DWTS Conspiracy Theories Or Why The He** Is Bristol Palin Still On???

I don't watch the show, but I've heard enough about it since Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, graced the DWTS stage with her two left feet. I have to admit, I watched a bit in the beginning to see Jennifer (Dirty Dancing) Grey and Brandy dance, and I thought both danced incredibly well and elegantly. I didn't stick around to watch Bristol dance, and I didn't have to. There were enough clips being shown to showcase her not-so-nimble dancin' feet on cable news and entertainment shows. I'm glad I don't follow the show, or else I may have been compelled to do what that man in Wisconsin did-shot his TV to hell! And now, much to many viewers shock and dismay, Bristol Palin made it all the way to the Finale. So how did Bristol get there??? That's where the conspiracy theories come in, involving not just her fame-seeking political Mom, but Tea Party members have been accused of "stuffing the ballot boxes." Here are more probable and improbable, and definitely entertaining theories:

 

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.

 

	By Adam Larkey, AP
Bristol Palin and her partner Mark Ballas scored lower than Brandy Norwood and and Maksim Chmerkovskiy on Tuesday's Dancing With the Stars, but fan voting kept Sarah Palin's daughter alive in the competition.

 

I did say entertaining, didn't I? So conspiracy or not, if Bristol beats Jennifer Grey to end up winning, I'll even believe the entire state of Alaska had something to do with it...