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SYTYCD: Top 6 to Top 4 Thoughts

First off let me start of my saying that I live in Georgia and we were definitely feeling the effects of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irma. Lots of rain and heavy wind which cause a few issues while watching tonight’s show. With that being said I might have gotten all of the choreographer’s last name but I tried. Thankfully, the dances are uploaded quickly so I can watch them back.

So if I heard Cat correctly we have two more shows left this season the performance finale and the finale. The voted this week and next week will help determine the winner. Also, Mia Michaels will be back next week…so exciting.

Lex & Gaby: Samba – Sasha Farber
What a fun Samba from Sasha…I’m going to miss him as a pro this season on DWTS. I thought Lex did great and it was the strongest performance from him tonight. I particularly like how he flipped over Gaby at the end.

Koine & Marko: Contemporary – Mandy and Elizabeth
This was a difficult routine to learn with the props but they mastered it for the live show. I just really enjoy watching these two dance together. The only critique that I have is on the choreography…just wanted a little more dancing without the props.

Kiki & Jenna: Jazz – Ray Leeper
I don’t what has happened over the last couple of weeks but Kiki has become a different person. He seems more confident outside of his own style…and I think he out danced Jenna this time.

Taylor & Robert: Hip Hop – Keone and Mari
Excited to see these two choreographing tonight…they were one of my favorite from World of Dance. I felt like they nailed this…it was strong and clean. I felt like I was watching a taller version on Keone and Mari

Lex & Koine: Disco –  Doriana Sanchez
Okay so while this disco was good…for me it wasn’t the best done to this song. This has been used two other time on this show for disco. I think Koine shined a little bit brighter that Lex. I’m not sure what happen but Lex injured himself at the end of that routine. I really hope that he is okay because you could tell he was in pain and the medics went right to him as they were going to commercial.

Taylor & Logan: Contemporary – Mark Kanemura
My first thought was it is going to take forever to get all that glitter off of them later tonight. I really like this dance and for me it was very up lifting. Also, I think Taylor and Logan were a great pairing.

Kiki & Kaylee: Bollywood – Nakul
I sort of giggled when Nakul questioned himself as to why he creates difficult routines for the contestants to learn. Both Kiki and Kaylee did great and they looked like they were having fun.

Top 4(as they were revealed): Lex, Taylor, Kiki, and Koine

Let me know what you think of the top 4.

 

September 11, 2017 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

SYTYCD: Top 8 to Top 7 Thoughts

Fabulous opening number by Mark Kanemura, I love when he comes back to the show. Also, great all star dance by Jaci Royal. Each dancer will dance twice once with their all-star and one with each other.

Koine & Marko: Jazz- Mandy Moore
This was pure jazz for me, no story just straight up dancing. Just a great way to start the night. I agree with the judges about what they said about Koine. Side not makes me happy that Marko will be on tour.

Taylor & Robert: Hip Hop- Luther Brown
Luther is on fire on this season. Tonight they were Tay-lo and Bob…alter egos come out during hip hop. I really enjoyed watching this…reminded me of when Witney and Twitch danced together in season nine. Luther giving Taylor the gum might have really helped her with the “stank face”.

Lex & Gaby: Contemporary Mandy Moore
Yay…Lex is in his own style. I agree with the judges…Mandy created a great piece that showed all of Lex’s strengths. His future as a dancer is bright.

Kaylee & Cyrus: Cha-Cha- Val Chmerkovskiy
Ok…so I enjoyed Val’s choreography this week, could be my favorite I’ve seen from him in a while. Kayla, nailed it from the steps, to the hips and looking like she was having fun. I though Cyrus did a respectable job and I wish Nigel wouldn’t throw shade his way.

Mark & Comfort: Broadway- Spencer Liff
I think is somewhat obvious that while Mark is mainly a b-boy/hip hop dancer, he has studied other styles before he came on to the show. I might have to agree with Nigel that he is probably the favorite of the younger crowd. That being said he was great in this number.

Kiki & Jenna: Jazz- Travis Wall
Umm…not my cup of tea. However, I thought Kiki did a great job. I think he needs a little more confidence in himself in the fact that he can do these style. Loved the costuming and makeup, maybe it was the music that made me wrinkle my nose.

Logan & Allison: Hip Hop- Chris Scott
So good, love Chris Scott’s lyrical hip hop. So fun and cute…you can really see the connection between the two of them. Side note…I can totally see Allison and Twitch dancing this together.

