Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough (REUTERS)
No need to shoot the TV.
Bristol Palin, a lead-footed hoofer who incredibly made it to the “Dancing with the Stars” finals, tripped-up in the last leg to the Mirror Ball trophy last night, winding up in third place and losing to 50-year-old, injury-plagued “Dirty Dancing” star Jennifer Grey.
“It’s been a life-changing experience and I’ve had the time of my life,” said Palin, who won the hearts and minds of conservative bloggers, but fell short on votes from judges and viewers.
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The improbable run by Sarah Palin’s daughter was championed by Tea Party- friendly Web sites, such as conservative blogger Kevin DuJan’s Hillbuzz.org, which led get-out-the-vote campaigns.
The 20-year-old single mom also was the focus of a bizarre viewer’s anti-Palin meltdown in Wisconsin. After watching her perform, he fired a shotgun at his TV and got into a standoff with cops.
“Winning this would mean a lot — it would be like a big middle finger to all the people out there that hate my mom and hate me,” Bristol said during the show’s run. But it was heavily favored Grey and her professional partner, Derek Hough, who led coming into the finale, and they easily bested former Disney Channel child star Kyle Massey, 19, who came in second, and Palin.
Bristol apparently had the edge going into last night’s finale, with producers admitting a record amount of activity overloading the online and telephone voting systems after Monday’s episode, leading experts to suspect the so-called Palin Effect, experts said.
She made the finals despite less- than stellar performances. And the Internet buzz was deafening when she was voted in over singer Brandy — who had received a perfect score for her tango — prompting some viewers to question the “Dancing” voting system.
Grey, meanwhile — dancing through numerous injuries, including a ruptured disc — rolled back the years and reminded audiences of the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing,” in which she starred with the late Patrick Swayze.