So You Think You Can Dance Australia
So You Think You Can Dance Australia | |
---|---|
FremantleMedia Australia (Original series) Shine Australia (Revival series) Conrad Sewell Productions (Revival series) | |
Original release | |
Network | Network Ten |
Release | 3 February 2008 21 April 2010 | –
Release | 9 February 1 May 2014 | –
So You Think You Can Dance Australia is an Australian version of the American reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance.[1] The show is hosted by Carrie Bickmore, with judges Paula Abdul, Shannon Holtzapffel, Jason Gilkison and Aaron Cash.
The first season began airing on Sunday, 3 February 2008 at 7.30 pm and continued on Sundays and Mondays until the final on 27 April 2008.[2] The program's second season began airing on Sunday, 1 February 2009 and continued on Sundays and Mondays until the final on 26 April 2009. The third season began on 31 January 2010 and continued on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 21 April 2010. The show was previously hosted by former The X Factor judge Natalie Bassingthwaighte, with Jason Coleman, Matt Lee and Bonnie Lythgoe acting as the judges.
Through telephone and
In July 2010 it was announced Network Ten had cancelled So You Think You Can Dance Australia in favour of a new musical/dancing format for 2011. However, Network Ten says they are in continual discussions with production company
Series overview
Overview of format and presentation by season
Season | Dates | Host | Permanent judges | Separate results show? | Dancer showcase episode? | Number of finalists in first live show | Number of contestants eliminated per week | Number of contestants remaining in finale | Number of winners | All-Stars included in format? |
Point at which judge eliminations end | Voting for individual dancers starting with |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
|
2008 (February 2008-April 2008) |
Natalie Bassingthwaighte | Jason Coleman, Bonnie Lythgoe, Matt Lee | Yes | No | 20 | 2 | 4 | 1 | N/A | Top 10 | Top 10 |
2
|
2009 (February–April) |
Yes | No | 20 | 2 | 4 | 1 | N/A | Top 10 | Top 10 | ||
3
|
2010 (January–April) |
Yes | Yes | 20 | 2 | 4 | 1 | N/A | Top 10 | Top 10 | ||
4
|
2014 (February–April) |
Carrie Bickmore | Paula Abdul Shannon Holtzapffel Jason Gilkison Aaron Cash |
No | Yes | 20 | 2 | 4 | 1 | N/A | Top 10 | Top 10 |
Grand finalists
Season | Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Fourth place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
|
2008 | Jack Chambers (Broadway) |
Rhys Bobridge (Contemporary/Jazz) |
Kate Wormald (Commercial Jazz) |
Demi Sorono ( Hip-Hop )
|
2
|
2009 | Ballet )
|
Charlie Bartley ( Hip-Hop )
|
Amy Campbell (Contemporary) |
Ben Veitch (Jazz) |
3
|
2010 | Robbie Kmetoni )
(Contemporary |
Jessie Hesketh (Contemporary) |
Ivy Heeney (Jazz/Ballet) |
Phillipe Witana ( Hip-Hop )
|
4
|
2014 | Michael Dameski (Contemporary) |
Lauren Seymour (Lyrical Jazz) |
Jay Johns ( Hip-hop )
|
Renelle Jones (Jazz) |
Season 1 (2008)
Auditions for the first season were held during July and August 2008 in
Season 2 (2009)
Auditions for the second season were held during September and November 2008. Dancers auditioning were requested to bring pre-approved copyright music CDs because of music licensing issues. Judges hoped that season 2 would see more industry dancers auditioning after the favourable response to the first season of the show. Repeats of the performance and results show aired a week later on
Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy made separate appearances in this season as guest judges.
Season 3 (2010)
The third season premiered on 31 January 2010. Robbie Kmetoni was announced the winner on 21 May 2010. Kmetoni received $200,000 prize money and the title of Australia's Favourite Dancer. Furthermore, he will have the opportunity to choose from three exclusive dance contracts (including Australian Dance Theatre, Hairspray and Burn the Floor) to perform throughout Australia and overseas, While Robbie Kmetoni's friend Jessie Hesketh was named runner-up, then Ivy Heeney came 3rd place, while lastly Phillipe Witana came 4th place and the first season where each contestants were in the bottom three or four.
