Dancing With The Stars Submits Show Material For 2012 Emmy Award Nominations
The 64th Emmy Award nominations will be announced July 19th. You can view the ballots and who and what they are currently mulling over in each category here. For what I can see so far (and I could have missed some. If so, let us know.), Dancing With The Stars is being considered for:
“Outstanding Directing In A Variety Series” for their Broadway Show on October 11, 2011. As you might remember, the musicals of Broadway were featured in this live two hour show. Ten set piece performances showcased a diverse range of choreography including live guest performances from Kristin Chenoweth and the cast of “Sister Act”, all accompanied by to our 30 piece orchestra.
“Outstanding Picture Editing For Short-Form Segments And Variety Specials”. Several segments are being considered including….
a. Donald Driver Background Package, Episode 1409, May 14, 2012. This package tells Donald Driver’s life story and his journey to this point in the competition; Head To Head: The Final Three, Episode 1410A, May 22, 2012. This package examines the strengths of the final three competitors.
b. Hope Solo’s Background Package, Episode 1309, November 14, 2011. This package chronicles the events that shaped Hope Solo’s life and her journey in this competition.
c. J.R. Martinez Memorable Year, Episode 1303, October 3, 2011. As part of the “Most Memorable Year” themed week of DANCING WITH THE STARS, JR Martinez reflects on the year he was seriously injured in Iraq and how in his darkest hour, his mother inspired him to survive and overcome his physical and emotional injuries.
d. Song Of The Season, Episode 1410A, May 22, 2012. Using all available footage, the cast recounts the highlights of Season 14 – in rhyming verse.
e. Spotlight: Michaela DePrince, Episode 1406A, May 1, 2012. This package tells the story of Michaela DePrince, a young ballerina who overcame hardship and struggle to achieve her dreams.
“Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special” for Episode 1407, April 30, 2012. In the 7th week of competition in season 14, the 7 remaining couples, Maria & Derek, Donald & Peta, Roshon & Chelsie, Melissa & Maksim, William & Cheryl, Katherine & Mark, and Jaleel & Kym competed in “Classical Night” vying for the “Dancing with the Stars” Mirrorball trophy.
“Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special” for Episode 1307, October 31, 2011, In the seventh week of competition in season 13 of DANCING WITH THE STARS, the Halloween Special Event takes over the ballroom. The six couples who remain vie for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy in this spooky episode. Ricki Lake and Derek Hough top the leader board with their performance.
“Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program” which includes Tom Bergeron.
“Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series” for Episode 1307, October 31, 2011, In the seventh week of competition in season 13 of DANCING WITH THE STARS, the Halloween Special. Event takes over the ballroom. The six couples who remain vie for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy in this spooky episode. Ricki Lake and Derek Hough top the leader board with their performance.
“Outstanding Reality – Competition Program”
“Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Series Or Special” for…
a. Episode 1310A, November 22, 2011, In the Finale of Season 13 of “Dancing with the Stars”, Rob Kardashian & Cheryl, JR Martinez & Karina and Ricki Lake & Derek vie for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy. Each couple performs an Instant Dance to complete the competition. After ten weeks, JR Martinez and Karina are named champions.
b. Episode 1407 Classical Night, April 30, 2012
“Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series” for Episode 1410A, May 22, 2012, In the season 14 finale of DANCING WITH THE STARS, Katherine Jenkins & Mark, Donald Driver & Peta, and William Levy & Cheryl vie for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy. The entire cast returns to celebrate the most competitive season and witness Donald & Peta’s championship.
Speaking of the Emmy Awards….
Dancing With The Stars execuctive producer Conrad Green recently talked with the Tolucan Times about the show and how it’s long overdue to win an Emmy Award in the directing and choreography. You can read more of his thoughts below at the link. He hits the nail on the head for how brilliant the dancers are for how fast and creative they can be in putting outstanding dances together. He also mentions the directing, the music, the set designing, “the brilliant multi-tasking Host Tom Bergeron”, and more. Special thanks to @DWTSGossip for the find…
Green is glad the TV Academy instituted the reality competition show category to encourage quality in the genre. DWTS certainly deserves the spotlight in that group, especially since the live performance show has production challenges that the taped competitions don’t have to deal with. But it’s tricky, because it’s hard to inform people of the hard work that goes into pulling off a live show. Green says, “Sometimes I think we’re a victim of our own success because we make it look so easy. The whole process of hundreds of people making a live show of this scale is about trying to make it look effortless.”
