American Idol Simon Cowell would have been straightforward to and told callers to stop promoting someone who is just no good. To watch a contestant with such grace, movement and beauty perform and find out the competition is rigged is a slap in the face to American decency and sense of fairness.
What is ironic is that Sarah and Bristol never watched the show before. Bristol admitted that she didn’t even read the contract (if she can read) or didn’t know it was a dancing competition and she would need to be there after the initial show (when she was paid $125k for appearing). Once the (show me the money) Palins realized that Bristol’s dancing wasn’t looking good, they contacted their political base who had never watched the show before, that Bristol need their votes in this competition and this is how they should vote. Sarah can put her spin on anything and no one in her base questions her “veracity.” These clowns voted week after week, often a lot more times than they have been allowed to keep Bristol in the competition.
Bristol can’t dance; she has no personality and Sarah’s influence is an embarrassment to the show. The show has been infected by TPM virus and it’s very toxic. Before you condemn the nasty things written about the no-talent, self-proclaimed abstinence advocate (what a joke), think how people got booted out feel because of her Mom’s legion of Taliban (racist and intolerant) armies. It’s time for her to be honest with herself and leave on her own. Her performance was uninspiring. It’s time for this 20-year old woman to admit that she is out of shape and unable to put more life into her performances. She cannot hold a candle to the last six contestants in the dancing contest because she looks like a bull/cow in a china shop.
Viewers noted that Bristol had very little time to practice. She was always flying to Alaska to give a speech or watch a band play or appear with her Mom at a political rally. They also wonder why she and her partner (Mark Ballas) were always hugging and kissing and fondling even when not appearing in dancing competition and practices. They noticed that she was putting on weight and her costumes were designed to hide her big tummy. They also noticed that Mark was doing all the fancy footwork and having to tow her across the floor. She didn’t care because she knew the voting was rigged. When it came to do a lift and Mark couldn’t lift the beached whale, they had to put her on a chair to make the lift easier. Of the nine episodes, her scores were in the bottom two of seven.
She looked like Miss Piggy with two left feet on the dance floor. She is using her stint at DTWS to promote the fact that she is an unmarried teen mother. If her name is not Palin, she would be labeled a tramp. She is the second worst dancer on the show after Kate Gosselin. What are these conservatives supposedly with high morals trying to teach the country—it’s ok to disregard the rules of competition and to devalue talent, hard work and the competition just to push your opinion and agenda on others? And do this using a young unwed mother as an example?
Posters started complaining about the voting but ABC did nothing to correct it. Its Web site allows people to vote up to 300 times. Conservative activists circulated instructions on how to game the system and stack the votes in Bristol’s favor. Someone on CNN’s Facebook page also alleged that ABC simply gave out the wrong number for Brandy, so that votes for her wouldn’t be counted. Several viewers complained that they tried to vote for Brandy, but ABC’s toll-free number wouldn’t take the call. Last week, many posters said they had voted for Kyle, but Bristol got credit for them in error. The same thing is true with the votes for Brandy. You could vote for Bristol as often as you wanted as long as you used a different email address! One poster even bragged of posting 50,000 dishonest votes for Bristol. How do file an ethics complaint against this family of media whores?
You don’t need the professional judges, much less the biased fan-based of blind and dumb Palin followers to know that the top two winners of this contest are Brandy Norwood and Jennifer Grey. They are truly gifted as dancers. It’s not about either the trophy and winning. You win when you know you are the best (as confirmed by the judges’ votes). Brandi was one of the best, if not the best, in this season. Some people may give Bristol an A for effort, but her gracefulness and outfit are nothing compared with the others. If she wins, DTWS will be put on the same category as The Bachelor which doesn’t say much. The Palins have ruined this season for everyone.
TPM has created a DTWS train wreck that they now call “Finale.” They’ve distorted a dance competition by making it all about the Palins. It’s not about dancing anymore. The competition has boiled down to politics. Viewers thought the finale would be a battle royale between Brandy and Jennifer; anything else would raise questions that something is wrong. It has the appearance of stuffing the ballot box. To put Bristol on the level of Brandy is to compare the gazelle to the walrus in terms of gracefulness and is grossly unfair. This is what happens when people vote unqualified candidates into office. They also love to put through the weakest contestant in a dance competition and show how powerful they are—they can make their choice the winner. It reminds me of a Mob-controlled cockfight where some people bring a duck to the fray. How do you know it is Mob-controlled? Because some people bet on the duck against the rooster! What happens? The duck wins!
