And so the journey begins ...

I have a confession: I'm not technically re-watching the audition episodes from season 1. I'm seeing them for the first time. And that is just as well, since if I'd seen these episodes back in 2005, I would have never watched the show again. The entire point of these episodes seems to be "let's look at all the people who think they can dance and laugh at them!"  In two episodes covering auditions in 3 cities, they aired approximately 12 auditions that were actually worth watching, and the majority of those were from LA.

I was surprised at just how different the first episode felt.  I'm used to a show that takes aspiring professional dancers and turns them into professional dancers and stars. Episode 1 presents the show's goal as taking ordinary people who love to dance on the streets and in clubs, and finding the select few who are truly able to dance. Nigel announces time and time again that they are casting a show that isn't just about dancing ability - it's also about looks and personality, and he tells quite a few people (girls) explicitly that their dancing is weak but they are getting through because they are hot. I suppose it's always nice to be told a TV producer thinks you're good looking, but none of these girls seem to be upset that they lack as much talent as the other contestants. I'm bothered by how patronizing Nigel and the other producers are, and I can't help but wonder - are they just less open about the importance of appearance now? When was the last time we saw someone  truly homely of either gender make the show? I can't think of a single contestant, although I can think of a number of auditionees. So what's the deal? Appearance is clearly part of dancing. Can you only be successful as a dancer if you're attractive? Or is the show discriminating because the producers only want to put attractive people on TV?

Speaking of the judging panel - Nigel is much nastier than he's been in recent seasons, and he has a mullet. I repeat: Nigel has a mullet. Search for pictures of it at your own risk. Joining him on the panel are the two other producers of season 1 - another Brit named Jeff Thacker (who is still a SYTYCD producer) and Nigel's wife (now ex-wife) Bonnie Lythgoe. Their on screen dynamic is a little odd to me, mostly because sitting next to his wife doesn't stop Nigel from leering at contestants and making the odd lewd comment. Bonnie is clearly more tolerant than me, and even laughed at a number of his comments. Although she has since said that working on Season 1 together was the beginning of the end of their marriage (which ended in 2007),  the problems were apparently more about her lack of screen time. In a 2008 interview, she accuses Nigel of always expecting her career (and their marriage) to play second fiddle to his career. My favorite quotes from the article: "Sometimes I'd be on his arm and I felt like Mrs Cellophane" and "I can't go back [to Nigel] and be stamped on again, you know." I'd always assumed that Nigel was being nasty to play to the cameras and be SYTYCD's Simon Cowell, and I know that there are always two sides to a divorce story, but it does make me wonder ... how many of Nigel's cutting remarks to the dancers were made for the benefit of the camera? At any rate, it makes his sympathy for an auditioning dancer who divorced her husband because he didn't support her career seem pretty hypocritical.

The format of the auditions is also different. The producers clearly have no expectations of getting any trained dancers, so no one goes straight through to Hollywood Week (which is the season’s equivalent of Vegas Week). Instead, contestants who make it past the first audition have to make it through 2 choreography rounds – one solo and one with a partner. Both solos are choreographed by Carrie Ann Inaba, of all people. I guess Dancing with the Stars didn’t see SYTYCD as a rival? At any rate, I’d always wondered how she’d gotten involved with Nigel’s Dizzyfeet pet project – at least now I have some inkling of what connects the two of them. It’s also really interesting to see Carrie Ann fulfilling a different role. Surprisingly she has a great poker face, which I didn’t expect at all. On DWTS, she’s always so chipper, even when she’s giving critiques.  And holy cow, is that Mandy Moore acting as her assistant? It’s a small dance world indeed.

Most of the auditions range from the mediocre to the TRULY awful. The show might as well be subtitled: “Look at all these deluded people who think they can dance! They’re all idiots, and most of them are waaaay to big to be dancing on TV!” The fat jokes aren’t even subtle, which really offends me, especially since most of them seem like perfectly nice people.  A few are even auditioning just to prove that people shouldn’t be judged on their weight alone. Personally, I admire the courage of anyone able to get up and dance on TV in front of millions of people. I find home videos terrifying. The only time I enjoy watching people get rejected from the show is if they’re on an ego trip. My favorite is a random girl who calls Nigel a wannabe. You can call Nigel quite a few names, but "wannabe" is not one of them.

I'm beginning to realize just how important Cat Deeley is to this show. It's not just that's she's good at her job (more about the host of season 1, Lauren Sanchez, in a later post). It's that Cat exudes warmth and niceness. It doesn't matter what she's doing - talking about how amazing the dancers are, making unkind comments during voice overs of bad audition montages, fending off creepy guys trying to make a move on her while she does their pre-audition interview - you always feel like she's the nicest,  most likable person in the world, and the producers force her to make the occasional mean comments. Her warmth helps balance out Nigel's, um, let's call it "harshness." I think that officially makes Cat the anti-Nigel.

There's only one audition from this first episode that merits discussion - that of Anthony Bryant, otherwise known as "that guy with the ribbons."  He has fantastic technique, and I admit I'm not shocked when he says he goes to Julliard. Nigel, however, can't get past the ribbons at all. Even though Anthony makes it through to the choreography rounds, he is ultimately cut for being "too feminine" a dancer (although it should be noted that he is wearing biker shorts can be delicately termed revealing). A fair critique? On the one hand, the choreography round is a salsa/hip hop fusion routine, and male and female dancers need to embody certain stereotypical gender roles as part of the character of the dance. On the other hand, a contemporary dancer has a lot of freedom of expression, and I really enjoyed Anthony's original dance with the ribbon - I thought it was interesting to watch, and his gender really seemed irrelevant to the piece. But Nigel's word choice to Anthony ("I need boy dancers to be strong, masculine ... You didn't look like a masculine dancer with your partner ... You're a male. Why should I have to ask you dance masculine?") is truly offensive, and Nigel's cutting tone takes the comment into a homophobic gray zone.

Let me be clear here. I have no idea if Anthony is gay or straight. I don't think it matters. Telling a contemporary dancer to be more masculine is not a useful critique. Masculinity is a fluid concept - it means different things in different cultures, and more importantly, it means different things in different dances. In Latin ballroom, dancing like a man means working your hips and showing off your sexuality. In standard ballroom, "masculinity" is about acting like a Victorian gentleman. Hip hop masculinity is about attitude and swagger, broadway (at least on this show) is about hamming it up, and contemporary masculinity ... is whatever the choreographer wants. Telling male dancers to demonstrate more physical strength, or even to act like they're interested in the girl they're partnering (if that's what the dance is about) - those are are useful critiques. But just saying "you weren't masculine" - that isn't even slightly constructive. If you want the proof, check out Anthony's season 4 audition, where he shows up dressed like GI Joe.

As any fan of the show knows, Nigel's tendency to make seemly homophobic comments is something of a SYTYCD trope. Nigel himself insists he is not homophobic, and in 2009 released a statement apologizing some comments he made to two male ballroom dancers who auditioned together (see the full statement here).
Personally, I don't think Nigel is truly homophobic (for one thing, Adam Shankman seems to genuinely like him). Let's call Nigel a "dancehomophobe" - someone who doesn't care about dancers' personal sexual orientation as long as they dance as though they are straight. So what do you think? And do you think Nigel's dancehomophobia has faded over the years?

Whew - that post turned out much longer than I thought it would. Expect future posts to be significantly shorter!