Obviously they’d love to win an Emmy for the program, but Green emphasizes what is also long overdue is recognition for DWTS directing and choreography.
“Our Director Alex Rudzinski has an incredibly punishing workload. Our dancers come in with their choreography and in just a few days our director has to work out how his cameras can capture every bit of every dance. Alex Rudzinski and his Assistant Director Kate Moran do that each week, scripting the cameras to the beat of the music. It’s a logistical mindscape and he competes against those who have a relatively straight forward directing effort.”
Regarding the choreography, Green says, “It’s mystifying that none of our dancers have won a choreography Emmy, when you think of all the amazing routines and what the show has done for the knowledge and appreciation of dance. They are not only choreographing brilliant routines but also trying to turn celebrity beginners into professional dancers in just a matter of weeks.”
Heidi: And speaking of choreography, you’ll note that no nominating ballots are shown, above. No, I don’t know why. Vogue combed the site for all the ballots, I checked the rules to make sure it should be a separate category and not listed under “technical direction” and it’s not. So, I don’t know what the story is, but you can be sure that DWTS submitted a LOT of the pro’s dances for choreography awards. I heard somewhere that the producers ask each of the pros what they would like to submit, and often suggest (I would bet strongly) that certain dances be submitted. The producers then do the actual leg work of the submittal – which is actually surprisingly complicated. If you want to read for yourself, go to Emmy Rules and Procedures.
From what I’ve been able to glean, it appears like both the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012 are eligible, since the Eligibility dates are listed as June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012. HOWEVER, that’s not REALLY true for all categories, particularly choreography. While all the episodes of DWTS are eligible, technically, realistically, they can’t meet the submission requirements. The entry deadline is May 4th, which means only this past season up through Week 7 can be entered for some categories – because obviously, the show is live, not taped (people ask me all the time why some of Derek and Nicole’s dances, like the 50’s Paso, didn’t get a nomination – this is why). You’ll note that DWTS did submit in some categories for later episodes – but it’s all stuff that isn’t done live…or if it is done live, they submit assuming that the show will go well and that’s what they’ll want to submit. You can do that in some cases, but I doubt they would do it for Choreography. If the dance gets screwed up on the live show, they would have to withdraw the entry, which would suck.
But WAIT!! 🙂 There appears to be an exception under the choreography category that says “If the DVDs are not ready or available by the entry deadline, the final deadline for receipt of the DVDs will be May 18, 2012.” I have always read that to mean that they can submit up to the 18th. But in reading the rules more carefully, I think they still have to submit a nomination ballot by the 4th and can submit the DVD later. I think in some cases of a pro dance they could submit for nomination a dance that fell after the 4th in terms of air date. Something like Derek and Allison’s dance from last season if it had aired the 8th of May….surely the producers would see rehearsals and think it good enough to be submitted and do so, praying that the performance went well the following week. Then they could submit the DVD later that week. Get my drift? 🙂
So, Fall of 2011 and Spring of 2012 (through week 7) is technically the range you’ll see choreography nominations for – what are the other rules? Well, you can only have two people on a “team nomination” – for example, in the past we’ve had Derek and Chelsie, and Derek and Julianne. I think that each of those teams can submit THREE dances for ONE nomination, if there are more than one dance they did together in an eligibility period. If say Derek choreographed something with Mark that was great, and then something with Chelsie that was great, that would be TWO nominations because the teams are different. When it comes to individual dances, a pro can submit THREE dances for ONE nomination (and one award if they are lucky). In the past few seasons, we had Mark get one nomination where he had submitted three dances, and we had Derek get one nomination where he submitted two dances (with two different partners), a nomination with Chelsie for one dance and a nomination with Julianne for one dance. That’s all I can remember off the top of my head – I’m using them as examples. Now, using Mark as example, he could submit for TWO nominations if some of his dances were for DWTS and another was some other show (like SYTYCD). The DWTS dances would be one nomination (if selected) and the SYTYCD dance would be a separate nomination.
