(Welcome Nicky to Pop Critics! She’s going to be writing about So You Think You Can Dance for us every week because she’s an ultra-fanatic about the show! Nicky runs her own fashion blog called Swish-Style, but is taking a break right now and we appreciate her helping us out! Give her a nice welcome!)
American Idol is over and that means it’s time for the only real dance competition on TV. No, I’m not talking cheeseball Dancing With The Stars, creepy Your Mama Don’t Dance or lame Step It Up and Dance (seriously how many of these shows are there?!) I’m talking So You Think You Can Dance, back for its fourth season!
If you’ve never watched it, here’s a little background info: In a similar style to American Idol, regular folks go out to a select number of cities to audition, we get to enjoy the talented and crazy people, see who makes the cut to the Top 20, vote for our favorites and help crown America’s Favorite Dancer.
Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe is the main judge, giving us the much needed snarky Brit factor, and he is joined by the super hyper, ballroom legend Mary Murphy, as well as a guest judge/choreographer every week. The show is hosted by the cute Cat Deeley, who is way more enjoyable than Ryan Seacrest.
Competitors draw different dance styles out of a hat, work with a select choreographer and give it their all. Yes, that means some weeks a hip hop dancer will have to learn a samba or a jazz dancer will have to shake their moneymaker like Beyonce, all for our viewing pleasure!
This week kicked off the audition process in Los Angeles and we saw the normal returning weirdos like Sex (a nickname obviously and he lists his age as 21+) and The Gold Inferno (he wears a lucha libre mask and basically jumps around.) Adding to that list was Italian Stallion Jonathan Anzalone, who thought he was so hot he dropped his pants for the camera, licked his nipples during his dance routine and was by far the most pompous person I’ve ever seen!
But we also saw some killer contestants like ballroom duo Leonidas Proskurov and Aliona Vetrenko.
Leonidas Proskurov and Aliona Vetrenko
Contemporary dancer Kherington Payne.
Kherington Payne
And the absolute best popper in the world, Robert Muraine.
“World’s Best Popper” Robert Muraine
I’ll be back next week with coverage of the Salt Lake City and Dallas auditions!
That is some of the best popping I’ve ever seen.
Okay, I totally sat through this show Nicky for the first time ever. I can really see it being fun once you get past the crappy dancers. I don’t know why it’s different than American Idol in that regard, but I mostly care about seeing the good people.
Now, that last video you posted…the Popper guy…that was simply insane. That guy was brilliant.
There was another guy, the Asian who walked down the stairs on his hands…too bad he’s gone, he was amazing.
Lastly, I thought the celebrity judge was perfect, but man…Mary Murphy might be more annoying than Paula
I love Mary. She is crazy! But at least she is intelligent, truly talented in her field and gives mostly useful feedback. I can’t say the same for Paula. Just wait for Mary’s hot tamale train when the real competition starts, cover your ears!
nickys last blog post..Update from my bed.
Yeah, I agree she at least knows what she’s talking about while Paula just seems like a baffoon most of the time.
She knows what she’s talking about, but why does she have to say it so loudly? I told Mike she reminded me of what people from other countries characterize Americans as…
Overall, I like the good dancers, but the bad dancers slowed down the show. Looking forward to the Vegas segment.
Yeah, the first half kinda dragged a bit.
i like it a ton better after the audition weeks too. good thing that part doesn’t last as long as it does on idol!
nickys last blog post..Update from my bed.
SYTYCD is definitely an addictive show. I think it gets much better once it gets to the actual competition. I think you get to know the contestants more on this show than you do on American Idol too, but that might just be me. I still forget most of them after the season ends.
It’s usually pretty entertaining.
But what do they do when they win? I mean, it’s not like Idol where they get a CD…so do they get a job on some show or commercial or something?
I could be wrong, but I think they get like $250,000 and a bunch of prizes. Plus they get to up the amount they charge for “private” dances.
I’d say “Welcome Nicky!” but she’s been around the Pop Critics block a time or two.
I’m glad you’re doing the recap for this show! I totally love watching it.
Thanks for putting the clip of the popper on here. I missed the end when he went backwards towards the floor. That was awesome!