Good Night, John Boy!

A new season of So You Think You Can Dance, another few months of motion sickness spurred by the director's quick-cuts, pans, and zooms. Oy. We all agreed last season that the new stage sucks, right? Well, add to that the fact that the show is trying to be %134 hipper with the directing and this season is already driving me nuts. The new stage is distracting as hell. I hate the lights and crap behind the dancers and I really wish they would just set up a stationary camera. Call me crazy, but I'm much rather watch the dancers the way the audience does. Only on the old stage... I think I miss the staircase most of all. It gave the choreographers something different to work with...

Anyway, along with the gripes and vertigo, this season of SYTYCD has completely overhauled the format (instead of 20 dancers paired together, each of the top 11 dancers will be paired with an all-star from past seasons). So far? I'm torn.

The Good: I think the overall quality of the performances is greater on average. There really weren't any total trainwrecks last night, which I suppose is a good thing... (I do rather enjoy the trainwrecks, thank you very much.) I think the best part about the new format is that a good dancer doesn't get tied to a crappy dancer for weeks on end. In that same vein, dead weight gets cut quicker because you don't have the popular half of the pair carrying the other half (Randi, Ashleigh, etc). The real formatting boon? The lack of Mary Murphy! Saints be praised! She is not missed. I really liked Mia as a regular judge last night (even more so than when she was a guest judge in the past). In all honesty though, if it means I never have to hear Mary scream or hear about the Hot Tamale Train ever again, I'd be thrilled to see an inanimate carbon rod filling the third chair.

The Bad: On the other hand, the new format doesn't really allow for slow growth (either of skill or popularity). The fact that we're starting off with the top 10 (er, 11) means that the learning curve has been essentially eliminated. You have to be awesome right off the bat or you're gone. The absolute worst part about the new format is that we won't get to see the chemistry and trust develop between the dancers as they spend the first several weeks together. I loved seeing that bond and I think it carried a lot more weight and impact when pairs were split up. They were teams and genuinely cared about each other when one was on the chopping block. Now? It's ever dancer for him/herself. Plus, when you only have three days to spend with someone, that doesn't allow for a real connection to develop. That said, the chemistry between the dancers last night was better than expected (for the most part), but I just didn't really care about the pairs in and of themselves. Which, I guess is a good thing because they'll all be paired up differently next week. I don't know, it just kind of feels too easy for the performers to be paired up with a pro. I really liked it when two specialties were paired up for a style that neither of them had ever done before. It adds more variety when the prospect of a contemporary dancer and a hip-hop dancer having to do the paso doble is on the table. Sure the results are sometimes catastrophic, but that's part of the fun.

The new format has its plusses and minuses. I think if I had started watching the show back in season 1, I'd be more welcoming to the change, but I only found this little gem a couple of seasons ago and hadn't gotten sick of the old routine. (Last season was a bit of a disaster for completely different reasons that the basic format.) I guess we'll see how it pans out, but I found myself missing the old format quite a lot.

At any rate, as I am ranked somewhat lower than an executive producer on the show, my opinion doesn't really matter, so I'm going to dive right in and just deal with it.

Here is how I would rank the routines last night:

1) Kent--Cha Cha by Tony and Melanie
2) Cristina--Jazz by Sonya
3) Robert--African Jazz by Sean Cheesman
4) Alex--Contemporary by Sonya
5) Adechike--Jazz by Travis
6) Melinda--Jive by Tony and Melanie
7) Jose--Hip Hop by Nap Tab
8) Lauren--Jazz by Mandy Moore
9) Billy--Broadway by Tyce
10) Alexie--Hip Hop by Nap Tab
11) Ashley--Contemporary by Tyce

Controversial ranking? Probably. The judges may have thought Alex's contemporary routine was the most sensational routine in the history of the show, but I don't even think it was the best of the night, and it certainly can't hold a candle to Sonya's last season routine (Tore My Heart) with Jakob and Ellenore. Maybe it's my distaste for contemporary, but I just wasn't blown away. I quite enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but for my money, a half-way decent ballroom number beats a spectacular contemporary routine any day of the week.

