Everybody Dance Now
Natalie Hambly, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports
What's it all about?
It's a new dance reality show for Ten that also trials a new format. Hosted by former Australia's Next Top Model host Sarah Murdoch, it's open to all ages and dance styles and lets the in-studio audience choose the winners. American music celebrities Jason Derulo and Kelly Rowland are the mentors and both have a team of dance acts that go head-to-head each night. Every night two acts win $10,000 each and go into the finals in which they will compete for the ultimate prize of $250,000.
Our view:
With a famous host, big-name talent and a genre that speaks to its youth audience this show should be an easy win for Ten but it's off to a rocky start, mainly due to the confusing set-up.
The
new-look dance format is short on auditions, dancers' back stories and, most
notably, judges. Ten opted to skip the tried-and-true formula of a week's worth
of auditions and instead jumped straight into the dance-off action. When we
meet Rowland and Derulo they have not only already picked their teams but have
also coached all of the night's acts. This shortcut means we lost the chance to
build a connection with the performers and to understand the rules of the game.
Viewers had to play catch-up quickly, wondering not only about the role of
Rowland and Derulo but also who these acts were positioned above the stage and
where exactly the strategy comes in.
From what we could make out, eight acts perform over the course of the episode in four battles. Derulo kicked it off by picking the first act of the night and Rowland's challenge was to select a performer from her team with the best chance of winning the dance-off. Once the dancing is complete the studio audience selects which of the two acts goes through to the next round. The other unfortunately fades back into obscurity. A lot is still unclear, such as how many acts perform each night and over how many nights? What is the finals process? When do we start the SMS voting? What happens if none of Derulo's acts win any of the rounds one night? What is actually in it for Derulo and Rowland? Will we really never see hip-hop group Prolifique or the Brazillian dance troupe Paradizo again?
Interestingly, Ten has decided to remove the judging process, which is something of a necessary evil in reality shows. It had great success with MasterChef's more feel-good style but hasn't even attempted it with Everybody Dance Now. It's aiming to be upbeat and positive, which the network has interpreted as eschewing any form of critique. We see Derulo and Rowland giving the performers feedback in the rehearsals but, once the acts perform, the purpose of the mentor isn't to assess their efforts but to actively spruik to the audience, a role that the two are still warming up to.
For a show aiming for positivity, it feels harsh that so many talented acts are shown the door so quickly. Take the case of Nobel Lakaev, a contemporary dancer and one of Australia's few talents to gain entry into Julliard, the prestigious New York performing academy. On a show such as So You Think You Can Dance he would most likely feature until the very end but on Everybody Dance Now, he didn't last beyond the first episode. When arguably one of the country's most promising young dancers is eliminated so soon you can't help but feel something is wrong with the format. We are now left hoping he will make it back as a wild card in the quarter finals - a process that hasn't been fully explained.
Finally, at the rate the show burns through talent one wonders how it will sustain itself over multiple seasons.
In a sentence: We are being sold on a new reality format and are finding out that being guinea pigs makes for frustrating television.
Best bit: The talent - the acts were so good it's a shame we only get to see them once. Kudos to Ten for bringing dancers back to television and for trying something new.
Worst bit*: The courtroom-style promotion of the acts by their respective mentor. It was nice to see the dancers' good work promoted but it feels forced at the moment. The choppy editing work also was a low light. (Side note: I will be very happy if I never see Sarah Murdoch's ad for Vaalia yoghurt again.)
Worth watching again? Yes, purely for the fantastic Aussie talent.
Grade: F. If your audience has devoted two hours to your show and they still don't understand what is going on, I'm sorry but that's an instant fail.
*Correction: the dancers do perform their act again for the dance duel, it is a 30-second rejigged version of their original act. Apologies for the error.
From what we could make out, eight acts perform over the course of the episode in four battles. Derulo kicked it off by picking the first act of the night and Rowland's challenge was to select a performer from her team with the best chance of winning the dance-off. Once the dancing is complete the studio audience selects which of the two acts goes through to the next round. The other unfortunately fades back into obscurity. A lot is still unclear, such as how many acts perform each night and over how many nights? What is the finals process? When do we start the SMS voting? What happens if none of Derulo's acts win any of the rounds one night? What is actually in it for Derulo and Rowland? Will we really never see hip-hop group Prolifique or the Brazillian dance troupe Paradizo again?
Interestingly, Ten has decided to remove the judging process, which is something of a necessary evil in reality shows. It had great success with MasterChef's more feel-good style but hasn't even attempted it with Everybody Dance Now. It's aiming to be upbeat and positive, which the network has interpreted as eschewing any form of critique. We see Derulo and Rowland giving the performers feedback in the rehearsals but, once the acts perform, the purpose of the mentor isn't to assess their efforts but to actively spruik to the audience, a role that the two are still warming up to.
For a show aiming for positivity, it feels harsh that so many talented acts are shown the door so quickly. Take the case of Nobel Lakaev, a contemporary dancer and one of Australia's few talents to gain entry into Julliard, the prestigious New York performing academy. On a show such as So You Think You Can Dance he would most likely feature until the very end but on Everybody Dance Now, he didn't last beyond the first episode. When arguably one of the country's most promising young dancers is eliminated so soon you can't help but feel something is wrong with the format. We are now left hoping he will make it back as a wild card in the quarter finals - a process that hasn't been fully explained.
Finally, at the rate the show burns through talent one wonders how it will sustain itself over multiple seasons.
In a sentence: We are being sold on a new reality format and are finding out that being guinea pigs makes for frustrating television.
Best bit: The talent - the acts were so good it's a shame we only get to see them once. Kudos to Ten for bringing dancers back to television and for trying something new.
Worst bit*: The courtroom-style promotion of the acts by their respective mentor. It was nice to see the dancers' good work promoted but it feels forced at the moment. The choppy editing work also was a low light. (Side note: I will be very happy if I never see Sarah Murdoch's ad for Vaalia yoghurt again.)
Worth watching again? Yes, purely for the fantastic Aussie talent.
Grade: F. If your audience has devoted two hours to your show and they still don't understand what is going on, I'm sorry but that's an instant fail.
*Correction: the dancers do perform their act again for the dance duel, it is a 30-second rejigged version of their original act. Apologies for the error.
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