Siwas Dance Pop Revolution - General Discussion

[zenithwit]

Quote

JoJo Siwa and her mom Jessalynn create the brand-new group"XOMG PO" to become pop music's next big sensation, selecting 11 of the most talented triple-threat girls from across the country to compete for a spot in the group.

Dance Moms but nice...er?

[zenithwit]

Ok, so I just watched the first three episodes on Peacock and this show really is trying to be the next Dance Moms (at least structure-wise).  They're even borrowing the rivalry storyline lol.

Forming a kids pop group is a cute concept but I really don't see how winning dance competitions is an indicator for pop star success.  The skills needed for the two are completely different.  Even when JoJo was on Dance Moms, she rarely got featured roles or solos because her technique wasn't as strong as the others but now she's probably the most successful alumni from that show.  The lack of emphasis on singing is kinda surprising.

But this type of show is right up my alley so I'll definitely keep watching.  It helps that JoJo is very sweet with the girls and her mother isn't a complete tryant. Plus, Luke the vocal coach can be on my screen all day long.

[Bichon]

I'm loving it! Straight from Bryan Stinson, creator/producer of Dance Moms, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, and Dance Moms Miami! 

[zenithwit]

3 hours ago, Bichon said:

I'm loving it! Straight from Bryan Stinson, creator/producer of Dance Moms, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, and Dance Moms Miami! 

Ahh that explains all of the Dance Moms parallels.  Plus those dance competitions had to be fake, right?

Side note: I forgot to mention above that I was laughing when JoJo was saying how there is a gap in original kids pop music.   Are we just going to pretend that the Disney machine doesn't exist?

[meatball77]

This is fun, very Dance Moms.

It would make more sense for them to be doing other performances instead of dance comps because this group in theory is going to sing as well as dance.

[zenithwit]

Finally we got an episode with the girls having to balance the pressure of singing and dancing at the same time.

I like Kiya (I actually thought she did a better job than Kinley in the audition last week) but I didn't think the new pink hair suited her.  The color seemed kinda timid, like they wanted to go the fire engine red route but were afraid to commit.  Maybe a pastel purple would be nice?  Hopefully her early promotion to an official group member isn't a red herring for a cruel producer plot twist later on.

[rlc]

My daughter dances with one of the eliminated girls irl, and just want to say, she's actually quit talented and is currently on national tour for a legit production.

[zenithwit]

On 11/19/2021 at 7:37 AM, rlc said:

My daughter dances with one of the eliminated girls irl, and just want to say, she's actually quit talented and is currently on national tour for a legit production.

That's not surprising to hear.  All of the kids featured on this show and on Dance Moms are enormously talented.  I think it was in the most recent episode that they were saying how rejection is common in Hollywood and that you just have to get used to hearing the word "no".

This episode was definitely the most Dance Moms-y with all of the mom drama.  Clearly this show is trying to be Dance Moms without actually being Dance Moms.  If they wanted to replicate the Dance Moms formula, they should have ditched the pop group and had JoJo's mom create her own dance competition team.  But then that would mean no Luke the dreamy vocal coach :(

I'm glad that we are done with the dance competitions and I'm looking forward to the more musical theater performance next week.  Though I'm not sure that's completely akin to a standard pop group performance but hey at least it's a stepping stone in the right direction.

[meatball77]

I'm enjoying this show.  Leah should have been eliminated this week.  The audience only loved her because they knew her from the Netflix show.

[zenithwit]

On 11/26/2021 at 3:52 PM, meatball77 said:

I'm enjoying this show.  Leah should have been eliminated this week.  The audience only loved her because they knew her from the Netflix show.

I had to look it up and Leigha was on the Netflix show Dancing Queen as a member of Alyssa Edwards' Beyond Belief dance company.  I watched that show when it first came out and I don't remember Leigha at all.  What I mostly remember from that show was Alyssa Edwards' personal story intercut with dance practices (and some crazy dance mom stuff).  Part of me would be a bit surprised if most of the (10? 12? year old) kids recognized Leigha from a Netflix show based around a drag queen that streamed over three years ago but then again, I have not idea what kids are watching these days.

That being said, recognizing (and presumably liking) someone from another show is a perfectly legitimate to pick them as your favorite and to keep Leigha as a team member.  Dance Moms absolutely propelled JoJo forward.  If Leigha already has a built in fan base from Beyond Belief, that should be taken into consideration from a business and audience-building perspective.  Plus, I can see why they like Leigha.  She may not be the best singer but she does have a good stage presence and a compelling back story.  She doesn't have to be the "star" of the group but she could be a good supporting member.

