Less Traveled By Makes All The Difference

Ross: Hey, I know what’ll get us up on a platform!
Monica: What?
Ross: The routine!
Monica: Ross, we haven’t done the routine since middle school.
Ross: Hey, when the snippy guy sees the routine, he’ll wanna build us our own platform!
Monica: Was it really that good?
Ross: We got honourable mention in the brother/sister dance category! Look, it’s almost fake midnight, do we really have any other choice?
Monica: Okay, let’s do it. Mom and Dad are gonna be so faced!

So I trudged into the office kitchen this morning and put my $1.25 (RIP OFF!!!) in the machine for my morning caffeine kick. And instead of getting one 20-oz. Diet Coke, I got two! It`s gonna be THAT kind of day, is it? Hmmm. . .

Well, Grey`s Anatomy is on hiatus (is it wrong to say I`m relieved? That show wears me out and I can`t stand Izzie), Studio 60 got cancelled (::weeps::) and every other show I load onto my Replay T.V. is done until August or September. What does that leave?

So You Think You Can Dance!

If I am completely honest, SYTYCD is my favorite reality talent show over American Idol. I`m willing to admit that I think AI has run its course; it`s produced several mediocre celebrities and only a couple of true standout talents, and now the show`s become not much more than a ratings juggernaut freak show. The producers waste more time focusing on bickering judges, gay-ass hosts, and borderline-psychotic talentless contestants. SYTYCD has city-wide cattle calls (with the people who make through to the second round getting handed a ticket to Vegas) and a few weirdos too (who can forget The Sex). But for the most part, they spent their initial episodes focusing on the wide range of ridiculously-talented dancers they find and all the different styles of dance there are out there. It`s fascinating to me.

SYTYCD is also produced by AI Executive Producer Nygel Lithgow, and Nygel himself serves as a judge. He can be a pompous, British ass like Simon, but I like him. I can`t help but think that AI may be his moneymaker, but SYTYCD speaks to his true passion, as he used to be a professional dancer. Ballroom champion Mary Murphy (kind of a scary cross between Paula Abdul and Fran Drescher) also judges, and the third seat rotates between people like hip-hop choreographer Shane Sparks (I`ve learned his choreography in dance classes) and lyrical genius Miah Michaels. Point being, there`s always a group of people who all actually know what they`re talking about, give useful critiques, and cover a wide range of dance styles.

I think another reason I am in love with SYTYCD is that I am able to take a step back from this show and enjoy the pure entertainment factor of it. I mean, I know enough to notice when one dancer is better than another. But I am a trained singer first, and that makes it hard to just sit back and enjoy AI. I am overly critical, there`s hardly anyone or anything that impresses me. And I`m mostly annoyed the whole time by the judges` opinions, song choices, and how stupid the American public is.

And okay, yeah, I also consider myself a dancer. I`ve taken ballet and jazz and modern, I rock at tap, and I can learn just about any combination taught at an audition or rehearsal. But after watching this show, I realize I am so far from anything any of these people can do. Especially things like Latin ballroom or crumping. They way these dancers use their bodies is inspiring and intimidating at the same time, and I know in my lifetime I will not have a need to dance like these people do. But putting all that aside, watching this form of art gets me pumped up and excited about what I do.

I know I sound like a mondo-cheesy loser to a lot of you right now, but I. love. this. show. It`s in the third season, and this is my second year to be hooked. Ballroom champion Benji Schwimmer won last year (half a million dollars and a Vegas contract), and he was my favorite the whole season. This year it`s really up for grabs, as there are 9 boys and 9 girls (2 got voted off already last week) who are beyond talented.

The way the show works is there are an equal number of boys and girls. They are paired up, and for the first 5 weeks of competition, the couples learn and perform a new dance combination together every week. Ballroom dancers are paired with break-dancers. Lyrical dancers are put together with hip-hop dancers. So it`s pretty much guaranteed that each week, at least one half of each pair will be severely challenged by the combination. And there`s everything from lyrical to hip hop to waltzing to tangoing to crumping, pop-and-locking, even show pop (musical theatre choreography), on and on and on.

The show`s focused on much more than just shining in your specialty. It`s about being able to learn new styles, working with a partner, displaying showmanship, and of course, the X Factor. Except on this show, the X Factor is both how each dancer appeals to the American public and also having chemistry as a `couple` and making that come across in the dancing. And wow, is it obvious when it`s not there.

Anyway, for the first five weeks, the pairs perform on Wednesday. Then American votes, and we are left with the bottom three couples on results night (during which there is a large group number). These six dancers must then `dance for their lives`, which involves doing a free-style dance of their choice for 30 seconds. Then the judges decide which boy and which girl from the bottom three couples will go home. Since it`s not necessarily a boy and girl that have been dancing together, contestants often find themselves with new partners when theirs get sent home. Ouch. The vote isn`t left totally up to America until they are down to 10 dancers. Then it`s every dancer for themselves.

I like that I am able to notice things that these professional dancers notice, when certain steps are missed or when the pair aren`t together. I can appreciate the complexity of the kind of steps they`re doing. But there`s no way I could watch a couple do the jive and tell if the boy isn`t “rocking into his front-steps” or if a crumper isn`t popping their wrists correctly. AND I LOVE IT.

Anyhoo, I am going to start doing mini-reviews each week, if for no other reason than I love this show and I need the writing practice. But I encourage all you creative, performing types (or those of you who like seeing guys in tight pants or girls in low-cut sequin leotards) to tune in on Wednesday nights. So you think you can dance!!