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Did Katie Holmes prove she can dance?
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So Katie Holmes can sing (a little) and dance (a little). But should her “Get Happy” homage to Judy Garland on “So You Think You Can Dance” have been so hyped by the producers for weeks before it was actually screened (pre-taped) on Thursday’s show?
Holmes looked stunning in the black tights, fedora hat and black jacket costume she donned for her song and dance routine intended to publicize the Dizzy Feeet Foundation, which funds dance lessons for kids, and the 100th show milestone for the TV dance series.
But her performance left many reviewers — who had been led to believe it was going to be a showstopper by a celebrity not known for her dancing or singing — a little underwhelmed.
Olivia Smith with the New York Daily News said Katie’s routine was “more like so you think you can strut around the stage and strike a few poses.” Wall Street Journal blogger Tracy Watson called it “quite respectable but nothing spectacular.”
SYTYCD producer Nigel Lythgoe took to Twitter to defend Katie from some of the more barbed comments — particularly the lip-synching and the fact the performance was not live. (Holmes is apparently filming in Australia and shot the routine weeks ago).
“Why hate on Katie? She’s had no dance training and did this for publicity for the charity. Everyone lip synchs when they’re dancing. MJ too”
Lythgoe tweeted. “I’m trying to figure out why Katie is being judged as a dancer. When a star throws out the opening pitch no-one says “ooh crap pitcher!”"
Maybe because SYTYCD IS a dance show and the standards are so high, both in terms of contestants and choreographers, the audience just expected something better.
Is it fair to judge Katie Holmes by those same standards?
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It’s nice that she supports the charity, but no, I’m sorry, what she did was not dancing.
See the video of Cyd Charisse w/Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain—now that’s dancing. And even in the original Get Happy, while Judy doesn’t do much dancing, she says so much more with her moves than Katie does. (And Judy did know how to dance—-see the rest of Summer Stock). It’s just that standards have gone down so much now, except for the Broadway dancers who work so hard, what entertainers (e.g., Madonna, etc.) do on videos is not really dancing, just poses with movement in between.
I’m excited about the dizzy feet foundation.
Sorry! That was awful. Can she dance? NO! Can she sing? Almost! but not really. She is just cute to look at but her parents have more to do with that than she does! The hipe was WAY overdone on this performance. Think I’ll go watch a real talent – a Judy Garland DVD!!!!
[The Charity is Scientology based]
THAT is NOT DANCING. It’s called walking and posing. What teh men are doing is called dancing.
The open mouthed leers and feeling oneself up is from the Britney Spears school of NOT really dancing.
Ms. Garland held her own with Astaire and Gene Kelly.
Garland DANCED.
Holmes cannot.
Kidman is an Academy Award winning actress who wowed the West End and Broadway with in depth acting.
Kidman played the lead, four characters, one young, one old, all very different.
Broadway sold out.
Portrait of a Woman, The Others, Dead Calm, Dogville, The Human Stain, Birthday Girl, etc.
(btw, when Kidman plays a Russian, German, or South African the accent matches. Ahem Mr. Cruise, the Malibu accented Nazi)
Kidman is AN actress.
Kidman also happens to be a classically trained ballet dancer with a natural grace of movement and for fun recorded a duet with Robby Williams. The song was a best selling record, No. 1 on the charts.
Moulin Rouge requires no explanation, Kidman’s dancing, acting, and singing was seen by all.
Judy Garland did less dancing in her version and everyone here is forgetting why it was done, to promote a foundation, for goodness sake.
It took guts for Kathy Holmes to do the show KNOWING that there were people who had already judged here BEFORE the show and others who would pick holes anyway.
Jan
What she did was insulting to all dancers.
I was embarrassed for her. She made a complete idiot out of herself. Just another part bought by Tom Cruise. It must be totally embarrassing to have her as a wife after being married to the multi-talented, Oscar winning Nicole Kidman and Mimi Rogers, who is also a very good actress.
Nigel L. claims the only reason her appearance was filmed is because she was in Australia filming (her B movie). Hardly so. She may be filming but they could have worked her in another show before she went to Australia.
The truth of the matter is they were afraid she would fall, trip, or do something else embarrassing and didn’t want to risk it.
