john_repede
Wow, I am about halfway through the second show and I can barely watch it, which is a shame because the dancing is rather good - at least what you can see of it. Where to begin? First, while there is plenty of good dancing, since when did Kung Fu become a form of dance? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching Shaolin monks perform some of the most complex and difficult martial arts moves on Earth, but on a show that features ballroom dancing? Which brings me to my second point. What is with the rating system? How the Hell can you compare clogging/tap dancing to traditional South African dance? There is no rhyme or reason to the scoring system other than it being a 1 to 10 scale and the judges are atrocious. They seem to have no concept of multi-cultural dance and can't score anyone lower than a 7 or higher than a 9. The whole concept of this show being a contest to see what country has the best dancers in the World is laughable at best.Let me indulge you a little further with my third point, the directing/cinematography. When the camera comes around front of the dancers the flood lights on the back of the stage at stage level wave around and shine directly into the camera making it impossible to see parts of the dance. Then they do a sweeping view from in the audience and you are so far from the stage while the camera is moving that you miss even more of the dances. One point that sticks out in my head is on the second show the duet from Australia was performing a lift where the girl was above the guy's head horizontally, or at least I think horizontally but I wasn't really sure because the camera angle was so horrific.The only reason I rated this show a 5 out of 10 is because the main point of the show is to showcase dance from around the globe. The dancing (from what you can see) is intriguing and captivating, it is such a shame that the show is trivialized by some phony competition when it solely could be about dance. Also, I do have to give props to Michael Flatley as host, he is genuinely a gracious host.To sum all of this up, good idea, poorly executed. I don't know what is more appalling, the format of the show or the fact that it doesn't surprise me that NBC would put such a show on TV. What is this country coming to?
miss-sussex
I saw this show for the first time at work knowing Michael Flatley was in it and have to say that it was very disappointing. I came in assuming I would see some A class dancing that only shows like Dancing with the stars and those PBS showcase shows with ballroom dancing and other forms of dancing would provide but I was bored. The only surprise (only inadequately ) was watching some Irish dancers (possible flatley's own) perform flatley's choreography from Lord of The Dance. Seen it , saw it, and I no longer love it. Show me something new please. Flatley was lame as a host as well and NBC could have done way better with this show.
Travel_Gal
This show comes up short...you cannot compare the dancing because it is all so different. I feel sorry for the judges, and I would not even call what the young American guy did "dancing"! (Popping??? What the heck was that???) Sorry, peeps, but give me Dancing With The Stars any day. I am watching it now and the first show is only 1 hour in and I won't likely waste my time watching more episodes. There are far better offerings, but I had to check it out. I rated this show a 1 because there is no Zero! By the way I am not a dancer, just a dance appreciator! It will be very interesting to see how the rest of the world rates this series...
tankeredbell
First of all, I am not American. But either I don't know good dancing when I see it, or these judges are idiots. Their scores are so pathetically overrated or underrated.This is clearly a show where countries are afraid to rank other countries low. And for the good performances (the American duet) they are afraid to let their competition do better. The American duet was flawless and like nothing I have ever seen before and they got three 7's from Argentina, Australia and the South African judges. I couldn't disagree more.This show is pathetic. If you must watch it, do so for the dancing because some of it is phenomenal, but for the most part the judges can't score worth sh*t.
