Paula Abdul is back on TV with new dance show

ArtsBeat reports: Dancing was the least competitive element of Live to Dance. The CBS talent contest, which had its premiere on CBS last night, marks the return of Paula Abdul, who was replaced by Ellen DeGeneres on American Idol last year and is now making a told-you-so comeback that upstaged most of the amateurs who twirled, leaped, tapped and break-danced the night away.

A few contestants slipped and fell, but Ms. Abdul managed to stay focused and make sense for most of the two-hour show, which was quite a feat, given her propensity for ditzy incoherence on American Idol. And now that Simon Cowell has also left that singing competition to start The X Factor, a new singing competition scheduled for the fall on Fox, Ms. Abdul has a chance to break out. Or at least give nice a chance.

She is the star and executive producer of Live to Dance, and her show is a Cowell-free zone – no harsh words or mockery allowed, despite the fact that the contestants ranged in age from about 5 to 90, and the talent was equally uneven. American Idol, drags out the audition process to showcase ludicrous contestants. Here, tape of dancers who didn’t make the cut – in this case, the judges pushed a buzzer rather than debated their merits – was condensed into quick montages to avoid undue humiliation.

Ms. Abdul, who is billed as both the lead judge and a “mentor” didn’t insult or upbraid the bad dancers and lavished praise on the pretty good, and her two fellow judges, Kimberly Wyatt of the Pussycat Dolls and the choreographer Travis Payne, were also unwaveringly warm and supportive. Ms. Abdul, who was more softhearted than the other two, coated her smallest critiques in extravagant praise.

“I want to see less makeup on you,” she gently told an 11-year-old dancer covered in feathers and rhinestones, adding, “because I want to celebrate the fact that you are this beautiful young talent that’s going to emerge into the heavens above of greatness.”

And that was just the first tryout.