So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Well, if Josh or Patrick aren't going to start one, I may as well kick off the season:

2 hour season kick off did not disappoint.

That Japanese guy in Brooklyn looked like he was doing a bad Rerun dance and spazzing around the stage, so I was surprised that the judges liked him so much and even more surprised that he made it to Vegas. The filmed intro made him look like a deluded loon, so perhaps that colored my perceptions.

It's very uncomfortable when Nigel gives those, "you are an inspiration" speeches to a disabled auditioner. It's so condescending and exploitive. Was anyone else thinking Sy Snootles? And speaking of Star Wars, that jedi cat girl in Denver was actually pretty hot -- she looked like a cross between Jessica Biel and Kelly Deal. She's probably into cosplay.

Was Sonya sitting on a Sybian? My wife and I were pretending to crank up the dial every time she orgasmed (and for some, multiple orgasms at that).

The biggest laugh I got from the male on male dancers (other than, of course, the fall) was this move:

Yeah... he's not gay. Riiiight.

Katie's roommate looked like someone and I couldn't put my finger on it. And then I realized the answer was right in front of my nose:


Natalie didn't do anything for me last year (or this), but Brandon Bryant's routine to Carmina Burana was crazy good. It's impossible to imagine he won't be a front runner this year, especially since he already has a fanbase from last year.

Those two brothers in Denver -- man, something about their relationship did not seem right. With 14 kids and names like Enoch and Elias, I'm thinking they escaped the compound to get to the auditions. Or it's an early Rumspringa.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

I was waiting for you, Hanson

Glad to see Napoleon and Tabitha (Tabither, to Cat and Nigel) back again, as I felt they were the best new addition to the show by far, and my second-favourite choreographers (after Wade Robson, who I hope has a larger presence this year).

Overall it was a standard audition episode, with your typical "inspirtational" contestants, delusionals, and stand-outs. I wasn't super wowed by either Natalie or Bryant, but that was mostly the fault of the routines, not the performance--something that is typical on the audition shows. I can see them both being fan-favs if they keep it up.

I only have two gripes with the audition shows. First, I wish we would get to see more of the choreographer round, especially if there are some good prospects in there. Would it be too hard to show the entire routine? We don't need to see every single group do it, but it would be nice to see how hard or difficult a given routine is, since sometimes Mia choreographing, and sometimes it's someone like Lauren. No slight to Lauren, but I doubt she pushes the dancers in the same way as Mia.

Second, I wish the show would place the song titles and artists on screen, everytime there is music. While some things like Carl Orff and Rascal Flatts are instantly recognizable, it would be cool to know what some of the other songs are.

Anyway, looking foward to next week, when there are two episodes in the week, and twice as much Cat Deeley.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Not seeing the Kat/Nat resemb. I liked Nat's movements, it does provoke a response from me, but she's not as light on her feet as Katy is/was. After a while, Brandon's routine bored me, he needs some personality to spice it up.

wonder if what I heard is true:
Warning Spoiler! Click to show .

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Patrick, I can't tell if your spoiler is tongue-in-cheek, or not Hasn't the show always had a few hot girls that were also good dancers? I thought Jessica, Kherington, and Katee were pretty attractive last season (to name a few).

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How did you miss Chelsie? That's sacrilegde -- she was the hottest one there. Actually, Chelsea was pretty cute too. And Courtney wasn't bad to look at.

OK Patrick, I get the joke now.

If Natalie got a nose job and a British accent, she and Kat could be sisters! Sisters!

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

You are correct about those three - I guess I just forgot them because of their names

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I think I heard that the girls were almost "model" hot, but could also dance up a storm. The girls from last season were pretty, but were better known for their dancing than their looks.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Last night they trotted out another contestant with a dead spouse. Maybe she should get together with Gokey from AI.

I loved the Tony Style of dance. Very imaginative. He tells everyone he can go on 5 or 6 hours then has to call medics after a 2 minute routine.

Great Stuff!!

