Dance Music on Reality TV Doesn’t Have To Be Lame

In a world where every digital medium is completely intergrated, where you can buy music on your phone or stream live TV from your tablet, it was only a matter of time until dance music infiltrated reality competition shows. It's just two things Americans really really love coming together—watching people do practically anything in the name of fame and the biggest music phenomenon of our time. In April, reality TV mastermind Simon Cowell got the go-ahead for a reality show to find the ulitmate DJ. To be quite honest, it was a scary moment for us, though we recently found comfort in the fact that Steve Lawler, John Digweed and even Tiësto have said they are against it. Plus, Fatboy Slim told Cowell to fuck off when asked to do a five minute set on his forthcoming show.

Turns out, though, dance music on TV doesn't have to be a sacrilegious and embarrassing disaster. Last week, So You Think You Can Dance had dancers perform to both Danny Tenaglia and Kingdom. Take heed future TV-DJ stars—here are two ways to do it right, and two more on how it can all go terribly terribly wrong.

So You Think You Can Dance unsurprisingly pops off to New York dance music legend'sDanny Tenaglia's "Dibiza (Kick Ass mix)." What's surprising is they took a classic from the underground instead of some huge EDM festival banger for all the teen fans out there. Try your own version of this dance all summer long during one of Danny's Ibiza gigs or in the Ibiza of your mind.

So You Think You Can Dance also had the Top 20 finalists dance to Fade To Mind labelboss Kingdom's "Stalkerha." Kingdom seemed pleased enough to Instagram about it and commentors called the moment "beyond iconic." Does this officially mean mainstream success for Fade to Mind? Either way, I'd be down to watch this performance at a warehouse rave or on my mom's television.

It's not always so classy. In May, after overnight success with "#Selfie" the Chainsmokers were invited on to American Idol. For their  "live performance," they pressed play and ran around the audience… taking selfies. They even got one with Jennifer Lopez, so maybe it was worth it, but mostly they just got judged and shat on afterwards. Even Porter Robinson started a Twitter fight firing shots and throwing around the term "sell out." The call was definitely not far off.

Also, this one time, a group of people sang "Don't You Worry Child" on the Voice. We're still trying to unsee that.

The positive news is it doens't always have to be this way. The ball is in your cart, Cowell. We don't expect much, but please, don't mess this up.

Keep reading for more socially accepted DJ moves…
Simon Cowell Wants YOU for Ultimate DJ, The (Gulp) EDM X-Factor
Fatboy Slim Will Release a Compilation to Celebrate the World Cup in Brazil
Cliqued Up with Kingdom