SYTYCD in the Media

[ToxicUnicorn]

Of all the ways the show could have been re-imagined, I think they've hit on the absolute worst.

 

I would have gotten back to my initial levels of excitement if they had done an all All-Star season.  Or an all Former-Dancers-as-Choreographers season.  Or a choreographers-as-contestants season.  I might have even tuned in for a Celebrities/Former/Older Dancer season.

 

But little kids?  Nope, and thanks to all for continuing to giving me more reasons.  I was a die-hard fan, but I'm out.

[SnarkyTart]

But little kids?  Nope, and thanks to all for continuing to giving me more reasons.  I was a die-hard fan, but I'm out.

Me too.  Peace out, SYTYCD. I hope you go down in flames right out of the gate.

[Duke Silver]

Awful...what's next?  Toddlers in Tiaras for the Dance Floor?  I won't be watching, that's for sure.

[MizArk]

Every time I read about this new format, I can't help picturing the old Shirley Temple/Buddy Ebsen routine. Not really interested in watching Heidi and Pa Clampett every week. Or hearing a nine year old saying, "I've wanted this ever since I was a little kid!" Sadly, I'm out.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The other thing that bothers me about really young competition dancers is the amount of stress they are putting on their bodies before they're done growing. Sometimes when I see amazing dancers who are really young, I start worrying about their joints and wondering if they will injure themselves before they're old enough to drive or vote. I don't know if I can handle an entire season of all young dancers for that reason. Plus how are they going to partner if they're so much smaller than the all stars? And I don't even mean partner stunts and lifts. I just mean when you have someone who's a good foot shorter, it can make things much more awkward. Nigel is always stressing connecting with your partner, but it's a lot harder to do that when looking at each other means one person has to look straight up and get a crick in their neck. I guess on the plus side, I can hope that the height differential means there is a chance they'll tell the choreographers not to make the dances non stop lifts. Or the choreographers will decide that they have these light little kids that the all stars can throw around more easily.

[Anothermi]

On another note, sucks for kids who just got old enough to audition, or for anyone who planned to try again (though if it were canceled they'd be out of luck anyway).

I was thinking about that group as well. All those years waiting to be old enough only to end up being TOO OLD!

[phoenix780]

Or an all Former-Dancers-as-Choreographers season.

 

How did this not happen?  My favorite night of the past few seasons was when they choreographed.  Bonus: my affection for the former contestants chipped away at my cynicism going into things and general irritation at this show's many, many, many cliche's.

[AllAboutMBTV]

I've seen every season of SYTYCD except the first. But I won't be watching this one, which will surely be its last. I'll miss you most of all, Cat!

[kingshearte]

Oh dear...

 

Well, people have expressed a desire for fewer pieces about angsty couple drama. Pairing grown-ups with 8-year-olds certainly should cut back on that.

 

But I just don't think I can handle the level of precociousness and stage parent crap that's likely to come with this. And I shudder to think about the tiny children doing "sexy" hip hop that's bound to happen way too often, too. And I echo the comments from some that kids this young should not be pushing their bodies this hard.

 

Nope. Don't care for this at all.

[rereader2]

No. HELL no. Over and out.

[realdancemom]

Pairing 8 year olds with grown-ups seems weird.  However, at least the All Stars would be nurturing to the kids.  I can see them being mentors and helping.

 

Dances with two kids of the same age would work better for something like ballroom.  OTOH, I can see where a lot of parent drama would come in and the parents of the two kids would be arguing with each other.  It would be similar to Dance Moms drama.  Yuck!!

 

As I previously mentioned, I wanted SYTYCD to come back but not with kids.

[Jynnan tonnix]

Plus, as shallow as it may be, a big part of the show for me was the eye candy. I have zero dance skills, and my ability to tell good dancing from mediocre is not much better; it all looks pretty darn impressive to my untrained eye. My favorites were almost always the ones with the more overt sex appeal.

 

Even if they bring back the all-stars, that's going to put a huge crimp (at least one would hope!) in the more seductive choreography or the magic of chemistry between the dancers, and that's something I would, personally, really miss. I enjoy the chance to drool a bit! lol

 

I have basically zero interest in following a season of 8-13 year olds. I might watch a clip here or there out of curiosity, but won't be tuning in to the show.

[pally]

Maddie Ziegler joining the judging panel.  

[Mason]

Maddie Ziegler joining the judging panel.  

 

Which explains everything. Now that she's the face of Sia, a whole new age group is inspired to make it before they're too old. 18 is the new 30.

[phoenix780]

Um... So I guess we may still get angst filled routines lacking in joy and fun.

