I Demand More Hot Russians

[sadlikeknives]

As you may be aware, I like hot Russians, but who doesn't? As you may not be aware, since it seems to be one of those things I never quite get around to babbling about on here, I also like ballroom dancing! I can't dance to save my life, but I certainly enjoy watching it. So the return of So You Think You Can Dance with the announcement that my very favorite hot Russian ballroomers, Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis, would be on my TV every week thanks to this 'all-stars' business, is cause for great rejoicing.

There's a thing I don't get about SYTYCD auditions episodes. They show us the line, right, and in the line are people doing fantastic hip-hop and Latin ballroom-type moves for the camera. Flips! Spins! Sexy things with their partners! And then, yes, there are preliminary auditions before they even get to the judges and some of them get their asses sent home then because they are secretly not that great, but then by the time we get to the judges and what's televised, there are joke/bad auditions that take up way too much time, maybe one ballroomer or hip-hopper if we're lucky, and a parade of scantily clad eighteen-year-old contemporary girls showing off the exact same repertoire of contemporary skills until they all run together into one mess of tilts and pirouettes and I forget all their names.

To the best of my memory, they showed us, what, four ballroom auditions? Giselle Peacock and Henry Byalikov (who previously tore up the floor on SYTYCD Australia; funny how they didn't mention that, but he's a hot Russian with bonus Australian accent so I don't care, bring him on), the Czech guy, and Cristina Santana (who is salsa, not actually ballroom), and then there was some focus on Serge Onik (hot Russian! I approve) once they got to Vegas and he became That Girl With the Hair's knight in shining dance shoes--and seriously, she didn't dance that better because her hair was down, if she did dance it better, which I'm not sure she did; she danced better because she was dancing with someone who knew what the hell he was doing and had exceptional partnering skills. And I can only think of one hip-hopper, the b-boy from Florida, Jose Ruiz. I know there were way more in those lines. I'm not a big fan of hip-hop because I know nothing about it, but it can be very entertaining. I feel ripped off, okay?

I mean, I guess two of the five men's spots are pretty well spoken for by Billy Bell and Alex Wong, so they don't want to get us too excited about too many of the other dudes, but I still want to see interesting dancing! Otherwise what is the point of all this auditions madness? They didn't even show us any of the people who made it through to Vegas from Nashville--okay, there were only seven, and they may well have been scantily clad eighteen-year-old contemporary girls with the usual suspects as far as skills go, but still I feel certain they were more worthy of TV time than those giggly beginner-level flamenco girls.

That said? Bring on Pasha and Anya. The Russians cannot melt my TV soon enough.

I really should stop calling them 'the Russians,' actually. I'm pretty sure Anya's originally from Latvia.

And is it kind of horrible that I'm hoping that kid from Wapokeneta (see, Nigel, I can remember it), Ohio makes it through, and is made to dance, like, a samba with Anya? Because she will eat him alive without even meaning to, and it will be sad, yes, but also funny as hell.

Comments

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

The thing that gets me about the contemporary dancers who audition is that understandably they're all doing the same moves, and while you can tell if they're good you're still watching the same stuff over and over and over again. I'm not saying they should go out and get those dippy flamenco dancers just for the variety, but every season the top group is crammed with contemporary dancers and it's annoying.

And I'm also annoyed that they keep sending people to the top twenty (or ten in this season's case) whose initial audition we don't see. Kathryn last season, Jeanine the season before that (I believe) ... I mean, you can't tell me that by the time Vegas week rolls around they don't know who's going to be in the top group. This season, maybe, but not other seasons. Not to spoil anything -- I've seen the list of the top group for this year -- but not everybody's audition was aired this year, either. I want to see why the judges looked at them and said, "You should go to Vegas," damn it.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I understand why they all do the same things. I imagine that in regular auditions for parts it serves a very useful purpose, but on TV it just all runs together and becomes boring. It's like the compulsories in gymnastics and figure skating, which did serve their purpose, but there's a reason they used to start the Olympics telecast with, "And these are the scores after the compulsories..." and finally did away with them altogether--hell, even ice dance finally got rid of it after the 2009-10 season. Actually, considering that the judges start off by exhorting them to be unique, it's like if they all did their compulsory program in the free skate.

I'm not saying they should go out and get those dippy flamenco dancers just for the variety, but every season the top group is crammed with contemporary dancers and it's annoying.

See, this is what I'm saying! We know there was more variety on offer because we saw it when they showed the shots of the line, but somehow by the time they get to the judges we had a ton of contemporary and the dippy flamenco dancers. So, like, why is production not letting variety through, I guess would be my first question.

I feel like the people who make the top whatever whose auditions aren't shown are done a giant disservice by the show. By the time they start cutting the raw footage from auditions in March for a show airing in June, they have to know their likely top group, and then they go and leave some of them out. The people whose auditions are shown start forming a fanbase right then, it seems, and people who carry over from previous seasons, like Billy Bell and Alex Wong, already have, like, massive followings. So when people suddenly pop up in Vegas--or, occasionally, at the Green Mile stage--they're already a step behind everyone else as far as getting fans and votes, and it's just completely not cool.

[wolfling]

OMG, how did I miss that was Henry from SYTYCD Aus???? I loved him on that. Okay, now I'm totally hoping he makes it all the way to the final ten because I'd love to see him dance weekly again.

I watch the American show faithfully, and I do actually like contemporary dancing quite a lot, but yeah, they do seem to run all together, especially on the US show. My favourite of the SYTYCD shows is actually the Australian one (thank god for torrents) because they do seem to show more of a variety, and the contemporary dancers they do show often tend to be a bit different and more unique, and just the feel of it is much more giving me what I tend to watch these shows for. I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that there's going to be a lot I don't like about the US version and I put up with it for the awesome dancing they do deign to show us.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when they showed Henry's name I was like, "Why is that familiar? Yeah, and he's a ballroom dancer, that seems right..." and then I heard him speak and and said, "OH MY GOD HE DID THAT SAMBA," to my mother, who of course had no idea what I was talking about.

I'm nervous because I don't think we've seen him at all in Vegas. They mentioned Giselle making it through some round, but haven't said anything about Henry. I know the short time frame between the first round of auditions and Vegas has caused problems for people getting work visas in order (I'm thinking specifically of Hok, who missed out on season two) but he was already working on Burn the Floor, so...I don't know.