So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 Wrap-up

Mira did a pretty comprehensive post on the season earlier this week but I thought I'd just put in my two cents and offer up some thoughts on the finale. I, too, was a little bit less invested in this season than in previous years for not particularly clear reasons. Maybe the choreography has a bit a little lackluster, maybe there hasn't been as much diversity in the dance styles, maybe all the contemporary/jazz dancers are wearing on me...I don't think it's any one thing.

But I did like quite a lot of the contestants this year, and I'm wholly satisfied with the finalists and the winner. Melanie's not my favorite contemporary girl ever (Kathryn and Katee still vie for that title) but she was one of the most consistent dancers throughout the summer. I think I may have been pulling a little bit more for Sasha because she's a bit different from the norm but she did have some rough routines in the performance finale (the Broadway with Marko and the cha cha with Tadd). Marko was definitely my top guy and Tadd I couldn't help liking despite his obvious weaknesses. So anyway, congratulations to Melanie!

Some stray observations from the last week:
- Even more confirmation that Katie Holmes just...SUCKS. She kept saying the same generic crap all night.
- The Sonya routine with Sasha and shirtless Mark was pretty dang fierce. Both Stacey Tookey routines were great too...love her!
- But yay for inviting Jesse Tyler Ferguson back! He was definitely my favorite of the celebrity guest judges this season.
- All season I've been kind of surprised seeing how short Tadd is compared to everyone. Confirmed: he's only 5'4"!
- Loved Marko and Tadd asking Harry Shum, Jr if there was room for more Asians on Glee. (On a side note, it's becoming really weird how I'm interested in most things Glee except actually watching the show...)
- The tap routine with Nick and Jess and the SYTYCD UK winner was amazing. Seeing Nick in this and also in the top 10 guys routine made me really really sad that he went home so early. He had so much potential.
- Alexander bleached his hair? I was wondering who the heck that was.
- Seeing the Travis Wall statue routine with Melanie and Marko really made me wish Travis had been more available this season. He has this formula that just kind of works...I always love the fast synchronized section at the climax of the piece.
- Cat Deeley still rules. That is all.

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!)

a few surprises

Summer TV is not throwaway TV like it once was. Previous summers I had mostly SYTYCD to get me through the TV off-season, but this season I have quite a few other shows that have made SYTYCD a little less exciting. Instead, here are the shows I look forward to each week:

Love in the Wild
I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I like this show, but then I think about how great it is and NO, I'm not embarrassed! It's fun, the format is so incredibly smart, and each week has surprises, drama, and fun! There are a few couples I am really rooting for: Mike and Samantha, Miles and Heather. The challenges have been really interesting. I was so touched that Jess took herself out of the running not to break up any of the other couples with connections. I hate Ben for being a jerk to Brandee. And the show has definitely put Costa Rica on my radar as a near future vacation spot. Well, maybe. I could do without Snake Island and log rafting down crocadile river...


The Glee Project
Maybe this is the show I should be embarrassed to admit enjoying... But you know what, I admit to liking Glee, so whatever! Too late now. What is this show about? A competition show where a bunch of people compete to get a seven-episode arc on the next season of Glee. The casting director for Glee is the main advisor for the show and Ryan Murphy gets the final say on who gets eliminated. The main criteria for making it through to the following week: if Ryan thinks he can write a character for the contestant.

This show is what makes Glee great without what makes Glee horrible. What is that, you might ask? It has the fun musical numbers; it has fun, varied, colorful characters/contestants. What does it not have? Contrived storylines. I enjoy the "quickfire" challenges each week, where each contestant has to sing one line in a song that embodies that week's challenge. This week's, for example, was Sexuality and singing "Like a Virgin." A different week had Dancability and singing "Bad Romance." I also like the mini-music videos that they have to put together before being potentially eliminated. There are a good number of the contestants that I could really see on Glee, and I hope the producers consider bringing back more than just the winner for the show in the future. One of my favorites was eliminated last week, Marissa, but there are still a few that I'm rooting for.

There are 5 contestants left:
- Hannah: Chubby redhead who annoys me in personality, but is a character you can see on the show... Except Zizes already exists.
- Sam: Laidback rocker with dreads. Has been a street performer in LA. He's good looking but kinda annoys me, I can't quite place why.
- Lindsay: Oddly one of my favorites though she's one of those perfect looking, perfect girls. She has more story behind her -- she was adopted! -- but tends to stick to the surface and is very Lea Michele in many ways.
- Damien: Pretty boy and Northern Irish. He has the "foreigner" thing going for him and he's very cute in a boyband kind of way. He'd be a good Finn replacement.
- Alex: A gay, male version of Mercedes. Crazy range in singing, but his personality is annoying and his commitment to the process is lacking at times. It's amazing how many people he's outlasted in my opinion, but he would make for an interesting character.


ABC Family: Switched at Birth & The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Jenn already blogged about both of these shows. I had been a fan of Switched at Birth from the beginning and echo all her praises-- the portrayal of deaf culture and Katie Leclerc. But I also find that I really enjoy the contrast of all the characters, even if Bay can get annoying at times. I didn't watch Chloe King until reading Jenn's review actually, and now I'm hooked. Ahh, so good.


What a great summer of TV. :) Now I need to catch up with SYTYCD because I'm running out of room on my DVR!

SYTYCD: top 16

Talking with others about the first two weeks of SYTYCD, I agree -- wish they had just eliminated two in the first week of top 20. Then Yvetta and the tall tapper guy would still be here. :( And maybe some of my less favorite dancers would have been gone. Especially since a good number of them were in the bottom 3.

Yay for this week's guest judges -- Kristin Chenoweth and Lil C!

Sasha & Alexander: Sasha disappearing into the piano box was creepy! Especially when her hands peeked out. I'm having a really hard time warming up to Alexander but I do love Sasha. The judges are really right in that the girls are so, so, so strong this season! Her lines in the dance this week were gorgeous. I loooove KC -- "I played a tulip and a frog peed on me," quite a feat -- and I don't mean the ones on the bottom of you legs."

Caitlyn & Mitchell: I really like Caitlyn a lot. She's this season's Jeannine for me. (I didn't think much of her when Jeannine was first introduced on the show -- I commented that she was lucky to be Phillip Chbeeb's partner. Then I quickly learned the error of my ways to see that he was lucky to have her.) I thought she was amazing in this dance. Mitchell isn't... masculine and strong enough for me, at least not in Latin.

Miranda & Robert: I hate how Miranda and Robert talk, Miranda more so. Their dance was only okay for me. I think I was distracted by the tapping in the song that wasn't being interpreted on stage, but I guess that's a choreography thing. Also, I didn't really see the story that they were supposed to be telling. That's one number I won't be remembering.

