So You Think You Can Dance - Air Date June 14
Oh, it has been brought! This is how you do it, NBC! Take the most talented people who audition for the show and set them against each other in competition. Not the debacle we got with the final 12 from Last Comic Standing, but some damned fine dancers putting on a damned good show.
The competition has started in earnest now, the top 10 men and top 10 women pairing up until only one is left by the end of the season.
It's a little different this season, with the biggest change being that the men and women got partnered up from the beginning, and will remain with each other until one of them is gone from the show. There are pros and cons to this approach. One the one hand, it lets people build up comfort levels and chemistry with one person, so we can see them improve with each other. On the other hand, random partners chosen each week helped keep things fresh. Really either way works.
The way the voting works is great. The audience votes for their favourites, and the three couples with the least votes will have to come back the next day and perform their solos for the judges, who will then vote off one man and one woman. Normally I'm not a big fan of audience voting, but this could work quite well. Unless overwhelming numbers of audience members decide to vote for the worst of the dancers, thus forcing the judges to vote off someone more deserving. That would be a stupid thing to do though if we want an entertaining show. Please, I'm begging you. Don't vote for someone just because you like them or they're "cute", vote based on the dances!
Before we get to the dances, I'd like to take you back to another time, perhaps a simpler time. Back to a time when giants trod the earth and magic was in the air. In this far off time and far off place, there lived a simple man who had no other desire than to bring joy to the hearts of the people. A humble man whose legend has grown through the mists of history. Some call him the Lord of the Dance, but to the world he will always be Knowlton Haaland.
Two weeks ago I said that in his case I disagreed with the judges and thought he at least deserved to go through to the choreography round but because his audition was so hilarious I felt the judges didn't give him a chance. Hmmmm. Judges not liking hilarity? I think I'm seeing a reality trend here... But that's beside the point. We got a glimpse of him again today, and Mary Murphy said she regrets she didn't fight harder for him. Oh sweet vindication! I'd also like to mention that more people come here searching for video of him than any other search keywords period.
Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. Now lets's get to the dancers, and why not look at them couple by couple?
Benji and Donyelle (Hip Hop) - Wow, what a way to start off the show! Benji is a load of fun to watch and Donyelle is oozing talent. She was expected to do well in this style, but he's a swing dancer and surprised everyone with how well he did. Hugely entertaining, this was one of the better dances of the night.
Ivan and Allison (Club Salsa) - Oh. Easily the worst dance of the night as far as I'm concerned, and that all false completely on Ivan's shoulders. Allison did great, performing a salsa as she did with what appeared to be a mannequin. If Ivan's goal was to completely remove every last bit of sex appeal possible from a salsa, then he was wildly successful. If he's not in the bottom three, then I'm going to call for an end to all audience voting.
Jason and Aleksandra (Contemporary) - I think Aleksandra did well. What I saw seemed good, but hot damn, I could not keep my eyes off of Jason! There was a better complete dance to come later on, sure, however as far as I'm concerned Jason was the dancer of the night. I loved every move he made and it was all so much sexier than Ivan could ever dream of emulating.
Jaymz and Jessica (70s Disco) - Excuse me? "Jaymz"? No. That's just wrong and I refuse to participate in this affront to the English language. What is it with "creative spellings" in names? It's just confusing to everyone and don't you dare get pissy if people don't spell it to your liking. Jaymzzzzzzzzzzz. Can I call you Jymm for short?
I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. If you find yourself with some time on your hands, click on this link and have a good laugh.
Gjymmye's and Jessica's dance was okay, I guess.
Stanislav and Erin (Paso Doble) - What, no Michael Jackson moves? It worked so well for Drew Lachey on Dancing With the Stars. Then again, Stanislav didn't need such things. He's a ballroom dancer, so a ballroom dance was naturally his forte, and he was fantastic. Erin not so much, but I enjoyed her. A little more experience with other styles should help shake everyone loose, and she did better than expected based on the video of their rehearsals.
Dmitry and Joy (Hip Hop) - What do I know? I'm not a trained dancer, I only know what I like and I had a good time watching this dance. The judges didn't care for it so much. They're the ones with the trained eyes. It'll be nice to see them perform different styles.
Ryan and Heidi (Viennese Waltz) - Ryan left me a little cold, but Heidi held me captivated. I thought she was beautiful and so graceful in her performance. She wasn't one of my favourites in the auditions. What a difference a dance makes.
Ben and Ashlee (80s Disco) - Flashdance is one of my favourite movies (yeah yeah, don't worry, there are a lot of classics on that list too), and Flashdance... What a Feeling is one of my favourite songs. If you're going to dance to this song on So You Think You Can Dance then you'd better be showing it justice. Urgh. Neither Ashlee nor Ben had any experience before this dancing with a partner, and hoooo boy was that obvious. The best parts of this performance were when they weren't touching, and that's not a good thing. If the audience votes based on performance, we should be seeing more of these two performing their solos very soon.
Travis and Martha (Broadway) - The dance of the night! A very fun and very entertaining dance performed by two very talented people! Easily the frontrunners after this night. The great thing about this is that they set a level for everyone else to reach for, so next week should hopefully be beter across the board.
Musa and Natalie (Mambo) - Musa is a great breakdancer, but with no formal training he has the hardest climb ahead of him than everyone else in the competition. This dance could have been better, but after Travis and Martha anything else could only be a letdown. These are likeable people though and could do well and go far based on audience voting alone.