This actually could seriously work AGAINST the DWTS pros this year because DWTS featured a LOT of the SYTYCD people on results shows, and not so much our own pros. I can see why they do that – so the pros don’t get exhausted. BUT – and this is where I get ticked off – the awards are voted on by a jury of your peers. Meaning other choreographers – 12, to be exact. Just how many ballroom people do you think make up those panels?? And guess who is a huge campaigner for awards? Nigel Lithgow. Here’s what the rules say about Juried Awards:
3. Juried
In a juried award, all entrants are screened by a jury of appropriate branch members and one, more
than one or no entry is awarded an Emmy. There are no nominations. The winner(s), if any, are
announced prior to the awards presentation. Deliberations are open and arguments pro and con the
giving of an Emmy to an entrant is discussed. At the conclusion of the deliberation on each entry,
the jury votes on the question, “Is this entry worthy of an Emmy award – yea or nay?” Only those
with unanimous approval win. If there is a single dissenter in a panel comprised of no more than
twelve jurors who cannot be convinced to change his/her vote, the chair may rule that the award will
be given in spite of that single dissent. Two dissenters in a panel comprised of no more than 24
jurors may be over-ruled (with a single dissenter added to each increment of twelve, e.g., three for a
panel of no more than 36, four for a panel of no more than 48, etc.)
Obviously, within each category they are free to alter the rules, because there have always been nominations for choreography and they’ve always been awarded at the Creative Arts Emmys. That’s why these rules are a pain to figure out. Anyway, the odds are always stacked against the DWTS pros – I’ve been saying this for years. Most of the judges and other choreographers are going to be contemporary dancers and not at all skilled in ballroom. Who do YOU think they are more likely to vote for? And do you see how easy it is to deny one of our pros an Emmy?? One person can do it. For all these reasons, I think Derek has the best shot this year of all the DWTS pros, because he choreographed a dance with Allison Holker, who is from SYTYCD – plus that dance had a lot of contemporary movement to it as well. Most of our pros have had deserving dances…it’s about time one of them won. Will they? I’m doubtful.
All I’m saying is that Derek and Allison Holker’s Arg Tango/Flamenco pro dance in season 13 should at the very LEAST be nominated. Best pro dance EVER on DWTS and so many ppl have commented on the choreography being a brilliant mix of latin ballroom and contemporary. Crossing my fingers that this dance will be nominated and win Derek his first Emmy!
I think I know what dances I want to see get nominate nominated (but only one is from sytycd):
1) Derek and Allison’s pro dance (in my eyes this is the front runner to win but i could be wrong)
2)Ricki and Derek’s tango (the psycho tango)
3) Katherine and Mark’s jive (the vegas one in week 2)
4) william and cheryl’s aregentine tango (that was the best argetine tango ever o nthe show in my opinion and that saying a lot since i hated this pairing or at least 1/2 of it this season)
5) J. R. and Karina’s rumba (that had to be he best rumba I have ever seen on the show)
6)Marko Germar and Janette Manrara’s paso doble that was choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin (it was awesome)
On a side note, if nappytabs wins again this year (i know they only won once and that was last year) i would be pretty annoyed. they are really overrated.
It will be a HUGE surprise to me if ANY Pro/Celeb pairing from the past two seasons get a nomination. Shocking. And I include the psycho tango, as brilliant as it was. For one thing, I think they’ll only give DWTS one spot and I think Derek has a leg up. For another thing, the SYTYCD results show got cancelled – that group has something to prove and likely the biggest voting block. Even though the choreographers don’t have NEARLY the job that the DWTS pros do, since all the dancers on SYTYCD are trained.
Okay, Courtney or John – remember Louis’ AMAZING Argentine Tango on SYTYCD?? Was that this past season?? If so, it should be nominated. It was great. That’s why Cheryl’s AT doesn’t stand a chance. If it’s up against Louis? No way. Were Marko and Jenette on last season?? If not, they’re not eligible.
As for NappyTabs – I’d rather them win than Mia Michaels. Ick.