Melanie & Marco: Kiss number 1. I thought this number would have been better if Melanie weren't wearing the really distractingly ugly dress that she was wearing. But I agree with the judges that they're one of the strongest couples in this competition. Melanie is a judges' favorite, and Marco has the great story (and I love his passion for dance that comes out with every performance). And kiss number 2 between Mary & Nigel. Eww. (And HILARIOUS. I love Cat Deeley's facial expression.) And Kiss number 3 and number 4... Poor Cat.

Ashley & Chris: What is it with jazz choreographers and zombies? Haha, in any case, I'm not a big fan of Ashley's but I thought she was really great in this Sonya zombie number. It is interesting to me how much every week the judges adore her, though. Chris was okay, but I didn't notice him much truthfully.

Clarice & Jess: I felt like this performance was not as smooth as you'd expect the foxtrot to be, especially set to "Fly Me to the Moon." It wasn't gliding for me, even though Mary Murphy claims they did it. Hmphh. The judges really loved it. I did not. I'd definitely not miss Jess leaving.

Ryan & Ricky: This piece was unexpectedly quieter than what I was expecting. But I thought that it was technically very impressive and I liked the concept. I've gotta say that the fabric rope thing was what I was staring at the entire time, though.

Jordan & Tadd: I think the best part of that performance was Tadd breaking across the floor in just his boxers. I felt I would enjoyed the routine better with a little less story, a little more dance. But it was fun.

My bottom 3 couples:

- Miranda & Robert

- Clarice & Jess

- Ashley & Chris

Actual bottom 3:

- Ashley & Chris

- Miranda & Robert

- Caitlyn & Mitchell (BOO!)

Eliminated:
Miranda and Robert -- I guess no couple switch-ups again...

SYTYCD: top 20 x2!

I got lucky this year. Top 20 is always that week where I'm left wondering where certain dancers came from. I watch all the audition episodes and try to make note of all my favorites but there are always a good number of dancers who make it into the Top 20 who are complete mysteries to me. Fortunately this year not only did they keep the "Meet the Top 20" without elimination episode (which was a GREAT addition in the last few seasons!) but after the first elimination week, the judges decided not to eliminate anyone! Doubly fortunate, too, because I was unable to watch episodes immediately, like I have in previous seasons, and so I am a little behind in my blogging about only my favorite competition show ever -- So You Think You Can Dance!

The couples:
Ryan & Ricky: She was already been touted to become a favorite but she really has been one of my favorites. Their Christopher Scott number in week 1 was fantastic! Their week 2 Mandy Moore number was powerful, but not something I would remember. They have a great, silly off-stage partnership, though. Reminds you of how the dancers on SYTYCD become such a family!
Caitlynn & Mitchell: She was good but I wasn't sure if I would remember her based on her dance week 1. And... I really didn't remember her from week 1. I definitely will remember her after week 2! It's also good that we got a chance to see the two dance together since Mitchell was injured week 1. In any case, Stacey Tookey is absolutely my favorite choreographer on this show now, and this was a fantastic example of why! I thought Caitlynn was amazing in this piece!
Missy & Wadi: Darn, I was expecting Sonya to choreograph to Judas sometime this season. Instead it was African Jazz. I don't like Missy that much but I wanna see more of Wadi! I think one of the reasons I'm having trouble warming to Missy is because she worked so hard at selling herself as a "sexy" dancer (her and Jordan both)... In any case, their week 2 cha-cha was... meh. The non-ballroom female dancers doing Latin is just not exciting for me because there's something so stiff about them. I still really like Wadi, though!
Yvetta & Nick: Nick is my favorite to look at this season. I think Yvetta is a dark horse, and I'm definitely rooting on her. I love how frenetic Bollywood is and I really enjoyed their week 2 dance. And Nick is too cute. :)
Miranda & Robert: I think these two talking will annoy me. Week 1 Jive -- I think that all jives fall short of Anya's. The concept of the NappyTabs routine reminds me of Hok & Jamie's hummingbird dance (Wade Robson choreographed, I think). Fortunately the routine was not too literally the concept. I thought that this was a fun routine and was impressed by both. NappyTabs routines without the lyrical hiphop sap stories are soooo much better. :)
Clarice & Jess: As of week 1 I was not sold on them yet. But week 2, they get Stacey Tookey (not only do I love her and her choreography, I loooove her song choices!)... I think this dance would've been better with a stronger and bigger male partner. Her legs were as long as he is tall! I don't think I could buy him as the "prince"; too little!
Jordan & Tadd- I was already a fan of Tadd and really enjoyed his 8 second intro. Such a cutie! Jordan is the other half of the "sexy" girls, so bleh. Haha. I like how Tadd ratted her out for being not-so-smart, cuz she looks kinda airheaded a lot of the time. Anyway, the Viennese waltz was really pretty. (Haha, another "Vietnamese Waltz.")
Melanie & Marco: Really awesome concept by Travis in week 1. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with their week 2 dance. I don't know if it was because sometimes they were not fully in sync or I did not like the choreography... In any case, overall I'm undecided about Melanie but I think she's a great dancer. Marco, I adore!! I also think that they are another great off-stage pair.
Sasha & Alexander: Alexander is a lil creepy. Sasha got a lot of airtime in the audition and Vegas rounds and I'm glad to see that I like her more and more! Alexander's interesting fact (looking at self in mirror) was totally not surprising. I feel like I could have predicted that NappyTabs would choreograph to "I'm Coming Home." Haha. I thought Sasha was fantastic, Alexander not so much. Just something so stiff and awkward for me. If he's safe after this week it's because SHE carried that performance.
Ashley & Chris: For week 1, I thought it was okay. I liked the song choice and it was fun but I thought Chris was way better. I don't much like Ashley... She smiles like a horse. In any case, the Broadway number was okay as far as Broadway numbers go.

My bottom 4:
- Missy
- Jess
- Alexander
- Ashley

The bottom 6 SUCKED. :( I would never have put two of those couples in the bottom three couples.
Actual 4 sent home:
- Wadi :(
- Missy
- Nick :( :( :(
- Yvetta :( :(

Saved:
- Ryan
- Ricky

Thursday Top Threes: SYTYCD edition

M: It's that time of the year -- So You Think You Can Dance. The only topic I have consistently blogged about on this blog! :) With 7 seasons worth of dances to choose from, what were your top three favorite SYTYCD routines ever!


Jennifer: Yikes, tough question because there have been so many amazing dances over the years!
1. Katee and Joshua - Hometown Glory (season 4). Probably not the most popular dance from this couple or Mia Michaels but something about it just gets me. I can watch it over and over.
2. Mark and Chelsie - Bleeding Love (season 4). Ah, NappyTabs back when the "lyrical hip hop" was new and fresh.
3. Allison and Robert - Fix You (season 7). I don't even like this Coldplay song and I was not a Robert fan at all, but damn, this was just a really good dance performed extraordinarily well.
Honorable mention - This is from season 1 of the Canadian version: Lisa and Vincent doing House. So good!