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

I thought the preview shot of Sex, sitting on the steps, was absolutely golden.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

I stumbled onto this program about mid-way through last night's episode and it marks the first time I ever watched the show. I have to admit, it was much more entertaining than I thought it would be and I especially enjoyed the dance routines by those two brothers. The program is obviously "cut form the same cloth" as AI, but the auditions are at least interesting to watch, unlike the painful, cornball drek that Idol auditions have become. The one thing I didn't quite get is how the judges kept inviting certain hopefuls to perform in a "choreograph round" but it seemed like they then devoted less than a minute of actual TV time to this round before abruptly cutting to the judges final choices. Is this how these auditions always play out?

In any event, I plan to tune in another time or two and see if it holds my interest.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Isn't that sort of how it should be? Acutally, I'm a proponent of having a contestant's talent make them more beautiful in your eyes than trying to justify their talent because of their looks. Like, Chelsie was a 7 when last season started, but after a few weeks, she was a total 10 whereas Courtney (the short brunette, not Fugly Uma) started as a 9 but her less polished dance skills dropped her down quite a few notches in my eyes. But there were a lot of Courtney fans who couldn't see past her looks to realize that she was just a meh dancer.

"I have my own style" is SYTYCD speak for, "I don't know how to dance". It's the AI equivalent of, "I had fun out there" or nature's equivalent of a bright red marking. Stay away!

Talia Rickards is both better and worse than Gokey. She's not as bad because her husband died two years ago and not a mere 4 weeks, plus she isn't claiming that she wants to "inspire other people" with her dance like Hokey Gokey did. But trotting out pictures and tears and two year old memories for sympathy seemed more exploitive -- where do you draw the line between a two years dead husband and, say, a 5 years dead grandma? The weird thing is, the auditions were in Feb, so there was already a Gokey backlash happening. What kind of tone deaf producers decided to go to this well again? Then they followed up with the girl whose dad who comitted suicide. They have got to stop being so shameless and have a moratorium on dead relative backstories. Everyone who watched these dancers made the Gokey connnection immediately.

Apaprently, the producers brought their Sybian to Miami for Tyce to sit on (although he didn't orgasm nearly as much as Sonya did in Denver). The way Tyce delivered his critques, the way he hunkered into the desk and made feral faces, and the way he over emphasized and stretched out words reminded me of Kara DioGuardi. Kinda of like he studied her before flying to Miami. It was all for naught -- even that short snippet during the "SYTYCD Rules" montage shows that no one does bitchy like Mia (BTW, how many of those clips were recycled from past seasons?).

SYTYCD does this funny editing trick where they interview a dancer and make them seem deluded. When they walk on stage, you're waiting for a train wreck, and then it turns out they can dance. Joshua had that edit during his audition last year -- he sat in a chair and seemed like a deluded flake while adressing the camera (plus the linebacker build didn't make him seem like a real dancer), but then he started dancing and it was like, whoa -- he's good. There were three such edits tonight -- the "Schwam" guy, the Silky the tap dancer, and Marico the cop (and Urkel look-a-like). All three guys made it to Vegas after intro pieces that made them look like crazy disasters. It turned out that anyone who got that slo-mo, dancing in the corner piece went through to Vegas.

The stand outs for me were the sisters -- not the twins (they were both meh), but rather the two blondes, one who auditioned in Miami and the other in Memphis. I sort of liked the Memphis sister more (the one who had her pelvis and femur reshaped), but she did get more face time. I also have high hopes for Janette the salsa dancer with the sick tricks who made it to Vegas again (she looks better without the streaks). Speaking of going back to Vegas, there are lots of dancers who got cut in Vegas last year who are auditioning again this year. One thing about SYTYCD is that they are careful not to fish out the waters, so to speak, and throw back great dancers who they want to groom as TCO's (The Chosen Ones) for the next season (and are probably recruited the next year, like Brandon may have been for the Denver auditions last week). Evan the Gene Kelly-esque dancer is one such contestant -- there were a lot of people upset last year when he didn't make it into the top 20, but the thing is, they don't put the best twenty dancers on the show every year -- it's always a mix of a few TCO's (eg, Twitch, Will, Chelsie) and then a bunch of fodder (although Katee and Josh made it pretty far as fodder goes!). As I say this, they are already auditioning for SYTYCD 6, which starts immediately after season 5 in September as it transitions into a fall show. So expect some of these seemingly sure bets to return again in September. And unlike Idol, there are a very limited number of contestants suitable for the show, so making sure the waters are stocked is very important. Sure, there are freaks like Josh who have minimal training and can adapt to every style, but the bulk (like, 99%) of the successful contestants are professional dancers with classical training. Think about it -- everyone knows someone who sings better than whatever random finalist on Idol, but most people don't even know professional dancers much less ones better than the SYTYCD finalists. So they have to be very careful with the talent (and even Idol has problems these days finding good enough singers -- they've had to recruit singers the past two seasons because they aren't getting enough talented singers via the cattle call auditions).

