Fan Fare

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.

Oscar beckons Sarah Palin … for shopping.

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit)

What a difference a year makes! Last year, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was catching flak for her shopping habits during her 2008 campaign. This year, she’s strolling around Hollywood’s Oscar gift suites with family members having items given to her — leopard print sandals to match her leopard print jacket, for instance.

The morning after her appearance on “The Tonight Show”, and amid reports she was in Hollywood talking to TV executives about a possible TV show (see below and here on the blog), the former Alaska Governor turned up at the Silver Spoon gifting suite in West Hollywood with daughter Willow, grandson Trip and an entourage of about seven people, according to the suite’s organizers.

The gifting suites, in case you don’t know, are set up by merchants to promote their products during Hollywood’s Oscar week when the town is filled with A-list  celebrities. The idea is to have your product photographed or in some way associated with a celebrity and, as a result, people will want to buy it. And who better to help sell a product than politician-turned-celebrity Palin?

So, what did Palin get? Well, right from the start she wrote a check for $1,750 to the American Red Cross, which was collecting donations at the suite for Haitian relief. “That was the first thing she did before even checking in and saying ‘hello,’” said The Silver Spoon’s Lorena Bendinskas. She said suite organizers had invited Palin because she had been a big supporter of the Red Cross. Notably, Palin and her entourage came and left before the suite opened officially on Wednesday morning.

Then, Palin and family got down to the business of shopping — Oscar style. They went to each vendor and were “gifted” items including hats and sunglasses by Perry Ellis, Jenna Leigh Lingerie, Stone candles, Wembe soaps, skincare products from Bloom.com and eyelash condition from Lash food. Stopping at fashion line C&C California, she picked out a tanktop for daughter Willow. At Bandals Footwear, she found those leopard sandals to match her jacket, and she seemed especially excited about Danish-designed Aiaiai headphones for traveling and exercise.

Meanwhile, on its Hollywood Insider blog late Wednesday night, Entertainment Weekly magazine reported that Palin and reality TV producer Mark Burnett have been making the rounds of Hollywood production houses and TV networks pitching a TV docudrama about Alaska. Several reports described it as a Planet Earth-type look at the state from Palin’s point-of-view. You can read about it here.

William Shatner gives Sarah Palin a poetic sendoff

William Shatner has produced another spoken word gem, this time a poetic reading of Sarah Palin’s resignation speech as governor of Alaska. Shatner was on “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” on NBC on Monday night, and he sat down on a stool with a conga drummer and a bass player in the background, injecting dramatic flair into a paragraph from Palin’s speech, which included the words: “It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future.” (Video below)

NBC scored big when “Saturday Night Live” veteran Tina Fey lampooned Palin last year during the presidential campaign, and the network stands to get a lot more clicks on its Web outlet Hulu.com with this latest comedy piece. Now that Palin has quit as governor of Alaska, maybe she can work on her Shatner impression. It’s not that hard to do.

After Iraq broadcasts, can Stephen Colbert declare “Mission Accomplished”?

(Writing and reporting by Laura Isensee)

Two presidents, a major general and a shaved head all played a part this week in comedian Stephen Colbert’s declared mission to bring attention to the 6 year-old war in Iraq and the troops still fighting abroad.

On Thursday, Colbert broadcast from Iraq the last of four episodes he starred in this week from the battle-torn country. On Thursday’s edition of “The Colbert Report,” a program which spoofs U.S. politics and culture on cable channel Comedy Central, the show featured a special shout-out to the troops by former President George W. Bush. It was one of several guest video spots that included politicians from right and left, from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to President Barack Obama.

The political satirist went to the Middle East under the humorous title “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando,” but he seemed serious about his mission. This week he guest-edited Newsweek magazine, albeit as his fictional on-screen persona.

“I know what you’re thinking: ‘Isn’t the Iraq War over?’ That’s what I thought, too. I hadn’t seen it in the media for a while, and when I don’t see something, I assume it’s vanished forever, like in that terrifying game peekaboo. We stopped seeing much coverage of the Iraq War back in September when the economy tanked, and I just figured the insurgents were wiped out because they were heavily invested in Lehman Brothers,” Colbert wrote in Newsweek.

“Turns out there are still 135,000 troops in Iraq, which I don’t understand because we’ve already won the war,” he continued in his column.

Colbert, who is splashed on Newsweek’s front page this week, also helped select stories for the issue that focus on Iraq. But he didn’t drop his humor, also publishing fake letters that his character has sent to the magazine over the years.

UPDATE-Confused David Letterman backs down over Palin daughter jokes

Talk show host David Letterman says he was “guilty of poor taste” after causing a stir with some sexually suggestive jokes about one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s teenage daughters, admitting he confused 18-year-old intended target Bristol Palin with her 14-year-old sister, Willow. The comedian’s 7-minute-plus discussion of the controversy during his Wednesday show can be seen on the video link below:

Todd Palin, the governor’s husband, has accused Letterman of making a joke about someone “raping” his younger daughter. Neither girl was directly named in the original joke, which also namechecked New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.

Letterman responded, “I would never, ever make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl. I mean, look at my record. It has never happened.” The comedian also invited the governor to appear on his show, but suggested she leave Todd at home.