Mira:
1. Katee & Joshua - No Air (season 4). I think that Katee is for whatever reason one of my favorite female dancers, if not my favorite, on the show. This is my personal NappyTabs "lyrical hip hop" favorite.
2. Heidi & Travis - Bench Dance (Season 2). Season 2 was my first season of SYTYCD. Heidi was one of my least favorites throughout the show but this dance really changed my mind and I thought it was fantastic.
3. Billy & Ade - Mad World (season 7). Funny cuz I listed this as my 3rd favorite from that season, but it's a dance that I still think about from time to time.
Honorable mention - SOOOOOO many more, but I especially loved two group numbers, the ignored Seven Nation Army and the much lauded Calle Ocho in season 5.

SYTYCD: my favorite 5

Just one last post for the season... My favorite 5 dances of the season.

5. Lauren & Robert in the finale with the pillow (Dee Caspary)
4. Alex & Allison in "Hallelujah" (Sonya)
3. Billy & Ade in "Mad World" (Stacey Tookey)
2. Alex & Twitch hiphop number (NappyTabs)
1. Robert & Allison in "Fix You" (Travis)

Honorable mention: Adechike & Comfort in "Fallin'" (NappyTabs)

Yay for the Season 7 winner!

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SYTYCD: finale!

I did watch last week but I didn't post because well I was kind of bored by the dances in the first half of the show. And nothing really grabbed me in the remainder of the show. Still sad that Billy Bell was lost the week before but I guess that from the final 4 the right final 3 made it. Short of Alex, Billy Bell was my third favorite (after Lauren and Kent).

Kent: There was a looot of Bollywood this season! But Kent was fantastic in this. So much energy and fun! Love him...
His solo song was definitely appropriate for the finale. He's so cute!!
Yay for Kent and Lauren. I really want Kent's supposed crush on Lauren to be true! Really cute dance but I feel like since they're so young... more mature would've been better. I felt like they should be breaking out into jitterbug!
I really love Stacey Tookey and her dance concepts. This week's concept was deep but I didn't see it in this piece. It was a good piece but not one I'd really remember!

Lauren: She's my favorite of these final 3... Lo Fro... Not sure I completely cared for the concept of the NappyTabs routine but the choreography was great and I love Lauren in hip hop!
The Lauren and Robert piece was AMAZING...
It's super cute that her favorite dance was with Kent tooooo!

Robert: Wow. Mark and Robert? Nuts! I do love the mix up of more same gender dances this season. The two didn't just look like brothers, they looked like twins! I couldn't tell who was who... BTW, where was Sonya in the second half of this season?? It was all right but I feel Robert got set up for success. Haha.
His interview was a nice reminder of the amazing dance that he did with Allison!
Really enjoyed his piece with Katherine and Broadway so rarely appeals to me but that was really, really good. Impressed that he danced "cool" even with having split his pants.
The gangster dance was interesting... Reminded me of the paso doble. This one was okay for me...

- I heart Cat Deeley!!
- It makes me a little sad that this season was so clearly dominated by only contemporary dancers... What makes this show so great is the diversity of dancers brought together but the dancing was fantastic. Looking forward to the tour!!!
- Lauren FTW! ;)

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M: a real top 6!

Kent: I was expecting that song based on the concept... Everytime I watch Anya dance, I keep thinking about how fantastic she is and ignore her partner. Oops, but Kent was good, too.

Robert: Yay, emotional Stacey Tookey! Though I'm still not rooting for Robert, I'm not rooting against him either. Sigh, I didn't love it and I really was expecting to. But the music and the dancing was too choppy for me (even if the judges thought it wasn't) to really love the movement through it. But Kathryn is a gorgeous dancer and I can't wait to see her in the tour this fall. (Fingers crossed to getting tickets!) Oh, I didn't even notice that it was Kathryn going off to war.

Adechike: I liked Tyce's piece in that I really felt like I could see the music being played through their movement. Balls out dancing. :D

Jose: A lot of people got their genre this week (well not Kent)... Jose got really lucky in getting hip hop especially since he should've gone home last week. I thought that was really interesting music and composition for a hip hop piece but found it enjoyable. Didn't see the story at all in it.

Lauren: Okay, I usually don't bother with the solos, but her solo was OUTSTANDING! I really love her personality. I feel like that was a number in response to Kent and Neil's baseball number, also Broadway. But it was a fun number but I never remember much the Broadway numbers.

Billy: I really love Stacey Tookey and her concepts! And this was an amazing dance and showcased Billy and Ade so perfectly. This really was a perfect dance for Billy and I really liked how the two complemented each other perfectly in movement both in sync and independently.

Jose + Kent: Haha, it was cute. Kent needs to be on Broadway.
Lauren + Adechike: It's surprising to me that Adechike hasn't been in the bottom 3, not because he's terrible but just because he's never felt like the *best* dancer on the show. It was fine to me, *shrug*... The final pairing is not fair, though!
Billy + Robert: They better not get contemporary or jazz... Oh, heehee Bollywood! I'm still feeling gypped of not having gotten Alex and Adechike's Bollywood. It was really exciting to see these two dance together. They're both so technically talented and together they were great together. I'd like to see Billy + Robert make the Top 4 just for the opportunity to see them dance together again.

-- That brings my Top 4 to: Lauren > Kent > Billy > Robert. (Sorry Adechike and Jose!)
-- Loved how they had all the other dancers talk about each other. That was cute! :)
-- Kinda feel like I could do without Mia as a judge. I even like bitchy Tyce better.
-- Overall the solos were better this week than the entire season.
-- I wonder if Kent really has a crush on Lauren...

M: SYTYCD... top 5?! (actually 6)

WHAT? 3 injuries in 3 weeks! What the heck? :(

Lauren: I really love her in the way I loved Chelsie Hightower. Chelsie wasn't off the bat one of my favorites, but Lauren is just so likable and a fantastic performer and dancer. It's funny, I loved some of NappyTabs's lyrical hip hop dances, but I've super duper loved their real hip hop dances this week. I thought Lauren would look dwarfed by Twitch but the two together in that dance were... perfect!
Solo -- Her movement is great, but it's just weird that she never takes a moment to connect to the audience. Her hair and head was just swinging back and forth so frenetically!

Jose: He really needs to step up his technique... Allison is adorable; really glad we got to know her better this season... Sonya's piece was really interesting, really interesting but I kind of think Jose got away with not doing all that much. It was a really cool concept of having all the movement on the edge of the stage -- but Allison had all the tricks...
Solo -- Love how much Jose personality came out in this along with Jose's bag of breaking tricks. :) Probably my favorite solo by a small margin.

