Tina Fey, Palin Impersonator, Tops AP List As Entertainer 2008

Journalists know talent when they see it. So they voted Tina Fey Entertainer of the Year. Right out of the pack Fey pranced, to center stage at the point where the applause is greatest.

AP knows a good thing, they think. But who is the most entertaining really, Fey or Sarah Palin, the person she spoofs? Sarah Palin wasn’t someone who had much controversy around the country the night she stepped into the limelight in August as the Vice Presidential running mate for John McCain who was running for the Presidency against Barack Obama. She was seen as the answer to Hillary Clinton for lots of women. After all women had lost a standard bearer when Hillary lost to Barack Obama during the Presidential primaries, and they were looking for a replacement for Hillary. At least that’s what some in the media hypothesized and some Republicans thought. They were right in some ways. Palin became popular, but she also became almost became the center of hype and hysteria as well with every faux pas discussed amid television interviews and subsequent barbs, even in France. The best was with Katie Couric with Tina Fey receiving accolades for her performances imitating Palin. Palin’s statement, that her foreign policy experience was demonstrated by the fact that she could see Russia from her house, made great fodder for the creative talents of Tina Fey.

Bitch Buzz, Flickr

Fey was named Entertainer of the Year by the Associated Press. Both she and Sarah Palin, the person she imitates, are entertaining, don't you think? Tina Fey will likely be waiting around until 2012 while Palin catches up.

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Fey was able to imitate Sarah Palin because she is so similar in dress, appearance and speech to the politician in many ways, people maintained as far away as Australia where ABC Aussies discussed it. Many who watched both Fey and Palin, particularly when they appeared together at SNL, exclaimed about the similarities of the two women. It seemed to add to the popularity of both Fey and Palin, the more Palin was in the public and made statements that Fey could make funny. Saturday Night Live has been first-run entertainment for a long time, ever since 1975 when it debuted. Fey made the show particularly powerful at the height of the Sarah Palin business during the election of 2008. It seems, however, that the show will go on since Palin keeps making news. This gives Fey material for SNL now and for later because neither of these women will be going away when it comes to that center stage. Fey can keep smiling knowing she, like Palin, has a future and something everyone can talk about over coffee or tea since both Palin and Fey can tickle the funny bone. They are both entertaining enough to receive lots of public attention. But Fey entertains intentionally while Palin, as politician, likely just wants to make points.. Still both are likely to be with us to enjoy for a long time to come.