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Last week, like millions of American, I sat and watched the semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars. Each season, I can always take this show or leave it. I tuned in pretty religiously when Kate Gosselin was on. What can I say? I'm a sucker for her and her 8 little spawns. I knew that this season would be no different with Bristol Palin as part of the cast. You may or may not know this, but I'm a Palin fan. I know, I know. Let the insults and ridicule fly. That won't change my mind about the woman who may be president in 2012. :)
When I heard that Bristol Palin was going to be part of the show, I was excited to see someone other than Sarah, emerge from this family. Let's face it. Bristol's had a hard few years. She was forced into the spotlight when her mom was the VP nomination with John McCain. She wasn't someone seeking fame, it was just part of her destiny. It turned out she was pregnant with her loser boyfriends child, which brought about a firestorm of negative her way. My take on that, and I'll just jump on this soapbox for a second, is that we all make mistakes. Hers was a national controversy. Ridiculous. Let the girl live and learn. Then her and her boyfriend breakup, he poses for Playgirl(do women even like that magazine?) and insults her family repeatedly, they get back together and eventually get engaged, then they break up again. This poor girl has been through the ringer, so when she was announced as a contestant, I thought "Good for you!".
I was also excited about the fact that here was someone who has not been in a single movie, has not had a top selling single, has not been on a hit show, and has not won a championship ring. She's an average girl who happens to have a not-so-average mom. She isn't in the entertainment industry. She has had no formal training of any kind, so immediately, she was my choice. Who doesn't love an underdog, anyways?
The first week she came out, I was nervous. I didn't want her to bomb, and again be scrutinized for how poorly she did. She was already being ridiculed by the media before she even stepped onto the dance floor. However, I was pleasantly surprised when she came out shaking her thing the first week. Yeah, over the course of the season, she's been the most reserved contestant, but looking at where she's come from and where's she is now.
Then "better" dancers than her started getting voted off. The media lashed out at her, and said that she was a horrible dancer who was only gaining votes because of her mom. Some articles even stated that she was only in the finals because conservatives had jammed the phone lines of the other contestants. I mean, really. Really? Here is one conservative who did NOT vote for her because of her mom. I continue to vote for Bristol because, like I stated earlier, she has no entertainment background. I expect Jennifer Grey to be good. She was in Dirty Dancing for cryin-out-loud. I expect Brandy to be good. She's had years of practice. What I don't expect is a girl from Wasilla, Alaska, to come out and rock it week after week. I vote for her because she's the underdog. She's the one in the middle of the media firestorm. She's the one being ridiculed, and on Tuesday night, I'll be sitting on my couch with my fingers crossed hoping that she takes home that mirror ball trophy.
