S05.E05: Hello Hollywood, Goodbye Abby

[RazzleberryPie]

Talia was better than Maddie. Maddie is good, but I do not understand how she beats girls like Talia or Kalani without some kind of producer manipulation.

 

Also, during that reading with the casting agent, Nia was the only one who didn't sound like she was acting in a Charlie Brown School Play. She sounded very natural. If I had to to hire one of those girls for that role, she would've been the only one I'd consider. 

 

Nia was reading lines on a Law and Order or Modern Family level, where the other girls sounded worse than the goofiest goofball on a Tyler Perry sitcom.

[cali1981]

Also, during that reading with the casting agent, Nia was the only one who didn't sound like she was acting in a Charlie Brown School Play. She sounded very natural. If I had to to hire one of those girls for that role, she would've been the only one I'd consider. 

 

Nia was reading lines on a Law and Order or Modern Family level, where the other girls sounded worse than the goofiest goofball on a Tyler Perry sitcom.

What was great was that after Nia really did a far more "extemporaneous" and effective reading of the part and Abby Lardbutt tried to, as usual, ruin her chances, the casting agent handed Abby her hat by saying that putting a different spin on the character was not a bad thing and could be very good.  Of course Abby knows far more about casting than the casting agent, especially if it's casting children who she can abuse and victimize.  That, she's very good at.

[spanana]

I was actually surprised by how good Nia was in that audition.

 

I kind of assume part of what was going on with Abby was her legal issues back home, not that I remotely feel bad for her.  I'm just surprised the show actually edited her as the loon that she is and allowed her to be shown in such a negative light.

 

I'm not going to get into the argument of whether Maddie or other dancer are/were better.  I don't really think the argument is that Maddie is a bad dancer anyway.  It's pretty widely acknowledged that Maddie is a good dancer.  Just Abby and the show's fixation with making Maddie out to be the bestest dancer in the history of the universe is what causes people to push back and point out that there are in fact dancers that are both more talented and/or equally talented in her age group.  If the show portrayed Maddie as a talented dancer that wins a lot, but not always, it would help. In other words, show the whole picture.  I'm not saying I expect the show to fabricate competitions where Maddie loses, but just show little truths. Somebody said that Kalani performed a solo at the same competition and also got a perfect score (I think?).  Okay.  Show Maddie and Kalani both receiving perfect scores, which at least shows the audience that other dancers are on Maddie's level.   But that will likely never happen since it seems to go against the scripted storyline of Maddie as savior to all things Abby Lee.

Edited February 6, 2015 by spanana

[NextIteration]

Have any of the other dance moms around here, or former competitors ever seen overalls that would have Jrs and Teens in the same Overalls?  The only competition that I can think of that combines Jrs/Minis and then Teens/Srs for overalls is IDC.  Otherwise, in my experience each age division that a competition has, has a separate overall.  Now, Top Score of the weekend is usually a complete overall across everything, solos, duets, groups, and age divisions, not always, but usually.

 

Does anyone know if the old FDC morphed into a new organization?

[CakeLeigh]

Have any of the other dance moms around here, or former competitors ever seen overalls that would have Jrs and Teens in the same Overalls? 

 

Nope.  My daughter has competed for eight years and I've never seen that happen.  They might give an overall top score for the weekend, but that is typically broken into age groups as well.   Most of the stuff that happens on the show with regards to competitions isn't typical.

[hqtextbook]

Total amateur here, but I much preferred Maddie's solo to Talia's. I usually don't like Maddie's rolling around with a pain-face ones, but this one was really amazing. Girl can dance. 

 

I laughed out loud through all of their auditions. None of those girls can act at all. They looked so forced. Honestly it looked like they could barely read the words. And thats ok! Why do they have to dance and sing and act all of a sudden??

[RealTVLuvR]

I think that Abby is so stressed on this episode because of her lawsuits. She does seem to be at a breaking point, but If I had to deal with Holly, it would break me, as well.

I did not find Nia, JoJo, or Kendall's auditions very good. I thought Maddie, Mackenzie, & Kilani had a fresh look and their personality fits better with the kid/teen shows that are popular right now. Which makes me agree with what Abby said earlier, that those three will be the only ones booking jobs in LA.

[Laurie4H]

Did anyone notice Jojo's hair was done for the group dance, then they show her watching back stage the group dance and on stage during the awards here hair is just in a ponytail. Then when they come back in to the room at the end after the awards, her hair is done like it was for the group number.

[spanana]

I did not find Nia, JoJo, or Kendall's auditions very good. I thought Maddie, Mackenzie, & Kilani had a fresh look and their personality fits better with the kid/teen shows that are popular right now. Which makes me agree with what Abby said earlier, that those three will be the only ones booking jobs in LA.

 

Only if the girls are only auditioning for Disney/Nick type roles.  There are roles for kids on shows on other networks.  Shows that don't require ridiculous over the top acting.

[BBDi]

I'm wondering if she's becoming hard to work with and production is turning on her as a result. Or maybe since the drama among the moms is old, they're focusing on Abby.

 

My guess is that the arc for this season, or at least part of it, is Abby coming to Hollywood, feeling kicked around and full of self-doubt, and then ultimately triumphing over all (fakely, no doubt). That's the only reason I can imagine for them showing her breaking down.

[Shell76]

What did Kira mean when she said Abby was "fired up for two days"? Sounds like she was alluding to something...

 

I finally caught the whole episode on the replay last night, which was nice for seeing the full dances and less mama drama.  I didn't catch Kira's "fired up" comment, but I think I heard Holly allude to the fact that Abby was AWOL for two days, so I guess Abby really did leave LA for a couple days.  

 

As for Holly, I get why she is so angry, but there comes a time when you have to realize you aren't going to get what you want, so you have to move on.  Nia's been dancing at the studio for 10 years, which is a lifetime for her, but won't be that significant when she's a grown adult.  Abby's already made up her mind that Nia isn't suited for show business and I don't think that will change.  Heck, I'd love to see Nia join Chloe at her new studio and just live a normal life - I think she has more to offer the world than being a backup performer for the latest flash-in-the-pan act, or an extra in commercial. 

 

It's hard to admit this, but Maddie's full solo actually made me tear up, which has never happened to me before with this show.  I thought it was beautiful and very deserving of the win.  Talia was very strong and had great control, but something was missing.  It looked emotional, but I didn't feel the emotions in the way I did with Maddie's performance.

[torus351]

A sad episode, i felt sorry for Abby.

The highlight was Maddie winning her solo, i thought it was deserved as she was better than her opponent.

I thought the ALDC team not winning first place was also justified, the LA girls routine was way better.

I think Jojo should be a part of the ALDC team.

Holly is becoming increasingly annoying.