Tasya

I don't like the way the entire Academy pick was handled. I think it would have been better to have all of the style dancers picked in sort of a school yard draw rather than lighting up the spotlight of each all-star etc. So: Sasha, Kathryn and Robert (for instance) would draw to see who goes first, second and third. Then have all of the contemporary dancers up there and pick them like that. I feel that better dancers got passed over because of the style of picking. It was just odd. I hope that this show does continue because it's the only showcase for real dance we have (I don't count DWTS even though I do watch it occasionally) but if they do this format again it needs some tweaking. I would also like to see the age go up to 12-17. No dancer under 12 should be put through this entire process as shown by JT. He's being pushed along for the cute factor and he's not ready, at all.

The only watchable parts of Center Stage were the dance scenes. The "acting" was not good all around. From the lead girl and guy (boy was he wooden and stiff in his delivery of every single line) to Chloe who overplayed the "we're bestest buddies ever" shtick she was given. Her dancing has definitely improved though.

I think one storyline was blown to bits when Ruby chose Paul instead of Jonathan. If she had chosen Jonathan then Paul would have ended up with Sophia. I bet they would have killed to have both Tate and Sophia in the top. Robert choosing JT was completely bogus. But we all know that they "cast" for different things. That kid was bad at every aspect of the Academy. All in all the casting of this show as no different than the casting of the adult show. There are some clear fodder and obvious frontrunners. I can tell you the top 5 right now: Kida, Ruby, Emma, Tate and JT/Jake.

There is no way that Maddie could have been a contestant on this show; she would have likely won it hands down. It's not about being the best dancer; it never has been. It's a popularity contest and when you think about how much exposure she has compared to any of the other kids, it's not even close. If TPTB wanted to draw on that connection and that audience, they had to bring her in as a judge because having her compete would be too blatant. I don't get all the hate of this kid by mostly adults but that's another issue altogether. I think that she hasn't found her footing yet on the show but this was her first episode. I didn't sense any "disdain" from her but I do agree that she was more comfortable with the kids that she already knows. I don't have a problem with a child judging other children. At least she knows dance and will be able to hopefully comment on some technical aspects. The idea that you have to be "better" than other dancers to judge them is just silly. Most of the top dancers in the world have competed at some point in their lives, are we really to believe that the judging panels are always made up of dancers that have surpassed them talent-wise? Of course they are not. Judges are chosen for a variety of reasons, they usually have technical knowledge but have very likely never been the "top" dancer themselves. I can already see that there are going to be some fanbases crying foul when the academy is over. But the way that this show is set up means that some kids that are stars in their style may not do as well in the other styles. I'm looking forward to seeing how the live show plays out. Will the kids dance with their mentors and have a routine with another child? It seems like if they don't the show will be too short, or maybe they aren't eliminating each week? Have they covered this and I missed it? Admittedly i'm watching on DVR so I do skip around some.

I think people forget that if they didn't try this "gimmick" season the show was likely to be cancelled. They are trying to save the show by doing this so if people want to see a return to the normal format it might behoove them to watch. Personally i'm not offended by the content and I found it a bit refreshing. Sometimes watching kids dance for the pure love and joy of it is better than watching adults. I have watched the last few normal seasons sporadically because of the overt manipulations etc. I will be watching and hoping that the kids shine. As far as Maddie as a judge, she is as qualified to judge these kids as Jason Derulo is. At least the child dances and knows the technical ins and outs. Per her own interview, she plans to be there more as the booster and supporter than pure judge and I think that's why she was hired.

I enjoyed it. I thought that most of the kids were pretty good. I don't think that the chubby ballroom boy should've gone through. There really is no point as he certainly won't make it through the Academy. Many of these kids that were shown today are already known in the world of Kid's Dance so it will be interesting to see how things get whittled down. Sophia Lucia, Ava, Kida etc. have a following that would give them a greater chance against anyone coming in without a fanbase. I wonder how Sophia Lucia will have time for this with her ballet training. I wouldn't be surprised if she's one that has to pull out to continue her actual career. I'm looking forward to seeing Maddie come on; i'm guessing we may not see her until the Academy as she was still filming Dance Moms while most of the auditions were going on.

