Live To Dance ，bright lights flashing
The only thing you really need to know about Live to Dance dvd is that it’s loud. And bright. And sparkly. There is so much constant visual and aural stimulation it almost distracts you from the realization that there is absolutely nothing in the show that hasn’t already been done in many, many other shows before. There isn’t a reality TV contestant cliché the two-hour premiere doesn’t mine for all it’s worth: the cute child wunderkind, the down-and-out family who are trying to better their station by pimping their children out to a game show, the unrequited love, the comeback, the physical disability. At times, these stories threaten to have enough power on their own to overcome the obvious producer manipulation, but it’s really difficult to care about anything specific when you’ve heard it all before. (Also, it was just really hard to concentrate with all of the ridiculous screaming and bright lights flashing everywhere. Tone it down!)
On top of the rote stories, the format itself is completely familiar. Three “expert” judges holding auditions across the country in search of America’s best dancers? Where have we heard that before? Oh, sure, but this one has a system where the judges individually rate the contestants, who can only move on with a majority vote. Wait… what? That’s not new either? Come on now, you must be kidding. Hear me out: After the auditions, the approved contestants move on to a short list, from which the judges narrow down their choices for the semifinals. Surely, this is unique. No? It’s not? Well, I’ll be damned. There is a chance the show could distinguish its formatthat air post-semifinals, but they haven’t bothered to explain how the show will evolve, so I can’t be bothered to concern myself. Will there be audience voting, or will the judges decide all the cuts for the duration? Who knows? Maybe not even the producers!
While watching, it’s easy to see that the best thing about the show is undoubtedly Paula. She brings a lot of her Idol personality to the table, primarily by speaking in encouraging platitudes and circular inspirational messages, like some sort of “you can do it” Dance Dance Revolution Barbie. This sounds like a slam, but it’s really not. I admire her ability to encourage and cheer on these people who have a dream. (It’s just hard to understand the nature of the ability when you have a heart as cold and black as mine.)
All that being said, Live to Dance isn’t a wholly terrible show. On the surface, it’s perfectly respectably produced, if formulaic. It moves at a faster pace than one would expect for a bloated two-hour . However, it’s the choice of formula over any sort of imaginative spark that ultimately deems the show unnecessary. In today’s landscape of reality television overcrowding, unnecessary is probably the worst thing Live to Dance 
could be.
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