Nigel was So Out of Line
I was so dissapointed with the way Nigel acted last night. Seems like much of the Twitter world agrees with me. I mean seriously what was he thinking when he angrily told the passionate audience to “SHUT UP”? I try to teach my children not to use that term and yet he feels it right to shout it on TV in front of millions. Very sad indeed.
I can only imagine that Nigel is under a ton of pressure to make SYTYCD more of a Fall hit. Sadly it seems this pressure is leading to all the wrong results. I’m totally fine with him calling out the dancers when the solos aren’t very good. In fact, he did this a few seasons back without any problem. Yes, I know he apologized, but it didn’t sound very sincere to me since his tweet went on to talk bad about the audience some more. He should be grateful that the audience is so passionate about it.
Now to his comments to Nathan. This was a low point of the show for me. I guess I’m saying it made for some horrible television. I can agree with Nigel wanting Nathan to mature, bring more precision and improve his dancing. However, Nigel chose a moment that was suppose to be the happiest moment for Mollee, Nathan and their fans and made it one of the worst moments. It was just awkward and uncomfortable to watch.
In the past SYTYCD has done a great job of holding dancers accountable, but also still being very encouraging. I think it’s time for Nigel to have a break from the judges seat. He probably needs some time off work to see how arrogant and smug heaks become. I don’t blame him too much. I can only imagine his schedule and the pressure he’s feeling. However, if last night wasn’t a wake up call for Nigel, then nothing will be.
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree a bit. He was wrong for telling the audience to shut up in the manner in which he did, but I thought the rest of his content was spot on. The reality is, Nathan & Mollee’s performance was probably the worse in the history of SYTYCD’s Top 20… ever. Then Nathan’s ill-timed remark added insult to the injury. There didn’t seem to be any humility or even acknowledgment that they’d stunk up the place. So I get what started his anger…
Then after voting, a couple who performed better ended up in the bottom 3 leaving Mollee & Nathan to dance another day. Arguably undeservedly. Their dance was BAD… they didn’t just have a hiccup, it was flat-out unprofessional.
So I get why he was upset. His show has to have credibility, and that comes through bona fide professional-level dancing. Nathan’s comment made it appear that the panel’s constructive criticism went in one ear and out the other. The kid basically stood up there and said “blah-blah-blah!”
John I agree with Ms.D. As a dancer myself I understand why he said what he said. Nathan and Mollee got a free pass and they knew it too. Nathan’s comment the night before was a lame attempt to make a joke, but it did come across that way.
I think those who watch the show and arent dancers don’t understand what it is like in the world of dance outside of the show. Auditions are tough and you can’t just book a job on personality alone. Well maybe not at Disney(lol that one is personal for me). You can’t be a Rockette without flawless technique.
Even Lil C agree’s with the comments made to the dancers
At first I would have totally disagreed with @Amanda, but I’ve rewatched Nathan and Mollee’s routine and Nigel’s comments and it all makes a lot more sense now. Nathan is a very talented dancer, everyone knows that, but this is a show that thousands of people try out for and pour blood, sweat and tears into. His reaction to Nigel’s question was a sign of his immaturity, and unfortunately his fan base helped him out and kept him safe to dance again.
Nathan and Mollee should have been in the bottom 3, they should have had to dance for their lives, to know what that felt like. It’s amazing to me that Jeanine, Kayla, and Nathan are all the same age. Three super talented 18 year old dancers. The difference with Kayla and Jeanine (and even Jakob at 19 is one of the youngest guys they’ve ever had, but you wouldn’t know it) is that they had the poise to take in criticism and work on it for the next week.
I fully admit that I am not a dancer, but I am an athlete. When you go out there hoping to do your best and it doesn’t go well, cracking jokes might help you feel better for a minute, but it sure doesn’t help when you look back at that tape the next day. Last year during practice before regionals, my boat (I’m a rower) was totally kicking butt. We were the JV boat and we were beating the varsity boat every day in practice. We were on top of the world, expecting to come in and do really well at regionals. To make a long story short, we blew it. We came in cocky and totally fell apart. I feel like that’s what happened to Nathan and Mollee, and their immaturity showed after the performance.
They got spared this week, and I hope it was a wakeup call to them. While I don’t think it was the worst routine I’ve ever seen on SYTYCD, it certainly ranks as one of the most uncomfortable and awkward ones. Here’s to hoping that next week they come back and remind the audience the REAL reasons they’re here, their dancing.
I think you’re kind of missing my point. It isn’t that Mollee and Nathan don’t need to be called out for being saved by their fans. That’s all good in my book. It was the way that Nigel did it was the problem for me. I don’t think the way he did it will preserve the quality and integrity of dance. I think it will just make fans of Mollee and Nathan even more motivated to keep them in the competition over more refined dancers. Plus, it was the wrong time for him to offer that critique. It should have been on the previous show if he wanted to make the stern comments. Not at the time when Mollee and Nathan were just told their fans saved them.
I’ll still stand by me liking Nathan’s response. Think about what else he could have said that would have been better. He was making the most of an ugly and rather awkward situation. Sure, he probably should have followed it up with a, thanks for the critique and we’ll see if we can make it hotter. However, he was in the moment and once the cameras start rolling crazy things happen.
Plus, Nigel shouldn’t have the show be “America’s Favorite Dancer” if he wants it to be preparation for the real world of dance. The problem is that 90% of America doesn’t care about all the technique. They just enjoy great entertainment and so great technical dancers will get voted off early. I think that’s perfectly fine with me and likely most of the SYTYCD audience. We just want to be entertained.
I guess I forgot part of my thought, I understood Nigel’s point and I didn’t have a problem with it, but I did have a problem with the passive agressive way that he addressed his unhappiness that Nathan and Mollee weren’t in the bottom on the results show as well as the way he talked to Nathan after their performance.