Lex & Taylor: Jazz- Spencer Liff
Touring together with a dance convention for year definitely helped them with the connection. Might have to make sure Spencer was ok after Nigel calling this on of the best dances that has ever been on the show. Like Mary I had a little bit of a flash of Hok. I would not be surprise at all if it comes down between Taylor and Lex on who will win.

Koine & Kiki: Salsa: Val Chmerkovskiy
Where has this Kiki been. Worthy of the hot tamale train in my opinion. Also I am enjoying seeing Koine show her fun side. Kiki is good a what he does…won’t be surprised to see him on DWTS in the future.

Logan & Kaylee: Contemporary- Travis Wall
I loved this idea that Travis had…part reminded me of Peter Pan chasing his shadow at times. Kaylee did a wonderful job mirroring Logan…which was a task in itself. Definitely Emmy nomination worthy.

Dassy & Mark: Hip Hop- Chris Scott
I really thought this showed off their personalities well. Glad Dassy was able to pull off the umbrella moves for the live show after breaking nine of them. It was a fun pairing I love how they even continued on even after the routine.

Bottom three: Dassy, Kaylee, and Koine

Dassy in the end went home but like FikShun said she went home on a high note.

August 28, 2017 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

*Spoiler Alert* Season 10 Finale

SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE SHOW!

It has been another great season and it’s always sad to see it go. Before I get to the run down of the show and of course the winners, I am happy to announce that Fox and Nigel announced that there will be a SEASON 11! Now on with the show that had a 17 min intermission (Presidential speech), well for the east coast. We had Judges favorites, top 4 favorites, and some surprises.

The Top 20 are back, even Jade even thought he can dance cause his knee isn’t fully healed yet. A fun routine choreographed by Ivan from season 2 (who has choreographed for Justin Timberlake).

Paula Abdul Favorite: Edge of Glory, Paul and Makensie

Jasmine H. Favorite: Blurred Lines she danced with Marko. She surprised me with this pick.

Adam Shankman: he picked the FikShun and Twitch hip-hop to Hello Good Morning.

The Top 4 got to see a special screening of Battle of the Year, that features Dominic from season 3. Also Legacy from season 6 is also in the movie (look it up on IMBD if you don’t believe me).

Nigel’s Pick: This really was a no brainer, I knew he would pick a tap number, I just didn’t know which one. It’s fitting that he chose the one with all of the tappers from this season.

Twitch’s Favorite: His choice surprised me as well, mainly just the fact that it was a Broadway number. Kiss of the Spiderwoman- Nico and Hayley.

Aaron’s Favorite: Kissing You with all-star Kathryn

They replayed the sand number with the Top 10 guys, which is actually one on my absolute favorites of the season.

Cat’s Favorite: Run the World, Jasmine and Comfort hip-hop

Mary’s Favorite: Medicine, Tucker and Robert

Puttin’ on the Ritz: Top 20. Really loved this innovative number that NappyTabs created.

Then another favorite of mine Mark and Jenna.

FikShun and Amy both picked the same dance as their favorite. After Party, the bell hop hip-hop.

So we are treated to the “partnership” of Nigel and Mary. Though the video montage, I’m sure I wasn’t the only that was wondering where they were going with this…a dance with Nigel and Mary. This did make my night, especially Adam not wanting to be left out of the fun.

The Top 5 moments from the Auditions with the number one spot going to Movement Box.

Twitter’s Travis Wall routine Favorite: Seriously no surprise that it is Wicked Game that he danced with Amy.

The Top 10 and All-Stars perform and fun surfs up number by Nappy Tabs.

Now time for the Winner’s, Cat announced that a girl got the top number of votes. With that said she began with the guys and then the girls.

The Season 10 Winners ARE….FICKSHUN and AMY!!! Congrats to them both and Aaron and Jasmine. What a great season can’t wait till next year.

 

 

September 10, 2013 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 4 Power Rankings

Last night was another great night of dancing by the Top 4 and the All Stars. I have to congratulate the Top 4 for surviving last nights show, they showed great stamina to dance five times in the span of two hours. Paula Abdul was a guest judge for a second time this season and honestly I want more of her on the show. Gabby Douglas also was a guest judge, I felt like she was there simply cause she is a fan of the show. The gold medal references got old fast. Anyways, by the end of the season sometimes it’s hard to know who will exactly be America’s favorite dancer.

