SYTYCD finale!

[jlh]

I'm going to use least night's finale to talk about the season as a whole. I don't usually do a lot of recapping here because I've found _sytycd_ a great place to hang out in the past, but this year, well, *sigh*. In the past, I've appreciated their take on the show, and looked past the hard-core fangirls' extreme preference for the reads-gay contemporary male dancers, like Nick, Travis, Neil and this year, Mark. (Note, not Will because he wasn't pretty and fey enough.) In these previous years the wank didn't show up until after the last episode as their pets made it to the top four. But this season, it started with Will's surprising exit, when the Will fans backlashed hard against the Mark-loving majority, and then increased with Mark's exit the next week with a lot of folks declaring they wouldn't watch the finale. I think it's unfortunate that they gravitate so strongly to one type of dancer, when the show is really about showcasing all kinds of dancers—and they judge all the other dancers in very contemporary-dance ways. When they make posts about whether Nigel is anti-gay or whether the dancer with the best technique should win, I can't help but feel they're missing the point. Hopefully, next year there will be more than one dancer that captures their fancy, and that dancer will go a long way and be a judge favorite, so the comm doesn't get so contentious.

Okay, on with the show!

• Seeing that top 20 routine by Shane Sparks: Yes, we miss Shane, and Wade Robson, and there really seemed to be fewer choreographers this year that led a sameness to the show week on week. Tabitha and Napoleon were great, but they shouldn't have had to choreograph two routines almost every week. And they absolutely should have found a new pop choreographer to replace Wade—there were no pop routines this year, which is crazy.
  
• When Ari, Meg and I went to grab some takeout for dinner, we talked about how none of the couples were really magical, like Benjelle or even Natalie and Musa from season 2, or Dom and Sabra from season 3. Courtney and Gev came closest, and you can see that in the "Wishing on a Star" routine. Josh and Katee are very good dancers, but they didn't have any more chemistry with each other, despite dancing together every week but two of the competition, than they did with anyone else.
  
• Oh, Comfort and Twitch—and you see why Nigel gets so excited to have a hip hop girl on the show. And when I said Tabitha and Napoleon are great I mean it—the "Bleeding Love" routine is going down in the annals of this show, and rightly so.
  
• MARY DANCING. So while she shows what a hot mama she is, I'll also say, yay Dmitry, and there's another thing we were missing this year: the hot Russian ballroom dancer. Watching those guys work their way through hip hop was always a good time, and they were more than willing to jump into the contemporary routines. Also? MARY DANCING.
  
• Oh the pas de deux. It was so joyful—as were all the routines now that the pressure of competition is gone, and that's what seeing the tour is like, too—and Will's still my favorite dancer of this year. He's so fucking gracious, god. And they got the turn!
  
• Sonya rules my world and an excellent addition to the stable of choreographers. "The Garden" was not my favorite routine of hers, actually; I liked the Matt and Kourtni thing better, but I was glad for all the Mark fans that they were able to see that one again.
  
• Hahaha Five Guys Named Moe. I love this because it really showcases my two favorite dancers, Will and Josh. I always found it amazing that when the guys split into two groups, Josh was with contemporary dancers Will and Mark, not his fellow hip hoppers Twitch and Gev. I've always wanted to see some group things from Nigel, and I hope he does more of them!
  
• NIGEL DANCING. So I can't imagine anything that Nigel wants to do more than dance with a bunch of kids, for reals. Also, nice Nicholas Brothers reference. It was SO adorable and now I really want to see (a) Nigel tap dancing with Paula (b) Paula choreography! I'm with Debbie that all of the judges should dance!
  
• Debbie's plunge into Lil'C talk was awesome. I missed her this season, but getting Will was worth it.
  
• The "No Air" routine further proves my point about Josh and Katee—fantastic dancers, but not particular chemistry between them even when they dance a routine like this. That said, this is another of my personal faves from the season. The previous two—Mia's "Mercy" and Jean-Marc's Celine waltz—just aren't my thing, though I can see why they'd be favorites.
  
• FORMER DANCERS!!!! So I'll stop and say, YAY DONYELLE for working with Shane Sparks on a movie, that's super exciting! Work as a choreographer, and you don't have directors asking you to lose 20 pounds just to look cute, know what I'm saying?
  
