Bristol Palin & Mark Ballas - All-Stars

[KatesMom]

Im not a fan of Bristol Palin and i do noT!!!! feel sorry for her because she should have never been chosen to be on the all star season and I dont blame Mark for not wanting to be her partner she cant dance!

But how is any of this her fault? I'm sorry, but I don't understand this logic. Bristol can't be on this show unless TPTB ask her. She is a single mother and it is a way to make money. And sorry, but she did make the F3 last time which means, like it or not, she does have fans. Blame Mark? THIS IS HIS JOB. He doesn't get to pick his partners. He signed a contract and he needs to honor it. If he doesn't like it, then he should leave.

And here's the thing - I think she can dance. I don't enjoy her dances because there is no emotion or passion there, and she is definitely weaker than the other dancers there. But she can dance. And she has every right to be there. All anger should be directed at the show and TPTB. They are the ones who asked her to be on. They are the ones who tell everyone to vote for their favorites (as opposed to the best dancers). They are the ones who refuse to change the numbers week after week, which allows people to vote when they aren't even watching. They are the ones who have set up and facilitated what is happening. This is not Bristol's fault. She is a young woman who made a commitment and is living up to it. I just don't get the venom towards her.

[MFWalkoff]

But how is any of this her fault? I'm sorry, but I don't understand this logic. Bristol can't be on this show unless TPTB ask her. She is a single mother and it is a way to make money. And sorry, but she did make the F3 last time which means, like it or not, she does have fans. Blame Mark? THIS IS HIS JOB. He doesn't get to pick his partners. He signed a contract and he needs to honor it. If he doesn't like it, then he should leave.

And here's the thing - I think she can dance. I don't enjoy her dances because there is no emotion or passion there, and she is definitely weaker than the other dancers there. But she can dance. And she has every right to be there. All anger should be directed at the show and TPTB. They are the ones who asked her to be on. They are the ones who tell everyone to vote for their favorites (as opposed to the best dancers). They are the ones who refuse to change the numbers week after week, which allows people to vote when they aren't even watching. They are the ones who have set up and facilitated what is happening. This is not Bristol's fault. She is a young woman who made a commitment and is living up to it. I just don't get the venom towards her.

I can't disagree with this more. Nobody is holding a gun to Bristol's head, and nobody ever talks this way about any other celebrity on the show who prompts negative reactions from viewers. There are thousands of other ways for a "poor single mom" to make money. She chose to be on this show, not once but twice. And this time, she went into it knowing what kinds of backlash she could expect. She can't play the shy little girl card again, or the victim card again, since this is the second time she is allowing the show to sell us on the idea that she is somehow a "star."

If she takes the paycheck, she's fair game. And if she isn't mature or savvy enough to handle the media or fans/detractors with the same professionalism as other contestants (who happen to actually be "stars")...well, that's not our fault.

[JohnnyK]

Maybe news of the "package" gathered her some sympathy votes? Could happen.

[Mreid1472]

But how is any of this her fault? I'm sorry, but I don't understand this logic. Bristol can't be on this show unless TPTB ask her. She is a single mother and it is a way to make money. And sorry, but she did make the F3 last time which means, like it or not, she does have fans. Blame Mark? THIS IS HIS JOB. He doesn't get to pick his partners. He signed a contract and he needs to honor it. If he doesn't like it, then he should leave.

And here's the thing - I think she can dance. I don't enjoy her dances because there is no emotion or passion there, and she is definitely weaker than the other dancers there. But she can dance. And she has every right to be there. All anger should be directed at the show and TPTB. They are the ones who asked her to be on. They are the ones who tell everyone to vote for their favorites (as opposed to the best dancers). They are the ones who refuse to change the numbers week after week, which allows people to vote when they aren't even watching. They are the ones who have set up and facilitated what is happening. This is not Bristol's fault. She is a young woman who made a commitment and is living up to it. I just don't get the venom towards her.

THE VENOM TOWARDS HER IS BECAUSE SHE MADE THE F3 over BRANDY NORWOOD IN SEASON 10 who was a far better dancer!!!!!! Bristol cannot dance. she didnt have to come back even if she was asked no one put a gun to her head and made her come back. She cannot dance and i want her out!

[Fanny Mare]

Maybe news of the "package" gathered her some sympathy votes? Could happen.

I dont think this helped or hindered her. The show needed some drama and they threw this in

[KatesMom]

THE VENOM TOWARDS HER IS BECAUSE SHE MADE THE F3 over BRANDY NORWOOD IN SEASON 10 who was a far better dancer!!!!!! Bristol cannot dance. she didnt have to come back even if she was asked no one put a gun to her head and made her come back. She cannot dance and i want her out!

