Everybody Dance Now
The Aussie dancers were terrific. What a shame they got lumbered with a dud format.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Reviews
One of the dancers summed it up best, “Everybody’s awesome here.”
Yes, the acts on Everybody Dance Now most surely are. So how did they end up in a dud format?
TEN’s duelling-dance show pits acts against one another in do-or-die battles. How they got there has been skipped over, cutting straight to the moment of truth. Before we know it, many have wowed us and vanished like they were never there.
All of the acts on the show impressed, proving that there is certainly no shortage of young talent in this country, and that since So You Think You Can Dance left our screens there have been limited TV forums for them to show their creativity.
But the format of the show does not savour their talent for either acts or audience, which is disappointing given the dancers were so much better than the imports. Boylesque, Dave Coombs with his hoop, Nobel Lakaev were all top class.
Kelly Rowland and Jason Derulo were verbose without contributing much feedback. You could almost count the number of times we heard “You guys were incredible / rocked the house / brought the house down / etc.” Overhyped ghetto-speak will have little connect with Australian viewers, and it’s even more annoying when the hype extends to the audience (or the audience that has been sweetened with extra audio cheers).
The pace of this long show was let down by repeated opinions of the Rowland and Derulo. For a Dance show, it had a lot of talk.
On top of the Americana the format is let down by two imports faux-trash talking each others’ acts for the sake of it. This goes against the current trend of positivity in talent shows, so well expressed by The Voice. I just didn’t buy what they were selling me and wasn’t sure why I had to hear it over and over.
As host Sarah Murdoch got the job done, but needs more attack for a Live (or as-Live) audience and the editing made the flow very disjointed.
Sadly, if any one of these acts had appeared in Australia’s Got Talent they would benefit from a network push that knows how to promote their content across their other shows. But I fear on TEN they will get two minutes to strut their stuff before being spat out, and in the current TV battle, may not even get the full benefit of a big crowd for those two minutes.
So I will give a generous three stars for the Aussie acts, who I would much prefer to see more of than the judges. I mean dance captains. I mean mentors. Oh, it’s too hard….
Share
- Tagged with Everybody Dance Now, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice
6 Responses
I think the whole faux battle between groups doesn’t resonate with Australian audiences. There’s likely to be an audience for a contemporary dance show, it was just the wrong format. Even if the format happens to be something outside of the box.
enszo – I’ve heard that it is taking even longer than 6 hours to record EDN.
If any of this is true – it’s obvious that there is no co-ordination or direction during the shoot.
Is the director in charge? Or is it Sarah Murdoch?
I am guessing the latter because the director, cast and crew would be too scared to tell off the wife of their big kahuna.
I agree with other posters that the format is awful and Sarah is wooden.
Ten should just cut their losses and axe the show. The Murdoch’s won’t have to worry about their reputations – but Kelly Rowland and Jason Derulo would be furious being associated with a bona fide stinker.
Bettestreep: Criticise the show and hosting by all means as a review, but it’s a bit much to say the “director, cast and crew would be too scared to tell off the wife of their big kahuna.” Firstly professionals don’t “tell off” a host (especially a cast). A director gives direction and the talent, generally speaking, accepts it and works with it. Sarah Murdoch worked as part of a team on ANTM for 3 seasons and there’s nothing to suggest she didn’t take direction. The person in charge is the Producer, the director is in charge of directing. Sarah Murdoch is host and while the show is no doubt struggling on several fronts, your speculation isn’t based on anything of substance that I can identify.
Word is a single episode takes up to 6 hours to record! Stronger Fantales required for audience members.
@David,I have to agree with you,my sentiments exactly.I commented on EDN on the ratings article page.
I only lasted a few minutes. I am not a fan of Kelly or Jason. And I find the format confusing. Sarah was ok, but I don’t think she has the natural style for it. Cat Deeley from SYTCD doesn’t have a dancing background but she seems to comes across really likable.