I definitely fall into the category of wanting that great entertainment, and I keep getting the feeling that they can’t make up their minds if they want to stress technique or stress performance. I want both! I think in hindsight looking back on this season, this will be a blip on the radar for Nathan, he’s a great performer and he has great technique. They keep saying that this show is all about growth, and this is the perfect thing for Nathan to grow from. I wish that Nigel had apologized in some way other than over Twitter, it’s not exactly the most personal way of communication. I’d be shocked if he didn’t address it next week.
Ah! I just can’t figure out how I feel about this. When Nathan said “I felt hot!” or whatever it was, Mary and Adam laughed! I keep going back and forth, giving him kudos for trying to diffuse and awkward situation, and wanting to tell him “appreciate this!” I wonder what would have happened if they had gone earlier in the night. These guys were 2nd to last to go, and it had been a pretty rough night overall, I wonder if Nigel would have reacted the way he did if they had gone in the first hour of taping…just a thought.
John, I guess I’d have to say, respectfully, that you completely lost me with your last paragraph. In trying to make your point, I think you go overboard here. I don’t believe that most of the show’s audience is indifferent to technique and just wants to be entertained, etc. I guess I think that’s an exaggeration, and if the show operated on that premise then it would rapidly lose credibility and wind up being a very different kind of show than it is now.
Nigel & the producers always say how important personality and charisma are, so they don’t just pick the 20 most technically great dancers to be on the show. But I don’t think you should confuse that issue with the fact that the Top 20 are always (with rare exceptions) seriously skilled dancers, not just entertainers. If that weren’t so, this show would be more like Dancing with the Stars, where we are “entertained” by the circus-like antics of Cloris Leachman or Steve Wozniak, or fed the predictable diet of mediocre dancing that comes from amateurs.
As far as Nathan goes, I gather (from the Internet? Nigel’s interviews? Rumors?) that Nigel thinks Nathan has gotten a big head and developed a complacent attitude. Is it true? I have no inside info. so I obviously have no idea, but I assume that Nigel does have some inside info. and insight on this, and I assume that it must be a factor in how he treated Nathan.
Can Nigel be too harsh, not just in this instance but in general? Yes, definitely. But — he has a right to demand and insist on a dedicated effort and work ethic from the dancers, and, as I stated above, if he thinks that he’s not getting it than I can understand why he’d be quite angry. Moreover, I do believe, as harsh as Nigel is, that it’s his way of trying to be constructive, to motivate Nathan to shape up. This is kind of his strong tea, man-to-man pep talk to Nathan. Again, it may very well be too harsh, and lots of people might feel angry and resentful about such a pep talk, not motivated to do better. But my defense of Nigel is, that it does seem to me that there are mitigating factors here that made him speak like that.
My disagreement with Nigel’s method is that he did it on national television. It made for bad TV, and came off as an attempt to humiliate rather than tough love. Nigel should have taken Nathan aside after the performance show, and had a serious talk with him. If Nathan kept this up, then I could see taking this approach, but there isn’t much evidence that this has been a long time coming.
I won’t argue that “how” he said it was a bit rough, but “what” he said was very true. However, I’m going to give Nigel the benefit of the doubt and assume that he thought it needed to be done in that manner at that time. Some people need public humiliation before they “get it.” I don’t know if that’s the case with Nathan, but obviously Nigel (who’s there with him every week) thought so. And his only apology has been towards the audience… not to Nathan. So that speaks volumes to me, especially since it’s quite a departure from the norm with Nigel.
I agree with James G. on this; public humiliation is the LAST pedagogical method you would ever use on someone who you’re trying to teach. If Nigel really wanted Nathan to become a more mature dancer, he should have called him out in a way that allowed Nathan to save face. As soon as you attack someone in a (very) public forum, the response will be mostly affective (as seen by the audience) and have less to do with the actual content that wants changing.
so i know we’ve talked and talked about what Nigel said to Nathan, but something that struck me last night as I was watching the hilarious Michael Ausiello from EW talking about SYTYCD was how sexist what he said to Karen was during the results show. He told her that younger female contestants would be “intimidated by her sensuality” and her face just fell. They seem to be wanting to portray her as the “sexpot” divorcée, and I feel like that’s exactly the opposite of who she is. If you’re going to call her out, then call Ryan out, I mean, the guy looks like a Greek adonis and I didn’t hear Nigel calling him out for being “intimidating” to the younger guys! Don’t get me wrong, I think Karen is beautiful and she is a wonderful dancer, unfortunately I think the way that they’re portraying her is not only hurting her vote-wise, but I think it’s hurting Kevin as well that they basically keep saying, “you were great, but your partner was better and she looked totally hot.”
am I alone in my crazy thinking here?
Margaret,
Interesting thoughts about Karen. I decided to make your comment into a post so more people would see it and can join the conversation about it. You can find the new thread: https://puresytycd.com/2009/11/16/nigels-comments-about-karen-hauers-sensuality/
I’ll leave my comments about it on that thread.
So apparently I miss all the controversy when I’m out of the country! I watched the dances, but I didn’t hear about this…I’m going to have to try to find it on Youtube!
I’m offended by the Twilight people ruining the show every season. Nigel’s anger was long over due. We’ve seen so many sexy women kicked off the show early in season’s past. Anya, Asuka, “Snow” to name a few.
The problem is, voting these talented women off the show ruins the show’s credibility, kills off viewership, and is embarrassingly hypocritical as these jerk voters will vote for a guy because “he’s soooooooooooooo cute”, and yet complain about a woman who is beautiful and sexy; regardless of dance.
It’s only too bad Nigel backed down from his comments, because it’s something that needs to be said, like “hey America, you’re stupid…and fat”.