In my opinion, the most deserving of an Emmy from the last two seasons of DWTS is Derek’s Psycho Tango dance and Derek and Allison Holiker’s pro dance. I loved so many dances on this show, but, those two dances have them all beat. PURE BRILLIANCE! I really hope Derek finally wins an Emmy or two. He’s the most deserving of all the pros.
There were some really great SYTYCD routines this year from new/sorta new choreographers like Spencer Liff (the Broadway Jail routine), Miriam and Leonardo (Caitlynn and Pasha A. tango), Dee Caspary, and Christopher Scott. I kinda think Christopher’s hip hop routine for Sasha and Twitch (Misty Blue) is in the top running too.
Of course they’re all in the running – the DWTS pros have NO ONE campaigning for them.
Do we know contemporary has the biggest Emmy support? I am asking because non contemporary routines have won a lot in he past. As for the recent trend, sytycd winning routines to me were amazing. Wade’s season 2 group number and his hummingbird dances were stunning! Though I would take the Houghs jives over Tyce’s routines. Not that is one win that upsets me. Tyce is a horrible choreographer, bad attitude and no where near Derek’s dance ability. But he got lucky in having a stunning dancer Will dance that routine.
I cannot stand Mia but her routines deserved to win IMO. Over dwts. The only time I felt Derek should have won along with Mia was the year he had his paso with Chelsie and paso with Joanna. But that was the one time where they only had one winner. Usually this category allows for,multiple winners except that one year.
I agree if any routine deserves a nomination from dwts is Allison and Derek’s routine. It trumped anything I saw on sytycd last season. Also the psycho tango with Ricki. Those two were the best routines on dwts in the past voting year. They should be winners.
Also do not underestimate Travis Wall. His statue piece had Emmy bait all over it. Not to mention Travis along with others also choreographed some terrific big, quality dance numbers that Emmy voters like too.
I think choreo win also relies on the dancers. When I saw NappyTabs winning number, it was a lot due to
Alex and Twitch. Allison and Derek are amazing dancers. If they cannot convince the voters, then no idea what they are smoking. Lol.
I am with Conrad in the show not getting enough choreo credit though IMO sytycd deserves their wins. I did not think Mark’s dances last year deserved noms let alone win. Possible voters saw what I did. It was derivative of better choreographers work like Wade. But for the show itself? Nah. I think it does not deserve a win.
I think that contemporary having the biggest support is pretty logical – just look at everyone who auditions for SYTYCD and who makes it on to the show. By far there are more contemporary…or should I just say non-ballroom…dancers. I think the dance community as a whole is weighted toward contemporary or non-ballroom. Because Ballroom is HARD and it has RULES – which is also why I think that there have been several occasions where DWTS deserved to win over SYTYCD. It’s simply HARDER. You wanna talk tired and derivative – that’s Mia Michaels. Some of those others I agree are worthy – but I don’t think they’re better than some of what Derek has done. Like I said…they are working with trained dancers all the time, while on DWTS there are a lot of dances with amateurs.
They were part of last season. Thats the ionly dance iremeber from sytycd last season unfortunately. used to be such a good show but the last couple of seasons were just eh/ok. Not going to watch the current season until there is a top ten. As for Louis dance, I really didn’t remeber it but I as much as I dislike Cheryl I dislike him even more. He seems so into himself (like some other pros on the show…cheryl comes to mind) but he has this odd way of being mean as well (ex. his anti-Derek atitude….which i personally still don’t understand still. thought it was jealousy but now i think its jealousy and desire to make headlines/the news). I never really liked Mia michaels of nappytabs to be honest. both are overrated. I like mia a littlem ore though becuase she has more memorable routines.
Contemporary is so broad though so agree to disagree there. All dances are difficult. Just different challenges. Though I think the stigma of ballroom adds to the challenge
Of winning. I am not denying dwts has its challenges. I disagree the ones Mia won are derivative. But it is subjective. As I said before, two times I felt dwts deserved to win. One is over Tyce. Second is along with Mia. Her addiction piece was so moving and stunning. I can put my Mia hate aside for that. Unlike Mark who blatantly ripped off sytycd. I guess he figured that was his best chance and hey, it did get him a nom. Tbh, I am disappointed NappyTabs have won an Emmy before Derek. I like them but to me they are not the best sytycd choreographers.
