Friday, June 18, 2010

So You Think You Can Dance Week 1

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Nigel Lythgoe before having his hair wings clipped.

Alright,
I'm going to attempt a little commentary on this year's SYTYCD. Just remember, I'm not a dance expert.
I still don't know all the names of all of the dancers this year and I'm too lazy to look them up right now. I should get to know the names better within the next few weeks. Here are some general thoughts on this season and this week's show...
  • I'm not completely sold on the concept of having only 10 dancers (which ended up being 11 - d'oh!). They had to shake up the format, but pairing up a shorter list of new dancers with random stars of yesteryear doesn't really work and they said it themselves last night. The dancers have fewer weeks to grow into the show and work with different dancers and choreographers.
  • I'm not loving the dancers that they chose. Kent is the farm boy/contemporary dancer. He's got personality and I kind of like the way he speaks his mind, but he's not Benji Schwimmer when it comes to all-out showmanship. I find the girls completely forgettable this year. The tap dancing woman seems to be the most interesting, but I find tap dancing solos about as exciting as having my teeth cleaned at the dentist. Alexi, the girl who got voted off last night, seemed like a competent dancer, but she got stuck with a dreadful piece of light hip hop choreography by the dreadful "Nappy Tabs" or whatever they're calling themselves. There are too many contemporary dancers and not enough street dancers or untrained dancers. There's no grit this year, except for cute Jose.
  • Where the heck is Mary Murphy? She is so needed on the panel of judges. I know she seems like a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but she knows her ballroom dancing and she can cut someone down to size if their legs are turned in, etc. On a bright note, host Cat Deeley seemed tipsy last night. She kept blurting out random comments at the beginning of the show. I liked her sixties bun too.
  • Alex Wong is too perfect for the show. You just know that he'll keep cleaning up on technical merit and the judges will keep telling him to emote more. Subsequent weeks will be filled with video montages of him talking about "This amazing journey of discovering my true emotions."
  • I do like seeing some of the returning dancers. I like Neil, Pasha and Anya (see below), and Twitch. Anya's looking more like Geena Davis every week.
  • What's up with choreographer Sonia? Does everyone think she's a genius because of her edgy persona? I thought her two dances this week looked too much like work we've seen before - especially the dance with Mark that looked exactly like "The Garden" from two seasons ago.
Alright, those are my two cents. Feel free to agree/disagree. I'm hoping that the show will grow on me. I did like the African dance at the end of the show this week. Enjoy the clip of Anya and Pasha. Man, Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe makes no attempt to hide the fact he's a dirty old man.

3 comments:

  1. Of course I have my 2 cents! I don't really like Nappy Tabs they are too full of themselves.
    Ditto for Mia Michaels (I can't make-up my mind, I'm leaving, I have cancer maybe not,I'm coming back) especially when she makes that scrunched up face.I miss Mary too!

    Still too early to talk about the dancers. I like Jose. I too was happy to see some of the old dancers.

    Sonia tries too hard; we all know we can be weirdos and look relatively normal. She works really hard for her look, almost super modelish (ooohhh! new word!)
    I knew people like her in the 80's (heck we all looked kinda like that) but now they look like accountants....

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  2. Not sure what I think of this year. I miss the not so great dancing you get with two amateurs and then to see their growth. The dancing this year seems more polished (well it's only one show so far). I do like Mia Michaels but I miss Mary Murphy! Lets see what next week brings.

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  3. You gals hit the nail on the head. I'll keep an open mind and keep watching.
    Erin

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I'm a slightly off-beat Toronto-area teacher who enjoys writing and photography. I come from a family of collectors and now I'm dragging my own family around to yard sales. It's just a bit of fun. Enjoy the scenes.