Live To Dance Preview: Paula Abdul Returns

Come January, Paula Abdul will make her big return to the world of televised talent competitions. The former American Idol judge will be settling in as judge on her own CBS dance competition, Live to Dance.

While Abdul has experience both singing and dancing, it’s probably safe to say that she’s more of an expert at dance than she was at vocal ability. I mean that as a compliment. Not only can the former Laker girl move, but she’s also the mastermind behind the choreography of some fantastic movie moments. Remember that scene in Big when Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia play the big piano? How about Rod Tidwell’s touchdown dance in Jerry MacGuire? Abdul had a hand in those. Her other film credits include American Beauty, Coming To America, and Can’t Buy Me Love (“The African Anteater Ritual!!!”)

In CBS’ new reality series Live to Dance, Abdul, along with Travis Payne and Kimberly Wyatt will serve as the panel of judges as aspiring dancers (solo and groups) will attempt to win them over, as well as America by showing off their moves.

Below is CBS’ description for the series and further down are some of the promos CBS released.

LIVE TO DANCE is a new reality-competition series featuring award-winning dancer/choreographer and multi-platinum recording artist Paula Abdul. Abdul will serve as executive producer, creative partner, mentor and lead expert for LIVE TO DANCE, which represents one of the most inclusive talent searches ever on television, featuring dancers with raw ability of any age performing any form of dance solo or as a group.Styles include anything from ballet to break dance, tap to tango, or a unique fusion of styles such as rock ballet, hip-hop clogging or contemporary mixed with capoeira. The dancers will audition for Abdul and a panel of experts that includes Travis Payne and Kimberly Wyatt, both of whom bring an extensive dance and choreography resume to the series. Contestants who make it through the callback process will have the chance to perform in the live broadcast semi-finals and finals, where they will battle for the right to be crowned LIVE TO DANCE champion and awarded a $500,000 prize. Andrew Günsberg is host of the series.

Live to Dance Premieres with a special two hour episode on Tuesday, Jan. 4th on CBS, before moving to its regular time period on Wednesdays (8:00-9:00 PM) Starting Jan. 5

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.