Fair point about her being able to choose not to come back. And also fair point brought up above about knowing the backlash that happened before and being willing to deal with it again. But with all due respect, that doesn't change my opinion. She was offered an opportunity. So it is your opinion she should have turned it down? If she wanted to do it, then I think she had every right to choose to do it. The level to which she is capable of understanding the backlash and what a joke the situation was last time is up for debate. I think she honestly thinks she has fans (and I think she does). Isn't the real culpability with the show though? They obviously knew exactly what happened last time and yet they asked her back.

As for Brandy, I get your anger. But how did anything Bristol did result in Brandy getting kicked off before her? It was the judges and the voters who pushed Bristol through over Brandy. Should Bristol have dropped out? I don't think that's right. This is not a dance competition - if it was, they would be telling us to vote for the best dancer, not our favorite. Whether Bristol was a star or not? Who asked her to be on not once but twice? Apparently by the show's standards she does qualify. Whether we agree or not is really pointless. We have the power to vote for others or stop watching. They have the power to do whatever they want to do with their show.

[AlwaysVeg]

What gets me is her immature whine-fest about how Mark would prefer another partner over her, i.e., one who can dance better (such a person not being too difficult to find). She knew this was the All-Stars show, meaning at least most of the dancers would be the cream of the crop. They weren't going to ask Master P, Kate G, or Cloris Leachman back. Therefore, she had to think for at least one second that Mark or whichever pro got her as a partner might just not be very happy because they'd have no chance of winning. Or did this dimwitted daughter of Draculette think she really deserved third place in her season?

[Tilden]

Bristol had every right to take the opportunity when it was offered to her. However, she admitted she knew that the reaction to her being there would probably be similar to the reaction to her being there the first time. She also should understand by this time, that no one, so far, has had quite the scores they've had other seasons. Any number of the dancers/stars have said that what got a ten in their original seasons is getting more like an 8.5 this season, and that hasn't been said with defensiveness either. Just a matter of fact admission that the competition is much stiffer this time around, and thus it's much harder to get those higher scores. And yes, given his druthers, Mark probably would have preferred another partner, because all the dancers want to win, and whether she wants to admit it or not, Bristol isn't as talented as the other dancers in this season's cast, and since it's an all-star season, it's a little harder to maintain that "improvement" should be factored into the scores, because with all-stars, the dancers should come in fairly accomplished in the first place. If they manage to do more than they've done before--as some of them did this last week--then, realistically, their "improvement" is going to outshine hers anyway, because they started at a higher level than she did.

So, sure, if she wants to take the opportunity, she has the right to do so. But she also then needs to deal with the negativity that's going to come from some viewers, the lower scores that she deserves compared to the other dancers, and the fact that not she's not going to be the top of the list of desirable partners, simply because her skill set isn't as high. If Mark admits she's not the most talented dancer there...well, is he saying anything that anyone else wasn't already aware of? And it's not as if he didn't follow that statement up with why she still deserved to be there IHO.

I think Bristol should have weighed whether her skin was thick enough to put up with all that prior to making her decision to take their offer. I can understand her being a bit more naive about it the first time out but not this time, especially when she herself said she expected a similar reaction to her first appearance on the show. She also should have really thought about whether she wanted to compete with a bunch of former winners and runners-up and/or deal with the judges/viewers pointing out that she wasn't as good a dancer as they are, regardless of whether she outlasts them for a while or not. If she decided that all that was worth competing again, then she needs to accept that she did and deal as graciously as possible with the inevitable fallout instead of complaining that no matter what they did, she and Mark would never get above a six (though they did this past week) or being upset that Mark would have preferred a more skilled partner when it's only natural that he--and any other dancer on the show--would have. That attitude would be true every season, with every group of contestants. It shouldn't be news to her that that same attitude would extend to her. I realize she's still fairly young, but this is not her first time on the show, so with regard to DWTS, she's as experienced as every other contestant on this season.

[Florimel]

She may be young, but then, so is Shawn, who knows how to behave. Shawn competed in the Olympics when she was several years younger, where the competition was a heck of a lot stiffer. and where the outcome was just a tad more important than a mirror ball trophy.

[bee stung lips]

Bottom line is this: if Bristol chooses to stretch her fifteen minutes of fame out a little longer than is deserved, then she'd better be damned sure be willing to roll with the punches that come with it.