THREE EXAMPLES OF SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE‘S BRILLIANT “FIX WHAT ISN”T BROKEN” STRATEGY
1.) The new stage, which is large, impersonal, with a dark background so the dancers tend to fade into the background if not lit exactly right (and it’s hard to light constantly moving people exactly right) and difficult for the cameramen to shoot well, and lacks the balcony/stairwell that so many choreographers have used to good effect
2.) Switching the format so the top 20 and top 18 eliminations aren’t done by phone-in vote, but instead solely by the judges, which of course forces one to ask as to why they had anything but a top 16 in the first place
3.) Begging Paula Abdul to come on the show because god knows I need to see a washed-up drunken “celebrity” on my teevee
Is there a master plan here? Because seriously, I don’t see it.
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you are so gay sometimes
I really hated that stage when they used it for the finale—it’s like having graduation at someone else’s school. It’s so big and stupid and makes the dancers look so small. The stairs and panels gave such a nice dynamic. The way of filming was so weird, angle-wise during the finale that it was rather alienating. Beyond this, the lack of the thrust component, I think, removes the audience and creates an entirely different performance feeling.
I don’t like the Shankman addition—he has no true purpose in being there in that he’s so passive. If you really really listen to what he says, then yes, he’s a very good judge. However, if you’re just looking for a flag of approval or disproval, he doesn’t provide that. Tonally, he’s just a one-note. Mia went nuts or reamed people. She was a good judge.
As for Paula: hell to the no. Why do you think we brought in Toni Basil?
Also, good on you, Canada, for having a guy in 4th position. It’s infrequent.
As with 99% of the SYTYCD commentary, you’re right on the money. I did like the introductory show, extraneous as it may be.
My friend was interviewing applicants for a position at their company. She nicknamed her co-interviewer “Shankman” since he thought that every applicant, right after they were interviewed, was the “very best applicant *ever*!”
Also, fuck those Windows Vista screensavers backing them up.
Actually, I did as well; I thought it was a good way to make sure every dancer got a decent introduction so the “didn’t get a video package during auditions” syndrome doesn’t kill dancers right out of the gate. Not all of the dances were great (that Sonya number was, ahem, not good) but whatevs.
Of course, it featured Billy Bell and apparently he came down with an “illness” of some kind and has been replaced with some hip-hop guy named Brandon, who I think might actually be the mysterious moustache man from Vegas! So whoo.