Here's the routine by routine breakdown, in order of my preference (for the performance, not necessarily the person):

KENT
Okay, I don't usually go for folksy smalltownishness, but I simply can't help myself. I adore this kid! The fact that his first dance was ballroom didn't hurt either. I never saw Anya's season of the show, but she's pretty damn amazing. Oh my god, it was so much fun to see this experienced, sexy femme fatale paired up with sweet, innocent farmboy Kent. I was a little apprehensive about his ability to pull this off, but I am SO VERY GLAD I was wrong! For me, performance is a lot more important than technical precision (not that his technique was bad or anything, but it wasn't perfect). His footwork was determined, it not exactly perfect, his technique impressed me, but far and away, the best part of this routine was his commitment to it. He absolutely went there and gave 100% and loved every minute of it. That wins him about a million points in my book. He played the part even though it's about as far from who he actually is as possible. He had the Latin ballroom blue steel face, the swagger, the maturity, the machismo and it all worked for me. It was a super sexy routine, but finding that country bumpkin sexy was just a tad out of my comfort zone. Anya was sexy as hell, and while Kent kept up with her shockingly well, I just couldn't quite deem him alluring... it's just a tad statutory to say something like that about John Boy incarnate. He's just so wide-eyed and innocent! That said, Kent FTW!

CRISTINA
Second in line in the annuls of "I'm expecting that to be a disaster, but it totally wasn't!" we have Cristina. [This just in: I started this post the day after the competition show and am now picking back up with it after the elimination, so adjust expectations accordingly.] Honestly, Cristina is the only girl this season that I even remotely like. Again, my penchant for ballroom wins her a lot of points, but as with Kent, I think it was her sheer commitment and determination to the piece that won me over. She totally went for it and managed to keep up with her partner beginning to end. Call me crazy, but I liked this piece better than Sonya's other piece. What generally determines for me how much a liked a piece is how inclined I am to watch it again, and this one came in above Alex's routine. Anyway, Cristina isn't my favorite competitor, but she's far and away my favorite girl and did NOT deserve to be in the bottom three. It's such a shame that the solos screw over the ballroom dancers so royally. It's a style that's predicated on having a partner, so when there is no partner, there's not much that can be done. I think now that they have the new format, they should just have Anya or Pasha pair up with the ballroom dancers for the "solo". Oh wait, Cristina is the only ballroom dancer. There are certain aspects to this show that I do not enjoy...

ROBERT
...is decidedly pretty to look at and happens to be a very talented dancer to boot. I don't generally dig the African Jazz pieces all that much, but I really loved this one. It seemed to have more sophisticated choreography than I'm used to seeing and Robert and his partner were almost uncannily in sync. And once again, it was clear that he was having a blast doing it and that goes a long way for me. I think my only issue with Robert is his "surprise" face. It doesn't seem all that genuine, even though I think it actually is. His personality can be a bit over the top, but I kind of like that. I didn't really notice him in the tryouts, but he and Billy were placed front and center for the "Meet the Top 11" exhibition episode, so apparently Wade Robson sees some serious potential in him as well.

ALEX
It was a wonderful routine set to a terrific song, but I wasn't bowled over in the same way the judges were. I have to assume that seeing it in person was much more spectacular... Anyway, there's just something about contemporary dance that bores me. Maybe I just don't know enough about dance to appreciate it fully (and that is absolutely a possibility), but it just seems so lethargic to me. I like the dynamism and energy of the other styles. Also, and again, the fact that the entire style seems to be based on "Look how much emotion I'm pretending to have!" drives me a little batty. When I watch someone truly enjoying a jive or getting caught up in a sultry samba, I feel it and believe it to be genuine. Some contemporary pieces strike me the same way, but by and large, not so much. Anyway, Alex is pretty adorable himself and is truly an amazing dancer. I could definitely see him go all the way. I'll be very interested to see this ballerina (ballerino?) do some other styles, so I'm glad he'll be around for a long time.

ADECHIKE
I hate to put Adechike this high on the list, because really, the judges were totally right about his performance, but Kathryn brought so much to the table that it saved the entire routine. I honestly don't think I looked at Adechike even once. Unlike my favs, he didn't commit to the character at all, and while the steps themselves were well-executed, he didn't bring any charm or personality to the performance at all. Which is a serious shame because Kathryn BROUGHT. IT. She looked absolutely stunning in that red dress and it made it kind of hard to care about Adechike. Also, as much as I love Travis, this routine seemed oddly familiar... oh wait, that's because it's already been done. Travis' take was better than the original, but the basic concept has been done (and really wasn't all that spectacular the first time around). I was a bit surprised that Adechike wasn't in the bottom three. He certainly deserved to be there.

