Monday, March 31, 2008

So You Think You Can Dance Elimination Night - Final Eight

It's official So You Think You Can Dance has now turned into to a popularity contest. Tonight for the first time the dancers were really able to gauge who Australia was voting for.

Rhys in a rare unguarded moment did not look pleased when Anthony got voted into the bottom two instead of Jack. More on that later.

The other issue was for the first time I noticed that the judges comments were edited on last nights show. Since the judges are meant to be "guiding" the audience shouldn't we hear all their comments.

A couple of examples relating to Jason Coleman:
On Rhys's solo last night he said "Whole routine very very powerful" but the last bit of the sentence had been chopped and we heard it tonight "... but a little self indulgent in this form"
Also Jason said to Henry and Rhiannon after the Kelly Abbey routine "Emotion slightly underdone for me". This comment was not on the show last night.

The show started off with the group number which was a Nacho Pop hip hop routine. Now I know Nacho has a lot of fans out there, but I thought the routine was a tad dull.

Natalie Bassingthwaite looked liked she had morphed into Cat Deeley this week - how much longer can her hair extensions get?

First up on stage were the five girls. Demi was the first to be told she was safe. Is this an indication she received the highest number of votes amongst the girls?

Kate and Jemma were paired, and then unsurprisingly Jemma was told she was in the bottom two.

Then out of Rhiannon and Vanessa - Rhiannon was told to go sit on the stools.

Next up the five boys. Rhys was told he was safe first.

Then it was Jack and Anthony standing there. Anthony was wearing a Gold Coast t-shirt in a last ditch attempt to gather some South-East Queensland votes. Again no surprise Anthony was in the bottom two.

However after that was announced Channel ten cut to Rhys who mouthed the f word and did not look happy. In my opinion this was not because he was upset Anthony may be eliminated, he knew tonight was a litmus test on what the Australian voters thought of the dancers. This outcome only confirmed Jack's popularity, and I suspect Jack and Rhys will be the two male dancers in the top four. I think Rhys wants Jack gone.

Lastly out of Graeme and Henry, Graeme was placed in the bottom two.

Then we had Delta Goodrem perform. What is it with Delta and reality tv shows, in the last three months I have seen her perform on Dancing With The Stars, Australian Idol, and now So You Think You Can Dance. At least tonight she left her caftans at home.

If Simon Cowell was judging her performance he would have said this:
"Delta it was like a school girl trying to be sexy. It was just cheesy, you used every performance trick you learnt at Young Talent School, from the hand clapping, to getting the audience to sing along. Also there were far to many vocal tricks in there - it was the equivalent of making a pizza with 20 toppings and expecting people to enjoy eating it."

Next the four dancers had to do their solos, which really lacked any passion or point as it had nothing to do with the vote.

Then we learnt Jemma and Anthony had been eliminated. My over active imagination went into to overdrive when Anthony was told he was gone as the cameras kept on panning on a good looking but obviously camp boy in the audience. Anthony has always been coy on his sexuality stating it was irrelevant (which it is) however I think Channel ten just outed him. Never mind Anthony you new boyfriend is a spunk.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Think you're putting on your tin hat with your comments re: Rhys and Jack...

Gabriel said...

I agree with you that it will be down to Jack and Rhys - this isn't a comment on any of the dancers' ability, just that at the moment, those two seem to be the most popular. Interesting that you think Rhys is aware of it too - maybe he knew it before we did!

Reality Raver said...

Yemaya I think Jack is probably the best male dancer left. The only issue will be if Henry will push is way into the final two. A male will win. And to be fair I think the men have been the stronger dancers in this competition.

Anon: I just called it as I saw it. I also thought it was interesting that Channel ten actually cut that footage in. Maybe Rhys is so far ahead with the voters they want to try and make it a more even contest.

Anonymous said...

I agree that a male will win. It is not too say that the female dancers left on the show are not strong (nobody left on the show can do/fake what Demi and Vanessa do) but there really is no way to find a 'best' across genres. If the stars are aligned right, the favourite dancer will also happen to be a strong dancer.

Editing definitely plays a big part in the final outcome. Not just editing on the judges' comments, but also on the dancers' reaction and rehearsal footage, and the audiences' reaction (the clapping and booing are filmed before the performance show even begins in the US version).

