Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls’ on Prime Video, An Exuberant Reality Comp About Full-Figured Dancers Doing It For Themselves

Lizzo is your host for Watch Out for the Big Grrrls on Prime Video, an eight-part reality competition series that intends to net the hit singer and rapper some fresh talent for her touring crew of backup dancers. “Girls that look like me simply don’t get representation,” Lizzo says of her search through official dancer channels; thus, she’s taken the hunt for talent into her own capable hands. “Are you ready for that jiggle, that wiggle, and everything in the middle?” Take it away, Lizzo.

LIZZO’S WATCH OUT FOR THE BIG GIRLS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Lizzo is introducing herself to the camera. “What’s up y’all, I’m that bitch.” But then, a cut. “Wait a minute,” the Grammy-winning, multi-Platinum singer-songwriter, rapper, and flutist says. “Run that back. That’s right, it’s Lizzo, and I’m 100 percent that bitch!”

The Gist: Watch Out for the Big Grrls is the first project to drop from Lizzo’s first-look production deal with Amazon Studios. It’s in the competitive reality format, with the “Juice” and “Good as Hell” singer conducting a talent search to find the best “big girl dancers in America,” who she’ll then train to join her tour as backup dancers. “You can do you,” she tells the crop of hopefuls who’ve arrived in Los Angeles after beating the thousands who sent in audition tapes. “But can you do what we do in a crew?” 13 women are ready to show up. They’ve prepared two eight-counts of freestyle material, and 40 seconds of existing Lizzo choreo. But to a person, they’re flabbergasted that Lizzo herself is leading the in-person, one-on-one auditions. There’s Kiara, 26, from Atlanta. And Charity, 36, from Charlotte, North Carolina. There’s twenty-two-year-old Arianna, from Indianapolis, whose long history of dance instruction has led her to this moment. And there’s Portlander Jayla, 33, who tells Lizzo she’s a former gymnast who began transitioning ten years ago, and has worked hard to align her personhood with the expectations of contemporary dance. 24-year-old Houstonian Sydney puts it simply. She’s on Big Grrls to prove one thing, that “us curvy girls can rock it!”

Lizzo’s got a headlining show at Bonnaroo coming up, and needs more dancers to populate the stage. But out of the 13 women auditioning, only 10 will make it into “The Big Grrrl Mansion” and a 21-day backup dancer boot camp. Lizzo says she’s looking for stamina, and clean lines. “Hands, feet; carriage. Star Quality,” she says. “So are you ready to dance? I wanna see what the fuck you got!”

Jayla flubs her personal audition, but Lizzo understands. “She’s a little in her head. There’s a superstar in there, and I wanna pull it out.” Later, Sydney, who is full of confidence and poise, logs a few uncharacteristic mistakes during a choreo sequence dictated by Lizzo’s creative director, Charm La’Donna. Clearly, nerves are frayed in this group. But no one’s being coddled. Lizzo splits them into two crews – “Lizzo’s Big Secret” and “Big Body Benzes” – and they’re expected to execute a planned choreo sequence and face each other in a straight-up, head-to-head series of one-on-one dance battles. In the end, Lizzo will have to send three women packing. In the meantime, Lizzo says they’ll find out “who can serve it, and who just got served.”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? With the prize here being the opportunity to perform with Lizzo at Bonnaroo and go on tour, there are similarities of format between Big Grrrls and Siwas Dance Pop Revolution, which premiered on E! late last year. Dance Moms veteran JoJo Siwa and her manager mom Jessayln Siwa auditioned a throng of tween dancers and performers and groomed them for a spot in the hand-built pop group XOMG. Meanwhile, there was a similar current of empowerment woven into the exhibitionism and showboating of Finding Magic Mike on HBO Max.

Our Take: The complete absence of constructed cattiness and usual reality show drama phone behavior makes Watch Out for the Big Grrls a refreshing alternative for the universe within which it operates. Fueled by Lizzo’s engaging personality, it quickly finds a means of showcasing what makes its competitors themselves, whether that’s totally sick dance moves, a sunny personality, or a personal history of overcoming hardship. None of this is to say that Lizzo isn’t considering these people with a professional eye. Her natural expressiveness turns sharper whenever she discusses the need for full out commitment on stage. “Full out,” she says. “Learn it, rehearse it.” And she stresses that stamina is just as important as style points. To hold one’s pose on stage is as imperative as dancing like a maniac for five minutes. Watch Out for the Big Grrrls feels like its stress will be on the personal empowerment of its cast, as much as it will push each woman to find another gear. And sure, there will be tears. But Lizzo’s sick and tired of herself and women who look like her “getting hit with that judgemental shit,” and she’s out to illustrate how much big girls are doing it for themselves.

Sex and Skin: No skin per se, but plenty of down n’ dirty dance moves on display.

Parting Shot: With cuts made and the group of competitors set at 10, Big Grrrls is about to transition from hopefulness and audition mode to practice and performance boot camp mode. The location for all of that? The Big Grrrls Mansion. “Now it’s time for the Big Grrrls to move into the house,” Lizzo says. “But don’t get too comfortable. Shit’s about to get real!”

Sleeper Star: Crystal, 24, bonds immediately with Lizzo over their collective upbringings in Houston. But she utterly nails the audition, too. Moves, looks, style, swagger: this woman has it all.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Do not hold back,” Lizzo encourages her charges. “Whoever told you you can’t dance, whoever told you you’re not a bad bitch, tell them to shut up, even if it’s yourself.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Lizzo, in her first stab at reality programming, is a complete natural at hosting duties. And Watch Out for the Big Grrls promises to promote exuberance and empowerment over manufactured drama and assorted reality world tackiness.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges