TrashDancers, I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend. It was extra-awesome for me since Sunday was my bday. SYTYCD is back! Or should I say SYTYCD:TNG, an acronym longer than most words. And hasn’t The Next Generation already been used for this little-known show? Joining Nigel Lythgoe, Paula Abdul (yay) and Jason Derulo (boo) is Maddie Ziegler from the show Dance Moms. Don’t worry, she isn’t the obnoxious instructor but a cute tween with dance knowledge who will hopefully will have good insight for her critiques.
For some reason I thought the kid’s edition was a spin-off show, but nope, the dancers this season will be between the ages of 8 and 13. And yes, kids are cute and say the darndest things, but I hope this is still a dance competition, not some cutesy, look at little kids trying to dance fiasco. Also, there goes any possible eye candy (for me and Uncle Nigel). But seriously, can kids do lifts? And display the raw emotion required by some of the routines? How will they dance with the All-Stars, height-wise? Let’s find out…
We open the auditions in LA with our gorgeous, charming and “real” host Cat Deeley. I love her goofiness and the true enjoyment she gets from chatting with the dancers. The auditions will play out as such: those who pass the first round will be sent to the Dance Academy, where they will be whittled down by 10 All Stars, who will ultimately select one dancer each to work (& partner?) with. ‘Murica will then vote weekly until only one dancer remains. Hopefully the All Stars are varied in their styles – for example if there was only 1 hip hop AS would only 1 hip hop dancer get through? I did notice Jenna was shown during the segment, meaning she is finally an AS, yay! I liked her, and would always look for her as a background dancer on DWTS.
First to audition is Merrick (10 yrs old), who is joined onstage by his parents and younger brother Sagan, who is also saddled with an unfortunate name. Guess the families will be on stage for the auditions. No sign of the supposed guest judge, maybe she joins after the auditions/AS selections. Merrick is an animator who was inspired by his love of robots. He receives a standing O from the judges.
Next up is Avery (11), who has legs for days and performs a beautiful ballet dance. We are 2 for 2 on the standing Os as she heads to the Academy.
The way nature intended
Kida (13) comes from a large family of dancers. His dad passed away 2 years ago and he dances a hip hop/animation routine with lots of chest pumps. IMHO he is better than Merrick. The judges give him a standing O (naturally) and compare him to Fik-Shun.
The montage of bad auditions make me, and the contestants who don’t make it through, sad. At least there were only a few of them. Thankfully we meet Lev (10), a Russian born in France who lived in the Czech Republic before moving to America. He is a ballroom dancer who brought his (too young to audition) partner. They of course dance to Blurred Lines because we haven’t heard that a gazillion times. Lev has a repertoire of facial expressions, mostly of the “O face” variety.
Can I get a “whut whut”
Lev receives a standing O – is this becoming a participation trophy type situation? The standing Os lose their meaning if they are overused, guys.
Two ballroom dancers without partners are Ivan (11) and Camila (12). Ivan doesn’t want a pretty partner taking the attention off of him so he asks mom to dance with him (ouch, insult your mom much?) The lady can dance, and probably taught her son all she knows, but it’s weird to move around in a seductive manner with yo mama.
Just no
Camila dances sans-partner, maybe her dad wasn’t available? They both are going on to the next round and Jason finally acknowledges that maybe standing up after every audition is losing its special-ness.
The voice of reason?
Ava (13) has been bullied for being too tall and skinny. She is even taller than our faboo Cat. They go on and on about how being 5’10” is the kiss of death. I guess at 5’0” I am at the opposite end of the height shame spiral. Before she heads to the Academy, Jason tells her that all celebs are picked on for their appearances.
#tallpeoples’problems
Jordan (13) wants to be a superstar, Sophia (13) talks a mean streak but is a good dancer, and Sage (13) is a mini Travis Wall (so, he’s amazing then). Oh, and this Sophia gal has 1.4 million Instagram followers and since I was concerned she may be taking a step down in her viewership, I confirmed SYTYCD has over 4 mil viewers so phew for Sophia, I guess.
A montage of embarrassing parents is followed by Ava (11), whose dad is adorably wearing a “Tap Dad” t-shirt. She gets a standing O for her (very decent) jazz tap routine.
Random mom drops it like it’s hot
Stella (12) and Geramy (12 – the hell?!?) partner for a ballroom dance, however they are not in sync. They are denied entry into the Academy, until Stella cries a bit asking for a second chance. Seems Geramy lost 25 pounds for the audition, and they have a routine they feel more comfortable with that they wish to show to the judges. And yes, this (Tango-lite) routine is better, but not good enough to get Geramy in. Only “brave to have asked for a 2nd chance” Stella will move onto the next round…
Hate his name spelling, love his facials
…but wait, Uncle Nigel wants to give Geramy the chance to change the spelling of his name learn and grow at the Academy. So he gets Paula and Jason to change their “no” vote to a “yes”. Easy enough when you are the executive producer.
The Headmaster dispensing pearls of wisdom
Next stop: Chicago where Paula gets an unexpected surprise (no spoilers – I usually don’t even watch the clips from the next episode).
So, that was the premier. What did you all think of the kiddos? I am still curious to see how this plays out with adult All Stars, who already have a dance genre established. Is this new format unfair to tap dancers and other lesser-known genres? Will the kids ever dance together? Will Paula learn how to clap her hands like a human? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!
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