So You Think You Can Dance review
Except for the final awards, the 6th season of SYTYCD is done. My opinion?
For most of this season, Jakob and Ellenore have been my favorites. Going into the final, the only question in my mind was which of the two were the best. Jakob is a better dancer, Ellenore a better performer.
But tonight Russell and Kathryn both shouldered their way up to their level. In particular, Russell may have shouldered his way to the top. His technical chops are a cut below Jakob, but dammit, he's got so much more personality and presence that it's a very tough choice. Yes, he's not as good a dancer as Jakob. But he's come so far this season that with another year, he might be. His ability to reach the audience is the best of all the performers, and this is a show to vote for America's favorite dancer, not necessarily the best.
Ellenore, Ellenore, Ellenore. On a technical basis, she's second only to Jacob. But it took her a long time to unwind and get more personality into her performance, and she still doesn't have half the presence of Russell. I think she got hurt tonight by the odd routine she and Ryan did. It was interesting as abstract dance, but just didn't affect me. And on a night when most of the rest of the dances were excellent, it was possibly the worst pick for her.
Kathryn is good, but whatever the judges are seeing in her is mostly missing me. Don't get me wrong, I won't be upset if she turns up the winner. But in my book, she's #4 by a narrow but clear margin.
As for Ryan and Ashley . . . well, it's not difficult to put them as my #5 and 6 in this crew. Ryan grew a lot but never reached the level of the other four. He was an excellent partner, and the only guy with top-notch upper body strength. But that one makes him good supporting cast, not a star.
I wouldn't have put Ashley into the top ten. Frankly, Molly had passed her in quality by last week and should have been in the final six. Note also that I didn't much care for Molly earlier, and would have voted her out some time around the cut to 14 or 12.
That said, Ryan and Ashley's performance together tonight was wonderful. Not great dancing, but pretty darned good dancing. What made the difference was their chemistry and performance in that number. Touching, honest, and memorable.
Something not about the dancers: could this show possibly have been more rushed? Nine couples dancing vs eight plus solos the previous week, in one hour rather than two. The judges comments were terse even when they wanted to gush, and boy, this would have been a great week to gush. I also missed the film of the practice sessions, which were usually informative and entertaining. Today's would have been particularly interesting, as the dancers had to learn more dances and learn them with three different partners. Cutting it back to an hour was definitely not a good idea.
Conversely, a two-hour finale tomorrow with lots of guest performers? I predict a lot of fast-forwarding on the tivo.
Current Music: Tom Wait, "Going Out West." 
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