Robert: He's straight? Anyway, on Tyce's jazz routine -- it's interesting, the show has had soooo many conceptually strong pieces that dances that are fantastic like this one and so fantastically danced... well it's still forgettable for me. What really did stand out was seeing how strong of a dancer Robert is. He's a really, really great dancer. I just don't care much about him...
Solo -- Better than most? I dunno contemporary guys... Unless it's powerful (ie. Brandon and "O Fortuna") or super musical (Mark and "Bohemian Rhapsody") it's just... meh!

Adechike: Ooh, Adechike and Comfort! Nice, someone who won't be sweet and nice, but sassy. Yay! I couldn't see how hip hop would work with "Fallin'" but that really worked for me. I'm still very surprised to see Adechike still here, but I thought he really played into the part and the dance so strongly here. (To the extent of CRYING!?)
Solo -- It was to the manipulative cancer dance song! But not particularly impressed by Adechike in this...

Kent: Yes, Kathryn IS beautiful! Such a different level of dance that Sonya gave Kent vs. Jose. Uh, there was SOOO much dancing in that piece. I felt tired watching them. I love Kent!
Solo -- Not impressed by his solo that much, too much running around the stage for me.

Lauren + Robert: I really love Lauren. Barely noticed Robert in that salsa. I like how they're really touting this singer, first having her in a results show and now using that song in a dance.

Adechike + Jose: Legacy assisting on a Paso Doble?!? Um, yeah, the technique was just too imbalanced for me... And that seemed like a very short dance...

Aww... I would've loved to have seen Kent + Billy! Boo to injuries! HAHA, stepping! The two whitest guys ever! :) Not saying white guys can't do step, but... these are two contemporary dancer white guys! And of course Billy ends up not doing it so... it's Kent + Twitch. I'm not sure why but Kent just looked really comical to me the entire time.... REALLY comical. But the judges liked him??

Favorites: Lauren, Adechike
In danger of going home: Jose

M: Top 8 (or 7...)

Alex: Super duper bummed that he got injured. Now I'm at a loss who my favorite of the show is... Seriously have no idea! I really hope it's not a ruptured Achilles because then he'll be out for good. I really want him to be around for this entire season!!! Not fair!

Adechike: I'm not really sure why Mia has so much hate for him. Maybe it's because her love Robert is consistently ending up in the Bottom 3? But I love that Cat pointed out to the judges that they commended Jose for bringing his personality into Bollywood then criticized Adechike for doing the same! Cat Deeley ROCKS and deserves not only an Emmy nomination, but an Emmy!!! I only felt ho-hum about Adechike's jazz routine with Courtney, but thought his Bollywood was cute. Not enough to make me want to vote for him; fortunately for him, I never vote (at least not this early on).

Billy Bell: I was thrilled to see Katee Shean back (though sad that there was ANOTHER injury!). This dance was okay for me, but all I kept thinking about was how skinny the two are. It was hilarious that Billy spilled the beans on Jose's obsession with Lauren Gottlieb's butt. :) Billy has been staying a little under the radar for me. Every week there's something he'll do where I can't help but think "eek, how does he make his body angle like that?!" but other than that he's just been good and not attention grabbing...

Lauren: I was really impressed with both of her dances this week. Smoldering sexy dancing with Pasha, then really sweet and not juvenile contemporary with Kent. I was worried that her and Kent being paired would end up in a very immature dance, especially given the story of "after prom." However, I really loved the dance and didn't feel like they were annoying little kids. Totally felt like Adam Shankman was playing matchmaker to Lauren and Kent, though... Very weird.

Jose: He cracks me up. And I love how he took all the ribbing about his crush on Lauren (or her butt). Really liked his dance with Lauren, and his dance with Billy was enjoyable enough. Still not one of my absolute favorites, but he still cracks me up.

Robert: Yeah, I understand what Nigel is saying about Robert and how us fans are making things up about him. Here's the thing for me though: Robert just isn't genuine to me. His modesty and humbleness are so plastic and fake to me. As such, it was kind of fitting that he had a dance where he was plastic and fake. I enjoyed the concept of Robert and Kathryn's dance together. They were both fantastic, but of course I still loved the dance more because I love Kathryn. I also can't help but resent how much the judges love him and are nice to him, especially given weird harshness against other dancers. (Ahem, Mia-Adechike.)

Ashley: Really, really enjoyed the NappyTabs "ninja dance." Thought she pulled that off well. The judges liked her in the quickstep but I only felt ho hum about it as a whole. Of course it does really suck that two non-ballroom people got quickstep of everything. It'd at least be nicer of the judges to have given them the Viennese waltz or something! Anyway, judges love her, I like her, but still... I just don't know that I have a favorite without Alex in the competition!

Kent: Well... Maybe Kent might be a favorite... He's a contender at least. I love how he is full of youthful happiness and you can see he's enjoying every moment and trying to learn and soak everything in. It was smart to model him after Justin for the hip hop number with Comfort. Truthfully I thought he was no better or worse than Billy Bell doing krump. Definitely not at the level of Alex's hip hop last week, though of course it was a different kind of hip hop. As I already talked about earlier, I loved him and Lauren in Travis's piece.

Overall:

• I thought it seemed a bit unfair how the pairings/genres ended up. I thought it was absolutely unfair that Lauren/Kent got contemporary; whereas Adechike/Alex got Bollywood. Huh? Or Ashley/Robert with quickstep! It was really good to see Ashley finally get something not contemporary/jazz, though. Got to see more dimension to her dancing.
• I really hope Alex isn't out for good. :(
• One final thing, the judges are going absolutely WACKY. Mia completely disagreeing with Nigel and then Adam just taking a lukewarm stance (on Adechike). Adam talking about big and small with Kent. Or Adam talking about how uncomfortable he felt about intruding upon Kent/Lauren... I kind of feel the judges should be asked to be more concise in their critiques because allowing them free reign is making the show go in crazy directions, and not necessarily for the good!

M: my favorite show. :)

Wow, 6 guys, 3 girls... Girls are lucky cuz better odds for contemporary guys. And they're contemporary/jazz girls. Teehee and I like how Alex got Twitch for his partner; Alex has good facial expressions, too!

Adechike: Lauren for hip hop? Interesting switch up and I mean she is good at this. I'm glad that Adechike got a dance that got him a chance to show some personality, humor.

Ashley: New choreographer, cool! (Not the cultural she was hoping for. She keeps getting her contemporary genre. I think I would've bought the concept (female who can't walk on her own) if Ashley were a little more fluid and less powerful in her movement, but the movement together was really interesting. (Funny, Nigel said he liked the fluidity, which I thought there needed more of. Ha!) I really hope to see her in something DIFFERENT than contemporary.

