Dancing With The Stars Curse and Latest Betting OddsMarie Osmond "sympathy" voting pushes her ahead of Jennie Garth in Dancing With The Stars betting odds...though she is not the only victim of the dreaded Dancing With The Stars Season 5 Curse
Dancing With The Stars Season 5 has had its fair share of controversies, mishaps and heartbreak. In the case of Marie Osmond, lightning apparently does strike the same place more than once.
Following the death of her father two weeks ago, Marie Osmond revealed last week on Larry King Live that her 16 year old son had entered rehab.
For the past few weeks, Dancing With The Stars observers have placed Ms. Osmond among the bottom performers yet she continues to survive each results show.
‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant Marie Osmond is proud of her 16-year-old son for going to rehab to conquer his addictions. Michael Osmond entered a rehab facility last week, but the reason for his stay has not been released.
“My son Michael is an amazing young man, shown through his courage in facing his issues. As his mother, I couldn’t be more proud of him. The press and public have always been kind a gracious in the past and I know they will continue to respect our privacy during this time,” she tells Larry King.
"It seems clear that Marie Osmond is riding the 'sympathy vote' though it's certainly not something she has much control over," says Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of Gambling911.com. "The situation with her son was not something she planned on revealing while Dancing With the Stars was still airing."
A few weeks back, Marie Osmond collapsed on stage.
But Osmond is not the only performer that has fallen victim to the Dancing With the Stars Season 5 Curse. Contestant Jane Seymour's father also past away this season while a number of slated celebrity guests encountered various obstacles in appearing.
Wayne Newton has revealed he is experiencing heart problems since appearing on the show this season. Seymour was plagued by food poisoning. Jennie Garth also fell.
Television and film "curses" are nothing new either. Different Strokes, the popular NBC situation comedy of the 1980's, is widely rumored to have been cursed following several later incidents involving its child stars, including the untimely death of troubled actress Dana Plato.
The film, Poltergeist, was also cursed according to Hollywood folklore. Among the real life tragedies associated with that film:
Dominique Dunne, 22-year-old actress who played the oldest sibling Dana in the first movie, died after being choked by a jealous boyfriend in 1982.
Heather O'Rourke, 12-year-old actress who played Carol Anne in all three Poltergeist movies, died in 1988 after what doctors initially described as an acute form of influenza but later changed to septic shock after bacterial toxins invaded her bloodstream.
Julian Beck, 60-year-old actor who played Kane in Poltergeist II: The Other Side, died of stomach cancer, with which he was diagnosed before he had accepted the role.
Will Sampson, 53 years old, who played Taylor the Medicine Man in Poltergeist II, died of post-operative kidney failure and pre-operative malnutrition problems.
Other rumours related to the film have been claimed as the cause of the curse. The most widely circulated alleges that real human skeletal remains were used as props in the first film, causing the angry spirits of the deceased to wreak havoc. Actress JoBeth Williams has said in television interviews (most notably the E! True Hollywood Story episode "The Curse of Poltergeist") Producers Mark Victor and Michael Grais stated that the skeletons used in Poltergeist II were real and actor Will Sampson had to perform an exorcism to protect the set from the spirits.
"The Dancing With The Stars curse has unknown origins at this time," explains O'Brien, who also reveals that online gambling websites that offer odds on Dancing With The Stars are contemplating offering betting odds on the next "incident" to be attributed to the DWTS curse, barring any actual deaths of course since the online gambling industry has a strict policy prohibiting "death pools" or anything closely remoted to them.
BetUS.com is widely believed to be working on this little witches brew right now. We can look for such things as a "Jennie Garth blouse tear", "Another Marie Osmond fainting spell" and our personal favorite: "The dreaded set prop collapse during a live performance".
"In many ways this is worse than the John Madden NFL Curse," says O'Brien. That curse involves NFL players appearing on the cover of the popular video game who ultimately end up falling victim to injury that same season they appear.
This season is no different. Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander, who appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 07, had one of the best statistical seasons ever in the 2005-2006 season, as he rushed for 1,880 yards and scored what was a record 28 total touchdowns (27 rushing). Alexander, who had missed one start in his previous 64 contests, fractured the 4th metatarsal in his foot after he was on the cover. He missed six starts and failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time since 2000. Additionally, his touchdown record from the previous year was broken by LaDanian Tomlinson, who scored 31 touchdowns in 16 games.
"Okay, maybe the John Madden curse is worse," O'Brien acknowledged. "BetUS.com may want to consider offering odds won whether Tom Brady will appear on the cover next season. A lot of teams would like that we suspect."
In the meantime, here are their odds on who will win the Dancing With The Stars Season 5 Finale
*If your bet wins, you also receive the amount of your initial bet + winnings (for example, if you bet Helio Catroneves at -135 you would win $1.00 for every $1.35 you bet and you would receive that initial $1.35 back as well. Castroneves is the only favorite and the only option requiring a bet over $1 to win $1 - You can always contact us with questions about Dancing With the Stars betting here - THOSE RESIDING IN WASHINGTON STATE ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED FROM BETTING ON DANCING WITH THE STARS
Helio Castroneves -135 (Bet $1.35 to win $1.00)
Jennie Garth +750 (Bet $1.00 to win $7.50)
Marie Osmond +750 (Bet $1.00 to win $7.50)
Melanie Brown EVEN (Bet $1.00 to win $1.00)
Filed Under: Dancing With The Stars Season 5 Betting Odds
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Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com
Originally published November 19, 2007 10:12 am ET
