On The Hook...

I just had a discussion with a friend recently about being honest about people's performances - how to be tactful but truthful and how to receive and be open to criticism.  Which is why I feel I have to be one of the lone voices of reason (that I have experienced on this subject) and say that Katie Holmes' performance on So You Think You Can Dance was cringe-inducing.  I love SYTYCD, and when I heard she was the guest for last week's results show I worried that this was a flavor combination of a madman.  Though sometimes madmen are geniuses...

So I stopped myself because, hey, you never know who has what talents - especially where trained actors are concerned - and recalled my amazement when I saw Scott Bakula tap dance on some awards show.  Thus, I shelved my premature annoyance and prepared to experience Katie Holmes: The Triple Threat. I even watched the pre-performance interview where it was mentioned that both singing and dancing at the same time is very difficult... to which Katie replied that she was ready for it!

Apparently she wasn't ready though, because her lip-syncing was so bad it was obvious from the very first note.  And to make matters worse - her recording was... well, bad.  Look, I'm not a singer so kudos to her for laying it all out there but... you know... come on.  And then the "dancing" was uber-lame-o.  Maybe she's a great dancer - but that choreography of: shake your shoulders, crouch down, stand up and grab your hat was just waaaaay unchallenging - and obviously so.

Again - hey, she's out there and doing it and that's great.  And it was for charity.  But if this performance hadn't been so hyped, if her interview hadn't been so Hey-I-Am-So-Totally-Prepared-And-Confident, and if she hadn't the audacity to lip-sync when the subject of singing and dancing concurrently was actually raised and she never dispelled that notion... then I wouldn't be so annoyed.  And compounding my annoyance was how everyone seemed to say how great it was afterward.  And not just on that show, but on other shows. 

Until - thankfully - I caught an episode of The Soup at a friend's house.  Thank you, The Soup, for validating my feelings.  What's with the kid gloves? 

--Susan Atwood

Comments

[noni]

lol...i was thinking the same thing!!

[Sara]

Eonline has covered viewer/commenter reaction and it ranged from not-impressed to "go home, Joey Potter" -- so you're not alone

[susan]

*sigh* Poor thing. I just can't believe no one - the choreographer, a friend, etc - was like, "Hey, you know what honey? What we have here just won't cut it. We need to step it up..."