Here’s the update. On Friday, Palin was back on the attack against Letterman. She told Matt Lauer of the “Today” show on NBC that, “You and anybody else are extremely naive to believe that very convenient excuse of David Letterman’s the other day.” By that, Palin meant Letterman’s statement that he was joking about Palin’s 18 year-old daughter, whose pregnancy was widely commented on last year, and not her 14 year-old daughter, Willow. The full video link is below:

Eminem’s wish comes true as Lindsay Lohan, galpal split

Lindsay Lohan’s breakup with celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson is good news for Eminem, who eloquently expresses his passion for the actress in his new video.       The reclusive rapper took a swipe at the couple in “We Made You,” which was released on Tuesday, days after the women broke up.      In one scene, Eminem is driving a big rig while Lohan and Ronson lookalikes are making out next to him.      “He does not mean to lesbian offend, but Lindsay please come back to seeing men,” Eminem intones in his rapid clipped style. “Samantha’s a two, you’re practically a 10. I know you want me, girl. In fact I see you grin.”      Declaring that he’s “looking for more women to torture,” Eminem also claims he would be a better lover for actress Portia de Rossi than her wife Ellen DeGeneres. He also fantasizes about Sarah Palin, while a scantily clad lookalike of the former vice-presidential candidate poses seductively on her desk.       Other targets of Eminem’s rapier wit include tabloid starlet Kim Kardashian, and singers Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Amy Winehouse.      “You think that’s bad. You should hear the rest of my album. Never has there been such finesse and nostalgia,” he promises in the video.      That album, “Relapse,” the follow-up to his 2004 release “Encore” is due in stores on May 19.

Tina Fey hangs up her Palin wig

 It’s official!

Comedian Tina Fey has gotten her wish and will no longer play Alaska governor Sarah Palin on the comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” after the Republican contender for vice president lost out in Tuesday’s U.S. elections.       Fey’s dead-on impersonations of Palin drew record ratings for “Saturday Night LIve” and became almost as talked about nationally as the maverick politician and hockey mom herself.

But Fey, who stars in the NBC show “30 Rock,” told the magazine Entertainment Weekly that she has no plans to play Palin again.        “I have to retire just because I have to do my day job,” Fey told the magazine.        Fey, 38, went the extra mile by suggesting a replacement if “Saturday Night Live” needs someone to play Palin again, suggesting that ”SNL” cast member Kristen Wiig should carry the torch from now on.  “Maybe we could get a real torch,” Fey told Entertainment Weekly. “Or I could give Wiig the Palin wig.”      Before the election, Fey made clear she was hoping not to have to play Palin after November 4, saying she planned on “leaving Earth” if  the Republican was elected.  (Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Paris Hilton, “Your Commander-in-Bikini”!

So much has been made about the looks of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin that it’s a wonder nobody’s paid attention to that other, third-party presidential candidate – Paris Hilton.

That’s right, election watchers may forget that this past summer Paris declared herself a candidate for President in a video posted on comedy Web site, funnyordie.com. Well, Paris hasn’t forgotten and to reinvigorate her campaign, she is releasing a new video at swaghousemedia.com on Sunday, Oct. 26.

A brief clip can be seen at People.com. The video features her “Secret Service Dudes,” and in it she talks about being good at sipping a martini and being the best “Commander-in-Bikini”.

Somehow, we think we won’t see Sarah Palin the same way anytime soon, but with the Nov. 4 election nearing, you never know what any of the candidates will do to get votes.

Election politics: The ultimate reality TV

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

In one more sign that the current presidential election campaign has drawn increased interest among pop culture watchers, Entertainment Weekly magazine released a survey on Thursday showing respondents, ages 18-24, estimated spending one-third of their TV time watching election coverage.

Of those surveyed, 1-in-5 Americans is watching more election coverage because they are dissatisfied with reality TV.

Fully half of all Americans said they are tuning-in to fewer primetime shows due to the election coverage they are watching, and 6-in-10 think the presidential face-off between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain is entertaining.

When asked if they prefer vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin or comedian Tina Fey’s impression of Palin on the NBC show “Saturday Night Live,” 37.4 percent of respondents said they prefer Fey’s version of Palin, but a nearly equal 37 percent said they prefer Palin herself.

As for celebrity endorsements, 53 percent of respondents said those have some influence on the candidates’ appeal.

The survey involved a national OmniTel telephone poll by GfK Custom Research North America among 1,004 adults ages 18 and up on Oct. 17-19. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

“W.” cast and crew get personal about politics

 The makers of the upcoming “W.” biopic about President George Bush say they put personal politics aside for the Oliver Stone-directed movie — and so far the early reviews seem to agree.  

 But that didn’t stop the cast and crew sounding off in a Beverly Hills press event this week about their personal feelings towards the U.S. president and his administration.  

 Screenplay writer Stanley Weiser told journalists he “had to park all my politics at the door. Before writing this I couldn’t even bear to listen to Bush. I had to turn it off.”

    Weiser went on to compare Bush with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying both men wanted the best for their people “but there is an absolute blind fundamentalism that develops” which makes Bush and Ahmadinejad believe they are 100 percent right about everything.

   Weiser added; “Sarah Palin (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/sarahpalin)  is George W. Bush on steroids with less brains and much more dangerous.”

    Although the movie has many satirical moments, the actors  said they were not deliberately trying to mock Bush. 

“We weren’t trying to be funny. It was always about being authentic, but a lot of what these people said to each other, and did, was preposterous,” said Elizabeth Banks, who plays First Lady Laura Bush.