Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
Could Bristol Palin win “Dancing with the Stars”?
After more twists than an Argentine tango, “Dancing with the Stars” reaches it climax this week with Bristol Palin on course to pull off what could be a stunning win in the grand finale of the ballroom dancing TV show.
Although “Dirty Dancing” star Jennifer Grey is considered the best dancer of the final three celebrities, fans of Sarah Palin’s oldest daughter have made clear through their votes over the past six weeks that the show, like “American Idol”, is as much about popularity as sheer talent.
Which is why Bristol, the 20 year-old single mom from Alaska, has a real shot at taking the coveted mirror ball trophy back to Wasilla, Alaska on Tuesday, and becoming the most controversial winner of the U.S. TV contest in its five-year history.
And here’s why: passionate fans make zealous voters and e-mailers in contests where the outcome is ultimately in the hands of the public. Just look at Justin Bieber’s take-over of the American Music Awards on Sunday in a contest that was also determined by fan votes.
Bristol’s celebrity rivals may be better dancers (Grey), and have more engaging personalities (Disney star Kyle Massey), and if the history of the past seven weeks is anything to go by, both will score higher marks from the judges on Monday night. But will their fans pick up the phone and vote or e-mail five time each for Jennifer or Kyle ?
Here’s what professional dancer Karina Smirnoff had to say on Monday. “This season has proven it is not a dance competition only. With Jennifer we have the strongest dancer, with Kyle we have the strongest personality and then with Bristol we have the best journey. She literally drove five days in her own car to get here and learn how to dance. Fans develop a relationship with these people each week,” Smirnoff told People magazine.
Sure Bristol, and her mother, aren’t universally loved by Americans. The white powder scare on Friday that turned out to be talcum powder mailed to the DWTS Los Angeles studio, and the Wisconsin man who shot up his TV last week, are testament to some of the more extreme negative passions the Palin family provokes.
Don’t mess with the Mouse, Adam
(Writing and reporting by Corinne Heller)
Appearances by glam rocker Adam Lambert on two additional shows broadcast on the ABC network have been canceled following complaints to the Disney-owned station.
ABC had also canceled an appearance by Lambert on its “Good Morning America” news program a day after he performed at the live American Music Awards November telecast on ABC in November, during which he kissed a male keyboardist and simulated oral sex and other racy acts.
The 27-year-old singer, who came out publicly as gay after finishing second this year on “American Idol” , wrote on his Twitter website on Wednesday: “Yes, sadly friends, ABC has canceled my appearances on Kimmel and NYE. I don’t blame them. It’s the FCC heat.”
“It’ll all blow over,” he wrote on his Twitter page. “Let’s focus on something positive!”
Lambert was to perform on ABC’s annual “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special and on the late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” later this month. He has appeared on rival networks since his AMAs performance and has an appearance coming up later in December on “The Jay Leno Show”.
Lambert’s a great guy, he just made a mistake. He’s not a mean person at all and I hope it all works out for him.
Wild child Adam Lambert sheds his family friendly “Idol” glow
“American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert built a broad base of support during his run on the show this year. After all, “Idol” got to be the top-rated program on U.S. television by appealing to moms, dads, teens, doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs and everyone in between.
So when he took the stage on Sunday night at the American Music Awards and simulated oral sex with a back-up dancer, kissed a male keybordist on the mouth and gestured to the audience with his middle finger, he was bound to lose some of that broad “Idol” audience. Lambert all but said as much when he told Rolling Stone magazine that if his performance “offends (people), then maybe I’m not for them.”
But was it right for Lambert to put on such a sexually charged performance at the AMAs on network television, shortly before 11 p.m. on the East and West Coast and before 10 p.m. Central Time, when some teens and younger viewers might still have been watching the show? Does Lambert bear a special responsibility to reign in his sexual provocation, since he presumably has many young fans from his “Idol” days?
ABC on Tuesday canceled Lambert’s scheduled appearance on its “Good Morning America” as a result of his performance at the AMAs, after it received more than 1,500 complaints about his stage antics, but the singer has other TV appearances lined up.