Exactly; anyone can judge a reality TV competition like SYTYCD. It's about your favorite dancer; not the most talented etc. Jason Derulo has no idea what the vast majority of the dance moves are for the classically trained dancers but he's a judge. It's all subjective because the judging is based upon whether or not you liked the routine, whether or not you felt the person succeeded in conveying the character etc. It would be different if she was judging a serious competition that has specific rules and criteria. When someone tells me that they are "teaching" something, then I expect that they have all the relevant knowledge in whatever the subject is. However, I realize that many of the kids that do that site won't/don't care. That's why I said that I hope that they are doing it for fun, which hey it's a $1 a month, if their parents want to spend it, go ahead. But there are some silly young kids out there who I could see saying that they trained under Chloe and who would possibly not seek training elsewhere.

Chloe is not qualified to teach dance; none of these girls are. It's a shame that a lot of little girls are going to be wasting money. I hope that they at least enroll in an actual dance school if they really want to dance and just regard Chloe's "teaching" as a novelty.

I'm ok with anyone winning except purple. I find them to be insufferable braggarts. I was sooo glad to see both Gray and Yellow beat their time because they just know they are the best at every thing.

I don't wish Chloe ill, and by mentioning her projects in comparison to Maddie's I'm not mocking them but rather just pointing out the hypocrisy that is sometimes present. Chloe's more ardent fans love to suggest that Maddie is going to be terrible or that she's a brat or that her career opportunities are somehow less legit. They will say things like "Well she wouldn't be there without the Sia video". However, would Chloe be where she was if she had not been on Dance Moms? Of course she wouldn't. Acting as if Chloe and Christi are somehow better than Maddie and Melissa because of the way her career is/has been unfolding is just silly to me. Christi was just as nasty on Dance Moms as Melissa was but Chloe's fans like to act as if she was some perfect mom. Chloe was setup to be the fan favorite by the producers with all of the underdog scenarios. Otherwise there is no way that almost every season the "Nationals" that were chosen to be filmed as the season finale always ended with angel Chloe triumphing over devil Maddie. So the characterization of each girl can't be trusted based solely on the show. I enjoy watching Maddie dance and she sparkles in her Magazine shoots. But I don't make any guesses as to her behavior and character. That's where I feel the difference lies. Most fans of Chloe like to act as if she is this pinnacle of teenage girlhood who never does wrong. When in reality all we know of her is how she "acted" on Dance Moms.

Well I think that Chloe and her mother would LOVE for her to be on Maddie's career track right now. There's no way that anyone can convince me that a family that is clearly seeking fame would rather: do background bit movie parts and get random internet magazine spreads over acting in movies with Oscar worthy actors, starring in prime-time tv shows and specials, modeling in huge well known magazines and generally being featured all over the place. It may be true that Chloe's background career may outlast Maddie's current spotlight one; but in the future which will be more fondly reflected upon? People still remember famous people that burned brightly and flamed out (I am NOT suggesting that Maddie will ever get this big; simply using it as a comparison) but who remembers that D-list actor that has had a 30 year career starring in made for tv movies? No one. You can bet that any one of these actors that star in Lifetime movies would give their right leg and their "long" careers for just one chance to shine on the big screen. I don't know why people seem to canonize Chloe but it drives me crazy.

Not only is she still taking class at ALDC LA she's still competing with ALDC PA. They left the show; that's all, so I think that accounts for the lack of emotion. Why cry and carry on when you know that you're absolutely going to still see the same people as much as ever, you just won't be filming it. The only people she'll likely not see as much will be Kalani and maybe Brynn, since they have their own "real" studios. However Brynn has already been taken over by Abby, she alone accompanied Abby on her latest tour.