Robert: + Courtney + Sonya? LUCKY. He was really good in this. Problem is he reminds me too much of Mark, which isn't a bad thing, but just doesn't make him stand out enough. He's Mark, but taller, more muscular, and well, fake modest to me. Shrug. Still not my favorite. (Hey Nigel compared him to Mark, too!)

Melinda: Meh, I wasn't that impressed, especially since I thought it'd be better after she said she was Colombian. Yay, I agree with Nigel on it was very rigid and just steps rather than a full performance. I don't think Melinda would've even make top 8 for me if it were a normal 20 contestant show. (HARSH Mia, but I agree!)

Lauren: and Neil are the perfect pairing aesthetically. I usually have mixed feelings about Broadway numbers. Anyway, I really liked that and it was a good number for Lauren.

Billy: + Kathryn + Stacey Tookey. Another fantastically lucky grouping! First song download from this season: Christina Perri, "Jar of Hearts." Also rewinded to rewatch because I really enjoyed that and I love Stacey's work!! (And Billy is an example of true modesty, humility! Think it's fantastic how his inspiration was Legacy!)

Jose: Now he got a true challenge... He is a fun performer to watch, regardless of how well he does the dance. Kinda miss Mary Murphy for ballroom/latin critiquing.

Kent: + Allison (reminds me of Ivan + Allison!). I heart Kent, I really do, but he totally looked like a kid dressed up in his daddy's clothes.

Alex: Haha, with Twitch! :) That was really good and I think Alex just jumped to the top of my favorites list!!! I love how they made fun of his ballet dancer-ness in the middle of that routine. Fantastic!!

Overall Comments:
- Favorite Dance: Alex + Twitch
- Where's Mary Murphy?? Thought she'd at least show up to choreograph or something!
- Really hope they keep some more partner gender mix-ups! That was a nice twist and a really, really fun routine! Especially since there are wayyyy more guys than girls.
- Who needs to go: Melinda! Bottom 3 with her? No clue!
- I wonder if the choreographers are loving having the all-stars back. Sonya has gotten to work with Courtney and Mark quite a few times now, and they are PERFECT Sonya dancers.
- Best solo: Robert, I think. It kind of all bends in my head...

M: SYTYCD top 10!

The actual Top 10 starts!

Cristina: Lucky for her (and the other girls), she got Pasha. That was a really awesome Paso Doble. But I dunno, it wouldn't get me to call in a vote for her.

Adechike: I do like the potential for emotional growth in him. I kept thinking about what a beautiful dancer Allison is and has become.

Alex: He's a really awesome dancer, but a lot of the movements made me confused about which dancer was the girl and which was the guy. But technically his movement is incredible. I do kind of wish he wouldn't talk, though. He kind of sounds like a valley girl...

Ashley: She could be the Katie of the season for me. I was very lukewarm to Katie, but well, no, she grew on me in week 1. I feel like Travis is the new Mia -- basically it's a win if you get them for your choreographer. (Agree with Nigel that it was totally contemporary not jazz!)

Billy: Haha, Billy B Buck... (Yay for Krump returning with COMFORT!) I feel like Billy Bell is too skinny and wearing too tight jeans to have real swag. HAHA. But still they were amazingly in sync.

Robert: I love that they've kept Anya around! No offense to him, but I was watching her the ENTIRE time. So... yeah. Wonder how many weeks I'll lament over Anthony not having made it onto the show? Oh well, at least the judges liked him.

Melinda: Stacey Tookey is SOOO cute! I have a major crush on her. Haha. I think the costume was a little too literal... I really liked that piece. And she did a great job.

Jose: If anyone knows how to help a bboy through anything, it's Kathryn. :) This dance made me smile throughout it... He was definitely dedicated to the performance.

Lauren: Wow lyrical hiphop without NappyTabs! (Maybe because they were in VEGAS!) "If I Were a Boy"!!! I liked that a LOT! :) Reminded me of Chelsie and Mark's "Keep Bleeding."

Kent: Haha, I love Kent. I thought he was definitely out of Kent world in this performance, but I thought he did a good job. And I love his personality!!!

Overall thoughts:

• The girls this season are SO weak and it's already down to 4 girls, 6 guys! But it's interesting because on the flip side, I think that the girl all-stars are stronger.
• My Favorite Dancers from week 2 (contestants): Kent, Lauren, Alex, Jose
• My Favorite All-stars from week 2: Kathryn, Anya, Ade, Courtney
• The judges are really making it a point to help the dancers to grow this year. I think that's kind of cool.
• Also really glad that they decided to keep the All-stars stay on stage after the performance for support.
• LOVE this show!

M: and it starts!

Top 11... YAY!

Billy Bell -- He definitely deserved to make it, even if he's the 11th. If I had to give up anyone for an actual Top 10, it'd be Rob or Adechike. In fact, I'd like to say I'd give up both of them for Anthony back. Okay, back to Billy Bell. I like him in the way I really liked Jakob last season. Just watching this first dance ("Footloose" choreographed by Tyce) I can see how this All-Star stuff will be really good. You're never going to worry about the partner, and you get to see if the "new" dancer can keep up with the "seasoned" ones. Anyway, I prefer Tyce when he does his lyrical stuff more so than his Broadway/Jazz...

Cristina -- Okay, I think it's unfair to be paired with Mark and Sonya... For anyone. Especially a Latin girl. (And hey, Nigel agrees with me!) I felt that Mark was using Cristina as a prop and something to dance around. So... I didn't really like it. But she seems kinda sweet (and is not a good singer)... Oh, and I didn't like what she was uh... wearing? Looks more like body paint. (Okay, the other judges really liked her.)

Jose -- Totally got lucky getting Comfort and hence hip hop. Comfort is so awesome in her genre, so it's fantastic she's back on the show. I really do like Jose, and I thought he was great in this routine. I really hope to see him grow the way Legacy did last season.

Adechike -- Maybe Adechike lucked out most, the most beautiful dancer (not person, but dancer!) on the show Kathryn and his genre choreographed by Travis!? I liked the dance and their performance of it. I love watching Kathryn dancing, though. (Hmm, the judges didn't like him much. *shrug*) Haha, I liked that he went to Laguardia HS, too. And he's a cute little guy. But I still miss Anthony!

Melinda -- Um, we already knew those "things American doesn't know about you" things. But she does look and smile like Kathryn... Ballroom with a partner who knows everything they're doing is so much more fun to watch.

