Sunday, February 12, 2012

Got to Dance

I love "Got to Dance", currently occupying your TV screens on Sky 1 on Sunday evenings. It's kind of like "The X Factor", but for dancers, and without the cruelty. Or the ego that is Simon Cowell.

The format is fairly typical of many "talent quest" shows that are on TV now - we see auditions for the first few weeks of programmes, then we get an episode where the judges decide who will make it through to the next stage, and they go and tell those people who we have seen in the auditions round to tell them the good or bad news, then we have the live semi-finals, with public voting, and eventually we'll be at the live final 'extravaganza'.


What makes this different is, mostly, little things, but it makes the viewing experience much nicer, and less like the "freak show" that, for example, "The X Factor", often becomes. There is an unseen round of producers auditions, where the acts perform in front of the shows producers, not the judges, and they do seem to have eliminated most of the no-hopers, meaning that the quality of the act you see in the audition shows is already high.

The judges know their stuff. Oh boy, do they know their stuff. Ashley Banjo, from all conquering "street crew" Diversity, Kimberley Wyatt, survivor of The Pussycat Dolls, and Adam Garcia, tap supremo. I admit to being a little bit swoon-some about Adam. He's hot, he's got a cute accent, and have you seen what that man can do in a pair of tap shoes? Hell, I'd kill just to dance with him, let alone anything more fruity! This year, there was a "warm up show" before the series officially started, and they sent the judges back to their homes, to show you where they came from, and the extent of their dance background. This shows the hard work and dedication needed to get to the top of the dance industry, and hopefully gives the audience both a firmer grasp on the hard work and years of toil needed, and an appreciation of the sort of skill levels we are seeing on the stage throughout the auditions.

It's also not too long. The whole thing has, in terms of Sunday evenings, been running since the first weekend in January, and will finish with the Final on 4th March. The whole thing is done and dusted in two months - it doesn't drag on from August till December. They have, this year, introduced a weekday early evening show, which features expanded footage of the auditions. From this it becomes obvious that the judges really are trying to give constructive criticism, and they aren't there to stroke their own egos. We've also seen both Ashley and Adam have a go at pole dancing, and Kimberley getting to do her "Diva Strut", which she is really exceptionally good at.

We're at semi-final stage right now, with the acts for the final being chosen by the public. I'm not sure the judges have always chosen the right acts to go through to the semis, but then there is of course a large element of personal preference at work here, and they only get to see each act twice (once at the auditions, once in review on tape), and we don't know whether some of the people who made it onto "the judge's shortlist" subsequently drop out, or get disqualified, or if the producers give them quotas for dance styles to be in the finals which effect the decision.

But, you do get to come back next year if you don't win, even if you've been to a the semi-final stage previously. I like this, it encourages development, and we've seen this year a lad - "Luke" - who did well last year, subsequently got a place at a dance school, and has come back this year greatly improved. He's still in his teenage years - he's going to be frighteningly talented in a few years time, and could be a great dancer if he chooses to stay with it - and I hope he does.

"Got to Dance" is thoroughly entertaining, without resorting to the cruelty we so often see in these types of shows. The judges really, really know their stuff, and are also grounded enough to know that it's not about them, but about trying to find a great dancer. Davina is nice to the contestants, without being patronising, and there's a great air of encouragement surrounding the whole thing. If you've avoided it because it's on Sky 1, you might want to rethink your early Sunday evening viewing, before you're too late for this year.