As a fan of dance I feel that SYTYCD gets the idea of a reality competition show correct. There are two major components that SYTYCD does that other shows, mainly American Idol, just don't do. First is that SYTYCD looks for America's "Favorite" dancer while AI looks for the "Next pop star". Second, the show's elimination process is still controlled by the judges, before it was until the top 10 but this season they did it all the up to the finale.
These two points are very important in making SYTYCD a successful show. By looking for America's favorite dancer there is no pressure to necessarily have the best performers make it from week to week. Also this eliminates some of the critique that "the wrong person won the competition". One example of this is in season four I felt that Will was just such a talented dancer and performed the hell out of each routine. However Will did not even make the finale and Joshua won that season. Am I upset? No! Again take season six where Russell won the competition. I personally felt that Jakob and Kathryn were better dancers and better performers but I don't feel any anger or frustration with the decision. And with this season, Melanie won the competition (Congrats Melanie!), however I felt Tadd was my favorite dancer and I'm not upset about the decision.
With AI there is just too much pressure to become the Next American Idol. If I were too look back at the ten seasons of American Idol, I feel that Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jordin Sparks have actually been successful enough as "American Idols". If fact there are probably more successful non-winners than actual winners. I believe Clay Aiken has had more success and popularity than Ruben Studdard, Katherine McPhee and Daughtry over Taylor Hicks, Jennifer Hudson over Fantasia, Archuleta over Cook, Adam Lambert over Kris Allen, and even Bowersox over DeWyze. I was upset that Katherine McPhee lost in the finale. Same with Clay Aiken. It's hard to say that someone will become an American Idol, but it is not so difficult to call someone their favorite dancer.
Secondly, SYTYCD has the elimination process correct. America gets to vote but the judges decide from the bottom 3 who gets eliminated. Some may argue that it gives to much power to the judges and takes it away from the people. I say that I would rather see the more talented or entertaining person make it through to the next week rather than squirm everytime someone who is not as talented as the rest of the competition try to perform at that level. It also puts some responsibility on these people who are called judges. They are not just giving criticism to a performance.
Now let's reflect on AI. AI narrows the field down to a top something (it has changed formats from season to season) and then leaves it to the voters to determine who heads home. It sounds like a great plan to put the power into the hands of the people. But there have many times in my mind where the wrong person got sent home. Now I know that AI has recently put in a "Judges Save" that they could use one per season but it still doesn't make up for some of the unfortunate voting results. All the back to season one, I feel that Kelly Clarkson was the clear winner (something that I felt from the first auditions) but I feel that Tamyra Gray was let go too early. Did anyone think Justin would beat Kelly? But if Tamyra was there, it could have been a little more dramatic. Then again in season 3 to have Jennifer Hudson be eliminated at top 7, over finalists Diana DeGarmo and Jasmine Trias. Really? Then again in Season 7 with Carly Smithson being booted before David Castro or Brooke White. I'm sure there are others but these are the three that stand out.
While I have been tooting the horn of SYTYCD in this post, there are some critiques I have that I hope they can implement for next season. Firstly is Nigel leading the audience. I think it's fair when he says a performance in not good but when he makes a comment such as "I believe a girl will win this season", it could have a strong effect on the audience voting. Secondly is challenging the dancers. Clearly a dancer will perform and shine when given a genre that is close to their practice, but mix it up a little. If we just look at the finalists and what genres they had to perform. (I am focusing only on the paired dancing)
Melanie - Contemporary (20), Jazz (20), Hip-hop (16), Jazz (14), Tango/Contemporary (12), Viennese Waltz (10), Contemporary/Jazz (8), Hip-Hop/Broadway (6), Disco/Contemporary/Jazz/Contemporary (4).
Sasha - Contemporary (20), Hip-Hop (20), Contemporary (16), Hip-Hop (14), Paso Doble/Jazz (12), Hip-Hop (10), Quick-Step/Jazz (8), Contemporary/Waacking (6), Jazz/Broadway/Cha-Cha-Cha/ Contemporary (4)
Marko - Same as Melanie up to top 10 - Samba (10), Contemporary/Hip-Hop (8), Paso Doble/Lyrical Jazz (6), Disco/Broadway/Contemporary/Stepping (4)
Tadd - African Jazz (20), Viennese Waltz (20), Hip-Hop (16), Smooth Waltz (14), Contemporary/Broadway (12), Hip-Hop (10), Jazz/Foxtrot (8), Jazz/Broadway (6), Hip-Hop/Jazz/Cha-Cha-Cha/Stepping (5)
So if this were broken down
Melanie, a contemporary dancer, had 5 routines in her style, 5 more broadway and jazz, 2 ballroom and 1 disco.
Sasha, a contemporary dancer, had 4 routines in her style, 4 more broadway and jazz, 3 ballroom and 1 waacking.
Marko, a contemporary dancer, had 4 routines in his style, 4 more broadway and jazz, 3 ballroom and 1 disco.
Tadd, A B-Boy, had 0 in his style, 3 hip-hop routines, and one step routine. 4 routines were ballroom.
Obviously Melanie will look the best because of her routines, she had the most that were in her style or close to it (I am no expert in dance and I know that contemporary is different from broadway and jazz, but there are a lot of similarities in my eye. I would love to have an expert correct me and school me in the differences). Sasha and Marko had their own challenges but Tadd did not have one routine in his style. He was constantly challenged by doing contemporary, jazz, broadway, and he had the most ballroom routines out of the finalists.
While I understand that the choosing of styles is random, and most of the dancers in this competition are contemporary or jazz dancers, there should be some control over the randomness of routines. It may lead to some poorly performed routines but it endearing to see a performer be challenged and rise to the occasion. Maybe if a performer gets a style thats similar to their specific genre, make sure the next week is obviously different. Example: Performer is contemporary and has contemporary, jazz, or broadway, then the following week they should have to do some form of ballroom. I know there is no exact formula for this and maybe Nigel has thought of this also, but I feel that Tadd was challenged every step of the way and was never really given a dance that we would expect him to thrive (minus hip hop).
It was another great season of SYTYCD. A very talented cast but it felt predictable regarding who would make the finale and win. The end of SYTYCD also means it is nearing the end of summer. Hooray for network television coming back in full swing.
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