So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 - 2008

Cafe Society
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[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
To be honest, I’m a complete idiot when it comes to dancing and choreography; I just watch the show for entertainment value. That said, I’ve seen some choreography that I thought was kind of boring only to hear the judges offer up Gandhi-worthy praise for the choreographer and the routine. I guess what I’m saying is that maybe (I obviously don’t know your background) some of think the choreography sucks when in fact in dance circles it’s quite brilliant. Who knows, I’m babbling.
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I know a little more about it than just entertainment value, though I’m by no means a professional dancer or choreographer. It’s all subjective anyway, but dance comprises elements that, depending on how their assembled, either work or don’t work. A good choreographer will consider a dancer’s capabilities, strong points, and these elements to bring out the best in a particular artist. I just think sometimes they don’t consider everything as carefully as they could.

I don’t think the producers of the show want the choreographers to be criticized. I don’t watch every week, but I’ve never heard anyone put the blame on the dance rather than the dancers. I’d like to hear the dancers when the cameras are off…I’m sure they have their favorites, as well.

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[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
I don’t think the producers of the show want the choreographers to be criticized. I don’t watch every week, but I’ve never heard anyone put the blame on the dance rather than the dancers. I’d like to hear the dancers when the cameras are off…I’m sure they have their favorites, as well.
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I’ve heard the judges slam the choreographers, but usually like “So-and-so usually does phenomenal work here, but I have to say that tonight, the choreography was off/the number was not suitable to the dancers’ talents/the complexity of technique was a poot match for their skills/etc.” It doesn’t happen that often, but I have seen it more than once (and usually, the cutaway is to the choreographer calmly nodding their head at the criticism, not necessarily in agreement but in “That’s cool, that’s your opinion”).

Sorry to see Chelsie go, but I can’t see Courtney posing any kind of threat to Katee, who I suspect is destined for the final two with Joshua. Has there even been a season where the final two were also long-term partners on the show?

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[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
was a poot match
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Now would that be a match between poots, or holding a lit match up to a poot? :wink:

284

I thought the routines for the final four were rather weak tonight. I think Katee did the best of the four, but suspect one of the boys will win.

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I thought that all the routines were very strenuous and physical. Don’t see how any of them could even breathe at the end of the night. Especially surprised by Joshua at the end of his and Katee’s routine about the couple fight. He looked like he was so spent emotionally that he seemed still to be in character for a few minutes afterwards. Really liked Josh’s interview, must have been really hard to give up sports for a life of dance especially in a southern town. Both he and Katee seemed to be the best to me. I’m partial to Josh, but I must admit that Katee has delivered each and every time no matter the routine or the partner. Did Katee mention anything about her family? I don’t remember a whole lot from her talk w/Cat.

286

My favorite routine by far was the one with the two guys. I’ll admit it–I’m a music snob. Well, maybe snob isn’t the right word, but half the time HipHop or Contemporary music doesn’t inspire me to really want to listen to it. Anything from the Nutcracker may be a little cliched, but it’s still nifty. And I so enjoyed the amount of personality that the guys put into it–that whole idea of a street dance-off, with one guy not impressed by the other’s dancing stuff. The one change I would have made–make both guys do some of those leaps, and both guys do some floor work, let us see their skills at both.

I’ll plead guilty to not having watched some of the rest of it very closely for reasons unrelated to the show. Including not having seen any of it last week, and only the elimination show from the week before. (Somehow, SYTYCD just doesn’t compete with the opportunity to interact with live people.)

287

I liked the guys’ number as well – Joshua’s leaps were freakin’ amazing, as was the fact that he did three of them in a row. Yikes.

I also liked the finale, though I think a fair amount of that was that I liked the music – did anyone catch what it was?

My pick would be Joshua #1, though I’d be happy if Katee took it – and I wouldn’t be outraged if either of the other two did, either. I was watching with my BIL last night (I was over at their house, they wanted me to stay for dinner, I explained that I had unchangable plans for the evening…), who’s not a regular viewer – and the thing that came across while watching with someone who hasn’t been following it closely all summer is how goddamn likeable all four of them are – they all come across as hardworking, enthusiastic, talented, and just plain nice people.

288

Joshua is my favorite dancer of all.

I wasn’t thrilled with the girls’ B’way number - it was a difficult dance that didn’t really showcase their talents, IMO.

The Nutcracker dance off was amazing.

I applaud all 4 of the dancers and I’ll be happy with whoever wins.

289

I was not a fan of the final routine, but I very rarely like anything Mia does. And WTF is UP with some of these costumes? The four of them looked like Scottish schoolkids who got dressed in the dark with hangovers in that dance!

The broadway number didn’t wow me, and neither did the jive - they were just too tired to make it look really good. Since this is a popularity contest, I have no frikkin’ idea who is going to win, but I’m rooting for Courtney, just because she’s the underdog.

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Although we called in two votes for Josh last night, neither my wife nor I would have a problem if Katee or Twitch walked away with the title either. Sadly, Courtney, while nice enough, is simply not in their league. Even the judges pointed out as much (subtlely, in comparing the two girls) last night.