I believe Danny came in second in US SYTYCD3 due to poor editing. Sabra is a talented dancer but she definitely benefited from being casted as the funny easy going girl who has only formally trained for four years. (Who is to say the other dancers weren't good after their first four years of training? Danny started at 10 and at 15, he was invited to study classical ballet with Vladimir Djouloukhadze and Anatoli Kucheruk at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC!) Nigel's comment on "It is time for a girl winner." on the Top 4 night helped with the Sabra votes.

- anonymous2

Sue B said...

Well, as always, I can't see the show till much later (damn you, Channel 10 and Fox and the US!!!), but I am not suprised about Anthony (he got more and more tedious), but maybe am that Gemma is gone but not Vanessa. If Rhys wants Henry out, then I want Rhys out. ;-) (No, but seriously, I am a HUGE Henry fan and hope he makes the top four, at least.)

Man, it's hard to read about the show and not watch it. :(

BTW, David Cook is getting some major slack now over using Doxology's version of Eleanor Rigby without crediting them. It has more to do with iTunes making money off this, BUT he better watch his back. When Blake did an original version, it was his own. Not the case with David, and that's fine IF he is upfront about it (I mean, these are all cover songs, anyway). But if you do a cover of a cover (which, BTW, David Archuleta did, too, and didn't credit the cover, since the original was in 1997; go figure), you need to say so. Since he's a front runner, he really has to be careful (I will still vote for him, but I don't know...). That said, vote for Henry and Kate for me, since I can't. :)
Sue

Sue B said...

I definitely agree with A2's assessment of SYTYCD S3. Mia said early on (before the top 10) that Sabra was a dark horse, but after that they definitely pushed Sabra's likability, etc., etc., and set it off as if Danny had the advantage with all of his dancing experience. Well, as with American Idol, it's set up a certain way. So AI wants David Archuleta to win, and they make his the front runner and run all sorts of stories about him. Turns out, though, that he is not as consistent as they had hoped, so now they have to pick ANOTHER front runner.

I was all about Blake on AI last year, b/c he was so original AND he was the underdog. I liked Pasha on SYTYCD S2 b/c he was really versatile (and seemed to really enjoy himself), and didn't think he was given the credit he deserved (I absolutely felt that was the case with Sara), but I definitely thought Danny was the strongest dancer and deserved to win based on that. Of course, it IS a popularity contest when it comes down to it--Australia's "favorite" dancer--so it depends who can garner the biggest fan base, strongest dancer or not.

Anonymous said...

wow.. sad to see Jemma go but it just like SYTYCD3 where Lacey carried Kameron into the Top10 w/o being in the btm3 and *bang*... Kam was the 1st to go.

Sue B said...

I loved your comment on Delta Goodrem. I don't know her, but I'm sure you've got Simon Cowell down *like this.* (I've got my fingers crossed for David Cook tomorrow night, speaking of AI.)

Yes, Kam was lost without Lacey (literally and figuratively), and I guess that's what happened to Jemma (not that I would KNOW, not having SEEN it yet...bitter much, yes).

SYTYCD S3 also had solos that they claimed were to give you one more chance to see those who had been voted out dance and to see what talent those who were left had." And I was like, Huh?! At least with Wade's dance we got to see everyone solo. Granted, we saw the same dance TEN TIMES, but I've watched it over a few times (not recently), and noticed that the dancers *did* put their own spin on it (Danny's was beautiful, Kam's was heartfelt, Lauren's was, as noted, beat for beat perfect, etc.).

Is there a lot surprise that Vanessa is still on but Jemma is gone and Rhiannon might have been voted off? Is Vanessa really that good or does she just have a major fan base (like Ramiele on AI)?

Reality Raver said...

Soobee, I am not sure how popular Vanessa is, but from my week by week polls (which I really should take more notice of when making my bottom predictions) Rhiannon appears to be unpopular.

Could be attitude, could be same solo each week. Personally I am sick of her hip hop type routines, she really needs to wow the audience next week.

Top two girls will probably be Demi and Kate.

Sue B said...

Yeah, I'm good with:
Demi
Kate
Rhys
Henry

I just rewatched Jemma and Rhys' Cabaret routine from a couple of weeks ago (b/c I still cannot watch this week's program!!!), and I see now why Jemma was voted off. Good but not great (though I don't know personally how she did, aside from your astute comments).

