Letter from Poland.

 

Polish Talent Shows

02.05.2008

Most of them are as dire as in other countries, says Anna Piwowarska, except for one…

Polish television is saturated with talent shows – the majority of these formats have been bought from the west. So we have our version of BBC’s ‘Strictly come dancing’ (‘Taniec z gwiazdami’), as well as ‘Dancing on Ice’ (‘Gwiazdy na Lodzie’). We also have a particularly enjoyable and hilarious one called ‘Cyrk Gwiazd’ (‘Circus of the Stars’), where you get the chance to see an irritating soap star fall on their head from the top an elephant every so often . Compulsory viewing, I’d say.
Anyway, needless to say on the whole these shows are terrible. From the desperate contestants, who are trying resurrect their careers, to the even more desperate judges, whose critique is so staged and clichéd that you could turn the sound off and know what they’re going to say. The one I find particularly hilarious is Iwona Szymanska–Pavlovic, a member of the jury on ‘Dancing with the Stars’, who is very obviously supposed to play the baddie - a la the U.K’s Simon Cowell. Except that she has none of the music producer’s irony or quick wit but instead chooses to always wear black and have long raven-coloured hair to emphasise her ‘evilness’. The pantomime nature of this character is underlined by the fact that her answers are always accompanied by a great amount of booing and hissing from the audience.
However, there is one Polish talent show that I must admit I’m hooked on. It’s called ‘You can dance’ and it’s the format that proved so successful in the original US version ‘So You Think You can Dance’. The show is like most of these shows – it uses the most visual of talents – dancing. But the big difference about this show is that it features real people - young, energetic teenagers from all around Poland whose life‘s passion is dancing. And it shows. Of course, the whole setting of the show is as slick and staged as the rest. Modern sets, up-to-date pop tracks (sometimes even some cooler, more underground sounds such as ragga), trendy stylists, choreographers from as far afield as Buenos Aires. However, none of this is as important as the magic ingredient in this mass-produced TV programme – the contestants. They are utterly charming. Why? Because the majority of them comes from outside of Warsaw; because they have never been on television; because they completely love dancing and are actually good at it and finally because they are completely themselves. I mean, you can’t compare a washed up, vain soap star attempting to dance a rumba in a tacky sequin outfit with an eighteen-year-old from the Silesia region doing locking in a track suit.
It’s actually embarrassing how much I love this programme – apparently I don’t speak while it’s on. Of course, I love the dance routines but more than that I’m fascinated by the behind-the-scenes clips that let you get to know about the contestants. It’s like getting a complete overview of Poland’s’ youth. There’s Fillip (who unfortunately has been voted off now), who likes to dance and cook and admits that he looked like a ‘klucha’ (a dumpling) before he started dancing. Then there’s Fabrysio, who’s too shy to look at the camera; Artur, a roof tiller and a European disco dancing champion; Ania, who has crooked teeth and chunky legs and a lots of positive energy; Patryk, whose dream has always been to leave his home town and come to Warsaw (each week he prays not to go back home). Then there’s the teenage girls’ favourite – Georgei – a foppish, long haired pretty boy From Georgia who says he always has to change his name – (Greg, Grzegorz, Georgei) depending on which country he lives in. What is incredible is although these young people are getting more sure of themselves and media savvy each week, there is an honesty and sincerity to them that makes them compulsive viewing. My favourite is a rather introverted, long-haired girl called Kasia who always wears black and whose parents both have lived in the UK since she was twelve. This girl, who has essentially had to bring up herself, has an incredibly subtle stage presence and simmering passion for dance that is very moving. I know, I know … I’m a sucker for a sob story. However, it’s nice to get a glimpse at what this young generation of Poles is like. It’s a breath of fresh air on television which is often lazy, stagnant and clichéd.
The best part is the dance-off at the end. Those who fared the weakest whilst dancing in couples, have to do an individual dance to music of their choice at the end of the programme. This is where you can see the real individuality. With a mixture of moves from ballet to breakdancing, it amazes me that these teenagers come up with such original routines. This sort of dancing is such a wonderful way of self-expression that I feel like it should be compulsory in schools rather than running.
Of course, on a cynical note, this is just money-making entertainment. The programme is sponsored by a well-known mobile phone company and a chewing gum brand. The winner of the show gets to win 100,000 zloty and a scholarship to the Broadway Dance Centre in New York (which looks a bit like an aerobics studio to me). So what will happen to the rest of these talented young people? Now they’ve tasted the high life and appeared live in front of millions of viewers each week, will they be able to go back to their real lives in small towns around Poland? It makes me sad to think of them on such a come down after it all finished. On good note, the contestants from the first series of the programme are already set to make a film with the well-known Polish film director – Maciej Dejczer. So perhaps they have a future. But maybe they don’t care. Last week, when bolshie, hip hop loving Roxi got voted off, she admitted that one of the other dancers was in love with her. She coyly wouldn’t say who, but then one of the other contestants, Kamil, shouted out ‘I love you Roxi’, then kissed her live on air. You couldn’t have scripted a better ending to the programme...