It’s been a few days now since Brandy’s shocking elimination let Bristol Palin waltz her way into the Dancing with the Stars finals. Time for heads to clear, tempers to cool and reason to return to discourse…
Or not.
Basically, it looks like everyone is still pretty much up in arms over Tuesday evening’s events. And this furor has spawned many, many conspiracies.
If you read blogs and Internet comments about Dancing with the Stars, it’s pretty hard to miss the conspiracy theories. They are everywhere. Many of the conspiracies come from those who think Bristol’s inclusion in the final is a sign of the coming apocalypse. But there are a few conspiracy theories coming from the side that thinks Miss Palin has every right to dance with Jennifer Grey and Kyle Massey next week.
It can be tough to keep tabs on all of the theories, so I compiled a list for easy reference. Ordered from least probable to most probable, all of these theories have been spotted on the Internet.
The results were an attack by those who hate America.
Hard to say if this refers to people who disagree with the theorist’s point of view or actual terrorists. I’m going to go with the first, since I have not seen anyone imply that Osama Bin Laden has been calling in votes for Bristol from his cave.
Sarah Palin purchased the votes.
She’s rich, but she’s not that rich. Also, why purchase votes when loads of people are happy to do the work for free?
The results were rigged by a rival network in hopes of drawing viewers away from Dancing with the Stars.
It’s counter-productive, since scandals tend to bring in viewers. The results may hurt DWTS and ABC in the long run, but the short-term ratings burst counters that.
It was God’s will.
I somehow doubt that God cares about who wins Dancing with the Stars. And are we sure that Bristol would be His pick anyway?
DWTS rigged the results so Jennifer can win.
By excluding Brandy from the finals, Jennifer Grey strongest competition is gone. But I doubt Dancing with the Stars cares that much about Jennifer winning.
ABC is in cahoots with the Republicans and/or Tea Party.
I suppose it’s possible (barely), but there are no secrets in Hollywood. We would have heard about this in the tabloids ages ago.
The studio rigged the results to increase ratings.
While I don’t deny that ABC would **love to do this, I don’t think they did. It would destroy all credibility if it came out, and, again we would have heard about it.
DWTS intentionally jammed the phone lines for Brandy voters.
A lot of people seemed to get busy signals or dropped calls when trying to vote for Brandy after the semi-finals. Some of these same people tried the number for Bristol and had no trouble. Possibly this is actual sabotage, but it’s more likely individual perception or faulty technology.
Racism played a part.
Lots of people said they just didn’t like Brandy. These remarks, along with the past seasons’ eliminations of contestants like Mya and Mel B, led others to believe that racism was involved. While possibly a factor (conscious or unconscious), it seems unlikely to have had the claimed effect.
Computer hackers increased Bristol’s votes.
Some people extrapolated that widespread over-voting for Bristol (see below) meant that her supporters hacked computer systems to increase Bristol’s votes. Seems awfully complicated when you can just use a dozen e-mail accounts…
Brandy’s a dancer!
All season, supporters of other dancers (mostly Bristol) have argued that Brandy and Jennifer Grey were ringers. They cited extensive dance experience. Although Brandy did the occasional modern dance for a video and Jennifer danced in a Dr. Pepper commercial (in 1980), extensive research (meaning a quick check of IMDB and Wikipedia) shows no ballroom training.
Bristol’s votes are all political.
A lot of them probably are. But many people are voting for her due to relatability, lack of star status or because they don’t like the other competitors. A high correlation between politics and Bristol’s support is certain, but the two are not the same.
Bristol’s supporters voted more than their share.
Lots of DWTS superfans do this. Multiple e-mail accounts and phone lines can increase a few votes into dozens. Viewers have called foul in the case of Bristol mostly because the multiple-voters are not, in many cases, superfans. Instead, they mobilized specifically to vote for Bristol and are definitely affecting the results.
What do you think about the conspiracy theories? True? False? Totally and completely insane? Let us know in your comments!
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
