Monday, August 08, 2011

oh yeah, it's SYTYCD season...

So you may/may not have noticed a significant drop in interest for SYTYCD by me this season... Previous seasons have had me blogging obsessively each week, but this season has only yielded a couple of posts. That is mostly due to the fact that I have not been watching as obsessively as I had previously. As of this week I am FIVE weeks behind! And it's the FINALE, so, it's definitely time for me to catch up. Plus, well, my DVR is full. Sigh.

In any case, I can't say why the show is less appealing to me than previously but maybe it's just that I'm not as excited about any of the new dancers. Or maybe it's because performance show is the same night as trivia. Or maybe it's because I don't like any of the newer choreographers, and there were a lot of those. (They're just not as awesome as Sonya, Travis, Stacey Tookey were when they started!) Hmm, I really have no clue. I'm not going to be able to see the tour this year (I've been to every tour since Season 3!) and I'm not too heartbroken. In any case, in catching up, I will reflect on the reasons why I still really like SYTYCD, even if I'm not obsessively watching it...

The format changes brought this year:
- I'm a fan of the return of a Top 20 AND a return of the All-Stars for the Top 10. Best of both worlds!
- I'm kind of glad Mary Murphy is back and especially glad that Mia is not a perma-judge. (I like Adam but I am glad that he, too, is not a perma-judge this season!)
- Only a couple weeks of auditions: I'm so glad they didn't dwell too much on the audition rounds. Especially because I hate growing attached to certain dancers only to find out that they never made it and that they don't return in the future.

The dancers are talented definitely; they really are! I have a few favorite dancers and a few dances that I've really enjoyed... To highlight them from the episodes I hadn't blogged about:
- Top 14: Caitlynn & Mitchell in "To Love You More" (contemporary) and Ryan & Ricky in "Fashion" (jazz) [I was sad to see Ryan & Ricky in the bottom 3. But not sad to see Ashley leave.]
- Top 12: Clarice & Jess in "Just the Way You Are" (hip hop) and Melanie & Marko in "Skin & Bones" (contemporary) [Sad to see the female bottom 3, but not sad to see Alexander leave.]
- Top 10: Jess & Kathryn in "The Lonely" (contemporary) and Melanie & Pasha in "Everybody Hurts" (Viennese waltz)
- Top 8: Melanie & Neil in "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (contemporary) and Tadd & Lauren F. in "Another One Bites the Dust" (jazz) and Marko & Allison in "I Know It's Over" (contemporary) [Big Mandy Moore night! There were tons of numbers I liked in this episode. Definitely my favorite episode of the season!]
- Top 6: Marko & Caitlynn in "Heavy in Your Arms" (jazz)

Final Four: Marko, Tadd, Melanie, Sasha (Jenn called it! Her early favorites ended up being the late season favorites, too!)

I'm disappointed with how Ryan ended up performing on the show. I'm sad that Caitlynn didn't make it to the final four (but her solos were noticeably weaker than the other girls). I'm happy with the final two guys. I wish there were more diversity in the genre of dancers -- where are the ballroom people?!?! We need a new Anya/Dmitri/Pasha/Benji-type! We definitely need more Chelsie Hightower! :)

A final note: I'm thrilled that Cat Deeley was finally recognized with an Emmy nomination for best Reality TV Show Host! She deserves the nomination AND the win! (I'm so glad that Jesse Tyler Ferguson brought it up during his guest judging episode, too. He was such a fan boy of the show, it was adorable. Many of the guest judges were huge fans of the show; I love it!)

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

I think the choreography this year has been a little lackluster. None of the new ones made any splash and there was a noticeable (to me, anyway) lack of "other" genres like disco, West Coast Swing, "cultural" (besides Bollywood), etc. I really wish Nick stayed longer so they could have had a tap routine. Also I feel like there have been an awful lot of props. And bad costumes. Nevertheless I do like the top 4 (as I called them) and I did really like having regular Top 20 and then the rotating All-Stars.

Yay Cat Deeley!!