Each dancer, danced a solo, danced with the other top 4, and the style of their with an all star. The best dances of the night for each finalist were the dance style of their choice. The top 4 have all been great this season and they all have impressed me over the season. So here is how I would rank the top 4 based on last night’s performances.

Girls

Amy: Amy had the better night of the two girls. Her ballroom dance was better than Jasmine’s. She really does remind me of Melanie Moore, in the fact that she is a little powerhouse and she has been an early favorite for the fans and the judges. Ranking her dances of the night contemporary with Robert gets the top spot. The two Jazz numbers were about even for me, but I’m really beginning to question what planet Mark is really from. I did enjoy the Tango/Paso fusion but I just felt like it would have been dance better if it were danced with an all star.

Jasmine: Anyone else surprised to learn that it was Cat Deely that fought hard to make sure that Jasmine was a part of the top 20. So a big thank you goes to Cat for fighting so hard and hopefully she will win the Emmy this time.  Back to Jasmine, I can’t say I was surprise that she chose hip-hop for her style of choice. She and Comfort hit a homerun with that dance. The only time she seemed to struggle last night was in the Samba. I know that her skirt not wanting to come off threw her and Aaron. Other than that I’m not sure why it just didn’t seem to work for them.

Guys

Aaron: Finally we get to see another tap dance. I really think Aaron and Melinda have very similar tap style, not to mention insane technique, which is why this pairing worked so well. I didn’t expect the song choice they chose for the dance. This was my absolute favorite of the night from the telling of the story to the crisp clear sounds of their taps. Paula was right in saying that Aaron is a very generous partner, is the sense he doesn’t try to out dance them. He too struggled with the Samba but in the long run I don’t think that will affect him.

FikShun: I’m sure he isn’t alone in thinking to dance with Twitch will make your life awesome. I loved these two together. They both have fun personalities that came to life in this hip-hop. The other thing that I like about FikShun is the fact that he has risen to every challenge that’s been given to him. Sure he may still need some refining but partnering skills are there, and he proved that last night. I was a bit nervous if he could partner Jasmine, but he seemed to do it with ease.

 

So who is your favorite Guy and Girl dancer? Truthfully I would be happy no matter which girl wins. As for the guys Aaron is my pick to win, what can I say I love tap dancers.

 

 

September 4, 2013 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 6 Power Rankings

The closer we get to the finale of the show the harder it is for me to want to do a power rankings post, but I’ll do my best. Loved the opening dance by Mia Michaels. Many of you may have noticed Aaron was missing from that dance. It wasn’t addressed on the show since he was able to dance his duet. This is when social networking comes in handy. Thanks to twitter Aaron sent out a message saying he has a shoulder injury and in best interest of his shoulder and the show, he was pulled from the opening number. That’s all I know right now…if I find out more I will update.

The bottom four ended up being Jenna, Hayley, Tucker and FikShun. Tough call to make and I can say I 100% agree with the end results but it’s what has to happen. Jenna and Tucker were the two we had to say goodbye to. Both had fantastic dances last night. I really did enjoy watching Tucker and Courtney dance together. Wasn’t the best of the night but landed in the middle of the mix for me. Jenna and Mark on the other hand I could go on for days about their dance. It was my favorite piece of choreography of the night.

Girls

Amy: I think most will agree this was the other favorite dance of the night. Travis was able to show us all of Amy’s talents as a dancer. It reminded me why she has always been one of the early favorites.

Hayley: There is just something about the Rumba I just love. It’s really hard for me to find anything wrong  about this dance.

Jasmine: I was excited to see that she was paired with Twitch. Granted I would have wanted a more down and dirty hip hop but I enjoyed the superhero theme too. Superheroes and Twitch go hand in hand together.  Jasmine held her own dancing with Twitch but this was a case of the other numbers just were a little bit better.

Guys (very hard to rank these since all made me feel the same)

FikShun: Allison did a fantastic job working in his strenths through her choreography.  He really has grown so much over the competition.

Paul: This was just a fun hip hop. Paul has consistently been good and the ladies love him.

Aaron: Dispite his injured shoulder he made that jive look easy. I had to go back to see what Mary was talking about, and still trying to figure out what caused it. Still thought he was great.

So who is your top 4? Mine is Amy, Jasmine, Aaron and Paul.

August 21, 2013 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 8 now Top 6 Thoughts

I wanted to do a thoughts post tonight for two reasons. The first reason being I want to know which dances/dancers were your favorites.  Second I want to talk about the All Stars and how fantastic they were tonight.

When Cat made the announcement last week that the All Stars would not only be dancing but also choreographing, I was excited. Once the All Stars were announced the excitement level went up.

So I guess I’ll start by saying I loved everything about tonight, from seeing Travis dance on that stage again to Twitch and his super hero hip hop. I’m only going give my thoughts on a few, the rest will be a part of my power rankings tomorrow.

Allison: So why hasn’t she choreographed for the show before now…I really don’t know. I really hope we get to see more of  her work in the future.

Courtney: Her style of choreography is how I would probably choreograph if I was actually any good at it. I really like the lifts and even that last little lift at the end.

Mark: GaGa would be proud. Everything about this screamed Mark, and I loved every minute of it. He has always been one of my favorites and I can’t wait to see what else we will see from him in the future.

Travis: I think many will agree with me it was great to see Travis dance on that stage again. I agree with the judges he is only going to continue to go up in his career. Also the next time his company Shaping Sound tours I’m buying a ticket to go see it.

So let me know what you thought of tonight’s SYTYCD.

August 20, 2013 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Open Letter to SYTYCD Producers: How to Fix SYTYCD

Dear SYTYCD Producers,

Here at PureSYTYCD, we’ve had several conversations lately about why ratings, Internet traffic and overall enthusiasm and discussion have been sinking season by season. Margaret says it can be traced to the infamous Fall season, Season 6, when our favorite show started changing swiftly and drastically. While some of the changes have been really amazing (All-Stars), some of them have been just dreadful (yes, I’m going to say it once again – the stage).

So Fox, Nigel, here are OUR pointers for how to fix the show (and readers, please, please add your own in the comments or tell us how you feel about ours and add your voice to the open letter).

1. Keep rotating judges and guest judges – just rotate Nigel right off the panel. We loved the guest judges this season (with the notable exceptions of Carmen Electra and Katie Holmes), especially the fact that we got a rotation of our favorite choreographers on the panel. We’ve learned that static judges are annoying, no matter who they are. Whether it was Nigel, Mary, Mia or Adam, we got tired of hearing the same voices when we already knew what they were going to say. Jean-Marc is a good (pervy) example of this on the Canadian show. However, Nigel almost never rotates out,  so we’re extra tired of him. If you need guest judges to replace him, we’ll make ourselves available. Hey, why not? Fans of the show are good judges, considering the best of the celebrity guest judges were the ones who were clearly fans.

2. Speaking of Nigel, let’s talk about his producing style. While we can’t say we’ve ever produced a show and we can only imagine the numerous concerns involved, we get a little annoyed by Nigel’s heavy-handed pulling-the-puppet-strings style. While we admire that he’s always willing to try new things and some of those new things have really been excellent, the best producing is the kind that doesn’t draw attention to itself. Nigel keeps insisting on shoving the dancers and the show into this perfectly produced package. (Can we talk about how the judges kept the elimination after Top 10 and it was never acknowledged on the show? And how the girls were “beasts” slaying the boys THE WHOLE SEASON, probably to compensate for the Girl Slaughter of Season 7?) Melanie got dubbed America’s Favorite Dancer (by the judges) in the auditions and was never truly challenged or critiqued (by the judges) during the whole season. It could’ve cost Melanie the win she totally deserved if she hadn’t been so adorable and talented. We’re getting tired of Nigel deciding who’s going to win and then trying to make it so. Is it America’s Favorite Dancer or is it Nigel’s Favorite Dancer? Guess which show we’re not going to watch next season?

So how do we fix this, you might ask? John suggests that we need more charismatic dancers who are really good in one style and have to fight to conquer other styles (like Ivan and Russell, who won his season). Marianya says she misses seeing the dancers really challenged at the beginning of the show. Fans of SYTYCD love watching the unexpected partnership and the unexpected dancer struggle and then achieve, making themselves our favorites in the process.

Margaret: Part of what makes those first few weeks so interesting, besides watching partnerships that we really hook into (Melanie & Marko) is wondering how other dancers would work together. If Kayla & Max/Ashley & Kupono hadn’t been in the bottom during week 2 of season 5, Max & Ashley may not have been eliminated at the same time and we wouldn’t have gotten to see the surprisingly great partnership of Kayla & Kupono—which means we wouldn’t have gotten “Addiction” and it’s rated as one of the best numbers the show has ever had, rightly so.

So one way to fix this would be to go back to SYTYCD’s roots. We’ve had some of the most technically gifted dancers the last three seasons and sometimes we could hardly bring ourselves to care because while there was nothing “wrong” with a dancer or a routine, we just couldn’t get excited. This might mean more bad routines and bad dancing but will make us so grateful again for the truly transcendent moments. Which brings us to…

3. We need diversity in dance styles and choreographers. Doreana Sanchez is not the only person choreographing disco routines and Nakul dev Mahajan is not the only Bollywood choreographer. Go to Canada if you don’t believe me. What would happen if there were only one contemporary routine on any given show or maybe only one contemporary routine every few weeks? What if we HAD to depend on Afro Jazz, House, all of the Ballroom styles, Bollywood, Pas de Deux , etc. to fill in the episode?

And for diversity, we don’t even have to look any further than the other SYTYCD franchises. Canada and UK have phenomenal choreographers (and dancers!), as did Australia. Those are just the English-speaking franchises. What wonderful choreographers could we find if the producers imported from the Ukraine SYTYCD or the Turkish or Polish versions?

4. And speaking of one big happy family, why not create another Fall show, but make it different, perhaps a shorter super competition? What if we had SYTYCD SuperStars and all of the previous contestants from ALL of the franchises were eligible to come back and compete for the “World’s Favorite Dancer” title? Maybe this show is 2 episodes a week for only 4 weeks, just to make it special and so that it might not overlap with the World Series again? Dancers featured on SYTYCD don’t have a potential “product” like American Idol singers do when they release a cd, so anytime the producers can create a vehicle for these dancers that doesn’t overshadow the current cast, they’re helping create more of a career and presence for the dancers. The great thing about this idea is that it totally supports this next point…

5. Ditch the musical guests. Or ditch about 90% of them. Keep the 10% that are willing to use SYTYCD dancers for backup dancers (including the current cast! didn’t that happen one season?). Maybe the musical performances bring in money, or maybe you producers only think they do. The reality is, they usually suck and I’m only watching the dancers anyway. It’s like, on Dancing with the Stars, the ONLY reason I watch the musical performances is to catch the dancing that happens at the same time. I would MUCH RATHER see dance performances. It’d be a good time to show us alumni dancers re-dancing their iconic numbers as much more evolved dancers (think Kent and LoFro doing the prom number – it was only 8 months later and they’d already become such different dancers). Bring in performers from all the other SYTYCD franchises, like you did with UK’s recent winner Matt Flint. Pairing him with the all-too-soon-eliminated Nick and Jess in a tap routine that THEY choreographed? BRILLIANT. Easily one of the highlights of not just the finale, but of the season. Do it more. That’s the key to re-building your audience: when you do something we like, do it more. When you do something we don’t like, stop doing it.

6. Which means, bring back the smaller and more intimate stage. Season 8’s stage (or the camera work and lack of distracting backlights) was better than the Seasons 6 and 7 monstrosity, but only by a bit. Watching SYTYCD Canada reminds me of how amazing the original stage is and you really need to listen to us and bring it back. It was a big part of why we fell in love with the show and the Seasons 1-5 dancers. Do you know why? We were closer to them. There were more physical possibilities for the choreographers when it came to moving the dancers around the stage because it wasn’t a giant, uniform thing. When it comes down to it, the stage represents the entire SYTYCD producers vs SYTYCD audience disagreement. With this big uber stage (since S6), you are focusing on the package, the spectacle. The more intimate circle stage that we love and still mourn focuses on the dancers.

Margaret: I miss my stairs! There was something about the old stage and how it was round that made the dances feel like stories, not performances for an audience. We were able to get more closeups, feel the emotions, and the set was about enhancing the dancing, not enhancing the spectacle. My best example came from, oddly, the guy I think used the stage the best during his time with SYTYCD, Wade. With “Ruby Blue,” Brandon and Janette entered the story by popping up from behind a wall and coming down the stairs, and their ability to use the stage in that entrance played a major role in the believability of the movements. But, in Season 6, with the “inside Van Goh’s head” piece Wade did for Peter and Pauline, the ridiculous fractured painting that rotated and flipped on the projecting screen was super distracting and took away from what was actually a really well-danced piece, especially from Peter. It was a very cool routine and they danced it really well, but their technical success was overshadowed by the “overdoneness” of the set.

7. Instead of spending the money on the bigger stage and a lot of flash, we would rather that you spend the money to figure out how to release SYTYCD DVDs so we can re-watch our favorite seasons without resorting to YouTube and other means. There is a market for it, so figure it out. Whenever you focus on the dancers–current, alumni, International franchise dancers, whatever–you can’t go wrong with us. That’s the simple fact at the heart of the matter.

And now that we’ve critiqued you quite a lot, here’s a list of what we like and want you to keep.

1. The All-Stars – having them arrive at the Top 10 is the perfect marriage. Keep it up. Only, we want to see them re-dance their iconic routines and you missed a lot of opportunities to do this during Season 8. Fix that.

Margaret: Not only does this give us the chance to see dancers we love again, but use this as a way to plug their success. Allison & Ivan were All-Stars in the same week, how were they not asked to dance together?! Same with Chelsie & Mark! Those are two of the most successful partnerships, and some of the best personalities, the show has ever had, be proud of that, they are SYTYCD success to the highest degree.

2. The Meet the Top 20 performance – sheer genius. It’s been a highlight of each season you’ve done it. Especially since we get to see the dancers twice on the live show before anyone’s eliminated. Keep that.

3. We like the dancers you pick! We just want you to cut back on the contemporary/jazz and pick some dancers with different backgrounds. We want them to be challenged more and truly judged, all of them and fairly. And clearly they’re talented, because they’re going on to dance in movies, commercials, music videos, music tours, Broadway shows, Glee and DWTS.

Margaret: We also love underdogs, they’re fun to root for. Give us more Tads, Russells, Dominics, Jeanines, Evans, Nicks, even Lauren Froderman floundered her 1st week and was in danger of going home!

4. Cat is the one thing most of us can agree on. She smooths over the awkward moments and she uses her great sense of humor to keep things rolling. I love it when she gets to pick dances for the finale show.

Remember, no matter what, we love the show. We only want to like it again.

Sincerely (and xoxo),

SYTYCD Fans/PureSYTYCD writers

P.S. Sorry this is a little long – clearly we had a lot to say.

September 6, 2011 I Written By

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 8 – Top 4 Performance and Finale

Summary
For the finale of So You Think You Can Dance season 8 we give you a super-sized podcast with 15 more minutes of content. We were happy with Melanie’s win and were pleasantly surprised that the top two dancers this season were both women, which has not happened before on this program. The performance episode was not up to the high standards of past seasons which was disappointing for us, but there were some highlights such as Marko and Lauren F.’s wonderful contemporary piece by Tessandra Chavez and the captivating performance by Melanie and Sasha in the second Stacey Tookey routine of the night.

The results show reminded us of many of the great routines from the season, although we were surprised by how the judges picks seemed to place less emphasis on everyone except for Melanie, Marko and Sasha (even Tadd only had one non-group routine repeated). This portion of the show has historically served as a warm-up for the forthcoming tour and features many of the routines that are expected to show up. But here we had many routines that involved all-stars, none of which will likely be on the tour. It was unexpected for the judges picks to lack variety.

We conclude the podcast with a discussion of the show’s production and the effect it’s having on the pacing and the way we get to know the dancers. We pinpoint that the approach towards the show changed in season 6, when they moved to the live show format. At this point the packages became shorter and contained more schtick and the judges comments started having less substance due to the time constraints of a live program. We also discuss the choreographers and that some of them tailor their work to their selected dancers and that others do not and whether this is a fair way of doing things. Finally, we discuss the variety of dancers in the top 20 in later seasons versus the early seasons and the effect this seems to have on the type of choreography we see each week.

Please let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment here after listening! We love to hear feedback and what you thought of the show. We also encourage you to check out our twitter feed!

We want to thank everyone that has tuned into our podcasts during the course of the season! We’ve enjoyed doing this and its been a learning experience for us! We’re planning to do podcasts for season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance, so check back with us in May 2012. We’re going to continue doing our Big Brother podcasts and will be adding The X-Factor to our weekly discussions when it premieres on September 21st. We are also adding a Week in Review podcast in the fall for all the other shows we watch during that time. So if any of that sounds interesting to you, then follow our blog Reflections on Pop Entertainment and watch for our updates. If you’re only interested in our So You Think You Can Dance material, we’ll see you again next summer!

Episode Length: 44:53

Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction: Congrats to Melanie! Guest judges: Katie Holmes and Kenny Ortega and the choice to have celebrity judges
2:37 – Melanie and Marko’s disco
4:15 – Sasha and Mark’s jazz
5:44 – Tadd and Joshua’s hip-hop
7:10 – Melanie and Robert’s contemporary
8:29 – Sasha and Marko’s broadway
10:46 – Sasha and Tadd’s chacha
12:57 – Marko and Lauren F.’s contemporary
14:36 – Tadd and Melanie’s jazz
16:01 – Melanie and Sasha’s contemporary
18:27 – Marko and Tadd’s gumboot stepping
20:28 – The order of the placing: 2 girls in the top
22:22 – Results show: The new top 20 routine and tap routine
24:28 –  Results show: The judges picks were stacked towards Melanie, Sasha and Marko and didn’t seem to be a retrospective of the season
28:58 – Post-season discussion: The direction of production and how it affects the show – pacing in live shows vs recorded shows, an increasing focus on the judging panel, choreographers tailoring their work to the dancers, variety in the dancers in the Top 20 (stacked towards contemporary/jazz now), variety in routine genres (less ballroom now, more contemporary/jazz)
42:34 – Wrap-up: What are your thoughts on our post-season discussion? What we’re going to be doing in future podcasts (Big Brother, The X-Factor, Week in Review)


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August 15, 2011 I Written By

Over the past few years my fiancée Meghan slowly brought me into the world of television, turning me into a full-fledged fan of both scripted and reality shows. So You Think You Can Dance turned into one of my favorite reality shows as it is a competition that takes itself seriously, providing the audience with artistic choreography and talented dancers. It's certainly not something I ever expected to get emotionally invested in, but here I am! Meghan and I are very analytic when it comes to the things we enjoy. We constantly discussed and analyzed shows with each other and after doing this for a couple years, we decided that we should turn these discussions into a podcast. We created Reflections on Pop Entertainment, a podcast that provides commentary and analysis of popular entertainment as found in visual mediums, particularly television and film. So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 is the first television series we're covering with weekly podcasts and has allowed us to find our voice as well as actively contribute to the fan community. We hope that you'll enjoy our installments as they are posted to Pure So You Think You Can Dance!

SYTYCD Season 8 Finale Part 1 Music

Who knows what tonight’s going to bring? I can’t wait to find out!!

Melanie and Marko danced a Doreana Sanchez disco to: Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love (12″ Version)” – I Feel Love (12

Sasha and All-Star Mark danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz to: Deadmau5’s “Raise Your Weapon” – Raise Your Weapon - 4x4=12 (Deluxe Version)

Tadd and All-Star Joshua danced a Lil C hip hop to: Ace Hood’s “Hustle Hard” – Hustle Hard - Blood Sweat & Tears (Deluxe Edition)

Melanie and All-Star Robert danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary to: Sinead O’Connor’s “Sacrifice” – not on iTunes yet.

Sasha and Marko danced a Spencer Liff Broadway to: Ella Fitzgerald’s “Whatever Lola Wants” – Whatever Lola Wants - Ella Sings Broadway

Melanie danced her solo to: Peter Bradley Adams’s “Song for Viola” – Song for Viola - Leavetaking

Marko danced his solo to: Joshua Radin’s “The Fear You Won’t Fall” – The Fear You Won't Fall - Unclear Sky - EP

Sasha and Tadd danced a Mark Ballas cha cha to: Basement Jaxx’s “Raindrops” – Raindrops - Scars (Bonus Track Version)

Marko and All-Star LoFro danced a Tessandra Chavez contemporary to: Me’Shell Ndegéocello’s “Shirk” – Shirk - The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams

Tadd danced his solo to: Jessie J’s “Mamma Knows Best” – Mamma Knows Best - Who You Are

Sasha danced her solo to: Rachael Yamagata’s “Be Be Your Love” – Be Be Your Love - Happenstance (Deluxe Version)

Melanie and Sasha danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary to: Ahn Trio’s “Heart Asks Pleasure First” – Heart Asks Pleasure First - Ahn Trio: Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac

Marko and Tadd danced a Chuck Maldonado gumboot stepping routine to: Outkast’s “B.O.B.” – B.O.B. - Stankonia

I Written By