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Don’t treat your audience like idiots

Dear So You Think You Can Dance, please don't treat me like an idiot if you want me to keep watching.

SYTYCDDear So You Think You Can Dance Australia….

Please don’t treat me like an idiot if you want me to keep watching your show.

Seriously last night’s storytelling was as contrived as they come. Very little to do with dancing, and plenty to do with confected reality television drama.

It’s a shame because the the young dancers are all really talented thought I am struggling to remember many names yet.

While Paula said “I got to see each and every one of you shine,” unfortunately I didn’t because the show is still too focussed on groups rather than individuals.

The real insult to viewers happened mid-show when the dancers were all picked by team captains schoolyard-style. But there were 6 remaining dancers who missed out on being picked for teams, who were suddenly told by Jason Gilkinson they had effectively been cut from the show. Rather than being eliminated by the judges they had been cut by their own. Levels of fairness are important in this genre. It was particularly cruel and plenty of tears flowed on stage.

While the 6 were sobbing in the hallway as the cameras rolled, Paul Abdul came out to tell them she was giving them a second chance. What the…?

Such manufactured stunts mean we get to the point where we may not believe what’s in front of us anymore.

As TIME magazine said of last year’s Homeland, “Pulling the rug out under your audience can be effective sometimes. But do it too often, and we stop believing there’s a floor underneath.”

The irony is the kids are totally talented. When they are not pushed to tears and whooping in the stalls they light up the stage.

Please have more faith in your cast and let them shine?

The final top 20 are:

Ashleigh Tavares (Jazz, 20, NSW)
Blond (Urban, 31, NSW)
Eden Petrovski (Contemporary, 20, NSW)
Chris Tsattalios (Jazz, 21, NSW)
Kathaleen Fisher (Ballroom, 19, NSW)
Jay Johns (Urban, 21, NSW)
Lauren Seymour (Urban, 22, NSW)
Joel Rasmussen (Urban, 27, QLD)
Maddie Peat (Contemporary, 19, NSW)
Jordan Turner (Contemporary, 20, NSW)
Nadiah Idris (Urban, 26, VIC)
Michael Dameski (Contemporary, 18, NSW)
Renelle Jones (Jazz, 23, QLD)
Patric Kuo (Urban, 20, NSW)
Sally Hare (Urban, 28, NSW)
Sam Malseed (Contemporary, 18, SA)
Yukino McHugh (Urban, 20, NSW)
Stephen Perez (Jazz, 21, NSW)
Zoey Black (Jazz, 23, NSW)
Thabang Baloyi (Ballroom, 21, NSW)

29 Responses

  1. I just watched a recording of it and to do that to all the contestants for TV purposes is just poor form.
    Making the team leaders feel awful as well as cutting the 6 not chosen for no good reason. Forced drama.

    We didn’t even get to see all the top 33 introduced sadly.

  2. Have they already shot the whole thing? Or can they take it out the back paddock and shoot it like Everybody Dance Now.

    To have one failed dance competition show is foolish to have two is idiocy. Robbie Williams would be seen by more people if he shouted out his hotel window.

  3. Yesss, it was the most contrived nonsense ever!

    The format so far has been terrible, which is a shame because I feel like the dancers are really talented (perhaps more so than in previous years).

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