Alex -- That was seriously a top 4 dance to me. I don't think anything will top that for my favorite dance of the night. The only thing I wish for was a little bit more power in their connection, but the dance was so powerfully danced by both Alex and Allison. SO awesome. It's really lucky that Sonya gave them softer music than her norm... I do like that he's a male ballet dancer and not contemporary. :)

Alexie -- HAHA! Adam Shankman in the '90s! :) Okay, she's half Twitch's size... I kinda thought that was a bit boring, though she's really cute and a good dancer.

Lauren-- Kinda reminds me of Mollie at first, but there is more maturity in her. How did she get her genre, too?! Pop jazz?! Ade is a fantastic partner, and I really, really enjoy Lauren's dancing. She performs and dances in the same way as Kathryn. (I keep comparing people to Kathryn!) I think I will like her! Definitely my favorite female... (Odd, Nigel said poor performance and chemistry, which I thought she was good at.) Haha, good luck 18-year-old, looking deep into who you are...

Kent -- And Anya?! Haha, Kent cracks me up. And I've got to say that when he dances, he is nothing like the talking Kent. Okay, though 18-year-old Kent, I'm glad they got you while you are young and still have all your youthful personality. You can tell he's a judge favorite; such a cutie!

Ashley -- I don't know anything about Ashley! Yay, I like Tyce slow pieces. Neil looks like a grown up little boy still. I dunno why, while I liked the number, it definitely made me think of ice skating on well, not ice and without skates. :) Yet another 19-year-old who isn't mature enough in emotion. (Haha, I like how when she said she thought she was in love right now the judges reactions were kind of... patronizing. "Little girl, puppy love" kind of reaction. Haha!)

Robert -- Courtney and African Jazz? Very interesting! Been very uninterested in him so far, but gotta say he was good here. Though I kept watching her. I definitely like African Jazz more than regular Jazz, I've gotta say. He's so fake humble to me, though. He reminds me of Mark and... hahaha, Neil, actually.

Overall notes:

• Favorite Dance: Alex
• Least Favorite: Melinda
• Guys are wayyyyy stronger.
• Top 3 (in no particular order): Alex, Kent, Lauren.
• Favorite All-Star: Ade, I never realized what a strong partner he is.
  
• I like the All-Star thing a lot! It's nice to be rooting for the new dancers and not have to worry about their partners letting them down.
• The judges keep saying that the dancers are unlucky because they have no "free" weeks for a "learning curve" but I think I disagree. Only 1 dancer has to worry about going home, the dancers don't have to worry about having a weak partner, and because they're the only one on stage being voted on you can finally scrutinize them and get to know them faster than when you have to "meet" 20 people at once and can't really remember 6 of them until they're gone anyway.
• They need to stop taking 18-year-olds if they're going to constantly harp on a lack of life experience and depth of emotion... AND TAKE ANTHONY!

sytycd season 7 changes!

After a few days of Nigel tweeting about changes in the upcoming season to include:
- Only ONE dancer leaves the show each week,
- Partners change every week,
- Season 7 will not have a Top 20,
- Dancers will not pick their dance genre...

... the final big change was announced today!
- Dancers will be paired up with "All-Stars" from Seasons 1-6 and dance in the genre of the "All-Stars."

Initially reaction -- Interesting... (Processing... Processing...) Wait, AWESOME! :) I think this could be really good because a) it gives us some more time with the dancers we loved so well in the earlier seasons, b) the dancers will be voted on individually as opposed to be voted on in pairs, and c) can't fault the partner for being the "weaker" dancer!

Additionally, the show was really a mess Season 6. Hosed up timing, no voting for the first few weeks, a finale with 6 dancers instead of 4... And though I love, love, love the show, having Seasons 5 and 6 so close together kind of made it feel less special somehow. Plus, WHY IS THERE NO TOUR FOR SEASON 6? Oh, oh! And, it made me sad because I think I actually liked the Season 6 dancers better as a whole than the Season 5 dancers!

In any case, here's my wish list of dancers I'd love to see come back in Season 7:
-- Russell (S6 winner, and I want him to work with Lil C as a choreographer!)
-- Katee (S4, loved, loved, loooooved her!)
-- Twitch (S4)
-- Chelsie Hightower (S4)
-- Janette (S5)
-- Jeanine (S5 winner)/Kayla (S5)
-- Joshua (S4 winner)
-- Anya (S3)
-- Dominic/Hok (S3)
-- Benji Schwimmer (S2 winner, lower on my list, but he was a very entertaining performer and swing would be fun to watch!)

I'm looking forward to a refreshing, new season! AND I WANT THE TOUR TO COME BACK!!!

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Postmortem

And you thought the blog was dead....of course So You Think You Can Dance brings us out of dormancy. Although, I mean, the last two posts here were about SYTYCD too!

First of all, congratulations to Russell! I personally was more a fan of Kathryn/Jakob/Ellenore but I predicted his win and am not at all disappointed. Overall, I thought this season actually had really a lot of great dancing. Sonya did some great stuff, Jason Gilkison was a welcome addition to ballroom, they finally brought Sean Cheesman and Afro Jazz onto the show (from the Canadian version) and Travis Wall is really growing nicely as a choreographer. If nothing else he has totally fantastic taste in music though...I loooooved that he used the Stars song "My Ex-Lover is Dead" and Portishead's "Machine Gun."

The dancers had more personality and I grew to like, or at least appreciate, all of the top 10, even Mollee. Kathryn/Legacy was probably my favorite couple since Katee/Joshua and I think Kathryn's actually my favorite female dancer of all time on the show. This was a huge surprise since Vegas Week cast her as the annoying squeaky crying girl that would probably be kicked off early. But I don't think she had a single bad routine, and I wish we had gotten to see more of her solos. The 2 she did I LOVED, which is odd because usually I think contemporary girls are all kind of the same, but I found her poise and grace to just be really gorgeous. I also really grew to really like Ashleigh, though I still contend that most of her partnership with Jakob involved posing gracefully while Jakob did all the jumps and turns and such.

Oh, and I really liked the "Meet the Top 20" performance show. It was really great seeing everyone in their own styles before beginning the competition. I hope they keep that idea going in future seasons.

But honestly, this season was really kind of a mess. There were just so many weird/bad/disappointing things that happened...
- Mia Michaels quits
- Ryan Kasprzak eliminated in Vegas
- Paula Van Oppen turns down Top 20 spot
- Billy Bell falls ill and drops out (hopefully we'll see him in Season 7 though!)
- Brandon steps in for Billy and promptly gets kicked off. (At least Nigel said he could come back too)
- No rotating judge (I do like Adam Shankman, but I'd like to see Debbie Allen and Lil C once in awhile)
- Noelle injured
- Ashleigh injured
- Russell injured
- No results show and voting for the first 2 weeks because of baseball
- Three tappers make it to the Top 20...and all are voted out by Week 3. So much for the season of the tapper
- Top 6 finale. Performance show was only 1 hour long, had no solos, no girls/guys routines, no rehearsal footage
- So there were only 6 voting weeks, as opposed to the usual 9
- Technical difficulties and taped replays during results finale (though Cat handled it all quite well)
- And last but not least, NOT A SINGLE MENTION OF TOUR! I don't know if they haven't settled the dates yet or if they're afraid the bad ratings means people won't buy tickets or what, but I mean, how are they going to advertise it now? I can't believe they would just cut it out completely, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see? I do follow basically everyone SYTYCD-related on Twitter so it's not like there's any danger I won't hear about it...