Tonight is the last audition audition show. Next week is Vegas and the top 20 cutdown.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Well, since I double (triple) posted anyway:

Talia Gokey:


The biggest laugh of the night for me was not any of the bad dancers or Tony, the guy with no stamina -- no, it was this sequence:


Unlike the girl, my wife saw it coming. We rewound it a few times and had a really good laugh over it. I dunno -- maybe it's because we watched Wipeout! previously.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

And if Evan's tap dancing older brother makes it to the top 20, it will be a first for SYTYCD -- a balding dancer. We've had a couple of shaved heads, but a full on Merril Steubing has never even made it to Vegas that I'm aware of.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

The Vegas shows are pretty intense and entertaining.

I really hate the "you're pretty" critique, but it does factor in the total package if they are casting you for the show, well, then there's football coach's son who was tall and weak.

As cute as Courtney was, it was criminal that Chelsie finished as the 3rd best girl last season.

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The only thing I'd fix about Cat is her nose, which slants to the left, but other than that, she just great in her enthusiasm for the prospective contestants and fostering the spirit of the show during the auditions and on the actual show.

I didn't think Amanda (dad has MS) was all that good of a dance in spot, she just looked clumsy to me.

Judging by the preview Vegas footage, there are some serious dancers we haven't yet seen and they can all bring it.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

I guess Kelli Baker (with the famous mom choreographer of High School Musical) didn't come out for another audition?

Here's a duet of her and Thayne (who did make it on the show last season):

YouTube - Kelli Baker & Thayne Jasperson - Odyssey 2, 2008.mov

and one with Matt (from season 4):

YouTube - matt dorame and kelli baker's duet: something

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Everyone on the judging panel seemed to love Asuka and Ricky (BTW, Asuka, when pronounced correctly in Japanese, sounds like "Ah-skah", which is why my wife thought her name was "Oscar"). It looked like they stumbled a few times, and their routine was devoid of tricks, but the judges were all over them, especially Asuka (Adam almost had one of those Sybian induced paroxsysms over Asuka). Both went straight to Vegas again. Asuka's face has some odd proportions, and to call Ricky laconic is an understatement. Still, I expect at least Asuka to make the top 20 as she's a fan favorite from last year's auditions.
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I liked Sammy Ramirez, the breaker who looks like Giants Offensive Left Tackle David Diehl, but not as much as the judges did. I think they'll throw him back in Vegas to build up a fanbase for next season. He just didn't seem strong enough for the top 20 this go round.

No reality judge leers quite the way Nigel leers at the PYT contestants (especially the blonde ones). Amanda Kerby elicited that patented Nigel leer, although to be fair to Nigel, he was at least able to discern that her dancing was more meh than awesome, something he could not see when it came to Kherington last year (I will say that Kherington's Piper Perabo meets Allison Mack look trumps the mere Lauren Conrad clone in Amanda, so perhaps that's why he wasn't as blinded). Still, between homophobic comments and leering looks, Nigel is the most inappropriate judge on reality TV.

But that inappropriateness pales in comparison to the brother & sister duo that combined hilariously bad dancing with inappropriate kissing, gazing, and touching to create the funniest and most uncomfortable moment of the entire audition phase. It appeared the brother kept purposefully dropping his sister during lifts to grab her boobs and at one point caught her by the crotch. "People think we're a couple," they said with a laugh -- gee, ya think? Did it never occur to you why people think that? There were three levels of laughter here – gut busting laughter from the comically bad dancing, the nervous laughter from the uncomfortably incestuous relationship, and the “I can’t believe they’re showing this” laughter from the fact that the producers played up this angle at every opportunity, risking a lawsuit at every turn. I found the entire segment jaw-dropping -- the look on Adam Shankman's face said it all.