Thank goodness for the dvr. And youtube. I would assume anything interesting will appear there.

[pamplemousse]

I think they should've done a Redemption season or something where they bring back 20 of the dancers who didn't win (maybe they should restrict it to those who didn't make the Top 4) but want another chance. Maybe they could've even had Ameriker vote on a pool of dancers to put into the Top 20 (yeah, Ameriker would probably find some way to screw that up and we'd be hearing whining from Nigel the entire season about how if you don't like a certain dancer being kept week after week it's Ameriker's fault because we voted the dancer in ad nauseum, but at least it might drum up some interest).

 

Instead we got SYTYCD Junior. No thanks. Very disappointed to hear about this new format because for as far as the show has gone downhill, it's still my favorite reality show.

[AlleC17]

Maddie Ziegler joining the judging panel.  

WTF?  I was hoping this was a joke.  :-(  This used to be my favorite summer show.  They were wondering how to fix it???  Seriously, all they really needed to do was fire Nigel from the judging panel.  This really sucks...why is that kid a fricking JUDGE?  I think what I really hate the most about this is that that freak show Abbey Lee Miller will be getting an extra ego boost.  Ugh.  Revolting.  :-(

[LexieLily]

So we can have two ten year olds trying to do an Argentine Tango, or we can have Kathryn dancing a contemporary with a thirteen year old boy. No thank you!

[ToxicUnicorn]

I'm back to wallow in the misery here a bit.  We're all so right about the new change being the death knell.  I'm still not going to watch.

 

However, to cheer people up (perhaps), I thought I'd post a link in the judges thread.  There's some interview with Misty Copeland that just came through my email.

[Mertseger]

No decision on a format yet, but things are looking promising for an S14. If you're a contemporary-contemporary fan of contemporary you might like this piece by someone I'd love to see audition.

[realdancemom]

Yeah!!  I've been waiting to read news on whether the show would be back.  I was surprised that I liked the kid version last year so I wouldn't mind that.  However, I would prefer an adult version.

[whiporee]

Now that they did the kids, it would be cool is they did a season of ONLY people over 30. Or even 35. I'll be it would be incredible. 

Hard to pull in the tweens, but I'd like to see some real, grown up sensibilities and maturity on the show for a season. Won't happen, but it would be good to see. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Holy crap.....SYTYCD lives again!! Per Michael Slezak on TV Line. We're going back to 18-30 year old dancers who will ultimately be paired up with returning all stars when we get down to the Top 10.

This show's ability to cheat death time and time again, is truly impressive.

**Paula won't be back due to a tour of some sort, so there's at least one opening on the judges panel...

Edited January 30, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[phoenix780]

On 1/27/2017 at 5:36 PM, whiporee said:

Now that they did the kids, it would be cool is they did a season of ONLY people over 30. Or even 35. I'll be it would be incredible. 

Hard to pull in the tweens, but I'd like to see some real, grown up sensibilities and maturity on the show for a season. Won't happen, but it would be good to see. 

What if they have older dancers playing teens? Like on  most popular teen soaps (with real ratings- I love the cw but nobody watches)? 

Point is, I never accepted this idea that young folk only want to watch young folk. 

I'm glad it's back, but I'm not sure I'll watch. It'll depend on how much things feel like echoes of stuff they already did. I'd almost like a pure all star experience. 

[cali1981]

I was so glad to read about the renewal and the format change after the last two disastrous seasons.  I would have been just as happy if the show went back to the format of the first block of seasons when it was only the contestants dancing with no All-Stars.  I still feel that Seasons 1 through 6 were the glory days of SYTYCD with Season 4 (with Joshua, Katee, Twitch, Courtney, Chelsie, Mark, among others) being my favorite.  That's probably because, to this day, I think that Katee Shean may be the best all around dancer in the show's history.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

My hope is that we get at least a modest injection of talent in the pool of auditioners.

We'll have some 18 and 19 year olds who haven't had the ability to audition at all, and maybe some more mature dancers who for whatever reason held off on doing the SYTYCD audition process....when you have to taste a season where the opportunity was taken completely out of your hands (by the younger age group) and the subsequent gloom and doom that it was probably the death knell for the show......now you have this reprieve that I feel like might bring some people back out of the woodwork (maybe someone unforgettable like the Exorcist) after giving up on the process (similar to a few auditioners who came back for a final shot at AI after having auditioned years earlier in the middle seasons). That's what I'm hoping for anyway.

Edited February 2, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Mertseger]

On 2/1/2017 at 2:16 PM, cali1981 said:

 I think that Katee Shean may be the best all around dancer in the show's history.

