Picture: So You Think You Can Dance
Okay, I am a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance. There I said it! And I'm not ashamed either so piss off! Yeah, I've been watching the thing evolve since the first season and without a doubt the show has been getting better and better, slicker and slicker, and packed with better and greater talent every season. See, on this show - as opposed to that dreadful dance of the zombie-like Z-list "celebs" show aka Dancing With The Stars -- the people can... actually dance. And really well. This is where DWTS goes shopping for the professional dancers on its show. Anyways, as S6 got underway the judges were all blathering on and on about how S6 was the best cast ever and was gonna blow S5 away. BUT... so far this season has been, well, kinda sucky actually. Here's what's gone so horribly wrong:
The BIG Stage
Apparently since this is the first time they're airing the show outside of the summer season, they figured they needed to up the ante. So, a bigger theater and a much bigger, much louder, much busier stage that... well, often dwarfs the dancers. They've lost all the intimacy the former stage created with the dancers. They've pushed them away from the studio audience and the viewing audience. Part of the show's appeal was getting to see the dancers sweat.
Picture: Paula Abdul Drunk
The Paula Abdul Schtick
Nigel Lythgoe is obviously a very smart man. He's wealthy beyond all belief. And so as the executive producer of the show one must assume he knows what he's doing. Perhaps he has an understanding of what makes Paula Abdul's crazy, drunken mind tick that the rest of us lack. Perhaps he understood that a public appeal during the show would thrill her enough to sign on. BUT here's what the "4th Judge's Chair For Paula Abdul" achieved for the rest of us:
1. It made the show look pathetic. You know, like the too old guy at the bar - the gals rebuff his advances because his desperation is palpable.
2. It made the other judges out to be second-rate nobodies that they were putting up with only because they couldn't sign anyone as wonderful as Paula. Mary Murphy is awesome. And Adam Shankman being added as the third judge on the panel was perfect. And not only because it hopefully means I won't ever again have to listen to L'il C pontificate or elucidate on the ramifications of the obfustications... that was buuuucccckkk - ever again. No, also because Adam too is, in fact, awesome.
Picture: SYTYCD Judges
The Lackluster Cast
Oh they can go on and on about this bunch as much as they want but the fact of the matter is that there isn't a star among them. Seriously. And as to the talent level, I'd also have to say they haven't fared so well either. For cripes sake they had not 1... not 2... but 3 tap dancers on the show this time around! They've never even had one before and for good reason. Who in the hell learns to tap these days? Morons. That's who. Plus the hip-hop dancers don't even hold a candle to the stars of previous years - like Twitch for instance. Nor do the contemporary dancers. Or the ballroom types. They're all good but the greatness ain't there. And personality? Cripes Lacey Schwimmer had more personality in her little pinkie than this whole cast has. Her brother, S2 winner Benji Schwimmer, had more in his little pinkie nail.
I Hate To Say It... But They Need More Mia Michaels
Oh, that hurt me. Hurt me a whole lot. Mia Michaels is bar none one of the most pretentiously sucking on her own fumes artsy-fartsy pain in the ass people on the face of this here planet. And yet.. and yet she creates some of the show's most brilliant routines. And being a total pain in the ass does make for good reality TV too. And she has been far too absent from the proceedings so far.
Where Is The Magic?
I think it's a combination of several of the points above that has sadly led to the distinct lack of magic being produced on the stage this season. There hasn't yet been a breath-taking moment or a routine danced that anyone will remember after the show is over. And that is a real shame. This is the first time the show is getting a chance in the "real" TV season and it's having one of its worst showings to date. Ah well. Here's hoping some of these people start to emerge from their cocoons and turn into butterflies and some of these choreographers decide to bring their "A" game and... Paula Abdul stays away. Please.