Paula Abdul tells Australia “I’m adoptable!”
Paula Abdul has fallen for Australia and pleads her case to renew So You Think You Can Dance.
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There are times when imported television stars give you the impression they are just here to make a quick buck. Late for shoots, difficult to work with, no extra hours put in and spruiking the company line.
Paula Abdul is either a very good actress or she’s genuinely enamored of her time in Australia and So You Think You Can Dance.
In the face of wider network challenges, it would be easy to lose heart. But Abdul, who has always demonstrated attention to detail, is there to the very end with her passion for what the show represents and the 4 finalists: Michael, Jay, Renelle, Lauren.
While her rapture for Michael’s “awesome” dance last week was understandable, she plays no favourites in tonight’s Grand Final.
“Any one of them could win for different reasons,” she insists.
She remains supportive of eliminated contestants, such as Hip Hop dancer, Blond. Abdul even offered him her assistance should he want to try his luck in the States.
“You let me know when you want to come to America. You are going to be working from the point of ‘The world is your oyster,'” she told him.
“I feel that way about a lot of these kids. I feel Patric is a star. Eden, Zoey, Chris …these kids would be working like there’s no tomorrow if they were in the States right now. Or London -wherever their hearts’ desire.
“If they did come to the States I would do everything I could possibly do, if they want help.
“A million per cent.”
Dance has been Abdul’s first cause to visit Australia, but it’s one that will stick with her. She has a message for her Aussie fans.
“I’m adoptable! I love it here! I love Australians’ familial love for one another. I love the camaraderie and appreciation for the arts. I’ve had a wonderful time,” she says.
“I’ll have to come back to do more of a vacation if, God willing, the show does come back.
“I didn’t get to the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Gold Coast, Barrier Reef -you name it. I went to Melbourne and probably here (in Sydney) in a 3 mile radius of FOX.”
“I hope it’s the beginning of a lifelong friendship.”
With its modest ratings against strong competition the future for the show is unclear, but viewers have sung the praises of the level of talent Dance has uncovered.
“I hope that the gem that this show is … I hope it finds its way back for another season,” says Abdul.
“At times it’s been heartbreaking but none of that ever seeps into your DNA when you’re working with the immense talent. When you’re working on a show like this you’re so laser-focussed on the experience for the contestants. It is the most uncelebrated, unglamorous, hard-as-hell (experience) to put your body through.
“Everybody loves to dance but when you do a show like this you find these rare little gems that have to dance. And when you’re around that and you see so much sacrifice, all you want to do is make it lift.”
Tonight’s final includes a Live to Air announcement of the winner, following pre-recorded segments and performances by Jason Derulo and Ed Sheeran.
Abdul, together with fellow judges Jason Gilkison, Aaron Cash and Shannon Holtzapffel, is convinced a new star is about to be catapulted into the industry. It’s not about them, but the young talent on show.
“I told you from day one I love the panel, I love the people, we’re all in it for the right reasons, to not have egos but to be inspiring for them,” she says.
“I get the same feeling on this show that I did on American Idol. The show has amazing legs, arms, fingernails, toes, ears, eyes… it has amazing beauty. It’s just finding the right slot (that has been hard).
“Whatever has to be done at the network… this show is important and special and you don’t have to understand dance to have an emotional connection to something you’re witnessing when it’s magnificent.”
So You Think You Can Dance Australia grand final airs 7:30pm tonight on TEN.
18 Responses
I watched tonight- not only because I feel guilty for not watching, but because this was and still is a reality program worth having. From the 6 or so episodes I saw, Paula and Shannon were the best suited to judging. Michael’s dance going viral was what was needed back in the early stages to gain interest- Though I really hope the final got close to that 1 million mark
Just give SYTYCDA another chance for next year. Ten had a terrible year with the show getting beaten by Channel 7 MKR and The Block: Fans v Faves. Don’t put this shows against Channel 7 and Channel 9 or else Ten will struggle. Why not put on a Saturday night? Or even on Eleven?
Ten may as well renew it… what else have they got? They need to start spending more on publicity and committing to shows.
It was only four years ago, when Ten had a much larger viewer base than they currently have. They had MCA at its peak doing similar numbers to The Voice and MKR. As a result, all the shows surrounding MCA were rating really well, and Ten were able to launch lots of new shows to big numbers during this period. However, over the past four years, Ten have shown a complete disregard for their audience. As a result, viewers no longer trust or respect Ten a network, and feel abandoned by them.
In order to be successful in television, you must put the desires of your audience above those of your execs and board members. Until Ten realise this, they will never regain 3rd place or be a competitive network.
