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quinaraSrsly, Brit friends of mine, or anyone who can work a proxy server (unlike me), if you're in any way vaguely interested in dance or music or movement WATCH THIS SHOW. They only have the episodes on iPlayer for a week at a time, which is an absolute crime, because the quality is so high and the styles are so varied and you can skip all the reality-judgey-votey bits if you hate that sort of thing and just baaaaaask.
I'll admit that I am somewhat predisposed to loving this show, because in general I love reality TV of this nature (I'm not a Big Brother person, but the weekly knockout performing/creating-based shows? Lap them up. One of the many gags about me in school was that I was possibly the nerdiest Latinist in our class and yet I would happily ramble on and on about ANTM (of course, Latin would often descend into chat about Home and Away, so I was among sympathisers on that front).) But this series of SYTYCD (and I'm gutted I missed the first one over here) has got to be one of the most impressive shows I've seen for actually getting talented people to audition and get on the TV. There are maybe a couple of people of the ilk where their standard isn't so high but the production team clearly put in their extra vote, but even they are coming brilliant when they're put with such good people.
In terms of 'characters', I love them all; there's barely any friction, constructed or otherwise, and it's a delight/inspiration to see people go from these powerhouses on stage to awkward-looking contestants - and I love the families and their banners (Israel's dad has been my favourite since auditions when he said 'yeah, when Israel started dancing he looked like a twonk, but he's all right now', but Watfordian Charlotte Scally and her Nanny Pat's garden party for the royal wedding definitely deserves a mention) - and I love the judges, who all know what they're talking about, and have their favourites but always keep things fair and make decisions I can completely follow and agree with - and I love Cat Deeley, if only because she and Ant and Dec were my Saturday mornings for years, but also because the way she connects the viewers and the studio audience and the judges and the dancers does make TV presenting look like an elegant and skillful art.
Basically, gang, this show is a massive celebration of competence and performance and dance. I think I've tried (rubbishly) to explain how I think vidding should work at one point or another, with bullet points and caveats, but really it's just this. It's just dancing. I never had the co-ordination to dance, but one day I would love my vidding to be this good.
Because these people!! Some of them are so on it's ridiculous. Charlotte and Matt have this glowing, bold energy between them - last week they did a foxtrot and this week they did an 80s jazz thing to Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax which was just boom awesome (and costume points need to go to Scally's outfit, because, yes, that's how those leggings should look); Kirsty and Lee B are sinuous and gorgeous to watch - last week they did a swirly dark contemporary thing and this week they did a Bollywood routine that gets sparklier and sparklier every time I watch it; Rithy and Shane have this funky, sparky thing going on - they did a Broadway heist thing last week and now this awwwwesome hip hop routine to Mozart's Rondo alla Turca (as Charlie Chaplin and a policeman). It was possibly a bit soft, but the choreography was a perfect expression of the music, and they were (to my eyes) exactly on time - I find the the whole thing utterly dazzling; it's like seeing the inside of a pianist's head, with all the jokes and the rhythms tripping along in full motion.
And the solos in the results show!!! Last week they were a bit shrug, but this week my heart was in my throat in all four of the thirty-second sequences. They were just stunning. Absolutely stunning, especially those that saved the people.
So, yeah, in sum: this show sets my heart aflutter. It's not a drama, but it's like a collection of mini drabble-dramas - in dance form! So good.
/end gush.
I'll admit that I am somewhat predisposed to loving this show, because in general I love reality TV of this nature (I'm not a Big Brother person, but the weekly knockout performing/creating-based shows? Lap them up. One of the many gags about me in school was that I was possibly the nerdiest Latinist in our class and yet I would happily ramble on and on about ANTM (of course, Latin would often descend into chat about Home and Away, so I was among sympathisers on that front).) But this series of SYTYCD (and I'm gutted I missed the first one over here) has got to be one of the most impressive shows I've seen for actually getting talented people to audition and get on the TV. There are maybe a couple of people of the ilk where their standard isn't so high but the production team clearly put in their extra vote, but even they are coming brilliant when they're put with such good people.
In terms of 'characters', I love them all; there's barely any friction, constructed or otherwise, and it's a delight/inspiration to see people go from these powerhouses on stage to awkward-looking contestants - and I love the families and their banners (Israel's dad has been my favourite since auditions when he said 'yeah, when Israel started dancing he looked like a twonk, but he's all right now', but Watfordian Charlotte Scally and her Nanny Pat's garden party for the royal wedding definitely deserves a mention) - and I love the judges, who all know what they're talking about, and have their favourites but always keep things fair and make decisions I can completely follow and agree with - and I love Cat Deeley, if only because she and Ant and Dec were my Saturday mornings for years, but also because the way she connects the viewers and the studio audience and the judges and the dancers does make TV presenting look like an elegant and skillful art.
Basically, gang, this show is a massive celebration of competence and performance and dance. I think I've tried (rubbishly) to explain how I think vidding should work at one point or another, with bullet points and caveats, but really it's just this. It's just dancing. I never had the co-ordination to dance, but one day I would love my vidding to be this good.
Because these people!! Some of them are so on it's ridiculous. Charlotte and Matt have this glowing, bold energy between them - last week they did a foxtrot and this week they did an 80s jazz thing to Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax which was just boom awesome (and costume points need to go to Scally's outfit, because, yes, that's how those leggings should look); Kirsty and Lee B are sinuous and gorgeous to watch - last week they did a swirly dark contemporary thing and this week they did a Bollywood routine that gets sparklier and sparklier every time I watch it; Rithy and Shane have this funky, sparky thing going on - they did a Broadway heist thing last week and now this awwwwesome hip hop routine to Mozart's Rondo alla Turca (as Charlie Chaplin and a policeman). It was possibly a bit soft, but the choreography was a perfect expression of the music, and they were (to my eyes) exactly on time - I find the the whole thing utterly dazzling; it's like seeing the inside of a pianist's head, with all the jokes and the rhythms tripping along in full motion.
And the solos in the results show!!! Last week they were a bit shrug, but this week my heart was in my throat in all four of the thirty-second sequences. They were just stunning. Absolutely stunning, especially those that saved the people.
So, yeah, in sum: this show sets my heart aflutter. It's not a drama, but it's like a collection of mini drabble-dramas - in dance form! So good.
/end gush.