Mia was most definitely NOT riding the Sybian in Seattle -- she rarely got even remotely excited, and appeared exasperated at most of the auditionees (it didn't help that they mostly sucked). Sporting a Dennis the Menace hair-do and a withering stare, Mia quietly cut down one incompetent hopeful after another. But one highlight in Seattle was Phillip Chbeeb, who got cut in choreo in season 3, got the ticket to Vegas in season 4 but never made it there after contracting pneumonia just before the taping, and is headed back to Sin City once again. Rather than show off his already well known popping skills (which were on display during last season's finale in a pop-off vs Robert Muraine), the producers showed his partnering skills in order to gain him more fans (wow, he's a popper but he can partner too! In contemporary! That's not even his genre!). For helping them out, his partner Arielle received a ticket to Vegas that may or may not have been deserved. From the way they talked, it appeared that Phillip fell into the friend zone and will have to wait until Arielle either gets really drunk at a wedding and/or breaks up with her boyfriend before he gets any action. Maybe getting drunk in Vegas after breaking up with her boyfriend? I'm rooting for you Ducky. Er… I mean, Phillip.

Not the greatest conclusion to the auditions -- Seattle was not brimming with talent, requiring an overly long and under-funny Sex vs Leo dance off to pad out the two hour show. I think I chuckled once. With that out of the way, Leo can go back to recovering data from damaged hard drives and ruling Gondor. And is it possible that Sex is the love child of... Adam Shankman?!? Er... probably not.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

A couple more SAB's:

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

OMG, I didn't realize how many youtube videos there are of clips from SYTYCD's previous seasons.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Josh, since you've been to tapings of the show, what part of the results show is actually live? I know the performances are taped on Monday, but are the group dances live? I have heard they are not only pre-taped, but edited together from multiple takes. And specifically -- are the DFYL dances live? I would think that logistically, they would have to be.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

I've only been to one taping, and it was years ago, but I assume the same rules hold true. The part where they draw out of the hat was live, but multiple takes were made to get the proper "uh-oh, it's the quickstep (or whatever)" reaction-shots, though obviously the same piece of paper was drawn. The guest was live, and the group dance was live, though I they now do it both live and taped, depending on the week (like AI). The dancing for your life was live, too. Actually, I guess most of the show itself was live, just sometimes swapped out for recorded material for the broadcast audience in certain incidents.

Of course, this is most likely all changed, now, and anything is possible. At the very least, I think the live audience gets to see the special guest and the group numbers a few times, and then the best performance is then broadcast as the version on the results show. I've seen mistakes in the group numbers, though, so I dunno--maybe it's mostly true-live now. I guess one of you Americans is just going to have to go see a live taping, this year!

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Same here... I think she is lacking some of the 'visible' power moves like big leaps / etc. that cause people to pick up the phone.

They also talked about sharing the same bed growing up. You may want to keep that to yourselves when entering the dating world guys...

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Pretty grueling Vegas episode. There are plenty who have gotten no love from the producers so far. Why didn't Natalie get to dance for her life? Ah well, they even sent home Fantasia (Bianca).

Mary Murphy had some work done on her face between the auditions and Vegas week.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

That was a real bloodbath. Not many people I recognise left. But at least it wasn't to predicatable

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

There is a theory that Nigel wants to have a certain variety in the winners each season, so he pimps certain contestants so that it isn't a male contemp dancer winning every year. So it was male contemp, male ballroom, female contemp, male hip-hop. The likeliest next winner is female ballroom, which is why Asuka and Janette are getting so much face-time (with the added bonus that either would be ethnic female ballroom winner). In line with that, they cut Natalie so she could return for season 6 since the TCO would be Asuka or Janette, and Natalie is too popular to be fodder.

It looks like Brandon is getting the Danny edit -- talented but not trying hard enough. This is so that he can "grow" during the course of the series. If he sets the bar too high, there won't be any room for "growth".

Caitlin isn't quite model pretty, but her body rocks (I'm glad she made it over her less comely sister). So, where are all these model pretty hotties Patrick? Reality shows always promise "the hottest female cast ever", but rarely deliver (Survivor especially never delivers). I don't think there's a model pretty girl left unless it's someone who they haven't focused on. It certainly isn't Paris Torres:


(Anyone here watch Lazy Town?)

Tiger Woods rocking SYTYCD:


I couldn't decide which one was better:

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Caitlin has one of the best bodies I ever seen. I really hope she makes it. Love her right now.

