Dana Grotzky, "Dancing with the Stars" Season 2 (Screenshot, Rainbow 12)
Promotions for the season opener of "Dancing with the Stars" promised us "the event that never happened in the premiere episode" and indeed, a few seconds before the end of Kim Or Azoulay and Idan's Cha Cha dance, the couple fell in the center of the plaza, leading to Azoulay hitting her head. It was an unpleasant moment, to say the least, Kim Or looked embarrassed and pained. Idan, who knocked her down while she was upside down, looked even more ashamed, and even Judge David Dvir's face moved in astonishment that, for once, has nothing to do with the aesthetic treatments he often talks about and makes him look like a slightly different person every season.
It may deviate from the rules of the format – although there are no more flexible rules between us than those of an Israeli reality show – but it was expected that "Dancing" would edit this segment out, spare Kim Or the embarrassment and find something else to promote the episode with. But when Network 13 launches the new season of "Big Brother" at the same time, all means are kosher, and so the only moment that went beyond the boundaries of sequins, smiles and pelvic movements is the one that will be remembered from the episode. By the way, Kim Or and Idan finished the evening in first place (in a triple draw), so for them this fall is perhaps just one crooked step on the way to the final.
It was desirable to edit out. The Fall of Kim Or Azoulay, "Dancing with the Stars" (Photo: Screenshot, Rainbow 12)
Expectations for the new season of "Dancing" were particularly high. After last season Keshet proved that they can take even a tired, battered format, one that the network took all the joie de vivre out of it until they put it to a long sleep at the beginning of the previous decade, and turn it into a polished and buzz-filled entertainment show, it remains to be seen whether the feat can be replicated. The short answer is - yes.
It's safe to say that Lucy Ayoub is the best host of Israel 2023, she has the charisma that Assi and Rotem had at the beginning of their careers only with far less paperwork, and she's just as elegant as a ballroom dance show set in the Middle East. The judges' table, which again includes David Dvir, Anna Aronov, Rona Lee Shimon and Eli Mizrahi (in whose place a decorative object could also be placed), still fulfills the function for which it was chosen - to give us the illusion that we are watching a show about dancing when in fact we are here to see celebs experiment with things they are (a little less) good at. And the casting? Oh, here there is already a slightly more interesting discourse.
This season, the definition of "stars" has been stretched to the extreme, and even a little beyond. So yes, for people like me who have crossed the age of thirty, Kim Or Azoulay is not a familiar name, but she is totally an A-list for those who are a decade younger than me; But what will you say about "Studio Friday" reporter Shai Gal? Or Yasmin Lukacs from "The Sharks"? And what about Yogev Malka, winner of "Ninja Israel"? Well, what they all have in common is, of course, the Keshet building at 12 Raoul Wallenberg Street. There's nothing Keshet does better than use its flagship programs to promote other shows (very wisely, it should be noted), but successful business thinking often gives rise to less successful television moments, and so the new season of Dancing is shaping up to be a season of "Celebrities vs. Unknowns."
Along with the proliferation of "Remind Me Where He/She" is from, there are also some real brilliance, chief among them the religious singer Narcissus, who did not appear on yesterday's show but will dance during the season with a dancer, since she keeps touch. The fact that Narcissus's religious lifestyle led to two women dancing together on screen is interesting in itself, and one can only hope that next season an LGBTQ contestant will be able to dance with a dancer of the same sex. In the American version of "Dancing" it happened in the previous season and drag queen Angela almost made it all the way to the final. Instead of Narcissus, yesterday we got to see Didi Harari in an exciting Viennese waltz dance that did not display impressive movement abilities, but made Rona Lee Shimon's makeup artist work overtime in an attempt to repair the makeup that was destroyed by the tears.
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The best host of 2023. Lucy Ayoub, "Dancing with the Stars" (Screenshot, Rainbow 12)
Gia Be'er Gurevich, whom we are used to seeing more as Smotrich in "Wonderful Land", will inherit Adi Ashkenazi's standard from the previous season and will be this funny girl who actually dances really well (and we all hope that this is the first and last time we hear Miley Cyrus's "Flowers" this season because it really is Halas). Kobi Maimon, on the other hand, will probably be remembered as the funny guy who is better off staying on the stand-up stage.
In the segment of contestants who seem likely to go far this season you can find Lee Byrne, who makes the obvious life cycle for a celeb of his generation - start from reality ("A Star Is Born"), break out huge and then return to reality to give his career a boost; Model Barak Shamir, whose dance and that of his partner had nothing to do with ballroom dancing, but whose cheeky plus look will surely lead him far, as well as Dana Grotzky from Guy Pines – or as she was called on the show, "Princess of the entertainment world" – who has already received gushing compliments from the judges, including the particularly crunchy moment when Anna Aronov noted that the fact that she was able to combine work and family and come to the show for herself is "an inspiration to so many women." A good opportunity to mention that Grotzky's work is not in the factory or on the war front, but come on.
As expected, former Knesset member and minister Orly Levy Abekasis was saved for the end and provided us with an ID card that reminded us of what made her such a controversial elected official. In her monologue, Levi Abekasis spoke of her choice to leave politics and do more for herself, elegantly ignoring the feeling of many voters (on both sides of the political spectrum) that even when she was an elected official, she acted primarily for herself and less for those who elected her. The comment by Alon, her dance partner, that "when the cameras are in the room, it suddenly turns on," was reminiscent of quite a bit of criticism she received for her work in Knesset committees. The judges, who are unclear whether they have a gap in general knowledge or were just overly nice, chose to praise her for having the courage to step onto the dance floor after she knew mostly the corridors of the Knesset, forgetting that the contestant before them began her career in the entertainment industry, moved to the political arena and is now making her way back. In the end, and despite a full-minute commercial aired before each performance, "Dancing with the Stars" is once again emerging as a successful and escapist reality show that is the right alternative to our gray cell reset this summer.
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