So You Think You Can Dance - Season 6 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

While the judges have been pimping Russell's story, and Jakob's raw physical dancing talent, I still enjoyed the numbers that featured Kathryn, mainly because she's the one who really lights a fire under any of the dances she is saddled with, and she seems to elevate her partner's dancing as well, and just seems to have more personality on the dance floor than any of the final 6 this particular season. Kathryn had the best overall night of all the dancers tonight, but we'll just have to see if the voters decide to with Russell or Jakob.

 

[Hanson]

[SIZE= 12px]That Tyce Broadway was sooo craptastically shitty. The second half of the piece was Jakob and Ellenore just randomly doing jumps and spins without any regard to the other. A lot of people hate Nappy Tabs, but Tyce is hands down the consistently worst choreographer on the show. [/SIZE]Jakob + Kathryn + Desmond Richardson? I actually paused the DVR so I could savor the moment before hitting play. It was really good and easily the best of the night, but it wasn't the dancegasm I was prepping myself for. Kathryn & Ryan's samba was also pretty hot shit, but I was expecting more hip action from Kathryn. Still, that was a great piece of choreo from Gilkison, and that last trick was fantastic. It's too bad they didn't close the show with it. Ashley didn't do jack shit in her Sonya piece. I was laughing from the get go that she kind of just stood around like Cedric while Russell was doing a yeoman job with the repeoire of Sonya moves. Like, whatever. Russell was later helped by some practically bulletproof choreography from Jason Gilkison -- I don't think anyone could have screwed up that Paso and Russell was very lucky to get it.Ryan & Ellenore's contemp piece was too avant garde for the program. You could tell Nigel just hated the choreography. Ashley sucks. I almost barfed when she danced with her husband. [SIZE= 12px]My wife got a bit cross with me because I was mocking them endlessly throughout the dance and the judging. For some reason, I kept missing the choreographer's name when Cat was introducing the dances, so my jaw dropped when i found out it was Travis. Because that was some boring ass shit. [/SIZE]Jakob/Kathryn >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Russell. Yet Russell will probably win. Worst. Winner. Ever. It would have been hysterical if Russell hurt himself, didn't dance, and then win anyway. Because that would have happened. [SIZE= 12px]Nigel is really propping up Russell like he's another Joshua, but Russell can't sniff Joshua's Danskins.[/SIZE]
Did you notice that all three of Kathryn's dances (latin ballroom, contemp. hip-hop) matched the specialties of each partner? The only other dancer that was close was Jakob, who got contmep with Kathryn, ballroom with Ashleigh (although she's actually latin ballroom), and Broadway with Ellenore (contemp/jazz dancer).
I'd pick Kathryn over Jakob, but that's just personal preference. Based solely on tonight's performances, Kathryn should win. Ellenore is a close third, and the others trail far, far behind. Ryan and Ashley shouldn't even be in the top 20.

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

[SIZE= 12px]A lot of people hate Nappy Tabs[/SIZE]

Who the hell hates Tabitha and Napoleon?! Not anyone that I know with any substantial knowledge about dance--a lot of people I know consider them most solid choreographers on the show (in that they deliver great numbers most of the time, and are called on quite a bit, not just once or twice a season).

I think people are overly hard on Ryan, and to say he shouldn't even be in the top 20 is pretty harsh. Sure, he may not be the strongest soloist, and his dances for his life were pretty crap, but he's one of the best *partners* the show has ever had. Of course, it isn't called "So You Think You Can Partner," but let's be honest, has Ryan ever really, truly let any of his partners down in a routine? To quote the oft-stated phrase on the show, Ryan's been "there every step of the way for his partner." Plus, he did well in genres outside his speciality. I think he's way more entertaining that Russell, who I think should have been swapped for Legacy in the finals.

Tyce's broadway piece was, I thought, quite good. There were numerous little intricacies, especially on behalf of Ellenore, that really captured Fosse's style--the shoulder position and posture to name just one. As a concept piece, that of evoking Bob Fosse style of jazz, it was great.

I really enjoyed the Ryan/Ellenore jazz piece, but agree it was far to esoteric for the masses. It was like watching a curious blend of yoga moves and studio jazz, in the final minutes of an all-night rave. There were some deceptively-difficult moves there that really required a strong core and precise lines, and it was pulled off with only a few errors (which Nigel seemed to latch right on to).

The paso was merely "ok," as I couldn't stop thinking about how poor Russell's paso-posture was (he did *not* get the pelvis/shoulders thing right). However, the music was amazing--I'm going to buy the Blood Diamond soundtrack today.

Kathryn and Jacob's contemp. routine was indeed great, and went pretty much as expected. I think Jacob is easily the best dancer on the show, and perhaps the best male dancer on the series (yes, better than Will, better than Brandon, etc). However, he seems to have no personality at all, and that keeps me at a distance from him. It seems the judges share this concern, as their usual comments are essentially "you are so good, you could be a total dick/prima donna, but you aren't, so props."