So still a great show, but in terms of programing, in general, this fall season experiment was kind of a failure and I hope they put it back in the summer where it belongs...

sytycd season 6 - top 14

I am seriously starting to really like Ashleigh and I really loved her and Jakob's NappyTab dance tonight. Ashleigh performed the heck out of it in my opinion. My only issue with her -- she keeps talking about this life-threatening illness that took her away from dancing for 6 years... WHAT WAS THE DISEASE?!?!?!?! I want to know!! :)

Kevin and Karen doing broadway was soooo awkward to watch. Plus, her underwear was a bright blue that didn't match her dress at all and didn't match his pants either -- very distracting! And his pants went up to her neck. It was weird; when they were dancing together, she didn't look so tiny, but when they were dancing separately in unison he looked like a giant!!!!! (I have a feeling Kevin may be going home.)

Noelle and Russell -- he got ballroom/foxtrot again!!! (At least without fat Melanie!) BTW, on Noelle and Mollee's former best friendship -- they used to tweet about loving each other and missing each other and that good best friendsy stuff, but that's stopped and they barely even hang out with each other according to Twitter!!! I believe it was all a gimmick to get more camera time going into the Top 20!!! Anyway, forget them, I still love Russell!!!

I really adore Tyce. I dunno why cuz he's so bitchy sometimes, but it cracks me up. I liked the blackbird routine, and I was totally expecting this song when Tyce talked about them being blackbirds, but definitely not THAT musical representation of "Blackbird." :) Tyce can be so weird and yet it works for me. I would've called for this routine. Victor actually showed personality this week though!

Oh no... So if Legacy and Kathryn got Paso Doble... That means Mollee and Nathan got Travis's contemporary and that's who Travis has been raving about on twitter. DAMN. That means they're safe yet again. Wait... No Ryan and Ellenore have yet to go, too. I really hope Ryan-Ellenore got Travis...

Okay onto Kathryn and Legacy... Pretty good. I much prefer the Paso Doble without crazy wigs or weird hair... And Legacy seriously cracks me up! I'm so glad the dancers this season have personality! Oh, but he's super duper skinny with nice arms.

Yay! Cat Deeley imitates Travis's Fozziebear voice. Travis's choreography is seriously filling a void I thought Mia's departure would leave. And I need to go download that song on iTunes now!!! :)

Mollee and Nathan... Meh, it was good but nothing special for me. Plus I hate Lady Gaga. I am starting to feel sorry for Nathan. I feel like he's such a little boy, but you can see that he is just that young and it hurts him emotionally!! Aww, what a cutie. :) But, I was really expecting them to scream during the dance... Hmphh.

Bottom 3 predictions? Kevin-Karen. And... I have no idea.

My favorite dances tonight: Ellenore-Ryan. Ashleigh-Jakob.
Next tier of dances I liked: Channing-Victor. Russell-Noelle. Legacy-Kathryn.

Oh well, we'll find out tomorrow. And GLEE tomorrow night, too! Yay!

sytycd fall 2009 - initial thoughts

Channing & Phillip: The Jitter. I felt this looked so amateurish. Kinda what I expect on DWTS, not on SYTYCD! Not a huge fan of Phillip, he seems so... I dunno, but like he likes himself a lot. I liked Evan's brother Ryan way more. :( I think I could like Channing, but to me it looked like SHE was leading the dance sometimes.

Ashleigh & Jakob: I've disliked Ashleigh from the beginning because she seems so fake and one-dimensional. But I gotta say, she was really, really awesome in this dance. This DANCE was amazing (love Tyce!) and... Jakob was incredible. I think I definitely have my season favorite already.

Ariana & Peter: I actually really liked the dance. It made me happy to see better hip hop already this season from NappyTabs. But I do agree that the two looked like they were doing different dances, but man... that was really fun choreography!!! Yay for fun hip hop! The two dancers I may not remember. (But I do think they danced better than the first couple!)

Russell &... Fat Melanie?!?!: Okay Noelle has the most annoying voice ever, though she's not as bad as hysterical girl. Is she the one that's precocious Molly's new best friend? Russell was my favorite coming into the Top 20's, and he's STILL one of my favorites. He was awesome. I really don't like this Melanie filling in business though!!! (Foxtrot was yawn for me, though.)

?!?! I'm MISSING FOUR DANCES!!! (My DVR screwed up somehow...)

Victor & Bianca: (watched on rickey.org) It's really interesting how talented the guy contemporary dancers are this year, but it's not a in your face Brandon/Will type of incredible but a quiet, beautiful lines and amazing movement incredible. Makes me happy. I really liked a LOT of elements that Travis used in this dance, way more than the necklace dance last season. Like Bianca tumbling in sync with Victor walking; the lift where he was holding her perpendicular from him; I don't even know how to describe some of the dance movement, but I liked!!

Karen & Kevin: Truthfully, I probably won't remember them much when next week rolls around. She got lucky cuz it's her genre and she definitely reminds me of Anya. But still, nowhere near as awesome as Chelsie Hightower was, in my opinion. :)

Ryan & Ellenore: Ellenore was my favorite female going into Top 20. Truthfully she just got lucky to get yet another dance with Sonyah... It was good, they were awesome, I enjoyed it... but I probably won't remember this one. Just nothing by Sonyah has particular seemed awesome to me since The Garden with Courtney & Mark... :) BTW, I didn't even realize who Ryan was until the end -- quite impressive, Mr. Ballroom/Husband-guy.

Pauline & Brandon: Haha, I totally agree with Nigel... That was totally prom couple... I feel bad for Brandon because he totally had everything stacked against him, since he wasn't supposed to be in this Top 20. Hopefully Nigel can get him a fair chance back next year.

(And now the rest was on my DVR...)

Kathryn & Legacy: Hysterical Girl. I'm amazed she was able to talk a full sentence without breaking into tears. Legacy irritated me during auditions because he kept talking about himself in third person, and his name isn't even a name!!! Legacy got so lucky getting hip hop his first week, but man Kathryn DEFINITELY surprised me. More fun hip hop, YAY!!!!

