So You Think You Can Dance

Not a show I would ordinarily have watched (I've never seen American Idol), I saw an episode last night since I was with my grandmother, and I did enjoy it. I don't care to dance at all, but I admire the style and athleticism some dancers have.

I don't know if the episode I saw was typical, but it was two hours long and the first half hour was spent introducing the dancers and telling their life stories. That was quite boring - perhaps it could have been shorter, or more integrated into the show.

The dancers were a mix of semi-professionals and amateurs, mostly specializing in just one or two styles. The interesting thing about the competition to me was that they were expected to be able to pick up new styles, for example you might have a breakdancer doing swing dancing. Some could pull this off quite well, and some couldn't.

Dancers would perform alone, or with a randomly selected partner. The music they danced to was canned, and I would have preferred a versatile live band to do the different style of music, or perhaps several different bands. I realize the show isn't about the music, but surely some band would have been willing to be in the background letting the dancers shine. I was a bit surprised by the music used for the hip hop dancing, which sounded more like adult contemporary R&B.

Four judges give their comments on each of the performances. They weren't interesting at all, and I found myself wanting them to prove their credentials by showing off their own dancing! At the end, the judges eliminated six performers, who were then given forty-five seconds to do their best dancing, and the viewing audience was given the opportunity to call in to save their favorite among those the judges had booted. I didn't bother - and I suspect most callers will have voted for the person they liked the most, with the most sympathetic life story, rather than the best dancer....