Jennome: People decide to watch the shows on Seven and Nine because they are exposed to them. Seven and Nine have large viewer bases, so when they produce a promo for a certain show, it will be seen by a lot more people than the ones on Ten, resulting in Seven and Nine having bigger audience shares, which is then used to produce more promos for those large viewer bases, and the cycle continues.
The main reason dance didn’t do to well is the fact nothing is doing well on Ten. If Ten grew it’s audience from now to next year it would flow on to other shows.
I don’t know why people don’t watch something just because it’s on TEN, is it because they just don’t bother to see what’s on offer? Last night we watched TEN all night, beginning with The Project (which we watch every night), then the Living Room Special, Puberty Blues and The Good Wife. All were terrific.
I’ve been looking forward to Masterchef, way superior to MKR, but surprise, surprise – The Voice is on at the same time. There’s nowhere TEN can schedule anything which doesn’t come up against things like The Block, MKR, or an endless supply of talent shows. I’m astonished the populace at large keeps watching all this dross, time after time, with their overruns, repetitious commentary etc. It’s all so boring.
Few people watch SBS, but they have some fabulous programs, specially from Scandinavia, but it’s obvious our poor loves can’t read very well as presumably…
The problem isn’t the show. It’s the network.
The scheduling against MKR and The Block was a really bad decision, but it was never going to get the numbers they do, and that is because of the channel that airs it.
SYTYCDA would getting 3x as many viewers if it was on Seven or Nine. Look at Dancing With the Stars. People simply won’t watch because it is on Ten. You get the occasional hit like the MF Aus episode, which was helped largely by Nine’s decision to postpone The Voice, but for the most part, anything Ten touches will be a ratings disaster, with the 5pm News being the only thing that consistently rates more the 600k.
Sadly, there is virtually no way that SYTYCD will be renewed for next year. The only way that it might happen (and it’s a distant ‘might’) is if tonight’s finale rates extremely well (ie: around 1M which it won’t). This is very sad as this show is one of TV’s finest. Whilst the production values were stunning, issues with the judging panel (lack of proper cohesion etc) I think ultimately failed it. The talent was extraordinary (as proven by the best ‘dance for your life’ ever seen last week) – but even that was too little too late.
But please Ten – prove me wrong!
Depending on the $ involved, TEN may well be desperate enough to give this a second chance. Better the devil they know…
Love Paula too. She seems really genuine and glad she enjoyed her time here.
I really wanted Dance to do well. Its not just giving the dancers exposure, there’s so much more with the choreographers, costume makers, make up etc. All those people get to show their genuine talents. Its just so much more pleasant to watch then bitchy people cooking.
The last thing TEN and Australia needs is an endless supply of reality shows that don’t rate …..this was always a show for a niche audience, which was why it didn’t appeal to the main stream …..
I agree the talent pool is not that big in Australia and its unlikely to return next year – these ‘shiny floor’ shows are very expensive to produce.
Paula does seem like a lovely lady and has engaged well with Australia and Australians. I would be very interested to know how much time Will.I.Am is spending in Australia for the Voice this year – I woulnt be the least bit surprised if he flies back to LA every week the morning after the live shows.
Although Paula has really done well to publicise SYTYCDAU and integrate into the Australian media scene (examples seen in her comments on the Logie Part 2 article, but also appearances on Studio 10 and The Project), my only concern with her on SYTYCDAU was that the majority of her comments related to personality rather than dance. Now that could have been an execs order given there are three critically acclaimed dancers on the panel to give such comments, but for a dance competition I expect all judges to offer dance related comments. In saying that, it is a rather small and insignificant criticism of her performance and do wish the series and even herself returns next year.
Love Paula and hopefully they listen at Ten and give the show another season to find a bigger audience in a better timeslot.
I haven’t watched much of SYTYCD, but from what I’ve seen, Paula is very genuine, and seems like a really lovely lady.
I am a big fan of the format and a supporter of the Australian show. However I am not sure we have the dance talent to feed this show year after year. Our pool of great dancers is not that big.
For me a lot of the Australian dancers were great in their own genre, but most of them struggled outside of this. It probably got better when we got down to the last 8. These could dance all forms elegantly and convincingly.
Whereas, the US version just seems to have an endless massive pool of talent, who each could dance multiple forms of dance well.
I do believe Paula is a genuine supporter of the arts and of this show, including the Australian version.
I have enjoyed the Australian version, but still believed some boofhead in TEN kill any chance of success when s/he put it up against two reality rating juggernauts. Really what were you thinking?
I loved Blond for his talent…
If anyone has seen her on the many times she was on studio 10 you will know by now she is truly a beautiful person!! She was great to watch on studio 10 and seemed to form strong bonds with the panel and she’s a perfect fit for sytycd. I also hope it returns next year but treated with more respect.