Molly & Nathan: Haha, they look so young, and I know they ARE young... but they look their ages which is kinda funny for me watching them disco. Disco on this show has become quite a thing to watch. Lotsa fun. But I felt like I was watching HSM does disco...

My bottom four would've been: Phillip, Brandon... uh, I don't know what girls. I guess, who they picked. NOT RUSSELL! It's not his fault he danced with FAT MELANIE!!

Anyway, not particularly sad by results. First few weeks are just kinda "huh?" weeks anyway. As in, "Huh? Who was that?" :)

Yay for SYTYCD! (Sorry for the long, boring post...)

fall 2009 - initial thoughts

My DVR is still full of shows that I need to catch up on (both from last season and this season) but because it was getting so full, there were many shows I had to catch up on to open up space for more recording... :) In any case, I had a few initial reactions to shows, old and new, that I've been following this season.

Old:
-- 90210: So very angsty! I think it's because Darcy... or whatever her name is, Annie?, is so very angsty this season and she was all sunshine and optimism last season. I'm not sure I like it, but I do like the strong bond forged between Naomi-Adrianna-Silver. Actually I've gotta say that as a whole I kind of hate it, but there's something about high-school angst tv shows that draws me in... Oy.
-- So You Think You Can Dance: Having to watch audition episodes week after week after week is kinda getting sucky. Plus, it's so weird to have a new season of it SO SOON. Especially since last season, while it had its moments, for the most part it was underwhelming. But, I'm glad to see that there are breakers and well, non-contemporary and non-ballroom dancers auditioning! Plus I'm still waiting for Natalie to come back!!
-- How I Met Your Mother: This show is so reliably fun. I really do hope we finally get to meet the damn mother this season. I'm not sure how many more seasons of NOT meeting the mother I can go through. But I do love Barney. And it'll be interesting to see how Barney-Robin develop, but I really hope that doesn't become the focus of the show.
-- Greek: I caught up with all the old episodes right before this season started. SO much fun. This is my happy show of the moment.

New:
-- Melrose Place: Not really sure why, but I'm enjoying this show. Maybe it's just that I never get to watch soap operas anymore and this show is the perfect night-time soap opera: psychotic characters, tons of secrets, murder, betrayal, and good-looking people. Plus the character that's the most fascinating to me is Ella, who I sort of see as a new generation Heather Locklear. BTW, I didn't actually watch the original MP when it aired back in the day, though I've caught a few episodes of it here and there on Soapnet in the past few years.
-- Glee: I was expecting this to be my happy show of the moment, but no, it's definitely a lot darker than a happy show can be. I love the musical numbers and truthfully, I watch just in anticipation of those. I like the main teacher-guidance counselor romance undercurrent, hate the psycho wife, love the psycho cheerleader coach, and am very amused by the awkward football coach. I could care less about the kids, but the gay kid is the most interesting by far.
-- The Beautiful Life: This show has already gotten canned, thank goodness! Well, it's mostly a thank goodness because if it didn't get canceled, I would probably continue to watch it. So, I really am glad that the network is taking this off of my insane list of tv shows I watch. :)
-- Community: I had high hopes for this show but so far it's been amusing at spots, still has good potential, but hasn't really delivered. We'll see.
-- Accidentally on Purpose: One episode was enough, I do believe I have the willpower to stop watching this show.
-- Eastwick: Uh, I might continue to watch this, but mostly because it kinda satisfies the part of me that was sad to lose Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle (and yes, I may be the only person in the world that was sad to lose those shows).

Still waiting to be watched on the DVR:
-- Grey's Anatomy
-- Gossip Girl
-- Heroes
-- House
-- The Good Wife
-- Cougar Town
-- Modern Family -- have high hopes for this one!!
-- Flash Forward

So You Think You Can Dance season 5

It's still my favorite reality competition show but somehow I haven't found myself as excited about Season 5 of SYTYCD. Nigel has mentioned it on occasion, but there haven't been many breakout personalities and as we're going into the finale next week, I can't really say that there are any dancers that I really LOVE. Last season I was a huge huge fan of Joshua and Katee and Mark and Chelsie and season 3 I was all about Pasha and Sara and Sabra. I recently watched So You Think You Can Dance Canada season 1 and LOVED Vincent and Nico and Allie.

But this season? I think Brandon and Kayla are hugely talented but their personalities aren't the most engaging to me. Phillip and Evan have great personalities but proved to be not as versatile. I think overall my favorites have been Jeanine, Janette, and Ade, but I haven't really been particularly attached to or rooting for anyone. Seeing the four routines from last season on the results show tonight really hit it home...I was so excited to see those routines and those dancers back on the stage. I'm going to the tour again this year but not sure who/what specifically I'll be excited to see.

Also, I feel like the choreography this season has been a little underwhelming, especially in terms of variety. In the Canadian series they debuted quite a few new styles like house, dancehall, African jazz, Go-go, capoeira...some were more successful than others but it was refreshing to break out of the contemporary-jazz-ballroom pattern. This season in the US, they did do an African group routine, the classical ballet (specifically for Melissa though), and the Russian folk dance (that crashed and burned) but nothing else new. And they haven't even done styles that have been regulars in the past like krump, West Coast swing, lindy hop, salsa, mambo...what gives?

Oh and I think I'm kind of over Tabitha and Napoleon. I really loved No Air and Bleeding Love last season but their literal interpretations of music and all the props are just getting old. Hip hop was in a pretty sad state this season overall. I was glad to see Dave Scott and Shane Sparks return but unfortunately they had to choreograph for a lot of the weaker dancers. Can JabbaWockeeZ come and choreograph?? I don't know how hard popping and locking is to learn but their performances are always SICK.

Which brings me to another complaint - the dancers themselves have been kind of a lot of the same. A lot of the specialists were kicked off early so the top 10 was almost entirely contemporary. I know that contemporary dancers tend to be the most versatile and it's harder to expect "street" dancers to pick up other styles (see Phillip) but I guess I was just a little disappointed that there was no Dominic or Gev or Joshua or Twitch or Miles (popper from the Canada series) in the bunch. I know the talent pool can't be controlled though so I guess I can only hope that season 6 brings some more hip-hop/b-boying/ballroom talent.

Of course it hasn't been all bad. Cat is as wonderful as ever, and it's a travesty she was snubbed AGAIN for the Emmy for Best Reality Show Host. Wade Robson came back to do a couple of really great routines, Doriana and Tasty Oreo have actually done some pretty good work for a change, and Travis, Louis Van Amstel, and Stacey Tookey have been welcome additions as choreographers. And of course, in the end, it's still just about a great group of dancers working hard and it's still a thousand times better than American Idol. And it doesn't end here...Canada season 2 starts in August, and then US season 6 in September. Still lots of dancing to come...