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The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

The Student News Site of Quinnipiac University

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

    Dancing with the has-beens?

    Kathy Griffin should be ecstatic because the 11th season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” added a slew of new celebs to the “D-List.”

    The Sept. 20 season premiere featured 11 new celeb contestants, including Bristol Palin, Florence Henderson, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Grey, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Brandy, and Audrina Patridge. What do they all have in common? Their 15 minutes of fame have already expired.

    Bristol Palin is no stranger to failure. Did she beat teen pregnancy? No. Is she the U.S. Vice President’s daughter? No. Could she make her relationship work with her baby’s daddy, Levi Johnston? No.

    “I just wanted to get out of Alaska for a few weeks,” Palin said in an interview with ABC. Perhaps the Alaska native thought “Dancing with the Stars” would help her tarnished public image.

    “Jersey Shore” personality Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is also using up his remaining time in the spotlight. “The Situation” is no stranger to the dance floor, but there is a slight difference between ballroom dancing and fist-pumping. If he incorporates some shirtless performances, hopefully he can win a few points from judges Carrie Ann and Bruno. If “The Situation” performs well, perhaps Snooki will be a shoo-in for next season.

    In addition to career highlights like “Baywatch” and “Knight Rider,” David Hasselhoff can now add “Dancing with the Stars” to his prodigious resume. But after four years of judging “America’s Got Talent,” perhaps “The Hoff” does have an eye for talent. This time he’s on the other side of the judging panel.

    “All the people that we voted off are going to buzz us out quick,” Hasselhoff joked in an interview with ABC.

    In the 80s, Jennifer Grey scored big roles in “Dirty Dancing” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Once her career took off, Grey thought a nose job would change her appearance for the better. Instead, it changed her career for the worst. “Dirty Dancing” proved that Grey could dance. But will she remember those moves 20 years later? Out of all the contestants, she probably has some of the best potential. Let’s just hope the viewers can still recognize her.

    Previous seasons of “Dancing with the Stars” featured a mix of actors, singers, athletes, and models. Audrina Patridge is none of the above. Patridge rose to “celeb” status after six seasons on “The Hills.” With an MTV reality show as her only claim to fame, Patridge has a disadvantage in the competition. The only thing that may save her from elimination in the early rounds is her dance partner, Tony Dovoloni.

    Florence Henderson won over audiences as Carol Brady in the 1970’s hit “The Brady Bunch,” but it may be difficult for her to gain young to middle-aged voters. As this season’s oldest contestant, Henderson hasn’t regularly appeared on mainstream TV since 1974. Despite their ages, past contestants Cloris Leachman and Buzz Aldrin still held their own in the competition. Henderson may get votes, but they will most likely be from older people.

    Brandy is best known for her 90s R&B music career. Brandy even made Billboard’s list of top 20 pop stars of the 1990s. Brandy’s musical performance background puts her at an advantage in the competition.

    It’s not the most star-studded season of “Dancing with the Stars,” but the typical mix of reality stars, athletes, and washed-up singers and actors in search of their comeback is always entertaining to watch.

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    • L

      LouiseSep 23, 2010 at 10:13 pm

      hey vivian louise and crabby, get a life. what do you do, sit around all day looking for articles to insult? what do you do with your life? this is about dancing with the stars, not bristol palin. get over it, and yourself.

      Reply
    • C

      crabbySep 23, 2010 at 7:36 am

      Sense of humor? Got one. Nothing in this piece that is funny or insightful. The author’s comment about “beating teenage pregnancy” is just sad. Is a pregnancy like cancer? If you happen to catch it you need to cut it out?

      Who among us has not made poor choices as a young person? Bristol Palin is taking responsibility for raising a child out of wedlock and as a very young mother.

      Contrast that with “The Situation” , a man-whore who knows how to workout. That’s a star?

      Reply
    • V

      Vivian LouiseSep 23, 2010 at 5:29 am

      That was exactly my point, Dana, the author’s comments about Bristol Palin make no damned sense.

      The other comments are boneheaded.

      “get a sense of humor” is the last stand comment when an intended nasty bomb failed. “Oh, it was a joke, you need a sense of humor.” Whatever.

      Reply
    • D

      DanaSep 22, 2010 at 11:27 pm

      blah, blah, blah, as another commenter had to bluntly ask what the heck the inartful “beating pregnancy” meant, I don’t think you can say with any precision *what* the author was saying. It seems intentionally vague to try to gin up something nasty about yet another Palin. Whatever. Tired old game that’s still all the rage. Of course I don’t possess your elevated powers but still.

      Bottom line, it’s manipulative twaddle that shamefully attempts to gin up readers by slamming a Palin. But it’s all the rage.

      Reply
    • L

      LouiseSep 22, 2010 at 11:04 pm

      hey Dana,
      I think you’re a bitchy piece of crap and your ignorant comment was the epic fail.
      and get a sense of humor.
      🙂

      Reply
    • D

      DanaSep 22, 2010 at 9:08 pm

      “Did she beat teen pregnancy”? Beat it? Seriously? She got pregnant and she had a baby. She could have killed little Tripp Palin in the womb, but instead unselfishly recognized *his right* to live. Yeah, serious fail there.

      “Not the vice-president’s daughter?” So a kid is now responsible for the non-election of her parent and if they don’t get elected, the kid is a failure? Does Chelsea Clinton know this? Someone should inform her. Another serious fail.

      This was not even an amusing piece of bitchy crap, but straight dull crap that I suspect author Nicole Fano is bitter because she was never invited to trip the light fantastic herself. Epic fail, Nicole.

      Reply
      • B

        Blah blah blahSep 22, 2010 at 10:15 pm

        I think you need to check your reading comprehension, Dana. She didn’t beat pregnancy because she was not committed to abstinence. Perhaps, Bristol should’ve practiced something she and her family preach. There was no implication from the author whatsoever that Palin should have had an abortion. You are making a mountain out of literally nothing.

        Reply
    • C

      carolSep 22, 2010 at 5:50 pm

      Vivian Louise, Bristol didn’t get the memo (“Get rid of it!”)

      Reply
    • V

      Vivian LouiseSep 22, 2010 at 5:31 pm

      “Did she beat teen pregnancy? No.”

      Just what on earth does that mean? I seriously do not get the question. Do you mean did she fail to “solve” the problem by having an abortion? Or do you mean she didn’t manage to make it out of her teens without getting pregnant. What the heck do you mean?

      Reply