Sue B said...

But I also like Jack, so...hm. Henry or Rhys or Jack plus Kate and Demi. :)

Anonymous said...

Dance insiders around here say that Anthony is normally overly flamboyant and comment about how weird it is to see him so toned down on camera. He may say it doesn't matter, and it doesn't, but he must think it matters when it comes to the voting public.

Reality Raver said...

Brisbane girl - Thanks for the insight.

He probably thought it was a strategic move, but in a sense in back fired, maybe if he shown is full personality he would still be in the competition.

Anonymous said...

I went to the taping of this episode, and it was pretty clear that Rhys was upset/worried about Jemma being in danger.

Don't know how it came across on tv, since I haven't watched the actual episode, but based from what I've seen there is absolutely no animosity between Rhys and Jack. I was right up near the dancers/judges, and I think Jack and Rhys are the most genuine and down-to-earth people on the show...

Just my two cents...

Contented Single said...

Did you read that Rhys has gone back to Melbourne to visit his boyfriend? Hope this won't impact on his performance, Sunday night.

Reality Raver said...

Anon: re you comments at being at the show and Rhys looking upset that Jemma was eliminated.

Do you think they could have edited the shot of Rhys's face being upset with Jemma being in the bottom two and cut it in the spot when it was announced Jack was safe?

Or am I being to much of a conspiracy theorist.

Onadrought: I thought Rhys was in Melbourne Easter weekend. I would have thought he would not have had time to go down (no pun intended) south this week with rehearsals.

Anonymous said...

"I went to the taping of this episode, and it was pretty clear that Rhys was upset/worried about Jemma being in danger."

Hey, was Henry actually really crying, or just faking it? Me and my flatmate couldn't work it out.../

Reality Raver said...

Anon - Re: Henry's tears who knows, but they went on far too long.

A wipe of the eyes when he finished the songs would have done me instead of the burying his face in Rhiannon's shoulder for the whole of the judges comments.

However Monday night he mumbled something about losing someone close.

Anyway you just gave me an idea I will put a poll up and see what everyone thinks. Thanks.

Sue B said...

I finally got to see the videos (thank God!), and I think that Henry overdid it (a LOT) with the tears. I was underwhelmed by his contemporary. As wonderful as Kate is in hers is how mediocre I thought Henry's was, though Australia did not agree. I did not like Anthony and Jemma's routine at all, and I am not surprised they were eliminated. I now think that the final four will be:
Kate
Rhys
Jack
Demi
(Henry has fallen out of the top four, for me, anyway.)

I guess we'll see. I feel more confident about American Idol (and was about SYTYCD US), maybe b/c I get to see the shows on the night they air and not later on youtube (I'm waiting for SYTYCD US S4 with baited breath!!!). Henry and Graeme are just not doing it for me, and I don't think Vanessa and Rhiannon are nearly as strong as Kate (the best, IMHO, in the competition) and Demi (amazing to watch). Vanessa has come a long way, but...I dunno...I just prefer Demi. And I think Kate may come in second, just like Danny did (I think they are the strongest dancers, but maybe not the most popular, the way Jack and Rhys are and Sabra was).

Also, I sometimes think the choreographers AND the contestants have watched too much SYTYCD US (I thought the animal routine with Graeme and Demi was much better than Sabra and Lacey's on the final four night, though). Finally, what was the deal with Henry and the cape? I thought he copped it from Pasha (ah...Pasha).

Reality Raver said...

Soobee: I thought the cape was very Pasha and Dimitri - but hey it worked for them.

I think the Henry crying thing whether real or fake, though the majority on my poll think it is fake may cause a backlash against him.

Sue B said...

Right, Dimitry as well as Pasha (swoon, Pasha). It's a ballroomm dancer thing, I guess. And look how often Henry (and Anthony) went shirtless. Rhys and Graeme, not so much, and Jack? Er, no. :)

I was a big fan of Henry's UNTIL this week. I didn't believe his emotions in the lyrical jazz piece (or contemporary or whatever the choreographer called it) and I didn't believe it when he cried. I'm off the Henry Hot Tamale train. Jack and Rhys may stay on.