Katee and Josh simply walking forward with intention is still my favorite SYTYCD moment and some of the most arresting dancing on the show even though it would seem to take comparatively little skill. In short, I agree with you, and I am glad that there are still a few of us Katee fans around.

[phoenix780]

20 hours ago, Mertseger said:

Katee and Josh simply walking forward with intention is still my favorite SYTYCD moment and some of the most arresting dancing on the show even though it would seem to take comparatively little skill. In short, I agree with you, and I am glad that there are still a few of us Katee fans around.

I'm joining that club, and the moment you cited is why. It was my first season of the show, I liked a lot of them, but she still stands out. I don't know why she isn't a go-to all star, I just assume she's too busy. 

[Canada]

I would be so happy if we got the original back!!  I completely avoided the child version.  There's just something icky about adults watching kids dance.  I really hope this news is true.

Edited February 5, 2017 by Canada
spelling

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It's official!

S14 will return to the 18-30 age group and the All Stars will be around. No word on Paula's replacement yet. Someone pointed out that the announcement doesn't mention Cat at all so hopefully she will be back. I can't imagine the show without her!

Quote

During the audition rounds, the most talented dancers will compete in front of the judges for a coveted spot at “The Academy” callback rounds in Los Angeles. At the end of “The Academy” callback rounds, 10 All-Stars will choose one dancer each to move on to the SYTYCD studio and become this season’s Top 10. There, the Top 10 will compete LIVE each week for America’s votes in a variety of styles, working and performing alongside the All-Stars with world-renowned choreographers. Contestants will be eliminated weekly until a winner is named on the season finale.

[crossover]

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

There, the Top 10 will compete LIVE each week for America’s votes in a variety of styles, working and performing alongside the All-Stars with world-renowned choreographers.

Is this like S7?  I loved S7 but most diehards didn't.  The press release stated something like they wanted to do what the viewers like??  One of the things diehards liked was the growth of the couple.   

Too bad they can't bottle the versatility of S5, the chemistry of S4, outstanding dancing ability in their genre like S3, snippiness of S2 and randomness of S1.  Hopefully the judges critique on the merit equally instead of running their favorite down our throats. Cut down showing weekly auditions.  Group them together so that no one gets preferential treatment.  Then maybe we'll be more excited about what will happen during the true competition instead of already being maneuvered during auditions.  Show more of the interactions during the last stage (use to be Vegas week)--who really excelled or had problems during the classes/groupings, who really didn't get along etc.  Choreographers should do what they do w/o worrying about an emmy, trying to make the favorite look good, or trying to make the fodder look worse.  Choreograph the style instead of a semblance.  Let's show real interaction in the rehearsal studio and group get togethers, etc.  Maybe there will be a charming personality to emerge.  
Let's hope this will be the best season.  Getting excited!!

[Mertseger]

I will miss Paula - she is a much better jidge here than AI, but she does seem kid-obsessed for dance competitions. Looks like we'll still be stuck with Uncle Pervy. I'd rather have Auntie Scream back with Lil'C, and if only Misty Copeland could fit this into her career, we'd have pretty much the perfect panel.

I've always wondered how much of the randomness was retained over the years even as it was taken off-screen. Melanie's season-long run of contemporary-adjacent dances was the type of thing you'd expect to see if it was still random, for instance. 

[cali1981]

On 2/3/2017 at 4:57 PM, phoenix780 said:

I'm joining that club, and the moment you cited is why. It was my first season of the show, I liked a lot of them, but she still stands out. I don't know why she isn't a go-to all star, I just assume she's too busy. 

And if you recall, Katee had not made the show on her first try. On her second try it came down to her and her closest friend and she said that if she didn't make it this time she might quit dancing.  When she was chosen, I can still remember Nigel reaming her up and down for considering quitting after a disappointment.  It's a good thing that she made it because her dancing in that magical season was brilliant week after week.  She and Joshua were, to me, the best couple in the show's history and Katee's "door dance" with Twitch and her Pas de Deux with Will were also stellar.  I still watch clips from that season on YouTube.  Other favorites included Chelsea and Mark's "Bleeding Love", Courtney and Gev's Cha-Cha and Rhumba and the group dance to Neo's "closer" but there were plenty of others. Like I said that season was pure magic.

[pamplemousse]

I think the show had its best individual dancer in Season 3 (Danny Tidwell), but its best all-around cast was definitely Season 4 with Mark & Chelsie, Twitch, Will, Katee & Joshua...I think I genuinely really liked every single dancer that season.