I didn't think Travis' routine for Ryan/Ashley was boring so much as it was unchallenging. I've seen perfomances at my University, by first year dancers, that were way more complex than this. I did think there was a ton of emotion, but you should expect nothing less. But come on, at least toss in a few jaw-dropping lifts, Travis, it's not like Ryan can't handle them.

All-in-all, a pretty mediocre season, which I chalk up to the close pairing of it with the previous season. The dancers were up to the task for the most part, but even with choreographers of this calibre, you can't ask them to come up with challenging and entertaining routines for virtually every week for a year (even more for some, like Jean-Marc, who also was a judge in Canada, and all those who choreo'd for the Canadian dancers, too).

You could really tell some of the routines weren't up to par, and they let the dancers down in that respect. Also, I'm still not sold on not having the guest judge each week. As much as I like Adam (I think he was by far the best of the guests), I enjoyed seeing other judges, too.

Also, just a fun jab, but does danskin even make clothing for men? Every time I've been in there with my girlfriend, all they have is women's stuff

 

[Hanson]

Nappy Tabs are not popular on the other boards I post on (words like "hated" and "despised" are thrown around when discussing NP). I happen to like them in general, but their output this year hasn't been very good -- the best thing they did this season was a results show group dance (which was barely hip hop). In fact, hip hop was wofeul this year -- other than the Dave Scott routine for Legacy & Kathryn (which was the best competition hip hop piece this season, and from week one no less) the other hip hop routines haven't been very good (I'll throw a bone to the Karen/Kevin racecar peice, but only because Karen was super-slinky in it -- I think that was Nappy Tabs).

Someone pointed out elsewhere than Ashleigh's injury was probably not a one week thing, and that her shoulder was still probably not 100%. This is why she stood around during the Sonya piece and the Travis piece lacked any lifts or eye-popping moments. They should have DQ'd her after her injury -- I would have much rather seen Mollee than Ashleigh in the finals, and Mollee was annoying as shit.

I like the pieces to have some sort of flow or purpose, but most of Tyce's pieces, and specifically ALL of his Broadway pieces are jumbled pastiche. I can always tell it's a Tyce piece when the dancers go off in different directions and then start jumping and rolling and kicking on opposite sides of the stage and then remerge in the middle only to have one dancer throw the other to the side, and then it's back to random jumping and kicking. It's just too scattershot for me to appreciate. That was basically the second half the the "Fosse" piece -- just terpsichorean noise.

To me, what really ruined the season were the scheduling conflicts that resulted in no votes for the first two weeks of the competition (World Series) and the need to go to a top 6 because of the showcase episode. Gotta go back to top 4 -- with a top six, that's only two weeks of competition with the top 10 dancers. And why on earth did they chop the final competition show to one hour? For a Gordon Ramsay one off? Bizarre.

BTW, Danny was the best dancer on the show. He could pull off Jakob's celebrated jetes whilst pantomiming a yawn.

And in regards to Danskin:

http://www.barryscapezio.com/barrys/product.asp?prod_name=Danskin+Men's+Supporter&pf_id=PAAAAAFHBGPONLPL&dept_id=3094&s_id=0&

Which is perfect since it's essentially a jock made by Danskin. Admittedly, "can't sniff Joshua's Danskins" it was just meant as a play on words, but like many of my Separated at Births, the way these unplanned things just happen to match up perfectly is eerie at times.

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo





http://www.barryscapezio.com/barrys/product.asp?prod_name=Danskin+Men's+Supporter&pf_id=PAAAAAFHBGPONLPL&dept_id=3094&s_id=0&

Which is perfect since it's essentially a jock made by Danskin. Admittedly, "can't sniff Joshua's Danskins" it was just meant as a play on words, but like many of my Separated at Births, the way these unplanned things just happen to match up perfectly is eerie at times.

I don't think that dance belt is actually made by Danskin, rather, that seller (who evokes Capezio in his own store name, though I doubt he is affiliated with them in any way) is using the term as a synecdoche for "dance clothes." I can't find any official references by Danskin themselves, regarding making actual clothing for men.

Regardless, what I was really implying was that you were making a joke about Joshua being a girl

 

[Hanson]

Oh, I most certainly was.

 

[Citizen87645]

One thing I forgot to ask: Is that Michael Bublé cover of "At This Moment" actually him doing a duet with himself?

 

[Citizen87645]

Meh.

The only thing that impressed me was Kathryn managed to keep it together.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I recognized Kayla in the J-Lo number, but it was torturous to listen to J-Lo sing.

I don't get the Russell love either. So, was he hurt or not? He was moving pretty good after the good news was announced. Weird. It was like he didn't feel like doing any of the encore numbers in this show.

I only had eyes for Kathryn when she dances, no matter who she was paired with.

 

[Steve_Tk]

It sounded like when Kat's mic went out, people were standing off the stage, then she was saying come on come on and you heard a noise and someone yelp. It may of been Russell falling right then, who knows? Snooze fest last episode. J-lo was terrible, that song was awful. This season really bored me and I may be skipping the next one if I start to feel the same way. Ashleigh was not good, not good even in her own style. The latin girl from last season, and even kayla, were twice as good at her in that style.

