Ever been to a dance competition, only to discover that another studio is using the exact same song as one of your dancers? Well, it’s only natural, because what is currently popular is popular all around the country at the same time.

What should you do? Don’t fall victim to the over-popular trap. While your dance students might be excited to do a routine to Lady Gaga’s Pokerface, the judges eyes’ will glaze over when they hear it for the fourth time in the same day, making it harder for them to give YOUR student’s routine the attention it deserves. The judges have a long enough day as it is.

The answer is to find deeper cuts. It’s even okay to use a popular artist, but don’t use the most popular songs. Find the ones that aren’t overplayed and use one of them instead. Or find another artist who employs the same style, but is less well known.

As I come across songs overused in dance competitions, I will post them, along with their antidotes, here. I feel this is such an important part of selecting a song for dance routines that I have created a page called Antidotes, which you can see at the top of this page. Here are the first two Tired Songs, along with their Inspired antidotes:

Tired:
Jai Ho (You are my Destiny) – From the motion picture Slumdog Millionaire, by A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Vijay Prakash (other versions include the Pussycat Dolls)
Inspired:
Chhod Na Re (Remix) – Vishal and Anand Raaj Anand

Tired:
Pokerface – Lady Gaga
Inspired:
Sexy Chick – D. Ghetto

Feel free to submit your antidotes in the comments, and I’ll add them to the Antidote page!

Also, I have started a library of song ideas, grouped into dance categories. Check out the Song Suggestions in the menu at the top of the page for some inspiration!