It was okay … she had fun and it was kind of entertaining. Cute. The singing was definately on the weak side especially if this is a tribute to Judy Garland.
She did it for charity that’s the only thing good about her performance.
She was amazing and beautiful.
She can’t act and she can’t dance. Maybe a couple of e-meters later, she is brainwash in to thinking that the alien inside of her has talent. Scientology can make you do great things. Who doesn’t know that?
An insult to Judy Garland.
Well it was for charity folks. I am sure nobody would have paid to watch her dance but that’s a different story all together. Perhaps Tom should have come on out and hop on the sofa a few more times. I would have paid 2 c that monkey act.
STOP HATIN FOLKS…..for what it was, she she great! She is an all round entertainer. That’s what entertainer’s do. For those who did not grow up on Variety shows in the 70″s, get a clue!!!!
Katie Holmes has it all.. She performed the scene amazingly well, and if you refer back, better than MS. Garland. I was shocked at how beautiful her voice was, even if it was pre-recorded. All dancers have to pre-record as you cannot do both together. Educate yourself prior to leaving negative comments.
She wasn’t in a “competition,” she was performing for the Dizzy Feet Foundation on behalf of underprivileged dancers. Katie was, and is, awesome.
To all those who think we should take it easy on her because she did it for charity:
Quite the contrary, she was taking advantage of the charity to promote herself. She bought her way onto national TV, plain and simple.
Though the performance was intended to draw attention to her charity, was it necessary that SHE perform? She is a non-trained dancer in a rigorous DANCE competition. She was billed as a triple threat. In comparison to the contestants, her performance was mediocre. As a viewing member, I anticipated to be wowed but was sorely disappointed.
Wasn’t there a better way for her to draw attention to her charity?
I agree – she took advantage of the charity to promote herself. She could just as easiy have video taped a couple words to the audience and maybe introduced a professional dancer that had something to do with the charity. In this case she didn’t know how to get out of her own way. But this is what celebrity does nowadays. There are very few celebs who can be in the background – lending their time and name without the personal spotlight. As a fan of Garland, I have to say this was a horrible idea. And yes, there are some entertainers that DO sing and dance at the same time in the same number – it’s called broadway people…
in this case, they might as well have picked someone off the street….
I thought I was watching Britney on MTV Awards (2007).
To Geri, you state, “All dancers have to pre-record as you cannot do both together. Educate yourself prior to leaving negative comments.”
Um, have you ever heard of live theater – you know, like on Broadway, or heck, in a middle school?
For all the hype prior to the performance, this was extremely underwhelming and uncomfortable to watch. Did she dance? No. Did she sing? Barely. I laughed out loud when Cat called her a major film star. Katie Homes had a great start in her career, but meeting and marrying Tom Cruise killed it. And hello?! Singing and dancing at the same time without lip syncing is called Broadway!
I’m just surprised Tom Cruise let her out of the house to go dancing!
My wife and I love this show and normally wouldn’t say anything negative about it. I also admire what they are trying to accomplish with the Dizzy Feet Foundation but this thing with Katie Holmes was pathetic. I blame Nigel himself for promoting this performance practically as the next Coming. He seriously put the expectations way beyond Katie’s ability to deliver. What’s worse, they had already taped it so everyone should have been aware of just how mediocre it was while they were hyping it. Sad really.
It’s nice that Ms. Holmes wanted to lend her celebrity to this cause. However, it seems to be her only possession, as she lent neither credible singing nor dancing to the performance. There are myriad celebrities she could have phoned to lend their support. Instead this was a lazy PR stunt to boost her dwindling career with yet another confusing choice. To submit sub-par trifle on this show, in which amazingly talented unknowns are breaking barriers each week, is insulting and wasteful.
Perhaps I am expecting too much. After all, Ms. Holmes is a relatively new mother, married to a famous actor who steals the spotlight, and, while known for her film work, not generally associated with being a theatrical triple threat. Singing, dancing, acting all at once, very difficult. Surely, no one could do better in those circumstances.
Oh. Wait. Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The “performance” was kind of like the videos my 14 yr old makes..you know, when they think they are talented. Actually, my teen is more talented! Reminds me of the Gilda Radner routine on SNL where she wore pj bottoms for long, flowing hair.