Of course, the fact that Lambert is openly gay plays a significant role in the controversy. Last week, Aaron Hicklin, the editor-in-chief of gay magazine “Out” posted an open letter to Lambert after the singer posed for a cover shot. In the letter, Hicklin said that Lambert’s record label and management insisted that the magazine “must avoid making (Lambert) look ‘too gay’” and that they insisted he only appear on the cover in a group shot, not by himself.
Hicklin also criticized Lambert’s appearance in the magazine Details, in which he was photographed cupping the breast of a statuesque, nude female model. Hicklin suggested it would have been more radical to pose with a guy.
Lambert responded to Hicklin’s criticism by telling Entertainment Weekly magazine that Hicklin “has his agenda and has his opinions, which I respect, but they’re not necessarily my opinions” and that the editor “really crossed a line” with his criticism.
He lost me with the over the top sexual exhibtions. I was a total fan on American Idol and am not a fan of any major sexual posturing of the stars I support, male or female. I was ready to buy ALL Adam Lambert’s CDs. Not now.I guess he’d rather be a marginally sucessful gay star that has turned off the older straight fans. Fine, Aloha, Adam.
Fall? What fall? J.Lo says the day after AMAs
Jennifer Lopez is laughing off her fall at the American Music Awards on Sunday night.
“Did I trip a little bit? I don’t even remember,” the “Jenny from the Block” singer said on Monday morning to Ryan Seacrest on his Los Angeles radio show.
Lopez was laughing when she said that, and she followed it up with a joke — at least we at Fan Fare are taking it as a joke.
“Yeah I meant to do that,” she told Seacrest. “What are you talking about? You should know me better than that, that was part of the choreography.”
During the performance of her song “Louboutins,” Lopez walked on the backs of five male dancers as if she was climbing a staircase, and then jumped off the fifth man’s back and landed on her famously curvy backside. But in slightly less time than it takes for Auto-Tune to iron out bad vocals, Lopez was back on her feet, dancing and shaking. Like nothing happened, right?
Well, not exactly. While it was probably overshadowed by “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert’s racy, controversial performance of his single “For Your Entertainment,” J.Lo’s fall also got plenty of attention.
Of course, J.Lo could always use this to her advantage. Before reality star Kim Kardashian came along, J.Lo had the most famous backside in Hollywood. Now that she has stamped a stage with it, J.Lo’s posterior is back in the news again.
Once again, J-Lo shows us how untalented she truly is – she cannot sing, dance or act. She is more famous for her various public antics, including home wrecking. She is a disgrace and an example of everything that is wrong with the entertainment industry.She often finds new ways to humiliate herself, and this is just one more.
Taylor Swift – “Fearless” or tone-less?
She made history at the Country Music Awards last week, is the biggest selling female artist in the United States this year, and she comes magically to life in December’s edition of InStyle in the first ever 3D magazine cover.
But how good is teen sensation Taylor Swift at actual singing?
Not so great, if the growing amount of chat on the Web is to be believed. The higher her public profile rises, the louder are the whispers that Swift often sings flat in live performances.
Some country music fans were particularly miffed at Swift’s trophy for female vocalist of the year at the CMA awards in Nashville last week, where the 19-year-old also became the youngest artist ever to win the coveted Entertainer of the Year award.
“Flat, off key, and just really bad! Taylor Swift is no Reba, Martina, or Carrie, these are the real vocalists. TS must have some real geniuses in the studio to fix that crap,” wrote one admitted Rebafan on the Great American Country web site.
And country fans are not alone. Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker wrote in a blog that Swift was a “terrific songwriter” but described her voice as “thin, and sometimes as wobbly as a newborn colt.”
With the American Music Awards coming up this weekend, and Swift’s leading six nominations, all eyes will again be on the young star whose rise to fame has been meteoric over the past two years.
AND JILL SERJENT YOU REALLY NEED TO FIND YOUR OWN LIFE AND STOP BEING JELOUSE OF TAYLOR SWIFT!!!
people actually like her? seriously, she is a teen mom going around the u.s. telling girls that abstinence is a realistic choice…hhmm how does that make sense? can’t you just advocate for sex education instead?