I think Nigel is going to push for Travis. But Allison is one of his favorite dancers so maybe Derek will get some help there, lol.
Campaign aside, as a piece of art and choreographer, Derek and Allison was the best dance I saw all year from any dance show. No nomination? Then emmys losing touch. Bad enough the ignored The Wire for all those years for best drama, lol.
@Heidi – You are talking about the AT with Melanie correct? That dance was ah-mazing, the ending lift was incredible… Didn’t she hang over the edge of the stage or something like that… Wow!!
Eh, Melanie annoyed me so I tried to forget her dances. Lol. How subjective it is.
This Season on DWTs, I thought Team Tango’s choreography and the dancing was pretty amazing too but is that something they would choose to nominate? Not sure if 4 choreographers can get nominated for 1 dance.
I hope the TPTB continue to let the Pros do dances like Derek/Allison and Karina/Jose. Great routines. There’s so many many dance styles they could explore. I would like to see another SYTYCD crossover to DWTS like Chelsie and Mark Kanemura on DWTS:)
Chelsie and Mark K. Reuniting would be fun.
I did not think team tango was anything special though a good dance.
I do think Anna and Jonathan’s v waltz was beautiful and lyrical. I can see voters liking it.
Hehe…I started typing out a comment earlier but got distracted, & in the meantime you guys hit on pretty much every point I was thinking of 🙂
I agree that ballroom gets the short end of the stick quite a bit – not just in Emmy noms, but just in terms of respect in general in the dance community. I tend to get pissed when I hear someone from a contemporary background complaining about how “un-emotional” & “manufactured” ballroom dancing is. I disagree with that for two reasons: one, because there’s no rule that says you have to have a deep emotional connection to every single dance you do; and two, ballroom can absolutely be emotional – just because it’s not angst-ridden like the bulk of the contemporary routines I see on SYTYCD, doesn’t make it aloof & detached. But alas, I think ballroom intimidates some dancers from a contemporary background, because it forces the dancer to focus more on technique – when you can’t rely on emotional flailing & jumping to impress your audience, that’s when technical weaknesses really start to show. Plus there’s just SO MUCH technique in Latin & ballroom, and it varies from dance to dance – with contemporary, the technical vocabulary is much smaller. And then there’s the whole partner thing – contemporary dancers can dance by themselves & still look like they’re doing a complete dance. Ballroom dancers don’t have that luxury. I think it’s a helluva lot easier (and less time-consuming) to become a proficient contemporary dancer than it is to become a proficient ballroom dancer.
Anywho…thankfully, Mia was so wrapped up choreographing ROA last summer that I don’t think she choreographed anything even eligible for an Emmy. I liked the first few routines she won Emmys for, but then everything she did started to look & feel the same to me…and I find her to be downright arrogant & often unnecessarily mean to the dancers she critiques on SYTYCD. I’ve had enough Mia to last me quite awhile…
I’m with you on the Melanie thing, Melissa – I never really understood why everyone seemed to think she was the greatest dancer the show had ever seen. She had good technique, don’t get me wrong – but I didn’t feel like there was anything SPECIAL about her. Just a good, garden-variety dancer. Now Sasha, on the other hand, was unique & compelling to me – she had the envelope-pushing creativity that I felt Melanie lacked.
My fav winner of sytycd has to be Benji Schwimmer. he was just so much fun to watch. Lacey is ten times better as dancer than him though but he just was so much fun.
As for Melanie, she was really good but was kinda boring. She remeinded me of Evan Lysacek in that sense. picks up choreo really well but little personality that really made her relateable to viewers.
