Get ready for a sentimental ‘Dance’ journey
By PAIGE WISER TV Critic/pwiser@suntimes.com January 4, 2011 10:00PM
‘LIVE TO DANCE’ ★★
7 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays on WBBM-Channel 2
Updated: September 24, 2012 6:25AM
Paula Abdul is not going for credibility here.
Some of us who rolled our eyes at her on “American Idol” still had a grudging respect for her choreography. Until Tuesday night.
The rusty “Solid Gold” dancers, the 83-year-old who did the bump and the robot, the 90-year-old Rockette wannabe — Paula approved them all for the vague-sounding “short list” on her new reality show. Whether the subject is song or dance, Paula is all loopy sentimentality.
It seemed as though the only dancers who didn’t make the cut were the ones who mouthed the words to their songs. Paula hates that.
There’s not much to differentiate “Live to Dance” from all the other dance shows out there, unless Paula sends her favorites on a senior tour. The highlights of the premiere were, predictably, the flubs. But can Paula count on a contestant to take a face plant onstage every night?
Kudos to these programming pioneers, though, for daring to cast a reality competition without the requisite brutal British judge.
Another reason to watch: the thoroughly adorable Chi-Town Finest Breakers, five formerly homeless brothers and sisters from Chicago who do the bulk of their dancing on their heads.