Which leads me to the "final" auditions.  I like that the girls finally got an assignment that will more closely resemble what their future performances will look like.  But I thought they would have worked on more harmonies?  Having each girl have a solo song while the rest would just be backup dancers without any vocal support didn't quite feel like a pop group to me.  Are they under such a time crunch that there's not enough time to work on having more than one girl sing at once?  Is this typical for the "kids" market?  Clearly I'm out of my depth here.

Happy that Brooklynn is an official member.  She sounded just like Michael while singing "I want you back".  I think out of all of the girls, she has the most potential to go really far in the future.

Edited November 29, 2021 by zenithwit

[tessa]

I think you mean Kiya who I really think brought it this week. As much as I like Leigha - I don't see her as a permanent member of the group - she's too tall and looks so much older - no different than Brooke dancing with 8 and 10 yr olds. I love the show and hope it continues. Jojo is right - we need a tween pop group. Many people don't watch Disney anymore with all the wokeness going on - they want their kids to be kids and not preached to - whether these kids are known in the industry or not - they will be known around the world because of Jojo's following. I have no problem with them attending dance competitions to start and slowly building to create a structured group that will perform.

[tessa]

Just watched last nights show and I just don't get the love for Kinley - she sings flat. She has a lot of energy and is a cute little dancer but I think Dallas, Kiya, Brooklyn and even Tinie T sound better than her. 

[meatball77]

Kinley is obnoxious and very young and wow her mother flipped out when she got called out once, she's also pretty similar to the other three pale white girls.  Tiny-T can't dance well and can't sing, she's not my favorite.  I would have gotten rid of Leaha because she struggles with singing and because she's 14.  She's going to hit puberty next year and suddenly not look anything like the rest of the group.  But, I don't know how she is behind the scenes.  If she's able to be a leader because of her age and rally and support and help the youngest dancers then I could see keeping her.  I'd just worry that she's going to age out of that group soon. 

I only recognized Leaha from netflix because of the hair and her mother.  Both are absurd and memorable.

I can't believe they didn't eliminate someone again.  Although the way they showed the youngest one freak out makes me think that they may have decided to stay with six.  Makes it easier to maintain the group when someone decides to leave.

[Bichon]

On 11/28/2021 at 6:46 PM, zenithwit said:

I watched that show when it first came out and I don't remember Leigha at all. 

I was a great fan of that show and I also live in the city where it took place. I also do not remember Leigha! 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Bichon

[zenithwit]

Finally got around to watching the last episode.  Not surprised about the non- elimination.  In fact, it seems that Jess actually added Bella (one of the first girls to be eliminated) as the 7th member afterwards: https://www.justjaredjr.com/2021/12/16/meet-the-girls-in-jojo-jess-siwas-new-girl-group-xomg-pop-from-siwas-dance-pop-revolution/

I think makes sense to have an odd number.  Probably makes formations easier.  Also, the group has released its first music video: 

 

Some additional thoughts:

- I really felt for Leigha in this final episode.  Bladder infection?  Needing a catheter?  That really sucks.  Kudos to her for finding a way to manage the pain (hopefully she doesn't push herself too hard).

- The girls sounded wayyyyyyy better in the show vs the tech rehearsal.  Either those are some hella good mics or Jess has an auto-tune engineer on speed dial.

- Brooklynn and Kiya were awesome in that final performance.  They both have great stage/on camera presence.  Brooklynn in particular stood out in a good way.  But I could see either having a sustainable music career down the line.

- I wish the choreography wasn't as jumpy.  I find it hard to concentrate on what's going on with the music and lyrics.  But I'm clearly not the target audience so maybe that's more of an old person problem.

[zenithwit]

Dammit.  That Candy Hearts song is actually kinda catchy.  I've caught myself humming the tune more than once today.

[tessa]

I haven't seen the final episode as I don't have Prime but did catch the new recording, their appearance on Ellen and the interviews of E. I really hope this catches on as young kids need someone like Jojo. Too many of these kids these days don't have positive role models and grow up way too fast.

[zenithwit]

Welp, I guess JoJo and the show on Peacock weren't enough to propel this group forward.  So now they're going on America's Got Talent:

I don't really watch AGT so I'll probably check back in a few weeks to see how they do.

Edited June 1, 2022 by zenithwit