Melanie emerges victorious!

As promised, here is my commentary on the SYTYCD finale. Aren't you impressed with how quickly I posted this?  Anyway, for starters, the final four finished in exactly the order that anybody who has been paying attention could easily have predicted: Melanie as the winner, Sasha in second, Marco in third, and Tadd in fourth. I have no complaints about these results; Melanie was clearly the best dancer from the beginning. The others were substantially above average as well, and I hope they all succeed as they try to parlay their media exposure from the show and tour into future careers in the industry.

I was sorry to see the lack of new dance content; the show consisted almost entirely of various judges picking a favorite dance from the season to see again. While this was fine, I would have enjoyed new performances from some of the All-Stars. I mean, the contestants are exhausted, so why not let the alumni carry the show? It would also have been nice to see a few packages telling us what our old friends are doing now. But since I'm still holding out hope for an All-Stars-Only competition season, I'll leave the complaining at that.

Performance highlights of the evening included (in no particular order):
1. Sasha and Kent's "Wall Dance". It was nice to see Kent again, and the wall as a prop was fabulous.
2. Tadd and Lauren F. dancing to "Another One Bites the Dust". I was happy to see Tadd get more airtime, and was Lauren this fabulous when she was actually on the show?
3. Ashley (remember her? she got a raw deal) and Chris's "Jail Dance". Ashley was my favorite contestant after this number, and I really wish she had gotten to go farther in the competition.
4. Melanie and Marko in the "Statues" dance choreographed by Travis Wall...although I didn't enjoy it as much the second time around...I think it was because the dancers didn't have time to don the full white make-up.
5. The group "Circus Routine". Enough said.

On the downside:
1. We didn't get to see Jordan and Tadd's "Evil Black Bird" dance. That was one of my favorites of the season.
2. We didn't get to see Ramalama. (Yes, I know that wasn't from this season, but I don't think any finale will ever be complete again without it.)
3. I was not a huge fan of Cat's dress. Normally, her outfits are stunning and a major highlight of the show, but the shiny red was a bit disappointing. Honestly, someone could write an entire blog on Cat's fabulous wardrobe (and if you want to guest blog next season, just email me).
4. Neither Sasha or Melanie actually wore Lady Gaga's crazy tall shoes to the Glee Movie premier. And the Glee guests didn't sing or dance at any point.
5. No Iveta! Another lovely girl who got a raw deal this season. She really should have gotten to perform on the finale and dance with Pasha again. But maybe she's already been signed for Dancing with the Stars and is otherwise engaged. If that is the case, all is forgiven.

That's all I've got for now. I'll come back and edit if I think of anything major I've forgotten. Cheers!

So You Think You Can Blog?

Well, the finale of So You Think You Can Dance is upon us. And I haven't blogged about the show in weeks. What can I say? I've been a little preoccupied (the Big Giant Event is coming up in about six weeks), plus I'm just not that into this season. I really don't know why....the talent is outstanding, the choreography is good, and at least SOME of the guest judges have been insightful, entertaining, or both.

Anyway, rather than trudge through a couple of pages of recap, I'll just throw out a couple of important points and go watch The End on my beloved Tivo:

1. Melanie is the best dancer. That's been clear from as early as the audition round (see my blog post from the beginning of the season). I don't know what it is about her, but she has that extra "something" that makes her special to watch.

2. That being said, I find myself headed toward the "play" button leaning just more than slightly toward Team Sasha. She is also an outstanding dancer, and has more personality. Besides, there is so much emotion in her dancing.

3. Honestly, I don't care that much who wins. I'm just looking forward to all the dancing (top 20 return, maybe some All-Stars?) tonight; the final result is only barely relevant. Nobody could win that would disappoint me; nobody could lose that would inspire me to throw something at the tv. Where is the villain? You know, that dancer who's REALLY GOOD but just not likable for some reason? The finale loses something for me if I'm not really hoping for a certain dancer to win, or at least hoping a certain one doesn't.

4. What's up with the Hot Tamale Train this season?  Aside from that one week with lots of train sounds (thank you, Divine Miss Mary), there hasn't been much talk about this transport's passengers. Surely some have been deserving? I couldn't even find a list of those inducted into the Tamale Hall of Fame this season. Granted, I didn't look very hard, but still....

Anyway, I'm off to watch. And I'll try really really hard to find time to blog/comment/complain about the show.  Enjoy!   :)