I really like Mike from WA so I do hope he comes back. I admit that at the beginning he was a bit of a butthole but I think he changed early enough in the season that he was ok with me. I would hope that from this season Cydney would come back, but maybe she's not interested. I don't care to see Tai again, especially if Caleb comes back. Once was enough with his creepiness.

This is wrong because in this scenario everyone has 3 votes and they do not have to use the super idol. You only have to use the idol if you're going home for sure. In a tie vote it doesn't happen like that. The revote would happen with the idol still in play. Add that to the fact that Julia only went with the girls because they said that they would vote for Debbie. If they hadn't suggested Debbie, does anyone actually think that Julia wouldn't have flipped to the guys and voted out Cydney? All of the game play rested on what Julia would do. In the end they went with getting Debbie out because they didn't trust that Julia wouldn't vote with the guys. Otherwise you definitely split the votes because on the revote you would have 3 each for Cyd, Jason and Scott. On the revote those three can not vote and you have to restrict your vote to those three. So on the revote you have Tai, Julia, Joe, Aubry, Debbie and Michelle voting. In theory it goes like this: Tai votes for Cyd Joe/Debbie/Aubry vote for Jason Michelle/Julie vote for Scott One of the beastly brothers goes home because the idol can only save one of them. But again that relies on Julia not going for Cyd the first time and also not going for Cyd the second time. I think that they just didn't - and are wise in my opinion - trust Julia to vote for anyone on the girls side except for Debbie. In fact I think that Julia would have voted for any of the girls alliance that had been suggested because she is already playing the end game. She wants to make it to the end with those two bullies so she knows she has to get out of the girls alliance sooner rather than later.

The LA studio seems to host a lot of classes. I don't think it's empty at all. I don't know that they have a viable competition team yet, but they certainly are pulling in a lot of students. Look at youtube; there are tons of videos of the LA kids. I think that Mackenzie and Abby both knew already about the girls leaving. I believe that there was a behind the scenes thing between all of the involved parties. In all likelihood, the Ziegler girls real agent (hint it's not Abby or Melissa) met with Collins and pulled the plug on their continued appearance. Those girls are starting to get business from a lot of well known companies. Those companies will not want to be overly associated with Dance Moms. It's one thing to have Maddie/Mack be the face or spokesperson for something and it's an entire different thing to be seen as being a part of the show. That's why I think it was all staged. Just remember that this episode was filmed months ago, however Abby has still been raving over Maddie in the news and on Twitter. How mad could she have been with the family in that case?

Abby hasn't been Maddie and Mackenzie's manager for a long while now. She pretended to be for the show but even before the Sia thing, Maddie at the least was already repped by WME.

Sorry but Chloe is seeking fame as much as any of the others. Her family has an apartment in L.A. because they were out there so frequently. She doesn't compete on her studio's team any longer because of how many other things she was doing. In contrast even Maddie still does some competitions here and there. I think that Chloe's fans like to pretend as if Christy isn't as much of a stage mom as Melissa is but that is simply not true. If fame wasn't what Chloe was after she would be in Pittsburgh doing occasional meet and greets and appearances like the Hyland girls do. Instead she is actively seeking to be more famous with each gig that she books. There's nothing wrong with being in it for the fame and opportunities but it frustrates me when everyone tries to hold that one family up as this example of the "right" way to do this whole Dance Moms thing. The truth is there is no right way to do this, unless you are in it for the fame. Otherwise you would never have your kid on this show after the 1st season when it became clear what this show was all aboue.

I think Cydney would have flushed Jason/Kyle's idol rather than go for Nick except for the fact that it would have left too many Beauties in power. Take out Scott or Jason as vile as they are and you essentially give all the power to Nick/Julia/Michelle because she had to figure that they would band back together. By taking out Nick she knocks out one of the guys but not one that at least has some chance of swinging back towards her camp rather than definitely towards another.

The thing is that Cydney could tell from the way that Scott, Nick and Jason were acting/talking that they pretty much figured that they are calling all the shots. She's not stupid and a 7 person alliance is too big to say "We'll all battle it out after we get these others out". It's too uneven, the people in power can then just pick off the others. She's much better off going with the girls but seriously I don't think their all going to stick together in the end unfortunately.

