pandas. bitch. run. now.

pandas. bitch. run. now.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

My Issue(s) With SYTYCD 4

Well. It's been more than a while since I last wrote (mostly because my wireless sucks, and I don't really enjoy writing blogs on my Sidekick 3). However, I feel the need to get this out there, especially since it'd be nice to know if anybody else feels the same (although no one ever reads this, so I don't know).

I have been overall underwhelmed by a lot of Season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance. And it's weird, because while I feel more empathy for the dancers this year than I have any other year, my only favorites were Mark and Gev, and it's not even really to the extent that I've had favorites in other years (Travis, Ivan, Martha, Dmitry & Allison is season 2; DANNY, Sara, Neil, Lauren, Pasha, Sabra & Anya in season 3). I acknowledge that the dancers are very talented - they have to be to get this far. I just don't really feel as connected to the dancers, and I haven't been moved by nearly as many routines as I have in the past.

First things first: last night's show. Are you kidding me? I seriously believe Mark & Comfort were given the short end of the stick this week. Their hip hop was my favorite routine in a while, and their foxtrot was better than Will & Jess' quickstep and nowhere near as bad as the judges painted it to be. Comfort looked the best she's looked in a non-hip hop routine in a while. And considering she's only been dancing 2 years, the fact that she's been keeping up (maybe not as well as the others, but keeping up nonetheless) says quite a bit. I felt that everyone had a weaker routine of the night (and thinking about it, I wasn't really moved by either of Twitch/Katee's or Will/Courtney's), but everyone else got screams & escaped any real scathing remarks except for Mark & Comfort. If they are the two going home tonight, I won't be able to help but think the judges influenced that decision.

And can we talk about Comfort for a second? This girl, as well as Jessica to a lesser extent, is amazing when it comes to bearing the brunt of the judges. Not once do I recall either of them get an acid-tongued response from the judges (because really, which ones WEREN'T?) and not meet them with a smile or a nod. Not once did they talk back or show anything other than humility - which cannot be said for some of the other dancers *coughKheringtoncough*. "The judges hate me." No, heifer - the judges loved you (I DON'T know why), and the fact that that was your first real criticism in like Week 6 says so.

The whole favorites game has been bugging me too. I get that the judges are entitled to a favorite - the show is looking for America's favorite dancer after all. I haven't felt the level of distaste for some of the dancers this year as I have in others - last year's treatment of Cedric is the only thing that comes close, and that wasn't half as bad. The things Mia has said this year made me want to reach out and hug the dancers - she's come across like a bitter hard ass to the MAX this go around. And the fact that regardless of what some of the dancers do, the judges STILL tear into them (Comfort especially, Jessica, Chris, and just recently Mark) says nothing to me other than who they do or don't want to stay on the show.

As far as the individual dancers go, Katee has grown on me much like Sabra did last year, but to the point where if she won I wouldn't mind; not to the point where I want to sit here and vote for her. Chelsie is excellent at ballroom and a very good partner, but I liked her better with Mark; the same can be said for Courtney to a lesser extent, because I felt she was stronger with Gev and hasn't been as strong since breaking away from him. I didn't care for Comfort at first, but she's turned into the Little Engine That Could for me (and probably Can't past tonight) and I have an overwhelming amount of respect for her. I acknowledge that Joshua and Will are good dancers, but I am just ok with Joshua and can NOT. Stand. Will. I feel so much more of an arrogance off of him than I ever did with Danny, and probably dislike him more because everything he touches turns to gold in the judges eyes (last night was the first time I heard them saying anything remotely critical about HIM - all his other critiques were Jessica's "fault" - and even then it was like an afterthought and then swung back over to the praise.)

And then there's Twitch. I'm sorry, but I don't like him. His shtick wore out for me early on, and the fact that he's basically the "male Comfort" in that he's the least trained and yet is still praised by the judges sickens me. He is not versatile at all - and you haven't noticed because the choreographers have worked around his weaknesses. What did he really have to do in the matador number with Kherington? And seriously Mia? Two routines from you that are heavily prop based and all Twitch has to do is stand or sit and use the prop while the female does all the work? A poster on another site mentioned that she often does routines where one person does all the work, but not ALL of her routines are like that (Joshua & Katee's contemporary the same week as that god-awful bed routine; Mark & Chelsie's Tim Burton-esque wedding routine). Twitch has yet to get something ridiculously hard out of his element to grasp thanks to the choreographers and the judges' blatant pimping - a luxury the other dancers (again, Comfort, Jessica, Mark, to a lesser extent Gev) have not been shown. And it's hypocritical to try the argument that these dancers should be able to adapt and haven't, because the same can be said for Twitch.

Will and Katee should have been handed tickets to the finale instead of to Vegas, that much is obvious. While the other two spots are up for grabs, I can't help but think Joshua & Chelsie (who, along with Katee, are currently the only dancers yet to be in danger) will be claiming them. I'd much rather Mark be the second male, but I'm starting to feel less and less that that's possible. And I'd LOVE for Comfort to make the Top 4 - that would amuse me to no end, even if just to infuriate the judges and the haters.

We'll see what happens tonight. Should Mark and Comfort be taking their leave together tonight, I doubt I'll be tuning into the remaining two weeks of the season.

And bring back Wade already.

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