So You Think You Can Dance (Season 8)

I always enjoy the audition episodes that open the season for SYTYCD, and tonight was no exception. 

 

It's a shame a lot of the stylized dancers are not into choreography, so they get left behind.

 

I didn't think the girl with the crappy dad had enough in the tank to compete with the other, better female dancers we saw tonight, but she made it through choreography.

 

Amber might be "too" much to handle, but let's see if she can harness her quirkiness and make it work for her.

 

The grandma segment was gold.

 

I don't remember Ryan (the girl who made it to the round of 24 last season) at all.

 

The girl with the Rich last name has some serious hops on her.

 

 

Yeah, I've always loved the auditions. I hope Mary keeps her screaming to a minimum. She gives great advice but she can be annoying at times. No more hot tamale trains please.

 

I'm hoping the Asian ballet dancer who was injured last year, is back as Nigel promised.  He was awesome last year.

I was introduced to this show last summer when my niece-in-law visited; she's a fan. I'm Tivo-ing it this year and will give it a shot. I enjoyed the auditions; there were some very good performances.

 

Indeed. In fact, I haven't watched the episode yet, but I was telling company about him and the bad luck he's had. I think the first time, he couldn't get out of his ballet contract. The 2nd time he gets injured. But I can't believe they'd make him go through auditions again. But maybe I'm wrong. I don't really remember the details anymore. In my mind, he already has one of the spots on the live show without going through the audition process.

I think I read somewhere Mary had issues with her vocal chords (cancer maybe?) so she wouldn't be yelling as much this season.

 

We're talking about Alex, right?  Him and Twitch had that monster number before Alex went down with the injury last year.  Hope he's back as well.

 

Mary Murphy confirmed in an interview that Alex is still rehabbing and wasn't cleared by medical. So I assume that means no Alex this season, not even as an All Star.

Did Alex blow out his Achilles?  That takes about 18 months to fully heal, so I could buy that tidbit.

Well that's a bummer. I was really looking foward to seeing Alex this year. If I'm remembering correctly Nigel did say he would have a ticket to the live shows and didn't have to go through the auditions. It's better for him though to get healthy so perhaps we'll see him next year if he's still not quite ready this year.

Nigel said something to the effect of, "we'll see" when asked about Alex. There is a recent video of him performing, but perhaps he's not up to the rigors of the competition. I suspect that Alex will be be back as a choreographer this season, which I assume means he won't be able to compete anymore.

Every other season or so I try and give this show a look, then I hear that woman screaming and I see her and get completely turned off and can't watch another minute.
Last season I watched a good portion and was able to hang in for it, but not this time Mary Murphy just annoys me to being unwatchable.

Since there is some talk that she won't be screaming so much maybe I'll watch for awhile.

Seriously though is anyone tuning in for her and that noise she makes?

My mother is a big fan of this show, but she has to DVR it every time so she can skip through the Mary bits. Truly one of the most obnoxious personalities ever to grace America's television screens.

I just skip her, in fact, I skip most of the judges commentary during the actual competition. 

Looks like a strong top 20 this season, as long as the guys are able to toss around their lady partners when required.

These dancers are in mid-season form already.  It'll be tough to send the dancers home week after week.

 

I'm watching from the start, for the first time this season. It's a surprisingly good show. I really like the professionalism and sincerity of the judges and the overall production. While I also like America's Got Talent, I grow weary of its obsession with banal, no-talent silliness. In contrast, Dance spends very little time on inferior performers, and doesn't patronize its performers (whether to buck up the incapable or excessively fawn over one-hit wonders). Nigel clearly wants to find the best, make them better, and have the best possible talent performing on TV. And the judges -- despite some annoying screeching from Mary -- are likewise working from the same playbook. There's no silly Howie vs Piers theatrics, as on AGT.

 

 

What I don't understand with the show is: What does the top dancer win?

There's a monetary prize, plus of course the recognition within a very tight professional community. Dancers from the show (winners or not) have appeared in many film and television shows over the years (e.g. I recently spotted Mark in Lady Gaga's SNL performance). The most famous former SYTYCD alum is Heather Morris from Glee (though I don't think she got very far in the competition). There's also no telling how much work they do that is not televised or filmed.

 

I started watching the show for the very same reasons as you Dave. It's nice to see actual talent and a clear interest by judges to give constructive feedback and build up the industry by exposing fresh talent.

I think it's the title of America's favorite dancer for this season, and $250,000 top prize, and a lot of air time on Fox in the summer.

 

Mark is in pretty much every Gaga project, from music videos to any televised performances.  He was on SNL and was the guy on top of the fake cliff in the Idol finale.  He's also just everywhere including Glee.

 

Heather Morris never made it past the Green Mile.  She isn't technically an alum of the show.

 

It's going to be an odd year -- 8 of the girls are contemp/jazz, but only four guys are contemporary.  We'll see how the partnering goes in the early rounds.  At top ten, the All Stars come back.

 

What are the odds that the couple with the inferior Nappy Tabs routine goes home first?  That's been the case since they started working on the show in season 4 (although only the girl went home in season 6 and due to the all stars, only one person went home last season).     
 

 

The Pussycat Dolls woman is giving Mary Murphy a run for her plastic surgery money. And I actually find her more annoying than Mary at this point.

Sadly, the comments are correct about Mary Murphy: a grating voice, especially when she's shouting...which she quite likes to do.

 

The collagen-plumped lips of the P-Cats lady freak me out. They look like bad monster-effects from the '80s.

 

Antin looks like the Bride of Wildenstein

 

 

Mary is a lot quieter this year due to the cancer surgery on her throat.  If you think she's loud this year, she was way worse in the past.

I can forgive Mary's boisterous nature because she's shown she knows about dance. Antin only has the Pussycat Dolls to her credit, and in my mind that doesn't put her on the level of Murphy, much less someone like Debbie Allen.

Well, I've got friends that have been watching (and recommending) this for years...now I'm gonna give it a shot:  Nick Young was a barista at the first Starbucks store I worked at (we never worked together, but lots of my friends know him).

I don't have a clear favorite at this point, but then I rarely do at this stage of the game. Jeanine Mason was a dark horse until about halfway through competition, and Kathryn McCormick was better known as the annoying weeper starting with auditions.

 

This week's blurb in EW magazine mentioning Chyna Smith as a likely was clearly written in advance, but that far in advance?

 

The person who comes close to a fave is the 30-year old breaker, but his "woo" thing is getting way overplayed. Don't know if that's actually him or the "magic" of reality show editing.

I just hate the screaming. I just don't get it. Heaven forbid the dance gets anywhere close to sexual and they blast your eardrums out. It's like a bunch of preteens watching Justin Bieber. Somtimes you can't even hear the music. Hopefully when the real compition starts they will turn the audience mic's down or better yet off, until the dance is completed and we can enjoy it.