So You Think You Can Dance 5

[handful_ofdust]

So...forgot to talk about this thus far, or maybe just talked about it too much IRL for it to slop over. Like most people, I found the presentation of the male-on-male ballroom team last week pretty disgusting, though not for the reasons Nigel and/or the show wanted me to. In all seriousness, neither of them was strong enough to go further, and I think that Sonja had a point when she raised the issue of ballroom being inherently geared towards one person playing "the girl", which meant that their constant trading of that role came off as awkward and confusing. But MAN, am I sick of the whole "you're not being MASCULINE enough!" vibe coming out of Nigel...particularly weird in his case, since he's been a damn dancer for forty years or so, so I think he's probably met a few extraordinarily professional gay guys in his time (even beyond, say, Blake, Danny, Brandon, Tyce D'Orio and Adam Shankman). And playing "It's Raining Men" as an intro cue, with "It's a Man's (Man's Man's Man's) World" as an outro? Lame, guys. Lame.

That being said--some very strong people this time 'round, especially in terms of the girls, which gets me thinking (as ever) about how badly they're inevitably going to handle the girl-on-girl portion of the finale show. I agree with my ex-student Chris Bird (over at mightygodking.com--he's been posting "Best Of" clips, BTW, so check it out) that this has, hands down, traditionally been the most inequitably choreographed dance routine throughout SYTYCD U.S. (and Canada)'s entire run(s); see giving Katee and Courtney the point-and-leap-with-bustles-on BS vs. Joshua and Twitch getting to trepak their brains out, last year, or Nico and Myles getting caporeira vs. Allie and Natalli doing the "go-go". So--how to fix?

This year, I'd love to see somebody give the final two chicks something firey and martial to work with: Flamenco, for example (see the flamenco "duel" in the all-flamenco version of Carmen), or a Tai Chi/Wing Chun/rhythm gymnastics variant (call it "Peking Opera"). Man, that'd rock. Or better yet, reserve Sonja or Mia Michaels for this slot, RFN. No Tyce! Not ever again!

Comments

[autobotsrollout.livejournal.com]

FYI: Travis is straight.

Yes, I know. I didn't believe it either at first.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

What, seriously? Man. My gaydar must be getting extremely faulty.

Okay: Travis out (ha ha), Blake in, as above. Thanks for the heads-up.

So...obviously, always dicey to say before Hollywood week--but do you have any favorites, going in? And man, was Seattle some sort of massive talent sink, or what?

[autobotsrollout.livejournal.com]

I'm also pretty sure Danny is straight. Neil is gay, though, as is Nick from season 1. But anyway.

I haven't seen tonight's episode yet, so I don't even know if Philip Chbeeb showed up again (although in the dramatic opening for the first episode there was a popper who looked and danced like the Chbeeb, so I'm hoping), much less how bad Seattle was. But Gabi Rojas, Brandon and Natalie from "nearly made it in last season" fame, and older-brother-who-tap-danced-with-the-whoopee-cushion will all make top 20, almost certainly.

It's harder to call hip-hop dancers because A) the show historically does a bad job of representing them properly and B) it's always tougher to tell how well they adapt to choreo. But I'll go out on a limb and say that Silky is probably in, and if the Chbeeb showed up he's in too.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Well, thank God I was right about Nick, anyhow!

Yup, Phillip is back, and this year his has a girlfriend--a contemporary dancer who also got through to Vegas. They're extraordinarily cute together, which will make for good drama if/when she gets cut.

As for the rest: Yeah, I'm with you re Gabi, Brandon and Natalie (and possibly Silky). Not sure about Kasparczak brother the elder, but one of 'em's almost definitely making it.

[autobotsrollout.livejournal.com]

Older Kasparczak has his own successful dance studio, and is actually one of those dancers who actually doesn't need the boost the show can provide. He's almost a ringer, which is why I think he's a lock for top 20.

Chbeeb is a lock too. Oh, and although he only got a few seconds on air, Alex Wong is really really good. Search him on the Youtube.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

He's almost a ringer

Orrr...they might be bait-and-switching us to ratchet up excitement for his little bro, so that we'll be rooting for at least one of them to get in. The drama thing, right?

But yeah, after the whole last-minute pneumonia episode, I can't see Phillip not getting in. And he's obviously been exposed to other styles in the interim, so--gravy.;)