So the latest, slightly truncated, somewhat less crowd-pleasing season of So You Think You Can Dance is over, and again a less-technical dancer with great charisma has taken the title. I'll confess, I was a Russell fan all along, though I would have been equally happy to see Jakob win. What did I not love about this season?
I didn't love that Ashleigh was put through even after missing a full week of Top Ten dancing. I like her (as a dancer. That pink lipstick has got to go), but come on. In seasons past, the contestant who couldn't dance didn't advance - and that's the dancing life. If you can't go on, your understudy gets the part.
I didn't love that the first couple of weeks were crammed into single episodes (and hence, no audience votes; I don't vote myself but hey! how can you choose America's Favorite Dancer if America doesn't get to weigh in?) due to baseball playoffs. I would rather only have one season per year and not have my schedule futzed with, thank you very much.
I didn't love that they went from eight to six to, surprise! the end. I missed seeing separate numbers choreographed for the top girls and for the top guys. And we all missed out on A LOT of group routines what with not having several results shows.
I didn't mind that they cut a lot of rehearsal/backstory out of the last few weeks. Focusing on the dancing is not a bad thing on a dance show. That said, again, it's America's Favorite Dancer and I'll bet behind-the-scenes pieces generate higher vote counts. Wish they would bring them back, but with less "what America doesn't know about whoever" and more "we're practicing our asses off and here's some footage to prove it."
A thing I did love about this season was the Top 20 Performance Show that kicked everything off. That was (mostly) a treat. And it also showed why tap dancers haven't been big winners.
My wishes: keep it a summer show, and take more time with the dancing. Maybe bring back season 1's "boot camp." Kids who are only 18 and have spent 90% of their lives in a dance studio do not have much life experience to share, and haven't, for the most part, developed anything resembling a distinct personality. So let's focus on what they do superlatively well, which is DANCE.
Loved the STYCD post. Especially your use of the word "futzed."
Posted by: Robyn Emus | December 18, 2009 at 09:33 PM