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Attempting to watch this season’s SYTYCD Top 3

2010 August 12
tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
by TopIdol

For the first time in weeks (maybe months), I am going to try and watch SYTYCD.

Even The Goddess Cat Deeley and some halfway likable contestants could have saved this crappy season, as it’s been the equivalent of a Tyce DiOrio Broadway number. How many people went down due to injuries? Oddly enough, there wouldn’t even be a competition if Alex Wong’s run had not been tragically cut. (Did I lose interest then? I did love watching him dance.) Mary Murphy is at home drinking alone so we’ve been forced to endure a lot of Mia Michaels, who seemed to harbor an irrational hatred towards contemporary dancer Adechike. But let’s face it, the judges all seemed to play the asshat card more often than not this season (Did Shankman? He is kind of the Paula when it comes down to it, even though he’s coherent and constructive.), even The Goddess Cat Deeley called them out.

I have followed the show a bit but I cannot tell you when I last saw anyone actually dance — besides the spin-twirl-kick-sashay-strut stuff done by the contestants during the beginning credits. Even with the addition of the All-Stars, a group which included a handful of my favorite dancers from seasons past, the entire season just could not hold my interest. And with TWO HOURS of choreography every week?

Some thoughts…

The show kicks off with Kurt & Lauren Gottlieb doing a Bollywood number. Yes, it requires him to be goofy, but I never really felt he embodied it, nor did I think the routine was as “fast” as the judges claimed. All three fawn all over Kurt — they do want him to win — but All-Star Lauren was tighter and more precise. She was believable. Kurt was not…and no, it is not just because the aw-shucks farm boy looked like an aw-shucks farm boy.

Lauren Froderman, the last girl standing, she loves the Snooki poof. Since she’s sort of the default female in this Final 3, and the season boasted a very strong crop of male contestants…she will finish third. But in the politico-themed Nappy Tabs routine to Kayne West’s Power, Lauren ably holds her own against the incomparable tWitch, even if I keep thinking how awesome it would be to see Courtney Galliano in her place. (Season 4? 5? That first one I watched. It is still the best.)

Robert Roldan and Mark Kanemura. Dancing to Devo. I don’t even have to watch it to know it’s gonna be off the chain. Even if it is a TYCE DIORIO number. I have a feeling he just lived out several fantasies watching his handiwork, but yeah…both of them are hot. I must agree — Nigel says, it wasn’t even a Tyce routine. No, it was not. Because it was actually insanely enjoyable. And it’s impossible not to adore Robert and Mark.

Ok…I’m getting bored. And still wondering why male contemporary dancers always solo in J. Crew apparel on this show.

Spread the word. Do it.
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from → SYTYCD

  • CayKat

    Totally disagree with you on this one TI. I thought this season was really strong and featured so many great routines!
    For the first time, mind you, I have only seen 3 seasons so far, I actually liked all of the final 3… actually, I think I liked almost everyone in the top 7. Not having another Powder was an absolute plus.

    Of course, Robert was at the top of my list and Baby Jesus a close second. Lauren grew on me. In some ways she reminds me of my all time fav Kathryn- THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD! hehee! Seriously, I love that girl. My mom… yes, I am talking about my mom again… ahem… well, my mom teased me yesterday and said my love of Kathryn must be my way of delving into lesbianism. Hahahaha Mom, very funny.

    Re: Robert and the judges comments about him “connecting” – I think they said that because they were surprised that he ended up in the bottom three so often. Maybe they brought it up so often to try to sabotage him as he seriously challenged their favorite Baby Jesus.

    “Snap”- my mom… yes, again!! actually said the same thing re: Robert/ darkhorse comparision. She called it about 3 weeks ago.

    The girl who won the UK version was fantastic last night. Her movement is so fluid. Love her and wish I watched that competition when it was on.

    Anyway, I really enjoyed this season. Hated Mia Micheals deeply throughout and was not placated by the scraps they threw out by having Mary “Captains” Murphy on the finale episode only. Cat Deeley is an outstanding host. She needs to be on tv more – the female Ryan Seacrest.

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      BABY JESUS! I forgot about Kurt being Baby Jesus!

      I will totally admit that I did not watch as much of the show as I typically do. The contestants were all rather likable, at least more so on a whole than in previous season, perhaps? But I was always blinded by my huge hatred for Powder and Moron Mollee.

      • CayKat

        I was with you on that train… poised to through them both on to the tracks. I hated those chicks so much… not healthy.

        • CayKat

          of course that should say “throw”

  • Trish

    I loved Robert too after getting past what a completely inapproriate dork he was early on. LOVED him and Mark together. My son and I thought Robert was Mark’s doppelganger all season long.