Despite Gil's lamentable decorating choices, I'll always like them more than the Duggars. You can tell that several of their children currently at home are not going to go the Gothard route and they seem a-ok with that. Alyssa is clearly not following it (she only wears the gear when she's home out of respect for her parents) in her married life and neither is Erin. I would guess that if Nathan's wife has her way at all that they won't be following it either. Some of the other girls i.e. Carlin and Tori don't seem like they plan to go down the "Keep Sweet" route either. Time will tell but I think that this family is much more of a real family than the show ponies that are the Duggars. At this point I think that the Duggar children are too controlled and brainwashed to deviate from the path. It's extremely sad but nothing is stopping those grown ass people from saying enough and moving on.

I actually thought this one was the best dance wise since Chandelier. The tune is catchy and the dance is really fun. I think that if Sia had let go of the nude leos and the blank stage and actually had them dancing on a set it would have been a lot better. But the dancing itself I thought was great.

Chloe is not my favorite and never has been; but good for her.

Once again Dom is robbed of the top and in my opinion first place. It's clear that at this point there's an agenda and a script that they are going to stick to regardless. Valerie and Sam were only both in the top so that they could justify to the viewing audience keeping them both last week. Mitchell and Alexander would have been in the bottom this week regardless of what they did. Otherwise Emily and that plastic looking atrocity or even Kini and that messy thing would have been in the bottom over Alexander. I'm rooting for Dom but I don't even know if I can keep watching this season.

I don't know that Brynn is doomed, but I would think that she's less likely to improve in her deficient area at this point. Maddie improved her technique after getting away from Abby's school, where the teaching is lacking. What then is Brynn's excuse for not having learned to emote at this point when she is in a much more superior school? I don't understand the thought process that says coming into the Dance Moms arena, where we all acknowledge her skills will suffer and she will not be as well taught, is going to help her improve. I subscribe to the school of thought that you can only get so good at things before natural talent comes into play. For instance, no amount of training and schooling, no matter where it was received would have made Nia into a dancer as good as Maddie, Chloe, Kalani or Brynn. Nia just doesn't have the natural skillset. It's possible and I would say probable even, given Brynn's true dance studio, her mother's past efforts in Hollywood, that she will simply not be a great performer. I'm not sure if i'll continue to watch Dance Moms after the Ziegler girls leave, but I'll be interested to see comments and videos to see if Brynn takes off because of this show.

Brynn is 12 years old and will be 13 this year. If she hasn't learned how to project significant emotion after dancing all of these years; frankly I don't think it will happen. Also, can we stop pretending that her mother hasn't had her out seeking fame for as many years as Dance Moms has been on the air? She's been in various little groups, auditioned on all of the relevant reality shows and does modeling and small screen parts. She isn't new to all of the performing in front of the cameras stuff, she's just new to being on the screen on a national basis. The girl is a beautiful technician, but I personally do not enjoy seeing her dance. It's not just the routines from her ALDC competitions. I've seen many of her dances on Youtube and most are exactly the same. Lots and lots of posing and extensions and flexible movements. I think for the vast majority of her routines you could put absolutely any song on and it wouldn't matter. Unlike with Maddie and the ALDC, I haven't seen her live and in person (West Coast vs East Coast), but maybe she does come off better if you get to see her right in front of you. I'm most curious about whether or not she auditioned for SYTYCD; I wonder if there was a clause that said you can't if you're doing something like Dance Moms. I saw a lot of people saying that the reason Maddie is judging is that she wouldn't stand a chance in competition against some of the other dancers but I disagree. Not because she's better than them, but because of the level of exposure that she's had. It would not be a fair competition at all; I think that if she entered she would run away with things. I think for that same reason SYTYCD has to have some sort of clause this season for these young dancers. Otherwise any of the girls who have developed a following through this show could completely skew the results.