Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

I decided that during the off season of So You Think You Can Dance I’d do some flashbacks to some of my favorite dances throughout all the So You Think You Can Dance seasons.

The following is a video of Twitch and Kherington Payne’s Viennese Waltz. When I think about this season of So You Think You Can Dance, this has to be the most memorable dance of the whole season for me. Jean Marc Genereux did an amazing job with the wonderful song: A New Day Has Come by Celine Dion

Today I was sent a TV Guide article that has some quotes from Nigel Lythgoe talking about the departure of Will Wingfield from So You Think You Can Dance. The part in quotes is from the article with my commentary in between.

Did the brilliant Will Wingfield exit Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance too soon? Head judge/executive producer Nigel Lythgoe certainly thinks so.

Who cares what Nigel thinks? It’s not his choice anymore it’s America’s.

When the moment of truth arrived during last week’s results show, here’s what the audience didn’t see: Lythgoe putting his head down on the judges’ table as if he couldn’t bear to watch what was going to happen next. Would it be Will or another audience favorite, Twitch, getting the boot?

How funny is this? Nigel acts as if Will getting booted off is wrong. This of course would assume that there’s a right and wrong answer. The fact is that there isn’t. There’s no such thing as right or wrong when we’re talking about a favorite dancer. Especially since Fox has said repeatedly that So You Think You Can Dance is “America’s Favorite Dancer.” Considering Nigel Lythgoe isn’t even an American, then does his opinion really matter in a contest for “America’s Favorite Dancer?” America voted and America decided. It’s great that way and that’s the beauty of America.

When Cat Deeley announced that Will would be going home, the crowd gasped. Widely acknowledged to be the finest all-around dancer this season — and coming off of a sensational pas de deux with Katee Shean and a rousing James Brown imitation in his Wednesday solo routine — nobody saw it coming. After the initial shock, the audience gave a standing ovation. “To me, it’s very much like losing Chris Daughtry or Tamyra Gray from American Idol,” Lythgoe said after the show. “Either one of them leaving — Will or Twitch — was a big disappointment. I really thought Will, Twitch and Joshua would be fighting it out until the end.”

So I must admit. I really actually enjoyed Will’s James Brown imitation. The pas de deux was incredible because of Katee I thought, so no surprises there for me when Will got booted. I can agree that Will is a great dancer, but dancing isn’t just about technique. Will didn’t have that it quality that I think the final three men had and that’s why he’s gone.

Twitch had fallen to his knees, with his back to the audience, when he landed in the bottom two, and had to be comforted by Deeley. “I had words with him,” shares Lythgoe. “I said, ‘Look, you’re in the Top 10. After this, there’s only going to be one winner, so please use the next few weeks just to enjoy yourself.’”

Cat Deeley comforting Twitch was one of the nicest parts of the show. As if we needed another reason to like Cat even more. I also love how Nigel “had words with him.” What a commanding father figure.

Lythgoe says Twitch will probably get the same kind of sympathy vote this week that hip-hopper Comfort got the week prior — before she was sent packing for a second time. Who will be standing at the end? “A boy is gonna be the winner this year,” says Lythgoe. “That’s my gut.”

It’s not about sympathy, but Nigel is right. Twitch fans will not provide sympathy votes, but they will get out and vote more than they ever have before. That spells trouble for Mark Kanemura.

I would normally say I don’t know at this point if a guy or a girl is going to win this year, but Nigel has more than his gut to determine if a guy is going to win. I imagine as producer of the show he’s seen the numbers of votes so I’ll go with him and say a guy will win. Joshua Allen winning So You Think You Can Dance would be a great ending and well deserved.

Today, Rocky and myself were chatting about tonight’s SYTYCD top 10 show. I thought it might be of interest to our readers. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments. Also, let me know if you think a SYTYCD chat on this blog would be cool too.

Rocky says:
I’m with you! I can’t wait till the sytycd comes on tonight….but I’m not looking forward to Thursdays anymore.
John says:
why not?
John says:
it will make you cry?
John says:
2 hours tonight…should be good
Rocky says:
I think what I will feel most is annoyed For the next few weeks elimination will be strictly fanbase without regards to quality of performance on Wednesday. Every season good dancers go home because weaker ones still have pity votes.
Rocky says:
Kherington may well go home tonight and that will make me sad.
John says:
nope…she can’t go home…i won’t let her
John says:
everyone said that twitch was carrying her, but I think that she might have been carrying twitch, although since they were in the bottom 3 it’s hard to say either was carrying the other
John says:
tonight should be exciting, because it’s the night where they get new partners
Rocky says:
I know, that makes it exciting to see what everyone can do with new partners. I’ve read that overall it will be a good show. They are doing a group Bollywood routine Thursday night, I can’t wait. I love it.
John says:
sweet…i loved the previous Bollywood number. Bollywood can be really cool if done right or really bad if done wrong. Like most dances really
Rocky says:
Very true, but for this show, I’m sure they will make it good! The dancers will be doing another routine on Thursday, as well. One with just the females, and one with just the males. Mia choreographed the one for the girls so it will be interesting, for sure.
John says:
Well, I’m biased and will certainly love almost any dance with all females. Mia can do some really cool stuff, but some of her stuff is just weird. I definitely haven’t drunk the Mia koolaid. She’s very talented, but not God.
Rocky says:
I agree, she’s not the world’s greatest choreographer but I love weird and quirky so most of her routines are great to me.
John says:
I’m really looking forward to the show…nothing like a beautiful Wednesday night of SYTYCD
Rocky says:
Agreed. Lots of dancing tonight. Two dances per couple and a solo each.