The show is great. Can't wait to see the Top 20 tonight.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

I was really sad that Alex couldn't be let out of his contract, hopefully he'll either be back in the fall, or next summer. That bit got me to shed a tear at his pain of learning he has to go back to the ballet dance company until he's done with his contract.

I might have enjoyed seeing more of Deena, who got no airtime until the very end in this episode, because she could definitely dance with attitude. Not surprised that Ricki (Asuka's partner) got cut.

Not too shabby in the eye candy department for the gals, but it feels like a weak field for the guys, maybe a good 5 out of 10 all-around dancers with some personality. Tony reminds me a little of the guy who plays Doomsday Davis on Smallville.

While I've heard other thinking unitard chick has a banging bod, I am not quite sold on that assessment until further review in non-unitard outfits, but Caitlen does have a banging bod, as does Kayla, and one of the brunettes (besides Janette). There was one brunette with a Jay Leno chin, though.

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I agree with the above. The last young lady mentioned looks like a Dick Tracy villain. Great show.

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I think I almost chewed my nails off from the suspense when it came down to Asuka and Anonymous Blondie. They showed a lot of footage of Asuka at her audition, dancing in Vegas, walking around hugging people in Vegas, lounging about the pool in a bikini (in Vegas), and she was featured prominently last year as well, so she had that going for her. But then again, Anonymous Blondie was... uh... blonde? These cutdowns are so instense.

Okay, I'll cut the producers some slack -- there simply isn't enough time to track everyone, so of course it's natural that the ones with face time are more likely to make the cut. Still, what a waste of time and effort to build up completely non-extistent suspense.

I must have missed them cutting Gaby, the arthritic contemporary dancer that they pushed through Vegas week. When they allow these dancers to fail ever upwards, it usually indicates they are in the top 20, like Tony the Popper who barely dances in his own style much less any other. But Gaby didn't make the cut -- why not have her stand with Asuka for the last spot instead of Anonymous Blondie? At least they would have enough face time to make it interesting.

Phillip "Duckie" Chbeeb is the new Twitch -- built in fanbase, will survive early cuts with ease, and any girl paired up with him is a lock for the top 10. Hopefully, he will actually deliver in the performances instead of being the branding/marketing fraud that was Twitch. I dont' mind a little sizzle, but let's have some steak to back it up.

A partial list of the top 20:


Dibs on the phrase, "DUCKIEOWNAGE"


Paris is Robbie Rotten's in diguise. I can see right through it.


There's no crying in Golf.


Dibs on the phrase, "YENTLOWNAGE"


D'oh! Max is the voice of the Russian Homer Simpson. I think.


Jenna started her career as a dancer too. If Xenu is willing, Caitlin will make the top four.


Fortunately, Jason does not have to dance while wearing a SCRAM ankle bracelet.


Superstar!


It's like Brenda with Kelly's hair.

Re: So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Favorite to okay performances:

Melissa/Ade - they hit the right emotional beats in their number, a very complimentary couple

Kayla/Max - Kayla's going to be hard to beat amongst the girls. Not sure if Max will be able to do well in other genres, but we'll see.

Caitlin/Jason - Jason is probably the best pure dancer, but not sure if he'll have the same upper body strength displayed by Brandon or Ade. Nice number, but I thought Caitlin was a little off in sync at times.

Randi/Evan - Very nice couple chemistry, good and subtle, thoughtful.

Janette/Brandon - Brandon might over-compensate on the "acting" and personality, but he's a front-runner. Janette is in the middle of the pack for me.

Ashley/Kupono - weird, quirky number, but each one sold his/her character, and also did well when they danced together.

Jeanine/Philip - thought the judges were a little too effusive for the first number, but it was a solid number. Jeanine's cute. I still see a little too much Jon Cryer in his face at times.

Bottom 3 couples:

Paris/Tony - Tony is not ready to be on this show. Not enough snap in his supposed genre

Asuka/Vitolio - They went through the motions, but didn't captivate. Also an unlucky break in dance style given the intangibles of the 2 dancers.

Karla/Jonathon - Jonathan's also not quite "seasoned" enough, still a bit boy-ish in movement, didn't quite buy his part in the dance. Kayla was holding back a little, I thought.