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JQ_NW_American said on December 16th, 2009 at 3:32 am

“What? No one’s watching our ludicrously planned fall So You Think You Can Dance? Umm… Call Gordon Ramsey and that chick from How I Met Your Mother. We’ll burn this like an Osbournes special.”

1. Kathryn Or Russell 3. Jakob 4. Ellenore or Ashleigh 6. Ryan

I was talking to my friend (my Canadian friend; you probably know her) and she only watched seasons 2 and 5 and she was like season five was probably as good as it could get, which just made me realize how disappointing this last two seasons have been. Depending on the season, I doubt anyone other than maybe Kathryn or Russell would’ve made it into the top 10 had they been cast then in stead of now.

As of 2009, SYTYCD is just an overproduced mess. Someone really should’ve told Nigel not to quit his day job, because it was the only thing that kept him from sticking his fist deep into the used-to-be cool, breezy demonstration of talent packaged with Cat Deeley.

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ambitextrous said on December 16th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

Long-time reader, first-time commenter. MGK, I love reading your recaps, and I find that I agree with your assessments more than any other SYTYCD-blogger that I’ve read. You were the one who influenced me to watch S2 of the Aussie version of SYTYCD, which I thank you for because I agree with you that it was the best season of SYTYCD anywhere ever.

However, I do have to say that your labeling of your recaps as “Inferior American SYTYCD Bloggin’” reflects a mindset that I dislike intensely, and which Nigel and co. possess all too frequently, which is: deciding before watching the actual product what angle/bias they want to promote. It’s subtle, but I do think that it has affected your critical eye in how you’ve looked at the season.

It’s true that the new stage this season has (even after they figured out how to light and shoot it), overall, detracted from the dances, making them less involving and more “dry.” It’s true that the contestants themselves this season are way too aware of what roles they have to play up in order to gain votes. It’s also true that Nigel and co.’s production this season was piss-poor in planning and execution (no voting in the first two weeks, a rushed top 6 performance finale instead of a real top 4 performance finale).

But I guess what I’m trying to say is that there WERE individual dances to be celebrated this season, where the production, camerawork, choreo, performance, and judging were all top-notch in the same way as S2 of SYTYCD:AUS (like Gilkison’s cha-cha last week for instance), and I feel like your celebration of such dances was all too often lost under your snarky banner of “This American season sucks.” Anyway, food for thought, hopefully. I still look forward to any and all of your SYTYCD recaps. Peace.

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I think that Russell probably deserves to win on the strength of the overall season; there were so many dances that he carried entirely and so many that he just sold on the basis of his strong dancing and tremendous performance quality.

Kathryn is definitely #2; she’s had a strong season throughout, and the past two weeks especially she just killed everything she touched. Really, I had her pegged as the strongest girl from about week three, but her last few performances still surprised me.

Jakob just lacks that emotional connection to the performances, and given we’ve had dancers like Allison and Jeanine in the past who were the same age as Jakob, I’m not buying age as an excuse for his lack of expression. Technically brilliant, sure, but dance is as much about artistry as athleticism, and he just doesn’t bring that extra depth to anything he does.

Ellenore and Ryan are really both just kind of there at this point compared to the other three. Ellenore is solid and quirky and fun, but wasn’t on the same level of amazing as Kathryn, and while Ryan’s been a good partner, he’s had fewer standouts than the other two. As much of a fan as I am of good ballroom, especially good ballroom guys, (insert cheering for Pasha here) Ryan was pretty lucky to beat out Legacy to make it here, although I do believe he proved he deserved that spot with his performances this week.

Ashleigh… yeah, was just outclassed. Shoulda given her and Ryan a Latin dance just to let them own the floor and be done with it.

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However, I do have to say that your labeling of your recaps as “Inferior American SYTYCD Bloggin’” reflects a mindset that I dislike intensely

Dude, that’s a joke based on the fact that Canada has it’s own SYTYCD and as a Canadian I must inevitably consider all other versions of the show dramatically inferior. It is my patriotic duty!

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This season has been a scheduling mess culminating in what never felt like a finale. I hate the new stage, and the lack of cycling judges is only so-so (and I like Shankman plenty). The repeated begging to please vote is all very telling.

That said, there’s been plenty of talented choreo and I was pleased as often as not with the dance. But man, chalk this up to a failure and move back to summer where you rule.

A three person finale? Gah!

–M

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