'Live to Dance': Paula Abdul is Back to Dance

During the holiday season if the retail commercials weren't enough they showed one for an upcoming show on CBS titled "Live to Dance" featuring Paula Abdul. Here is her grand return to reality TV after leaving "American Idol." Sooner or later she would ultimately be back. Lo and behold here was Ms. Abdul Tuesday night. This time around she is completely in charge as executive producer and head judge. Dancing is her true love and passion. Therefore, it is fitting Paula Abdul have her own TV show about dance.

The two-hour premiere featured auditions in Los Angeles and New York, the epicenters for entertainment and dance. "Live to Dance" was like watching a mishmash of "America's Got Talent" meets "Dancing with the Stars" meets "So You Think You Can Dance" and on and on of other dance competition shows. Now we'll get into the differences of what makes this reality show stand out from its numerous copycats. They went through a lot of dancers from solos, duos, trios and groups. All ages may apply from 9 to 90 and beyond. Also, any style of dance is acceptable from ballet to ballroom.

How does "Live to Dance" differ from other competition shows?

The most obvious difference is their "gold star" system. Rather than saying "yes or no" if the dancer(s) will move on or not you get a dramatic moment of seeing the judge's faces. Then they'll select "yes for a gold star and "no" for a red one. If you get two or more gold stars you move on to the semi-finals.

Two or all three red stars means you're out. It's as simple and cut and dry as that, sometimes. It certainly eliminates the endless chatter and arguing amongst the judges. Only once during Tuesday's show did a judge change their vote from "no" to "yes". Apparently that is going to be something rare to see happen. The judges tend to stand by their votes.

Another glaring difference is the judges all have extensive training and professional dance experience. One of the judges, Kimberly Wyatt, is a former Pussycat Doll. It seems the Pussycat Dolls and judging reality shows on singing and dancing is their future. Travis Payne is another high profile choreographer, just like Paula Abdul, who has worked with major music superstars such as Michael Jackson in "This is It."

Highlights of the Los Angeles Auditions

One thing that struck me with "Live to Dance" is it's exactly like watching "America's Got Talent" without all the other talent, expect dance. If you've watched that show and then watched this one you'll know what I'm talking about. In a weird way it was like déjà vu. However, the first contestant to open the show was a precious 9-year old soloist named Jalen who hip-hopped his way to three gold stars from the judges.

Bev and Hap were by far the most entertaining and incredible couple of the night. They are in the older category, Bev is 83 and Hap is 68. At first they started out with a ballroom dance to "Moon River." Out of nowhere you hear this James Brown type scream with them looking bewildered. Right away they got into "Get Up Offa That Thing" hip hop style. I loved every minute of it. You never, ever expected them to do that and it worked. I'm looking forward to seeing Bev and Hap in the semifinals.

Jill and Jacob, a teen couple, did a stunning contemporary dance about their relationship. I was extremely impressed with their partnering and dance skills. If you remember the TV show "Solid Gold" from the 1980s. They always featured the "Solid Gold" dancers. The trio Beyond Gold was former dancers of that show. I went to a taping of "Solid Gold" in the mid '80s. I remember they were standing near us. The African American dancer, who is now a minister, was at that taping.

Anyways, these three ladies have not danced in a long time. They decided to get together and audition for "Live to Dance." After their performance they only got one gold star. The audience was chanting to change the "no" to a "yes" from one of the judge's who gave a red star. Travis Payne said he watched "Solid Gold" and it inspired him to dance, so he changed his mind. That was the only time a change was ever made.

Memorable New York City Auditions

Finally I wanted to see the older lady they showed numerous times on the TV commercial who is 90 years old. She had a phenomenal back story about being accepted as a Rockette, but World War II broke out. Marriage took over her dancing career and that was it until now. Ever since Bonnie Buchner's husband passed away she has gone back to dancing. Bonnie did a wonderful tap dance, but she knew this would be her only moment. She isn't moving on to the semi-finals, but it was great hearing Bonnie's story and seeing her dance after all these years.

C-Bunny also had an emotional story of being hearing impaired. Dancing was the only outlet where she could feel free from the difficulties and challenges of her life. She did an impressive routine, but only received one gold star. C-Bunny's grateful exit by thanking the audience and judges was truly memorable. On the other hand, Peaches performed a strange and outdated robot moves trying hip hop that wasn't very good. She got one gold star. I must say Peaches had quite the sardonic sense of humor when listening to the judge's feedback. She was the only one who was argumentative throughout the show. It was hilarious when Peaches was snarky to Kimberly Wyatt. Quite frankly, I could do without that judge too.

There must be something in the water in Miami as the dance group Twitch had by far the best performance of the entire show. Anthony is the only male member of this dance group. His dancing abilities are beyond what we saw earlier. At one point Anthony does a series of Baryshnikov style turns that were amazing. Naturally the group Twitch immediately got three gold stars and rants plus raves from all three judges. Twitch is my early favorite and may in fact win the grand prize during the finale.

In closing out the show another Miami-based dance couple comprising of 11-year old kids named D'Angelo and Amanda may be in a relationship with each other. Their ballroom dance routine was sharp, their partnering impeccable and each one's dance abilities were spot on for such a young age. Wednesday night will be when the judge's hand select the ones they choose to perform in the live semi-final show. Hopefully my favorites will be chosen.

SOURCES:

Live to Dance, CBS.com

Ken Tucker, "Paula Abdul lost it on 'Live to Dance'", EW.com

"'Live to Dance': This one's for you, Team Paula", The Baltimore Sun - Reality Check

Live to Dance, Wikipedia