u/Master-Speaker-2847

There are so many artists and so many new songs released every day, the only way to stand out is to make noise. It's clear now that this show was always intended to be rage bait, to create buzz for the group. Sakura was always the final piece, and they wanted her win to be as controversial as possible.

If "star quality" was the only thing that mattered, there was no need for rankings or for dancing or singing evaluations. They could have just chosen the top 4 with the most visual/star quality in episode 1, and sent everyone else home. Then the LA round could be which visual/star quality contestant improved the quickest. Sakura was ranked as 12th by their own ranking, even though they always rated her more than the others, just to make it more shocking that she leapfrogged over everyone to be the final piece.

There was no need to focus so heavily on the skilled contestants. But they wanted people to get invested in them, so they could immediately eliminate them for shock value. Ayana was unfairly strung along for 12 episodes and given conflicting feedback just to be eliminated for "not matching the concept", which they already knew from day one. They could have easily made the finale Aoi vs Sakura for an ultimate showdown of star quality, but they wanted the controversy of the perfectly qualified candidate losing to a 16-year-old.

That's why I don't buy the theory that Hiori was the final piece. They were planning to play in her face too. They set up the Cinderella story Sakura win from day 1. All the initial rounds were geared to remove her biggest threats and clear the way for her. As hard as it was to sell a star quality win against Ayana, it would have been impossible to do that against Jayla, Rira, Rinka, Honoka K, who had much higher skill and charisma.

The frustrating part is that outrage works, as we've seen from Katseye. People would not be discussing the group if the expected winner won. It's just a shame the girls and the audience were used as pawns.

Every mom who came on the show, from the OG moms to any guest mom, was desperate for fame and willing to compromise their kids' mental health to get it. Frankly, I have no respect for any mom who brought their kids on the show in the first place, but only those who course-corrected immediately deserve a pass. I'm talking about Kendyl Fay's mom, Kaylee Quinn's mom, Savannah's mom and Season 8 Kamryn's mom.

People give Kelly too much credit for leaving in season 4, but if she hadn't fought with Abby, she would have been there complaining till the bitter end. Same with Christi, she only left because of an argument that got out of hand, after 4 seasons of subjecting Chloe to Abby's abuse. I guess better late than never, but there's nothing commendable about removing your kid from a toxic situation you put them in. The same goes for Mellissa. She only left because Maddie had better opportunities. Jill stayed to the very end of her run on the show. So I find it strange how people only have smoke for Holly for staying till the end. Is 4 seasons of trauma materially different from 6 or 7?

People also give the guest moms a pass. For as much flack as Holly deservedly gets for putting Nia in a racist environment, it's silent when it comes to Camille, Kaya, and Kristi Ray. For me, it's despicable that Camille watched 6 seasons of racism from Abby, and still brought Camryn on the show. Same with Kaya, people on here act like she's some sort of misunderstood hero, but she let Cathy give Nicaya racially coded solos just like Holly, and she allowed her to be in a build the wall dance. She was all talk, no action. If she got a slot on the ALDC team, she would have stayed till the end. Kristi Ray is even more creepy, with how she allowed mature and s*xual themes for a child still in single digits, and she was doing this on and off the show.

But the moms who fumbled the most are the ones whose kids were already insanely talented and respected in the dance world - Kira, Tricia (Brady's mom), Ashlee, and Yolanda. They took the easy way out for quick fame, and ultimately derailed their kids' professional dance careers. Brady is so lucky he escaped this, and I think if he were a girl, Dance Moms would have done more damage. It's so poetic that Tate McRae ended up being so successful. She was trying so many things to get her name out there, but her parents weren't so desperate to make her a star that they reduced themselves to bringing her on Dance Moms. The one who stayed focused on her training instead of chasing 15 secs of fame ended up winning in the end. It should be a lesson to every fame-hungry stage mom.

1. Tate is better at writing pop songs than ballads/sad songs. She has an ear for melodies and strong hooks, but her lyricism and storytelling aren't that strong. Also, Tate is more convincing as a pop star than a singer-songwriter.
2. Related to 1, but it's a lot harder to write a successful pop hit than a diaristic sad song. Tate could write Nostalgia at 14, but she couldn't write greedy at 14.
3. I used to think I could fly is Tate's least authentic album. Tate said herself she doesn't like the album, and it doesn't represent her. People assume an artist is more authentic when they're smaller, but they're also less likely to have creative control.
4. Tate's sad girl persona is just as manufactured as the Tatiana persona. It's kinda cringy when people say they miss the old Tate. We don't know the real Tate. But every label was marketing their teen acts as moody and sad after Billie's breakout success.
5. The fanbase is whiny, annoying and toxic. Tate gets a LOT of negativity online, and it's a shame that even some "fans and fanpages" create or contribute to a lot of negativity
6. "Tate needs a new brand", "Tate needs a new stylist", "Tate needs to show more personality". This kind of discourse is so entitled. It's not a build your own popstar project. People need to either accept Tate as she is or move on. But trying to dictate who should be is ridiculous.
7. "She needs a break, she's too overworked" Her pace of releases isn't that usual, very similar to Ariana & Rihanna in their peak, and Sabrina, Conan Gray Gracie & Benson Boone currently. She gets more time off than the majority of the world's working class population. More importantly, no one is forcing her to work at the pace she is.
8. The theory that her label/team deliberately leaks her songs is so dumb. There's a lot more to be gained from keeping or selling unreleased songs than leaking them. Just Keep Watching, its ok, I'm ok and siren sounds were think later scraps that ended up being successful. Grieved you was sold to a movie. Also, I can't imagine a big producer like ryan tedder would stand by idly while a label leaks a song he could have pitched to another artist. People don't realise that the co-writers/producers also own these songs.