 

[Hanson]

You can't rock a snugly fitted glen plaid two piece anymore, no matter who you are. Because an suit like that always makes you look like Pee Wee Herman.



I'm not saying tap dancing is boring (and if you've ever seen a clip of The Nicholas Brothers, you know it does not have to be), but the three tappers were a snoozefest. I was verrrry close to skipping over it, but I fell asleep before I could grab the remote. Putting all three on the same season was a big mistake and watered down the talent greatly.

Channing still didn't look like she wanted to be there. Poor thing -- it seems like she didn't quite know what she had gotten herself into, and she was in over her head. In many ways, that's what happened to Nathan as well.
Russell is easily the worst winner on the show:

1) He was not in any of the top ten dances of the season. In fact, they had to pretend that the African Jazz piece and the Nappy Tabs hip hop with Kathryn were highlights of the season. The Nappy Tabs piece was just okay and lacked the synchronicity and precision to be considered great, and the Frog Dance was a big who cares unless, I suppose, you're a huge fan of anilingus.



In fact, they ignored a ton of much better dances to stick this into the show in order to justify Russell's victory. I mean, if they kept showing nothing but Jakob and Kathryn dances, it would look odd if Russell won out of nowhere, right? And BTW, the Legacy/Kathryn hip hop was waaaay better than the Russell/Kathryn one. By a lot.

2) He kept injuring his partners and then eventually himself. And by getting hurt in the middle of the performance show, he ended up screwing over all those dancers who were waiting to perform again. I'm not saying he did it mailiciously, but he definitely let everyone down. He seemed surprisingly spry after he won, didn't he?
3) His entire backstory is a lie. "Unpolished diamond" my ass -- he's been dancing professionally since 6 and was training at the Boston Arts Academy before going on the show. But because he's a black and specialized in a hip hop style, Nigel took the ball and ran with it, taking every moment to trumpet how Russell was "untrained" and "grew on the show". Keeping these compliments exclusively to Russell ignores the fact that Kathryn pulled off Broadway and Latin styles like an expert despite not having trained in those styles and acquit herself better in hip hop than Russell did in any of his ballroom dances. But since she's a white girl, Nigel can't pretend she's from da hood. In fact, many of the dancers did better in styles outisde their specialty than Russell did, but Russell gets bonus points for being "untrained", right? Suuure.
But Russell's big advantage was that he fit into Nigel's formula. The Nigel formula is a David vs Goliath storyline where the "favorite dancer" wins over the most talented dancer. In season 1, Blake was the odds on favorite to win going in, and his antics also layered a good vs evil storyline on top of the David vs Goliath story. But Blake was was so OTT bitchy he got the boot before the finals. Since then, Nigel has picked technically brilliant dancers with less than magnetic personalities to be the Goliath -- Travis, Danny, Will, Brendan, and this season it was Jakob (note that with the exception of Will, the rest are also fey, so the little girls don't develop crushes on them). The Davids always have the "growth"/"untrained" storyline -- Sabra was presented as having only been dancing a couple of years (ignoring she was a gymnast), Russell is supposedly untrained and both Twitch and Joshua were presented as "street" dancers (even though Joshua obviously had formal training and Twitch was a freaking dance teacher). In the case of Russell, Twitch, and Russell, Nigel makes it seem like they auditioned right after a Bloods vs Crips gang fight. You know... 'cause they're black. Niiice. Nice and racist.

Russell winning means this show no longer has any credibility. It's not quite Sanjaya winning Americal Idol, but it's no better than Twtich winning SYTYCD. Just should not have happened.

 

[James Lee]

The annoying thing to me is that if they wanted to pimp the whole untrained, unpolished diamond angle, Legacy was a much more compelling story. Personally, I wanted him to win the competition. His b-boy skills were incredible and for someone who truly has no formal training in other dance styles, he did extraordinarily well for the most part, save for a few clunkers which I think were more the fault of bad, uninspired choreography than anything else.

Since he got the boot earlier, my next favorite was Kathryn, who was incredibly versatile and very attractive.

 

[Carl Miller]

Like everyone, I saw the Russell win coming weeks ago but was hoping for a surprise. IMO, it should have gone to Kathryn or Jakob. Am I alone in thinking that Kathryn is a better dancer than Janine from last season was? I don't know, maybe she was just cuter.

One thing I gotta say is that I hope they never, ever bring a married couple into the top 20 again. That whole angle was nauseating.

 

[Citizen87645]

I don't know if Kathryn is better. I watched some of Janine's work from the last couple episodes and they're still awesome (the Matrix paso doble and the samba). I think J. has more performance energy, but based on K.'s exit interview on ew.com her focus on performance instead of technique is a new development.

Apparently Russell and Kathryn will be showing up at the Oscars (I guess it pays to know the director).