I'm happy to hear the show is coming back and with a more palatable format. I wish they'd return to just contestants and no All-Stars -- I think those seasons were by far the best -- but I'll take this over SYTYCD Junior.

[Lunula]

On 2/7/2017 at 10:19 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Someone pointed out that the announcement doesn't mention Cat at all so hopefully she will be back. I can't imagine the show without her!

Not sure if this is news, but Cat's photo is featured prominently on the website announcing the show's return. 

And the site is now announcing that Mary is officially back as a judge.

*Edit* - I just noticed the show only had two audition cities, New York & Los Angeles. What a shame...that'll definitely hurt the talent pool. 

Edited March 17, 2017 by Lunula
Added extra info

[pamplemousse]

Does that mean we'll have something akin to ballroom back in the show now that Mary is back as a judge? I didn't watch the kiddie season, which I heard had quite a bit of ballroom, but I remember the adult season before that seemed to have been trying to squeeze ballroom out altogether.

[realdancemom]

On 3/23/2017 at 0:13 AM, pamplemousse said:

Does that mean we'll have something akin to ballroom back in the show now that Mary is back as a judge? I didn't watch the kiddie season, which I heard had quite a bit of ballroom, but I remember the adult season before that seemed to have been trying to squeeze ballroom out altogether.

I think there will be more ballroom if they follow the kid season format.  The ballroom all-stars will pick ballroom dancers.  Unfortunately, the audience that votes don't seem to vote for ballroom dancers which didn't change in the kid season.    

[crowceilidh]

OGG - SYTYCD official twitter page has posted a pic of two people I don't immediately recognize and Robert Roldan.  The message is that the auditions are beginning and the twitter msg itself says "Host: Robert Roldan"!!!  WTF? 

ETA: Zipping around youtube looking for an explanation: 1)One of the two people was a producer named Jeff Thacker who says they're going to do the allstar-as-mentor thing again.  2) Also Cat was at the auditions, so phew. 3) And Mandy Moore will be on the show every week "in a role that's a little bit more than I've ever done before".  Does she have a high enough EQ to replace Paula???? Maybe she does, now.

Edited March 30, 2017 by crowceilidh

[Mason]

As of 22 March: Hosted by Cat Deeley and featuring the return of Mary Murphy as judge, alongside Nigel Lythgoe, So You Think You Can Dance enters its 14th season on Monday, June 12 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

[realdancemom]

Glad Cat is host again.  I can't imagine Robert as a host.  He's probably an All Star mentor again.  This isn't my favorite format but I'm glad the show is back on. 

[Drogo]

Vanessa Hudgens Joins So You Think You Can Dance Judges Panel

[Keekski]

Is there a list of All-Stars coming back the season somewhere and I'm missing it? I saw Jenna & Allison (ugh), but nobody else. Although I assume Robert based on mentions above and Twitch if Allison will there.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The always delightful Cat Deeley did a lengthy interview at Build:

[Mason]

Cat on Kelly & Ryan this morning: 

[realdancemom]

On 5/31/2017 at 0:30 PM, Keekski said:

Is there a list of All-Stars coming back the season somewhere and I'm missing it? I saw Jenna & Allison (ugh), but nobody else. Although I assume Robert based on mentions above and Twitch if Allison will there.

Allison is an All-Star.  Twitch is not.  Here's an article listing them:

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2017/05/31/so-you-think-you-can-dance-season-14-all-stars-full-list/

[Mason]

1 hour ago, realdancemom said:

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2017/05/31/so-you-think-you-can-dance-season-14-all-stars-full-list/

Jasmine and Cyrus?! How very adult of them.

[crowceilidh]

I like that panel of allstars for the most part.  I could do without Jenna or Alison (and that goes for on DWTS too).  And I'm giving a side eye to Robert because he and JT may have done some beauitful dances last season, but Robert was super manipulative -- I didn't like his act much.  However, I'll give him another chance because he was my horse in the race during his season.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

New promos:

 

This one begins with the usual "SYTYCD is patting itself on the back" with reminders about the Emmys they have won and clips of old dances and the judges pontificating, but they start showing new contestants after the 0:50 mark:

[Anothermi]

I'm glad to see they still have Mark Kanemura referenced (at least in the 1st posted promo). He's my favourite ever, so it's a good way to keep me tuned in. (unlike the detour season last year)

I don't need him to participate. Just be acknowledged each season. :-P

Edited June 5, 2017 by Anothermi

[pamplemousse]

I'm very happy and excited about the list of All-Stars (and I am not really a fan of All-Stars and keep wishing to return to how it was before). Comfort, Cyrus, Jasmine, Marko, and Paul were favorites of mine in their original seasons.