All in all a wonderful show. The next few weeks look very promising indeed and I plan on being there for every minute of it.
The competition has started in earnest now, the top 10 men and top 10 women pairing up until only one is left by the end of the season.
It's a little different this season, with the biggest change being that the men and women got partnered up from the beginning, and will remain with each other until one of them is gone from the show. There are pros and cons to this approach. One the one hand, it lets people build up comfort levels and chemistry with one person, so we can see them improve with each other. On the other hand, random partners chosen each week helped keep things fresh. Really either way works.
The way the voting works is great. The audience votes for their favourites, and the three couples with the least votes will have to come back the next day and perform their solos for the judges, who will then vote off one man and one woman. Normally I'm not a big fan of audience voting, but this could work quite well. Unless overwhelming numbers of audience members decide to vote for the worst of the dancers, thus forcing the judges to vote off someone more deserving. That would be a stupid thing to do though if we want an entertaining show. Please, I'm begging you. Don't vote for someone just because you like them or they're "cute", vote based on the dances!
Before we get to the dances, I'd like to take you back to another time, perhaps a simpler time. Back to a time when giants trod the earth and magic was in the air. In this far off time and far off place, there lived a simple man who had no other desire than to bring joy to the hearts of the people. A humble man whose legend has grown through the mists of history. Some call him the Lord of the Dance, but to the world he will always be Knowlton Haaland.
Two weeks ago I said that in his case I disagreed with the judges and thought he at least deserved to go through to the choreography round but because his audition was so hilarious I felt the judges didn't give him a chance. Hmmmm. Judges not liking hilarity? I think I'm seeing a reality trend here... But that's beside the point. We got a glimpse of him again today, and Mary Murphy said she regrets she didn't fight harder for him. Oh sweet vindication! I'd also like to mention that more people come here searching for video of him than any other search keywords period.
Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. Now lets's get to the dancers, and why not look at them couple by couple?
Benji and Donyelle (Hip Hop) - Wow, what a way to start off the show! Benji is a load of fun to watch and Donyelle is oozing talent. She was expected to do well in this style, but he's a swing dancer and surprised everyone with how well he did. Hugely entertaining, this was one of the better dances of the night.
Ivan and Allison (Club Salsa) - Oh. Easily the worst dance of the night as far as I'm concerned, and that all false completely on Ivan's shoulders. Allison did great, performing a salsa as she did with what appeared to be a mannequin. If Ivan's goal was to completely remove every last bit of sex appeal possible from a salsa, then he was wildly successful. If he's not in the bottom three, then I'm going to call for an end to all audience voting.
Jason and Aleksandra (Contemporary) - I think Aleksandra did well. What I saw seemed good, but hot damn, I could not keep my eyes off of Jason! There was a better complete dance to come later on, sure, however as far as I'm concerned Jason was the dancer of the night. I loved every move he made and it was all so much sexier than Ivan could ever dream of emulating.
Jaymz and Jessica (70s Disco) - Excuse me? "Jaymz"? No. That's just wrong and I refuse to participate in this affront to the English language. What is it with "creative spellings" in names? It's just confusing to everyone and don't you dare get pissy if people don't spell it to your liking. Jaymzzzzzzzzzzz. Can I call you Jymm for short?
I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. If you find yourself with some time on your hands, click on this link and have a good laugh.
Gjymmye's and Jessica's dance was okay, I guess.
Stanislav and Erin (Paso Doble) - What, no Michael Jackson moves? It worked so well for Drew Lachey on Dancing With the Stars. Then again, Stanislav didn't need such things. He's a ballroom dancer, so a ballroom dance was naturally his forte, and he was fantastic. Erin not so much, but I enjoyed her. A little more experience with other styles should help shake everyone loose, and she did better than expected based on the video of their rehearsals.
Dmitry and Joy (Hip Hop) - What do I know? I'm not a trained dancer, I only know what I like and I had a good time watching this dance. The judges didn't care for it so much. They're the ones with the trained eyes. It'll be nice to see them perform different styles.
Ryan and Heidi (Viennese Waltz) - Ryan left me a little cold, but Heidi held me captivated. I thought she was beautiful and so graceful in her performance. She wasn't one of my favourites in the auditions. What a difference a dance makes.
Ben and Ashlee (80s Disco) - Flashdance is one of my favourite movies (yeah yeah, don't worry, there are a lot of classics on that list too), and Flashdance... What a Feeling is one of my favourite songs. If you're going to dance to this song on So You Think You Can Dance then you'd better be showing it justice. Urgh. Neither Ashlee nor Ben had any experience before this dancing with a partner, and hoooo boy was that obvious. The best parts of this performance were when they weren't touching, and that's not a good thing. If the audience votes based on performance, we should be seeing more of these two performing their solos very soon.
Travis and Martha (Broadway) - The dance of the night! A very fun and very entertaining dance performed by two very talented people! Easily the frontrunners after this night. The great thing about this is that they set a level for everyone else to reach for, so next week should hopefully be beter across the board.
Musa and Natalie (Mambo) - Musa is a great breakdancer, but with no formal training he has the hardest climb ahead of him than everyone else in the competition. This dance could have been better, but after Travis and Martha anything else could only be a letdown. These are likeable people though and could do well and go far based on audience voting alone.
All in all a wonderful show. The next few weeks look very promising indeed and I plan on being there for every minute of it.
posted by Tabby at 10:30 p.m.
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