• OMG JOSHUA!!!!! So Josh was definitely my favorite of the top four, really my favorite after Will because you can't not smile while he's dancing, you know? And like Sabra and Nick and Benji he really embodies what the show is all about, which is going outside your comfort zone and putting everything into it. Even though Will didn't win, I feel like I'm three-for-three this year for reality show winners.

Comments

[jm-cats.livejournal.com]

I'm glad someone said something about the finale of SYTYCD because I almost felt compelled to say something myself.

* The lack of any Wade/Shane routines was a true disappointment for me. We do not need to see Tabitha and Napoleon (though they did come up with some nice routines) with hip hop every week nor did we need Tyce doing a Broadway routine almost every week. The variety was lacking with the exception of the new Aussie (can't remember his name) and the lovely Sonya.

* Uh, the question my mother and I were asking was: Where's Sabra? Seriously, I can't find anything on the girl.

* It was great to see Mary dancing and this year, thankfully, Nigel actually came through with the dancing unlike the crap they put together last year.

* I was disappointed that we didn't see a little more variety in the "favorite" dances. Granted they should showcase the final four but I look at season finales as a chance for us to see everyone. I think there were some good routines outside of what happened in the Top 10 and by a variety of dancers. But it was good to see 'The Garden' again as well as 'Bleeding Love', Twitch/Comfort, 'Mercy,' and the pas de deux.

* The BEST part of the entire show was the SYTYCD class reunion. I actually screamed, leaped over things to get closer to the TV. I wasn't expected it and loved every minute of it. I couldn't even keep up with all the past contestants in there. Can someone please give me a list? Now why can't Idol do something like that instead of limiting every season finale to past participants whose names start with "Kelly" or "Carrie"?

[jlh.livejournal.com]

You'd think that they'd be fighting off the choreographers with a stick. What exposure! What an opportunity to work with interesting dancers! I mean, Tabitha and Napoleon, now known to the general public—that we know Shane and Wade enough to miss them, it's all amazing. We don't need to see anyone every week, and I'm sure Mia was really happy to have Sonya take up some of that burden, esp since her style is so different.

The comm comes through! Someone posted an amazing status update on all the dancers from all three seasons (http://community.livejournal.com/_sytycd_/641488.html)! Sabra and Kameron are in Australia, apparently.

Yeah, that tease about Nigel and Cat dancing last year and then the animation was LAME.

You make a good point re favorite dances! I don't remember now what they did last year, but in season 2 the "favorite" dances were chosen by the top 4 contestants themselves, so they were even more focused on the top 4. That said, a lot of the time the sentimental favorite dances feature at least one person from the top 4; that was certainly true in season 2 where I just wanted them to put Benjelle on the stage and have them redo every single dance. There's a massive poll going on now on the comm so someone is finding all the routines on youtube; I'll be thinking about that as I watch them and see how many of my faves from past seasons were from earlier rounds and did not feature any of the top 4.

Go to the comm for Ivan's movmnt vlog—all those dancers were sitting around backstage with nothing at all to do for hours. Travis admired Anya's dress, and then said, "don't worry, when she's done that dress is MINE." Gotta love Travis.

Comparisons between idol and sytycd end up comparing the singing and dancing worlds more than anything, which is why I find the comparisons illuminating. Singing is so much more about making a lot of money and being a star; dancing is so much more about having a long career as a dancer. The Idol needs to impress us directly; the dancer needs to impress choreographers to get hired as either a dancer or a junior choreographer. Also Nigel can keep so many more of the dancers in his stable, so it becomes this sort of rep company. Trotting them out on Idol Gives Back not only was canny promotion for the dance show, but also renewed that group feeling you get from sytycd, that Simon always feels is manufactured on Idol, because Simon is jaded. I mean, who wasn't excited to see Travis choreographing in the auditions? Or see Benji and Dmitry working up routines last season and this? And in the news you'll see that not only is one of the s1 dancers now a judge on sytycd Canada, but Natalie is a choreographer on sytycd Greece!

It's so fantastic, Nigel has really put in place a way for the folks at home to follow dance and give the dancers on his show both real jobs and showcases. sytycd is probably the biggest reason that Nigel being the focus of "TPTB" Idol bitching drives me around the bend, but next year they won't be able to do that anyway, as he's leaving Idol to focus on sytycd and new projects—which Ari predicts likely means developing a fall show that doesn't suck.