'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
'Dancing With the Stars' Tries to Clear Up the Sarah Palin Booing Controversy (VIDEO)
by Oliver Miller, posted Sep 29th 2010 1:02AM
Monday night, 'Dancing With the Stars' unintentionally entered the murky world of political controversy. Ex-Alaskan governor Sarah Palin showed up to support Bristol Palin -- her daughter and a current contestant on the show. Which is when things started to get weird. While host Brooke Burke interviewed Jennifer Grey and her partner Derek Hough, boos suddenly began rolling in from the audience.Grey was confused, and thought that the crowd was attacking her. "Why are they booing?" she asked. Brooke said she didn't know. Seconds later, the camera cut to Sarah Palin, who looked confused and a little flustered. This led some viewers (and some members of the media) to conclude that Palin was the one being booed. So who or what was being jeered by the crowd? Sarah? Jennifer? The judges? On tonight's episode (Tue., 9PM ET on ABC), 'DWTS' tried to end the controversy.
In an unprecedented move, producers aired "raw" footage from the previous night. This was meant to provide much-needed context to what is now being called "Boo-Gate." (Isn't it cute how quickly people come up with names for these things?)
Here's what the unaired footage showed: First, the judges awarded their scores for Jennifer and Derek, who received 24 out of 30 (the highest scores of the night). Each member of the judging panel gave the couple an "8," ending with judge Bruno Tonioli. When Bruno held up his final scorecard, the members of the audience started to boo. "They're booing an 8!" he said.
Then, Tonioli turned and accosted the hecklers: "What's a-matter [with] you?!" he yelled jokingly, while gesturing at the crowd. At this point, Sarah Palin was announced as a guest, and the audience cheered.
All of which would seem to settle the controversy. The audience members were booing the judges' scores, not Ms. Palin. What a relief! Glad to have that all cleared up.
... On the other hand, not everyone is totally convinced by the newly released footage. So just for the heck of it, let's enter the weird world of quasi-conspiracy theories. Here are a couple of thoughts, in case you feel like continuing the debate:
1) Why would the audience boo the scores for Jennifer Grey, since she and her partner got the highest scores of the night? Were people really that disappointed by a 24 out of 30?
2) Why was only the final score booed? The audience wasn't annoyed by the the first two "8s," but only by the last one?
3) Why did the crowd behind the judges look like they were clapping? Does that mean the jeers were coming from somewhere else? (Maybe from near where Ms. Palin was sitting?)
There is also this report from an alleged audience member, who says that the crowd was cat-calling Sarah Palin, until they were told to stop. Though since this is written on an anonymous blog, we would treat this report with a hefty dose of skepticism.
In the end, it may come down to what you want to believe. If you feel like making the argument against Palin, you can say that the boos seemed to coincide with her arrival. On the other hand, all parties involved with the show declared that the audience was jeering the judges -- and it seems odd to go against the show's statements.
All we can say for sure is this -- 'DWTS' really wants to put this debate behind them. In fact, host Tom Bergeron tried to close things out with a joke. Tonight, he said this to the judges: "Sarah Palin told me before the show that she was surprised at all of the controversy because she was booing you guys, too." So, boos all around, then!
What do you guys think? Who do you believe? Should "Boo-Gate" be over and done with now?
- See a great moment on TV? Send feedback & suggestions to TT5@aoltv.com
- New clips post all day long. Don't miss out, subscribe to our RSS feed
51 Comments