After four or so drinks, even I will try to compete for the title of America’s Favorite Dancer

Posted by Cristin August 2nd, 2007 at 10:45am In Great Feats of Strength Internets TV Reality

I think reality shows that demand two nights worth of your time per week are mean. I can’t even commit to a deodorant, let alone four hours a week of American Idol. This is why I didn’t know who Jordin Sparks was until Glamour told me she was more recognizable than Laura Bush. (Actually, I can’t remember the Legitimately Famous Person they used as a comparison, but it was Laura Bush-esque. This is Glamour’s fault for not having a search function on their website).

BUT I make an exception for So You Think You Can Dance. They follow the semi-standard Performance Show/ Results Show format, which makes it the ultimate promo for DVR as you can condense the results show (which is generally padded with dramatic music, solo dances no one cares about, and performances from the likes of Nick Lachey) down to about 7 minutes. Which makes you feel productive (because you can spend the remaining 53 minutes in the hour washing dishes or curing cancer) and lazy (because you’re watching reality tv) at the same time!

It’s hard to talk about how good this show is in words because it’s such a visual experience. It’s also hard for me to put into words how much I love the host, Cat Deeley, who is British and adorable and incredibly tall and who I’d like to keep in a box on my desk at work and have her chirp “Well done, you lot!” every time I do anything. Also, she is a perfect mix of Anne Hathaway (holla Becoming Jane! Cannot WAIT) and Jessica St Claire from Best Week Ever.

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See? SEE? You love her too, right??

My other other favorite part is that they rotate choreographers and (apparently) instruct them to use contemporary music whenever possible, which means you’ll quickly start associating Avril’s “Girlfriend” and Lifehouse’s “That terrible song that no one can ever get out of their head” with jiving and waltzing respectively (which is good, since my preexisting associations with those two were “retarded canadian” and “what’s the best angle at which to cut my wrists so that the blood flows quickly”). Unfortunately, this also means that Wade Robson has a platform through which he can force ten dancers to each perform the same solo to “Waiting on the World To Change” that ends with them peace-signing the audience. (How much do I love wikipedia, by the way? A ton. Fun facts about Wade: Born in ’82 (younger than me! fun!); called to testify in the first michael jackson trial about sleepovers he had in the pop star’s bed with Macaulay Culkin; is nominated for a Emmy for his choreography on the show).

I’m rambling. Let’s allow the dancing to speak for itself, shall we?

1. Lacey and Kameron broadway it up to All That Jazz. (Clip includes pre-dance info, actual dancing begins at 2:44):

Lacey is my current favorite on the show, as she is (a) adorable (b) not one of the douches who said they wanted to be an astronaut when asked on the show about their future ambitions outside of dance and (c) sister to last year’s champion Benji Schwimmer. I love a good family dynasty (ask me sometime when you have 3 or so hours free about my brothers and our speeches at our respective high school graduations. Okay, yes, I was only allowed near the podium to introduce the person who was elected to speak on behalf of my class whereas my brothers were said elected person, but still. Threepeat!). Her partner for the first half of the show, Kameron, full on rode Lacey’s coattails for the first half of the season and was dropped as soon as he had to dance with someone else. You’ll notice Kameron doing his signature backflip in the opening, which every choreographer he worked with included in his routine.

2. Lauren and Pasha rock a hip hop routine:

Here’s why this is awesome: Pasha is a ballroom dancer and not supposed to be good at this. They are wearing glow in the dark Tshirts with the human skeleton on them. The opening is Transformers themed. It was choreographed by the dude who choreographed You Got Served.

3. Danny and Anya dance the Jive to “Girlfriend:”

I still really like this song.

4. Ivan and Allison umbrella dance:

Last season, still awesome. Just like:

5. Ivan and Allison dance to “Why:”