Though I do feel bad for Courtney because she was subjected to two hideous costumes–the B’way one which had the bustle and high skirt and made her look like a 19th century French prostitute, and the jive costume that was essentially a leotard with fringing anywhere. Blech.

And though everyone raved about the first number, I think it had absolutely zero chemistry. It was fun enough, but I didn’t believe the relationship story between Twitch and Courtney for an instant, while Katee has always connected with every male partner she’s had.

And much as I like Twitch, he was turning into a bit of a one-trick pony for me, while Joshua continues to surprise and astound (and charm) in equal measure. Still, Twitch’s transformation and adaptation to all the different styles, while not as effortless as Joshua’s, has still been very different over the course of the season, and how could I begrudge someone so obviously nice, funny, and talented?

Katee’s a toughie because I look back and really can’t think of a single number she was ever involved with that was a misfire. Everything she’s touched has been good, and I’m not quite sure I can even say the same thing about Joshua. So having a girl win two years in a row wouldn’t be a big deal (I voted for Sabra last year myself), but we’re still crossing our fingers for Joshua.

But between the group number, the duets, and the solo, each dancer performed 5 times last night. Absolutely incredible. I think this has becomes my wife’s favorite show (we snatched up some tickets of the road show when it comes here to Oakland), and I know she’ll miss it when it ends tonight.

291

I’m watching them on YouTube right now because my mom’s DVR failed to record it for some reason and I won’t be home to my TiVo for another two weeks. The group number looks like a Scottish hoe-down or something… what the hell is this?

Anyway, can someone tell me what order the routines were in the show?

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[QUOTE=OpalCat]
Anyway, can someone tell me what order the routines were in the show?
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Ta Da!

293

saaweeeeet! thanks :slight_smile: mwah!

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Is Nigel having a producer’s agenda with pimping how little training Joshua and Twitch have had? He takes every opportunity, really *every *opportunity, to bring it up. It’s very tiring, not even Joshua seems to really agree with it or appreciate it very much. In any case, he should be judged on his own merits, not because he is better than he “should be”, as Nigel suggests.

For everything else, I concur with ArchiveGuy. I think ultimately Katee deserves to win and she and Joshua have been my favourites since the start.

295

[QUOTE=jali]
I applaud all 4 of the dancers and I’ll be happy with whoever wins.
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Same here. I voted for Katee, but I like all of the dancers in the final 4.

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I’m the first to come in and comment on the finale?

Good show – lots of really good dances I enjoyed seeing again.

And I was happy to see who won.

297

Geez. What’s this with turning the spotlight on the judges so much?

I think Katee should have won, but Josh was deserving too, so that’s okay.

298

I only saw bits and pieces–somehow baking cookies managed to interfere with my ability to see or hear the tv. I did manage to watch the Popping contest, which fascinated me because the two dancers had such different styles–the one was almost frantically twitchy, and the other was oddly compelling–how in the world is he moving that way.

I was oddly disappointed when they announced that Katee hadn’t won, although I was kind of rooting for either of the boys over her, I wanted to see the final announcement of the winner be a choice between a guy and a girl.

I was happy that Joshua won.

In addition to the whole cookie thing, I was distracted by wondering how much time was spent staging things so that the judges would announce favorite dances featuring a variety of dancer, and the right dancers would always be ready in the right costumes. Also, how much time they spent practicing things like the Bollywood routine after the show in which it was featured.

And I really wished I could have heard more of the commentary than I did–too much time spent with the cookies. But I had to bake the cookies last night, so I can deliver them today.

299

I’m happy for Josh and Katee and wish them the best.

It was interesting to see them in the military-guy-gets-called-up dance from the first week. I remember being predisposed not to like that dance or them in it, but just being blown away with how well they did.

I’m glad they didn’t make Josh re-do any of the super athletic routines, like the “Russian” (major buzz over on the Fox boards about how it was actually Ukrainian) or that disco thing with all the lifts. They’d really been pushing him on the athleticism.

Also, it was great to see Will again but sad when they re-televised the scene of him getting cut.

300

I gotta say, of all these shows, I think this one is by far the best. All of the top 20 are phenomenal dancers. It’s not like American Idol where some people are pushed along simply because they are well-liked.

Once it got down to the top 10, wasn’t every routine performed nearly perfectly? The only criticisms were minor it seemed and more often than not, the choreography was the cause of dancers performing a certain way.

I’m just blown away by how many complex routines they had to learn in such a short period of time (note how many they did last night, which means for the entire week, they must have been practicing non-stop). They’re all true professionals and extremely hard-working, and I think of all the talent-based reality shows, this one is really the only “serious” one.

All that said, like many of you, I wouldn’t have been unhappy if any of the 4 won. But I am glad that Joshua won. He floored me too many times this year. The only reason why Twitch didn’t win was because Joshua was there. He’s hopefully going to have a long career entertaining us. And I think the only reason Katee didn’t win was because Joshua and Twitch were there, and so on.

It’s kind of like during the 1990s with NBA basketball. The only reason the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz didn’t win an NBA title was because of Michael Jordan. It doesn’t make those teams (and certain individual players) not some of the best in league history.