Brandy was Robbed

Jennifer Grey and Brandy were clearly the two best dancers in this eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars, with Disney star Kyle Massey being a strong runner-up. In the beginning it looked as if Jennifer Grey was fated to win, but she had a few bad weeks while Brandy grew stronger. By the end, they seemed to be neck-in-neck, with the balance tipping towards Brandy being the winner.

Both Jennifer and Brandy had backstories that were ideal for a DWTS champion. Both had overcome adversity. In an odd coincidence, both had been involved in serious car accidents. Jennifer's left her with physical limitations, while Brandy's was psychologically devastating. Brandy was also trying to come back from a career that had been on a roller coaster.

Brandy and her partner Maksim (Maks) Chmerkovskiy also had a made-for-the-show story that seemed ideal for a mirrorball trophy winner. In a classic romantic first-they-hate-each-other then-they-love-each-other storyline that seemed to have come more out of the editing room than to be based in reality, Brandy and Maks were shown sniping at each other -- Maks was even swatting her on the butt -- in the early episodes. This was likely all fake, and they probably got along well from the beginning, but it did create a nice story arc that made later romantic dances seem even more intense.

On top of that, of all the contestants, Brandy seemed to want to win the most.

While Brandy and Jennifer always seemed destined for the finals, who would take the third spot wasn't always as clear. At first, the spot seemed to be Audrina's, but she was, suprisingly, voted out in week six. Kyle soon emerged as the strongest contender. He was always the most entertaining contestant, but early on it seemed he would lose out due to technique. But his technique steadily improved. He had a charming brotherly-sisterly relationship with his partner Lacey Schwimmer, and while he started off on the show strictly as a clown, he gradually revealed that he was totally serious about learning to dance. The combination of rollicking entertainment and rapidly-improving technique made him deserving of being in the finale along with Jennifer and Brandy.

Going into the semi-finals, though, it seemed that Kyle might be in danger of being bumped by Bristol Palin. Palin was an awkward dancer, at best, who often forgot her steps and seemed like she missed her son deeply and wanted to go home. Time after time she was at the bottom of the leaderboard, but the fans kept on rescuing her with their votes.

Kyle was declared safe, though, early in semifinal results show, which made the Jennifer-Brandy-Kyle final three seem virtually inevitable. It was totally shocking, then, when at the end, Tom Bergeron announced that Brandy was voted out. Brandy, who danced like an angel and seemed desperate to stay, was leaving, while Bristol, who could hardly be bothered to learn her steps and wanted to go home, was going on. It was just not fair. Adding to the oddness of the episode's ending, Maks gave a speech which sounded like he might be leaving the show for good.

In an earlier segment, Bristol had said that people were voting for her because she was real and not "Hollywood." She said that of everyone there, she was the one who ordinary people could most easily relate to. That's probably true, but is it enough to account for her beating Brandy? It's one thing to be able to relate to someone, but when that someone is as awkward and vacant a dancer as Bristol, wouldn't most people think it was time for her to go?

An article on the Gawker site Jezebel claims that Bristol's politically-motivated fans cheated by exploiting a glitch on the ABC site. According to the Jezebel article, the site allows voters to claim an infinite number of email addresses because the addresses don't have to be real -- they only have to be formatted correctly.

On the Jimmy Kimmel show after the elimination, Brandy looked smashing in a sparkly sequined black-and-silver dress. Kimmel tried to get her and Maks to say bad things about Bristol's victory, but they both kept their cool and talked only about having no regrets Brandy looked happy and poised, which was a relief after seeing how upset she had been when she first heard she had been eliminated.

It's a strange and unsatisfying ending to the season's story arcs. More strangeness will probably ensue in the finale. And if, by some quirk in the voting process, Bristol actually wins it all, the show may have to have a do-over, just as it did in the first season.