Mason

I've done a bit of research since my earlier message. I think a lot of the lacklustrousness is due to the taping schedule. It's not just a shortened season, the taping is done weeks out in some cases. So how much time does that leave for the dancers to work on their routines? Never mind that leaves absolutely no room for organic growth, for them as dancers or us as the viewing audience. I'm still not certain how the studio audience is picked. The booking website gave the impression it was first-come-first-served, but seemed to be only for the original auditions. As for the choreographers... this is pure speculation... the budget (as well as allotted time with the dancers) has very likely been slashed, so how many are going to want to showcase what could all too easily become substandard work through no fault of their own.

I both admire and do not envy tWitch. He's trying to be supportive of all the contestants, yet hold the show to some sort of standard. He needs to come back, if there's another season, but may feel he's had to compromise more than he's comfortable with. Hopefully the contestants are as loyal to one another as they appear to be (and has been the case in past seasons.) Since everything's been such a rush, one can't assume... Who exactly is in the studio audience, besides family? People who paid for the privilege? who won some sort of contest? Has anything been leaked? Very neat final three: ballroom, hip hop and contemporary. One wonders if final voting will be for the contestant or the style. Something I would never have questioned in the past. But most of all, I wonder, now that Beau is off the show, whether JoJo will put her money where her mouth is and advance his career. Put him in one of her videos, or choreograph something for him to post, or actually dance with him.

Melanie Moore. Your point still stands.

Beau the Human Forklift! How many seasons has it been since we had a forklift contestant?! though never before one who literally was. I predicted that the All Stars would do their best to humanize the contestants, given the horrible season they've been given. And I was right, with one exception: Lex. Wonder why?

I'm guessing the All-Stars?

And why aren't they, I wonder? I mean, c'mon, JoJo. You keep saving Beau, but this would be a better legacy for you. They could even increase the show by an episode or two by having only one person be let go. Then we might have a hope in hell of getting to know these kids before they're rushed off to whatever comes next for them. And that, of course, is the really shame of this season. The kids are working, hard. They may not be performing as many numbers as in seasons past, but they're trying their best. It's not their fault they're kept or let go.

Beau gets Broadway again? Call it what you will: 50s jazz had isolations and there were none. Also, if it were pervy of Nigel to make sexist comments, it's inappropriate at the very least for JoJo to talk about "not liking men" but appreciating a good looking guy.

I won't go that far. I'm guessing they will be beyond sympathetic to what an after-thought this season has been for the contestants, so we might actually see some heartfelt partnerships.

If you look at the summer/fall 2022 schedules, there are no premieres in August. FC might be speculating based on this.

I think everything is pre-taped, so there's as much time as needed for the show to get its ducks in a row. If I had to guess, I'd say the show will have public voting for the top 4.

If I were he, I'd be wanting JoJo to shut up about my body and focus her comments solely on my growth. Who wants their defining feature to be fruit-like (in both senses of the word.) To be fair, I feel that way when the leading comment about the other dancers are "you were just beautiful" unless there was something specific to the choreography that accentuated it. There's literally no time for them to react to much else.

I wonder if the dancers feel as rushed as we do? Blink and it's over. Will we remember them well enough to follow their post-SYTYCD careers? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but tWitch's talk at the end about family and bonds sounded as if he recognizes they're being treated as audience fodder. Now can someone explain to me why it's such a big deal that Beau has a non-typical body shape for a dancer, when the same can be said for Keaton? We've also had gay contestants since Season 1. Exactly which boundaries are being broken?

Last week, I said I was looking forward to seeing him dance: unexpected, after a (to me) off-putting audition. Now I'm back to being done with him. He's comedic and a natural for Broadway. Perhaps he'll even be good in a ballroom style. (Benji Schwimmer's dad is a big dude, and he's pretty smooth.) But I too have a less than ideal body type; and no matter how much praise I get, I cannot and will never reach the reach and height of a contemporary dancer. Woke or not, any judge who is blind to his physical limitations and acts as if all he has to do is try harder does the dancer, his fellow contestants and the viewing audience no favours.

There's a WofD feeling I hope I'm wrong about. As if some of the voting/judging has been pre-determined. I don't believe for one minute tWitch would willingly be involved in a show like that. (I remember Fik-shun's face when he realized it didn't much matter what he did, the die was cast.) But it sure feels that way...

I realize that guys dancing in heels is both a thing and a badge of achievement (Brian Friedman, for starters.) But it still bugs me that Beau decided to introduce himself to us that way. What he did just now showcased both personality and technique, and I find myself wanting him to stick around and do well. While I'm a sucker for dancers with a well-defined sense of humour, I do not enjoy visual jokes based on physical characteristics. That outfit reminded me of Doug Heffernen (King of Queens) in his UPS uniform.

My point being, Nigel would have done everything possible to ensure the Beaus of the competition had their moment but no further. JoJo's comment said to me that we're okay with lowering standards on occasion if it means we come across as inclusive. I've never had a seat on the Nigel bandwagon; but I can see top brass saying "we've done it your way for 16 seasons, and our ratings aren't what they could be if we loosened our standards a little." Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if the new way is paying off either. (Early days, of course.)

Was pleased to see a majority of older dancers. Also, did any of you catch JoJo's statement, about dance being so much more than how high one can lift one's leg? I think we now know why Nigel is off the panel.

The exception that probes the rule.

The producers have clearly revamped the show to appear relevant to their target audience, which clearly is not me. However, I have always watched the show to witness creativity and growth, which these kids can't fake long-term. And I will continue watching for the same reason, One sad observation: given the show has been off the air for 2 years, I was hoping to see older contestants. Instead, the focus remains on the barely eligible.

SYTYCD needs to rediscover the sense of celebration it had in spades in earlier seasons. Even National Dance Day seemed like an afterthought. I wonder if the reasons the judging has become increasingly more effusive is an attempt to compensate for this. I also think this had something to do with Bailey's wild popularity: he celebrated being on that stage every single time. I would love to know how many minutes of dance we now get per hour vs in the past.

I remember Ryan and Evan Kasprzcak saying, in an interview, that what the show calls Broadway is in fact jazz, that there's no such thing as "Broadway style." One of my pet peeves with this show is its melding of jazz and contemporary. Jazz dancing has syncopation and isolations, which Bailey & Gino demonstrated beautifully.

Of course by now he would have matured, but I'm liking Dominic a lot as a judge. Didn't like him as a contestant on SYTYCD, liked him in QuestCrew, didn't particularly like him judging on ABDC. I seem to go back and forth a lot 🙂 Don't know if you all realize he broke up with Lauren a while back: I'm glad to see he's found someone else.

As a dancer, Bailey has a lot more challenges to overcome on this show (being short) than Madison has (being bald.) How well I remember concerns about how Evan could possibly dance with a normal sized partner... yet he managed a waltz with Kayla just fine. Dancers always look best when their partner is the same size, tall or short; and for Bailey, there isn't going to be anyone. He's dancing big, works hard, is willing to learn, gives us a good performance every time, and doesn't need a sob story to win our hearts. I hope he's around for a good long time.

The only ballroom I've seen (and I am heartily sick of it) is cha cha. I don't remember it being this obvious in previous seasons. Love Shack reminded me of Boogie Shoes. If Bailey & Mariah had several weeks as partners under their belts, it would have worked better than it did. (Not saying I didn't enjoy it.) Hope it's chosen for the finale.

I remember thinking that about Kathryn McC. She cried a lot during the audition process, and it was particularly squeaky. To my knowledge, she never did once she made top 20.