Creator: Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller
Genre: Reality, Dance, Competition
Rating: C
I was rather disappointed by this season of So You Think You Can Dance. I haven't been a fan of the show for long - this is only the third season that I've watched as it airs - but I've always previously enjoyed it. I had my favourites in season 7 (the first season I watched), and loved the dances in season 8 even if I knew who was going to win for a long time. This time round... the judging and eliminations in general seemed so at random that I really didn't know who to root for. It seemed like I would pick new favourites each week only to have them eliminated the next week.
The biggest problem with the season, which related rather nicely to the above critique, is the airing. Things moved really fast but at the same time really slow; the season seemed to go on forever (especially in the try-out period, which lasted for four weeks because of the elimination of the second weekly episode) and was repeatedly delayed in airing - the Olympics and the Fourth of July both did the show a disservice. Rather than just have the show go on longer, things were changed by doing double eliminations, to the great disservice to the dancers.
Because of the removal of the results episode the eliminations took place at the end of each episode. I'm not really sure how I feel about this; for one it made the episode feel even more cramped, especially as they also tried to add in performances by various dance companies. I enjoy the showcase and understand why the show does it, but I felt like this really did a lot to prevent us from getting to know the dancers. It wasn't until near the end of the season that I really felt like the show began to invest in showcasing the dancer's personalities - which is sad, because it does a lot for helping them get votes. In years past I've always known the names of everyone that makes it onto the show, this time round I didn't really know everyone until the top 10.
There were some amazing moments in the show and some amazing dancers in it. Even the ones who weren't as diverse were still amazing at what they did and I really did enjoy watching the dance. I just rather felt that throughout the whole season it was this poorly guided last hurrah for the series. Between the way it was treated while it aired and the fact that Fox eliminated the Results show I wouldn't be surprised if this was the last season of So You Think You Can Dance. Which is sad, it'll be a part of my summer TV that I'll miss. I won't, however, miss Nigel Lythgoe being a creepy perv when judging the young, attractive dancers.
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