MELINDA
Okay, the judges didn't like this routine (and apparently neither did America), but I actually liked it. Melanie's technique wasn't spectacular or anything, but Pasha is gorgeous, the routine was fun, and she really did give it her all. I've seen much worse jives (ahem, Russell and Mollee (mostly Mollee) get much better reviews in the past and much better jives get much worse reviews (season 5, Evan and Randi (I couldn't find a clip)). Her feet really were kind of pigeon-toed, and I've never been a fan of tappers, but the fact that she isn't a contemporary dancer and this wasn't a contemporary piece helps a lot. I like fast routines with a lot of energy, and jives are both. By no means the best jive I've ever seen, but she committed to the character and I quite enjoyed the back and forth between her and Pasha.

JOSE
He's a sweet kid, and it was a good routine, but I wasn't blown away. The fact that the b-boy just happened to get hip-hop for his first routine reinforces my theory that the show isn't quite as random as they claim, but at least we didn't have to watch him try to keep up with Anya. I think my main quibble was with his b-boying in the routine. If you're going to be a b-boy, you'd better be pretty damn impressive, and this just wasn't. He held his own, which is admirable, but Nap Tab's hip-hop often leaves me underwhelmed. It'll be interesting to see how he does next week when his style isn't hand-picked for him (or so I assume). The devil on my shoulder hopes he gets the dreaded quick step. Muahahaha!

LAUREN
Toward this end of the list, the competitors really suffered (and benefited, actually) by their all-star pairings. They benefitted in that the all-star basically saved the routine, but overall, they were upstaged by their partner. Lauren is a fine dancer and all, but I was watching Ade. Lauren was just too smiley to the audience and it broke down the fourth wall for me. I agree with the judges that she really didn't embrace the character or the concept (which, who all guessed that Mandy Moore would pick yet another song from the 80s? Ooh, ooh, I did!). She just strikes me as a dingy blonde who happens to dance. She's very technically proficient, but I'm not a fan so far. This routine didn't really do her a lot of favors, in her defense. The couch should have been an apparatus for awesomeness, but instead it just seemed like a liability.

BILLY
...is clear down here on the list because of Tyce's crappy routine, not Billy's dancing ability. I love Billy and think he did an admirable job with a pathetic, meandering, lame-ass routine. Tyce is a terrible choreographer and does a major disservice to Broadway with each and every routine. Seriously, when anyone else in the world choreographs a Broadway number, it's spectacular, focused, and has a real story behind it. Tyce just seems to draw dance steps out of a hat and throw them all together. I'm glad Billy will have a chance at a better routine next week because he got the short end of the stick this week.

ALEXIE
...also got a pretty crappy routine to work with, but unlike Billy, she didn't make the most of it. I wasn't watching her at all. The routine was lame to begin with, so I can see where she was disinclined to commit to it, but that's just what you have to do. It's a shame she was sent home before she really got a chance to show her skills, but at the end of the day, this was easily one of the worst of the night. Poor girl. She tried out for the show oh-so-many times and then gets sent home first? That's gotta hurt.

ASHLEY
What's worse than a boring contemporary piece or a Tyce routine? A Tyce routine that's contemporary. Good god, he's a pathetic choreographer! This routine has the novel concept of "love." Wow, Tyce, way to think outside the box. It's really not Ashley's fault that I hated this piece so much. It has more to do with Tyce than with anything else. The only reason she wasn't in the bottom three? Her telling Nigel [with regard to whether or not she's ever been in love], "You know, I think I might just be." I'm going to reserve judgment on Ashley till I've seen her in something even remotely good, but so far, she didn't make much of an impression. She seems like a good dancer, but when your stuck with this kind of crap routine, there's only so much you can do. Oh, and the robot voice wasn't as charming as she thought it would be. (See Ellenore's alien voice from season 6, for reference.)

Well, there you have it. I think this season is going to be all about the boys as the girls are eliminated one by one before any of the fellas are even in danger. Geez, do the girls suck this season or what? Cristina's the only girl I like and apparently America disagrees. I think Kent and Alex will go all the way. I think Robert is going to fly under the radar for a while, then really make a splash. I think Adechike will be the first boy to go home.

I love this show, so in spite of my quibbles, I think this season is going to be great. It's too early on to know exactly who's going to go be in the finals, but I think there are only about 5 truly viable candidates. I'm shocked and a little embarrassed to admit it, but yeah, I'm pulling for Kent. Seriously, just seeing how genuinely happy he was for Lauren and everyone else who made it through last night and how devastated he was for Alexie was enough to win me over completely.