Cancellation and Revival
In July 2010, it was announced
In October 2011, Ten began airing ads for So You Think You Can Dance Australia implying it would be returning soon, but Ten were yet to release details on when. In February 2012 rumors began to emerge in the Australian media press that former
Season 4 (2014)
The show resumed airing on 9 February 2014 featuring a shortened format with one show broadcast a week, similar to the
Ratings
3 February 2008 premiere of So You Think You Can Dance Australia attracted a peak audience of 2.15 million viewers. The show was the night's top-rating program, averaging 1.83 million viewers over its timeslot.[12] The following two audition episodes also put up respectable figures, peaking at 2.04 million and 1.94 million viewers respectively. The Sunday night Top 100 show averaged 1.6 million viewers to become the most watched program of the night.[13][14]
After its debut, the weekly performance show averaged around 1.5 million viewers. The series one finale averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.2 million viewers nationwide. Over 50 per cent of Ten's key 18–49 age demographic had tuned into the show.[15] In season 3, ratings further slumped to a below million average, after which the show was cancelled. Season 4's revival of the series had smaller viewership still, with most episodes pulling less than a million viewers, and several seeing viewership as low as 300,000.
Controversy
Jason Coleman has been questioned over his position as judge on the show, with members of the dance community accusing him of being under qualified, and using incorrect jargon on the show, calling a pivot a promenade. Eliminated contestant Marko Panzic also accused Coleman of playing favourites.[16] Critics also cite a possible conflict of interest due to Coleman's external business relationship with choreographer Kelly Aykers.
Coleman has responded to these criticisms, saying: "Mate, this is just nit-picking. With this show a pivot is the same thing as a promenade. In my world it's called a promenade, in the ballroom dancing world it's called a pivot. I'm aware of the differences but I don't have time in my minute-and-a-half speech to explain that." In response to the Aykers issue, he said: "Kelly Aykers has delivered three great routines. I would never put myself in a position where I would compliment a person's work because they are my friend. If the work deserves a compliment it will receive it, if it does not, it will not."[17]
The show has also received criticism from the Australian dance community and mainstream media over the representation of the art of dance on the show. In one example, commentator Valerie Lawson observes that "So You Think You Can Dance Australia goes further. Its very success ... is compromising dance as a performance art. The audience is led to believe that the most obvious effort, the most athletic of tricks, and the most vulgar of moves, represent dance at its best. As hips swivel, the studio audience cheers. When a guy lifts a girl with as much finesse as a forklift truck the audience roars its approval."[18]
On two occasions the show has accidentally broadcast profanities during the PG-rated live show. On the first occasion, Ten issued an apology for a "indistinct and muffled" profanity uttered during the first elimination show, and promised that "efforts [have been] redoubled to prevent such an incident happening again."[19] Nonetheless, when Sermsah Bin Saad was making his speech after being eliminated, he accidentally swore on national television, saying, "You guys are so fucking awesome!". At that time, Sermsah didn't realise that it was on live and apologised after finding out his mistake. In this case the profane word was censored during broadcast.[20]
See also
References
- ^ So You Think You Can Dance Australia Official Website on Ten – So You Think You Can Dance Archived 28 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ About the TV Show – So You Think You Can Dance Jr. – So You Think You Can Dance Archived 14 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Channel Ten axe So You Think You Can Dance, Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- ^ "So You Think You Can Dance returning to TEN | TV Tonight".
- ^ A Jr. Idol Final – So You Think You Can Dance
- ^ Auditions: So You Think You Can Dance Australia
- ^ TV Tonight: TEN dumps Dance in favour of Glee-inspired talent series
- ^ TV Tonight: Auditions: Don’t Stop Believing
- ^ TV Tonight: TEN cancels Don’t Stop Believing
- ^ Sarah Murdoch to front So You Think You Can Dance Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ten reveals new line-up
- ^ Dance Up A Ratings Storm Archived 9 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ TEN – Dance Tops The Night Archived 9 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ TEN – Dance rocks the block Archived 9 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dance TEN, Ratings 1.8m
- ^ TV judge Jason Coleman rocks dancers
- ^ Dance judge branded 'amateur'
- ^ Valerie Lawson – Australia, you can't dance like that" Review
- ^ Cursing catches Ten on the hop
- ^ On a high, dancer drops the F word Archived 14 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine