So You Think You Can Dance - Week 7, Top 8 (3x18, 3x19)

OH PISSFACE.



In case you were wondering, pissface is on the right. CUTIE IS ON THE LEFT.

That Lauren out-drew Sara is a total shock, and if I find out that Sara lost by five votes (i.e. I didn't vote this time), I might do something violent.

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Lauren, Neil, Danny, Pasha, Sabra, and Lacey are the top 6 dancers vying to become America's favorite, to which I can only echo Cat's response:



I suppose that I'd be happy if Sabra won, and I'm definitely cool with a Pasha victory too (especially after the dripping machismo of his paso solo), but everyone else inspires near-total apathy. Sorry Danny, I admire what you do but as far as a reality tv personality? Although he seemed to levitate like Mitch Yost during one his pirouettes in his paso with Sara, he's still the most aloof dancer on the show, which reiterates the show's tension between dance and reality television. Since I'm an unwashed mass, I usually err to the low brow, and thus, Danny'd better start dry humping Cat Deeley to get my vote.

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Clearly, I was a fan of Sara



and of Dom



for reasons that didn't have much to do with actual dance (though I liked their dancing anyway), which makes me better than about nobody. I'll leave it to other sites to talk muse on Sara's partnering, versatility, and soulfulness, but I'm inclined to talk about her guns.



Here's she's getting ready to beat up America for not voting for her.

But seriously, far from being simply a cute girl with a wonderfully expressive face, she's also proven to be one of the most articulate contestants on the show (check out the complete paragraphs she speaks in in her FOX bio). The funky b-girl 'tude she brought was just as hot, who was so ego-free that she could melt into whatever role was given to her and that she was so visibly at peace with the end of her run on the show, and with her sly sense of humor, she (along with Sabra) broke up this season's stagnant pool of bland white girls. Sara, I'll miss seeing you on my TV.

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Don't worry, I still love white girls.

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A lot of people -- critics and fans alike -- have mentioned how SYTYCD educates American viewers about dance; unfortunately, the educational value of the show is often overstated, as an Entertainment Weekly article demonstrates:

Both dancers and viewers are constantly learning things. What's a good paso doble? How do performers interpret modern dance in a way that doesn't confound the audience?

I can only speak for myself, but while I now know that there is such a thing as a paso doble (for example), I still don't know really what makes a good paso doble, even in a "I know a good one when I see it" sense. I know more about the five fists of science than I do about the five points of contact. Its judges are certainly clueless about hip hop. (Did they really not understand from Danny and Sara's '80s outfits that the routine was throwback party hip-hop dancing? Expecting "hard-hitting" "gangsta" moves is waiting for a bigoted Godot, but that's a different tangent.) Thus, based on educational criteria, SYTYCD is wanting.

Instead of really trying to educate its viewers (imagine a pre-taped segment with Cat in haughty (and hotty!) teacher mode telling us that in evaluating a krump routine, the dancers should "dance the spaces, the absence, between the obvious beat," and above all, the krump should triumph over environmental and cultural obstacles), SYTYCD focuses on its dancers-as-personalities first and foremost (Jaimie inexplicably wanted to be a basketball player! Danny loves sunglasses!) to promote the SYTYCD brand, because SYTYCD otherwise doesn't brand itself through merchandise. (E.g. whither Jimmy and Shauna's sweaties from their stepping routine?) SYTYCD surveys dance styles and occasionally shows what they look like, especially considering this season's "watered down" choreographies aren't always authentic. If viewers want to acquire a deeper knowledge of the styles, they have to find out on their own, away from the text we call So You Think You Can Dance.

(The preceding inspired by this post.)

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Download (45.01mb)

At last a quickstep to call my own! However, I noticed Sabra's feet looked sluggish, especially compared to Pasha's, but even in light of Lacey and Kameron's more authentic quickstep from earlier this season, Sabra and Pasha performed the hell out of their routine.

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The LOLCATDEELEY Moment of the Week


Also, who knew that Cat Deeley was a music geek? (Trust me, it's awesomer if you pretend she's talking about Electrelane or OOIOO.)

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You ever notice that with weeks that are light on Sara, my posts tend to be shorter?



Well, expect even shorter posts from now on!

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People will argue whether or not Dominic crossed a line with Cat towards the end of the results show -- mostly, they say that he was groping her -- but only Cat can say for certain. The matter isn't about you or me or the values either of us hold -- and some people are projecting a lot of latent hate onto him -- it's about Cat. If she was fine with his pawing, then no harm, no foul, but if not, obviously he was in the wrong. Still, it all depends on her and the nature of the relationship she cultivated with Dom and the other dancers. Unfortunately, unless she felt violated, her highly visible position as host, mother hen to the dancers, and spokesperson for the show probably means that she'll never reveal her real feelings to the public.

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Can't end on a solemn note! Sara darling, break us out!


Download (10.5mb)

Indie rating: Jade Vincent Experiment - "Girl of My Dreams"

Filed in: SYTYCD