LOL Court….i know what you are saying…20 comments above have pretty much said all i wanted to say..but…i will throw my almost all already used thoughts in here 😀 … of course IMO Derek should have already won the Emmy for at least 2 performaces… the Jive with Julianne and the Paso with Chelsie…he did not because he is in the wrong camp.Getting a Emmy nominations or Emmy award while doing Ballroom/Latin on DWTS is kind of impossible..first Ballroom has those strict the rules contemporary dance has not .. in Ballroom..breaking the rules is a NO NO..in contemporary dance is… breaking the rules is everything..second..on DWTS the pros have to work with a NON dancer…so oft even though the choreo is amazing…the technique suffers … that’s why it is 10 times harder for a DWTS choreographer to get an Emmy…the performance Derek did with Allison MUST get at least an Emmy nomination or something is really wrong with the world…although i have higher hopes for Derek to get that award with Allison, she being a SYTYCD alum, i won’t hold my breath…if u get my point..but there is no other pro on DWTS that deserves that Emmy more than Derek does..so..IMO.. Derek will win that Emmy when or IF he decides to change camps and choreograph for SYTYCD ..as i am sure Nigel already offered him that possibility.
Courtney’, agree with you on your posts including Melanie. I was also a Sasha fan. They way they went on about her and how she acted in dances, ugh. She was just okay to me and her ballroom was blah and she could not dance hip hop. Unlike Brandon who was second in a close race but he was amazing in every genre including hip hop! But sytycd has bothered me because of Nigel and his clear bias for specific genres and dancers. Contemporary dancers are given the most room to grow in other genres while ballroom is criticized a lot in other genres. Not to mention some big name choreographers like Wade and Brian moved on and do not blame them.
I do agree Mia is in love with her own success. She is awful. See how she treated Brandon. But addiction piece deserved a win. But it is like a sea of yuck from her for awhile and then she does that one dance. Including NappyTabs. Mediocre hip hop then struck gold with Alex and Twitch.
I think Anna and Jonathan’s dance was emotional and beautiful technique. I wonder if the voters would be moved by that. I think they should love Allison and Derek. Even sytycd fans I know said it was better than anything they saw on sytycd last year.
The addiction piece was good, I will say that. But nothing has really impressed me since then – it’s all become a bit formulaic. At this point, I agree with you that Travis is probably a bigger threat – although Travis is a bit hit-or-miss for me as well. I think he probably has a shot an an Emmy nom for this “Turn to Stone” piece for Melanie & Marko, which everyone raved about but I found rather…cheesy.
I think the only routine Nappytabs (and I hate that name, so corny) might have a hope and a prayer of getting a nom for this year is that crazy bird routine to “Break Ya Neck” that they did for Robert & Miranda…and I think even that pales in comparison to stuff they’ve done in the past. “Outta Your Mind” and “My Chick Bad” were the last two really impressive routines I’ve seen from them. I think Christopher Scott, their new hip-hop guy, has done more Emmy-worthy stuff than Nappytabs this past year – “Misty Blue” was sheer genius.
I just want to throw a quick 2 cents worth in here about Melanie and Sasha. The problem is, I think, that most of America likes safe. Talented but safe. And that was Melanie. All-American girl who could clearly dance, was cute and perky and safe. And that’s how all the choreographers choreographed for her. Unlike Sasha who was edgy and emotional and exotic. Sasha’s dancing had the ability to make you feel uncomfortable in a good way, if you know what I mean. But, given the two, America will most often go for the safe choice.
If I were DWTS, I’d just put everything Derek did this year with whoever partner, classified in a priority list for originality, beauty, human content and plain fun.A long list a baby could do.No one but Der even comes close for pure genius.But why bother, these Emmy judges are as dense and insensitive as Academia Institutions usually are.They will miss the forest for the trees. If not, Derek would need to have extra shelves in his house to place his 25 Emmies.Ultimately, who cares what these academics do.They are not about artistic creation, but marketing hype & self agrandizement.I bet they think they are bigger than the nominees
Heh – Nigel has a clear bias? You don’t say. :::snort::: I remember Courtney and I watching together and screaming on Twitter (Evaine may have been there as well) about that awful blonde girl whose name I can’t remember (blocked out, I’m sure) that Nigel kept saving and putting through. What was that girls name? She was ugh.
And yes…I much preferred Sasha. Jonathan and Anna? I dunno. It was beautiful, but like I said, I’ll be surprised if DWTS gets more than one spot and if Derek and Allison don’t get a nomination the fix is REALLY in. Although, DWTS did get two spots the year that Derek and Chelsie were nominated for their Paso (his dance with Allison is even better) and then Derek was nominated solo for dances with Joanna and Nicole.
