Wonderful final rumors: Controversial “Dancing” final seen by 24 million

Grey’s victory on a combination of judges’ scores and public votes ended one of the most contentious and politically-charged seasons of “Dancing with the Stars” in its history. Palin, 20, the daughter of conservative politician Sarah Palin who reached the finals despite get low judges’ scores for six weeks, said on Wednesday that prayer had got her through the controversy, which included an anthrax scare on the set. “It is faith that got me through this and just praying all the time and just relying on God and knowing that He is on our side and we’ll get through this,” Palin told People magazine. Carrie Ann has a “girl crush” on your mom! Votes from viewers count for half of the final tally in deciding who is eliminated each week. “It is faith that got me through this and just praying all the time and just relying on God and knowing that He is on our side and we’ll get through this,” Palin told PEOPLE after Monday’s finale. Yet the aggrieved fans and critics of the show acted as if a series that mangles pop songs, has a set decorated with dangling strings of Christmas lights, and gives out only a crappy mirror ball trophy as its prize was somehow a serious competition, not a complete joke from day one.

What “Dancing with the Stars” actually has is popularity, and what it will have in the future is more Bristol Palins. Disney Channel star Kyle Massey, 19, was voted runner-up to Grey, with Palin taking 3rd place. Grey, 50, is best known for starring opposite the late Patrick Swayze in the 1987 coming-of-age film “Dirty Dancing”.

Bristol said Tuesday that if she won, “it would be like giving a big middle finger to people who hate my mom and hate me.” Sarah Palin supporters helped organize campaigns to keep her daughter on the show, like radio talk host Tammy Bruce’s “Operation Bristol.” Conservative blogger Kevin DuJan’s Hillbuzz.org website also led a get-out-the-vote effort and wrote after Tuesday’s results that Palin “drove the Left crazy for three months. Slideshow: ‘Dancing’s’ worst outfits (on this page) “American Idol” has its teenagers, who vote for the person they want to date, and “Dancing with the Stars” has its senior citizens, who vote for the person who most resembles their grandchildren. Score!” Bristol’s success only intensified the spotlight on Sarah Palin to an extraordinary degree for an out-of-office politician, largely in ways that have nothing to do with politics.

When it was finally time to crown the season 11 winner Tuesday night, the controversy fell to the side and all that mattered was dance floor perfection. Movie turkeys of the year Cookie Monster wants to host ‘SNL’ Choosy Cher returns to screen in ‘Burlesque’ The show is not, as we’ve seen, necessarily about dancing. It’s also easy to forget that Bristol Palin is far from the only bad dancer to make it this far.

While the media and angry fans might like to blame Bristol’s survival and Brandy’s departure last week on a single, easily named thing — the Tea Party, ABC, producer manipulation, Sarah Palin — it’s much more complicated and simple all at once.

Palin was a lot of unique things all at once: A political figure who could be vilified (both because of her mother and because she’s a “teen activist”), a vilified figure who could be humanized, and a famous stranger. “I knew everybody wanted us to do something with ‘Time of My Life’, there was a lot of pressure for that. But I knew that was a dance for Patrick and me, and I wanted to leave it as such,” Grey told “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.