1.) Dubious Coworkers
Prepare yourself to Wiki Live to Dance's host and co-panelists: Australian Idol host Andrew Günsberg helms the proceedings while former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt (who judged the UK's dance competition series Got to Dance, to be fair) and This Is It choreographer Travis Payne round out out the panel. Now, I think So You Think You Can Dance was the greatest reality series of 2010, and it's not like its judges are out-and-out superstars. They shouldn't have to be. But the reason Live to Dance exists, at this point, is to let Paula Abdul reignite the chemistry she enjoyed with her Idol co-panelists. It doesn't sound like this staid group will help her seem bubbly and alive instead of bobbly and, uh, alone. (Zinger!)
2.) A Questionable Talent Pool
Live to Dance distinguishes itself from So You Think You Can Dance by imposing no age limit or style requirement upon auditioners. You can be a 70-year-old Irish dancer on Live to Dance. You can be part of a jump rope troupe for 4-year-olds on pogo sticks. You can be Demi Moore in this video. You can eat Craisins to a beat. In this way, the show emulates the formula of Got to Dance but feels more like the whizz-bang hodgepodge of America's Got Talent -- with an equal amount of prestige.
3.) There's a Chance Paula Abdul is Miscast for This.
As the show's producer and lead judge, I don't expect the same "ease" (if you will) Paula enjoyed on Idol. Worse, I expect her, somehow, to have less to say. A wildly versatile group of contestants means Paula won't be commenting much on the type of Janet Jackson/revved up Laker girl choreography that marked her early career. Instead she'll dish compulsory comments about "energy" and "personality," and perhaps that's the one part of her Idol tenure we didn't want exhumed: the nondescript, often forgettable critiques. In the case of Paula's pop past and Live to Dance's melange of styles, I'm worried opposites won't attract.