I think Mia, Nappytabs and several on DWTS all need a break from doing the same old same old – the staleness is quite apparent. Maybe Nappytabs will get back on track since they are pregnant. That’s a new experience for them and might change their view.
Of course, then I remind myself that the actual routines don’t really matter – it’s who you’ve got in your corner (and on the jury panel) that’s pulling for you.
Tired choreo is not just with sytycd pros as you mentioned.
Nigel’s bias is such a joke. Kinda like the judges and their biases in dwts too.
Dwts can have multiple nominees IMO because sytycd was a bit weak last season. But Derek and Allison should have a spot.
Oh that blonde girl stinks but I swear Nigel saved her because of her connection to Mia. Not a first. They saved Lauren in season 3 and she connected to a lot of choreographers.
@Heidi – The bland blonde in question from SYTYCD last season was Ryan Ramirez – aka Little Miss “I Worked With Mia Once So I’m Automatically Immune To Elimination For At Least The First Four Weeks Of The Season, Even Though My Face Looks The Same For Every Single Dance – Smiley & Confused!” Funny thing about Ryan is that she seemed to suffer from the same syndrome that seems to affect any dancer that’s cut in the last round of Vegas one season and then makes it through to the top 20 the next – the viewers (and judges) have another year to anxiously await their return, and I think it results in inflated expectations…expectations that those dancers never seem to fulfill. Makes you wonder if they still really weren’t good enough a year later, but were put through the 2nd year anyway because it made for good tv. I think the same thing happened with that Billy kid that got sick after Vegas in season 6 and he returned for season 7…he just wasn’t that great, but rather than admit that it was a mistake putting him through, I think Nigel just kept keeping him around and hoping he would eventually reach the potential everyone thought they had. The only exception to the “get the cruelest cut one season, return the next and make it through but disappoint” rule that I can think of is Alex Wong – boy was fantastic. Too bad he had a catastrophic injury only a few weeks in and was forced to drop out.
I think Evaine brings up a pretty interesting point about America tending towards “safe” – or, as Heidi & I like to call it, vanilla 😉 I was talking with Mama Spence about it the other night, and it seems to be a mentality that exists on a lot of reality shows – Idol & AGT seem to suffer from “vanilla” syndrome as well. I think it’s especially noticeable on AGT, when you look at the past few winners they’ve had – all have been rather traditional singers, even though they’ve had some mind-blowingly cool & unique acts that I personally think would be far better-suited to a Vegas show. Even the last few Idol winners have been kinda bland, IMO – all kinda univerally-appealing-but-not-particularly-unique boy-next-door types. When given the choice between barrier-breaking and “out there” front runner Adam Lambert and talented but quiet boy-next-door Kris Allen in season 8 of Idol, America picked the latter – even though Adam had been making headlines all season long. It’s actually pretty disappointing to me, since I usually find myself rooting for the rule-breakers and trail-blazing underdogs…”safe” = “boring” for me, more often than not.
Courtney, your comment about Idol reminded me of what Jimmy Kimmel said. He said the winner was expected as it was another white kid with a guitar, but he had full confidence in America that we would forget him lol. As for SYTYCD, I almost puke everytime I hear stupid Nigel’s voice saying that so and so’s routine looks like an emmy nom, probably because he’s one that can choose them. (barf) Maybe after this year, SYTYCD won’t get as many noms, especially since they’re in the danger zone of getting canceled after losing a result show. I also don’t like how SYTYCD raves ballroom routines, when a lot of them barely have any content and weren’t danced with decent technique. He also made some comment about how this season there are a lot of ballroom dancers that have been extraordinary, but the ones that he’s raved about don’t even hold a candle to a lot of them currently competing. Of course, most accomplished ballroom dancers won’t go on that show because they know it’s geared towards contemporary dancers and they don’t need to prove anything. If Dasha Chesnokova or Liana Churilova competed, I think they would pretty much wipe out all those contemporary dancers and show how ballroom dancers really dance. The ones that have competed in the past on SYTYCD were pretty much retiring from the competitive field.
Ialzo agree safe and middle of the road does tend to win out.
