So You Think You Can Dance (Season 8) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

He even did it in the finals and looked a bit foolish in doing so since Sasha's previous routine was better than the one Melanie did.

I agree with him: Melanie's routine was better than Sasha's. Actually, Sasha had a weak finale, in my opinion--she looked either sick or exhausted. The last routine with the pair of girls, however, saw her regain her form.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

I can't get that excited about Melanie because she's been given quite the free ride with the best routines and partner.

Initially, I could agree, at least partially, that Melanie had been lucky in her dance options. But especially by the final eight, it was clear to me that she was a performer that made her luck. Other contestants would create good performances in routines where I knew Melanie would have been fantastic.


And she was my favorite through the final 20 or so. By the final 4, though, I thought it was anyone's guess whether it would be her or Sasha, but it was undoubtedly between those two women. The men were good, but none brought the performance the women did. And, at her best Caitlynn approached Melanie's emotional power, but only got there with a few dances; otherwise she was "merely" very good.


I'm glad Melanie won. But Sasha was also amazing and hit gone her way, she would have been as deserving.



As a side note: I'm not a big 'reality' viewer, and this is my first full season of SYTYCD. Dance is a far more "human" show that I've seen, and crushes this' year's AGT. Following 20 excellent performances for a couple of months, with the touch-feely backstories gives a sense of who they are. It's clear there are real friendships behind the scenes. And even Mel and Sasha, who don't seem to be BFFs, still appear to have a deep professional respect and accord for one another. And the judges...they are invested in the show, providing real feedback, and not foolishly mugging for the cameras and promoting stupid acts for short-term ratings.


I'm sometimes bored with the dances; it doesn't rivet me like a great drama does. But I'm impressed by the totality and very positive humanity of Dance.