    Love how you refer to Kent as “Kurt.” LMAO. Cute kid, good dancer, but enough with that corny cowpoke shtick. He does look like a young Paul Newman; too bad he doesn’t have a fraction of Newman’s cool.

  • saskin

    I like that they say “America’s favorite dancer”. America is not choosing the “best” dancer, ’cause, come on, what does America know about dancing, America is choosing their “favorite” dancer. I wish Idol said that too. Maybe that would stop Kerry Kolsch’s of this world from crossing the thin line between insanity and having a life.

    I kinda liked how they executed the whole season too. I thought it was manipulated, but the manipulation was not at the expense of other dancers. I liked that too.

    This finale kind of made me glad that Nigel is going back to Idol. It looks like he learned a lot about producing a good reality TV show. I don’t think he can improve the ratings or the audience profile but maybe he can make Idol a watchable show.

    One little question, my favorite was Ashley, am I supposed to go from board to board thrashing Lauren?

    • Pandora

      You’re supposed to go from board to board accusing someone of sabotaging Ashley to ensure Lauren’s win. Perhaps it was the choreographers who preferred Lauren, maybe it was Gatorade who wanted her for their ad campaign and they paid off the choreographers…

      • saskin

        Aha! Gatorade. Evil corporation. :)

  • The Diva Kalina

    I recently suffered the loss of someone very special to me, so I have been taking some time off recently to mourn …the unexpected and premature loss of the Budweiser party ball. No sooner did it enter back into my life, BAM – GONE AGAIN. Not only is Ellen Degeneres’ impromptu hip-hop routine ruining the media attention my birthday is receiving on Facebook, but I scrolled down my favorite Idol website, TOP IDOL, only to see that Adam Lambert was calling out to the gays on TWITTER…I feel this plea for help from the sparkle cows was directed towards me…if he had a large spot light to shine into the night sky, calling upon DIVA KALINA, I’m sure he would have.

    Now, as some of you may know, I have had a love/hate relationship with Twitter. Our very own TOP IDOL herself has tried to turn me on the finer points of Tweeting – still its appeal eludes me. First of all, when I need to address the masses, I can’t do it 80 characters. When I’m addressing Adam Lambert, I couldn’t do it 8,000 characters, and a 40 oz. And when in Christ’s Corner did they start having TWITTER PARTIES??? Do people Tweet while crushing up pills and railing them??? Do they Tweet while they’re playing Texas Hold ‘Em and hustling their friends out of cars, furs, stocks and bonds?? Do people Tweet dressed as Furries?? WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN INVITED TO A TWITTER PARTY?? I’m a simple hillbilly whore and I don’t have time to attend a Twitter party, let alone host one – HOW THE HELL DOES ADAM LAMBERT??

    I attended 2 Adam Lambert shows, my legendary trip to Cleveland and I’m fresh out of Erie, PA (yes, I spent my birthday week seeing Adam in Erie, do I smell a recap??), being polite (which is generally not in my character- as I recently made an employee at Buckle break into hysterics due to the fact that I want up a jean size) to these crazy middle aged women sweating and hooching all over me, most of them dressed like Stevie Nicks during her Klonopin days, only to get snubbed at this Twitter Party??? No shit you’re not concerned with those ladies Adam Lambert, because I’ve been to your East Coast shows nursing their broken wings…and their delusions…and their camel toes…their moose knuckles, their Build-Your-Own-A-Frame Kits…whatever you want to call it…. oh God…the nightmares I have…I went to my doctor convinced I had inhaled Agent Orange.

    I CALL TO YOU NOW, MY T.I. BABIES – GET DIVA KALINA INTO THE NEXT TWITTER PARTY!! WE MUST BAND TOGETHER!! Once I’m a Hollywood Wife, walking around in a satin robe with holes all over, eating Vicodin and wearing my sunglasses inside – possibly even exposing my beav to the press, embarrassing Adam Lambert for months – I will cut Top Idol a big fat check to keep this shit show rolling for eternity!

    My birthday is in one hour in PA, and to celebrate nearly 30 years of life and heart break I’ll be doing what any other white American male would do – Listening to “No One Else On Earth” by Wynonna Judd on repeat, while crying on the kitchen floor.

    AS ALWAYS – Much, much love to my babies here …and Adam Lambert – call me!

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      OMG DIVA!!! I HAVE MISSED YOU!!!

      RECAPPP!!! I’m emailing you on my hands & knees right now.

    • The Diva Kalina

      We’ ll do this the same way I won Prom King, or the same way Kara Dioguardi got on American Idol, or Larry Birkhead got DannieLynn – WE SIGN A PETITON!! WE HAVE A VOICE!!