I always felt sometimes Nigel keeps some off a year to build anticipation for some the following year or for his agenda. twitch was not picked over Hok one year and they had Brandon wait twice. Once because he was too young. He is solid and Is my best dancer who never won. I disagree that title belongs to Travis Wall.
I guess we will know in a few weeks if dwts can get some choreo noms. Derek and Allison better be announced that morning, lol. I will be pleasantly surprised if there is another dwts nom. If it goes as I anticipate, it maybe a Travis vs Derek. I think Derek is more talented than Travis but sure Nigel will campaign for Travis. sytycd contestant to Emmy winner would be something Nigel would love to boast.
Smiley, confused and SHINY….you forgot shiny. Lord, I did NOT like that girl. Yes, I agree that Nigel gets very excited over someone and then is EXTREMELY reluctant to admit he was wrong. In fact, he won’t.
Courtney – And this season’s Phillip Phillips, at the risk of being burned at the fangirl stake. Like I was telling my coworkers and others, I can walk down to any major music club in Nashville and see Phillip’s twin. He was not that exciting and changing melody is usually a sign you can’t sing it the original way – which was certainly true in his case. I like the guy but I don’t agree that he should have won. In that case, though – is it the vanilla or the 15 year old girl that is ruling the world, though?
I would pay money for Phillip’s album, as well as Elise. Not for the Jessicas and Joshuas who, I’m afraid, I find a dime a dozen in popular culture. And I’m not a 15 year old girl. Out of the Idol batch we had, Phil, Elise, Colton and Erika were the ones I was drawn to. Definitely not the mainstream.
I think Nigel feels that if he can’t have ratings, he can have all the Emmys – and that by some miracle that will prevent his show from being cancelled.
@Evaine: Philip’s album should be good but the one I’m more excited for is Colton’s album. He really should have won the entire thing. Wasn’t fan of Elise but I agree with you about Joshua.
@Princess Heidi: I agree with you. He doesn’t seem to get that emmy nominations and wins don’t make the show immune from cancelation (ex. pushing daises, samantha who, etc).
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have grown weary of American Idol, it used to be I would never miss it, and would try to plan my activities around the show, if possible. Now, I could care less.
But DWTS on the other hand, is my Number 1 top show always. I never get enough of it. 🙂
Axtually I do not think he views Emmy noms to keep from cancellation. I think it is a pride issue. To get the best choreographers and also expose amazing art to the masses. Eye roll. I always felt he saw his show as THE dance, better than other dance shows and uses,the Emmy wins and noms to prove it.
Well, only an idiot would make a direct comparison between DWTS and SYTYCD – so that makes sense for Nigel.
No disagreement on that one, PH. I remember him basically saying how the ballroom on dwts can be cheesy one season of sytycd. So yeah, he is an idiot. After the way his show treats ballroom, no surprise they have gotten fewer and fewer quality ballroom dancers auditioning. And then he loves taking credit for Lacey, Dmitry and Chelsie on dwts.
I hope Derek wins an Emmy this year. I think his routine with Allison and the routine he did with Ricki Lake/Psycho Tango are both Emmy worthy.
IMO-Derek should have won an Emmy by now. He has created some of the most impressive, innovative and memorable performances ever on DWTS!!
Its definitely time for DWTS to take the choreography category. They work restrictions, with non-performers and still yield AMAZING performances! IMO-they are the BEST!!!
I meant to say they have to choreograph under restrictions and for partners who have never did this type dancing. Yet they still yield/create AMAZING performances.
I actually really loved Derek’s DaD with Anna to Lady Gaga too. Hot.
The fact that ballroom and “unstructured”, interpretive dancing is even considered in the same category is ludicrous..If Derek doesn’t win this year for at least of of his dances with Alison, Anna or Ricki, the stench of fish will be even stronger.
Such the nature of choreo category where one year contemporary, ballroom and High School Musical competes against each other. I agree if Derek does not win, let alone nominated, for those routines, real shame.
If nappttabs wins again this year then that will proof that ANYONE with a little talent and a HUGE desire for fame and recognition can win the Emmys . Talent is not that important is who kisses ass more but that been said , it gives the average Joe with a little talent a lot of hope .I dont care how many awards nappytabs wins in my book they will NEVER be great choreographers