      • cc

        Where can we sign for another recap?!?

        And Diva Kalina’s Twitter Party, I am soooo there!!! :D

      • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

        I will start spamming Lambert’s Twitter. I have no shame. It’s a shame he booked a week of tour dates a 2 weeks from now. I would have tracked him down in the desert for you. Poor Adam. No Burning Man for him this year. Just COUGS in BLACK SATIN.

        Does DannieLynn still have wonky eye?

        • FreeDavidCook

          We shall ALL spam Lambert’s Twitter for you dearest Diva! He shall be yours!! Please, pelase please another recap.

          Cougs In Black Satin sounds like an updated Moody Blues song.

    • http://princessleia04.livejournal.com SarahBeth

      OMG PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WRITE A RECAP FROM ERIE.

      YOUR LAST ONE WAS EPIC.

      *begs*

      • deez

        Diva!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mere words cannot express my present joy.

    • J

      If you gift us with a recap I will find and burn in your honor my crazy aunts sparkly housecoat and fuzzy pink mules.

    • jukejoint

      Is the Budweiser Party Ball anything like the Jose Cuervo Margarita Ball? I recently gifted one of those and it looked really fun. You mix your margarita by rolling the ball around and then use the pump on the top to spray/squirt/whatever the margarita into your glass. Or into your mouth. Or onto your boyfriend.

      They’re for sale on ebay for $25 and $35 and I only paid five bucks for the thing at Schnucks.

      • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

        SCHNUCKS?

        SCHUNCKS?

        SCHNUCKS?

        Jukejoint, where do you live? Where DID you live? (I had no idea they still made party balls, but I was living in Schnucks-land when they came out.) :)

    • Trish

      Speechless. How does one attempt to read anything else after that?

      Happy Birthday, DK!!!

  • cc

    *sigh* They better bring Alex back next season. I watched this two-hour episode hoping they might at least showed the Hiphop routine performed by Alex and Twitch but alas, they had chosen that Hallelujah performance (which I still think is overrated!)

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      AGREED! The Hallelujah routine is SOOOO overrated. Even though I love me some Sonya Tayeh, I was not blown away like everyone else. The Top 20 showcase performance with Alex, Billy and Ade, though, the one Mia Michaels did to the song from the “Shutter Island” credits, that made me cry. That might be my favorite from the season.

      • Pandora

        Thank the flying spaghetti monster that I’m not the only one who doesn’t worship the Hallelujah routine. It was fine and all that, but it wasn’t any better than a whole bunch of other male/female contemporary routines. Kathryn & Jakob from last season? Now THAT was spectacular.

        And the Billy and Ade piece to Mad World is one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

      • auntieaimee

        Don’t hate me people, but I’m not a Sonya Tayeh fan. To me, her routines are all angry, jerky movements and weird flexed feet. It’s like watching childbirth: I know it’s supposed to be beautiful, but I don’t want to see it.

  • jukejoint

    I was watching the Finale (2) but tuned out after Robert was eliminated.

    I kind of did like the All Star concept, because it meant I got to see Pasha and Mark and Twitch again fairly often. (I also hope, if they keep the All Star thing, that Robert going out in third means he gets to be an All Star. Note no winners have been All Stars. Which is kind of a bummer, since I’d like to never see Kent again. Bouncy little babykins make me want to hurl.)

    Anyway, I think Robert and Adechike are both very hirable. If that’s a word. Kent is too short for a chorus line. Billy is so singular that he’s more someone for a troupe somewhere with a strange choreographer/guru. Robert and Adechike would be more in the chorus of a million shows where they need hot guys who are also fab dancers.

    Now I’m watching Project Runway. That Casanova guy bugs me big time. And they didn’t give the win to Valerie AGAIN. I am starting to hate Gretchen. She is so puffed up she’s gonna splode. I hated her skirt. It seemed so obvious and fug besides. Tinsel skirt. PUHleez. Oh well. If I’m the only one watching this, I apologize. But when it comes to unfair judging, Project Runway and SYTYCD are kind of in the same place for me. Tell them I hate them.

    • CayKat

      I need to get caught up with Project Runway- what is it, 2 or 3 episodes in?

  • snapcracklypop

    Just saw an article today that said this about Robert…

    Robert is a dark horse who matters. I can’t imagine he outscored Kent or Lauren, but he still delivered to that extent that a Kris Allen-style underdog win may be in the cards for him.

    http://www.movieline.com/2010/08/sytycd-1.php

    • http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

      I can’t help to think you posted that because…

      Robert’s been one of my favorites all season. I haven’t watched much, but I’ve liked him since the get-go. I have NO idea why the judges thought he had problems connecting with the audience.