Sometime-judge Christopher “Lil’ C” Toler proclaimed to one of the auditioning contestants the following during last season’s opener of So You Think You Can Dance:
“[You were] very submissive unto your own dominance.”
In a lot of ways, that cryptic jargon could apply to many of the hopefuls we saw during this opening salvo. Right from the get-go, things are getting down and getting funky. Each season, it appears a lot of the contestants strutting and otherwise on the audition floor have better and better stuff to show us. Two hours in, we witnessed some pretty spectacular offerings … along with obligatory mediocrity. All to be expected.
There are a few changes (again) this time around on SYTYCD. One of the major ones? No more results show. That’s been eliminated. Instead, the results will be compacted into the following week’s broadcast. This is an overall improvement that will benefit the show and keep things lively. Another? We’ll be treated to not one, but two winners at the end of the season — a male and a female dancer. I like that as well. There always (yes … I used “always”) seems to be more than one deserving contestant come season’s end and this will rectify the situation. Bravo, SYTYCD Powers That Be.
Things that haven’t changed? Mary Murphy and her antics. She and they will raise their dramatic heads when the situation “calls” for them. (As a matter of fact, they’ve been let out of their cage already in the form of on-going drama.) In many ways, Cat Deeley is still as cute as a bug’s ear, but she continues to have that nose thing I silently comment on. (“Let’s see if Cat got her nose fixed since last season … nope … it still lists to her left …”) Nigel Lythgoe is his same old, same old self, alternately brooding and ominous one moment, sometimes over-zealously annoying in his critique of contestants the next. And, of course, there continues to be amazing and outstanding showmanship from the contestants who parade their wares. It’s good to know you really can go home again on SYTYCD.
So … the premiere episode: Is it really necessary to get into the why tos and whatfors of each hopeful … or “hopeful” as was often the case on the premiere? No. It is not. There’s just too much time to fill there, time that was used as genuinely toss-off filler by the brilliant minds at FOX. But that’s what the audition rounds are — audition rounds. While it might be nice, for a change, to cram 2 hours-worth of consistently top-notch performances into the show for us, there’s got to be a “break” in the action in the form of fluff or nonsense or goofiness. They can’t all be gems, after all. We’re not wired as watchers of reality television for things to be continually gung-ho. Yeah … it gets tedious, but it’s necessary. You can’t gouge your brain with quality performances at this stage non-stop. Things have to chug along at their proper pace in order to get to that point. So as things move along, I’ll come back to some notable points during my reviews that I feel need pointing out.
Deal? Deal.
In the meantime, welcome back, SYTYCD. We’ve missed you and we’re ready for a whole lot of spectacularness.
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on May 25, 2012 @ 13:22 EST5EDT
Oh, but the auditions were so good! Lots of great moments.
It seems that they’ve cut down the amount of painfully bad auditions by a lot this episode. I can think of two (?) and maybe two montages. And there were so many great auditions. It’s already gotten me excited for the season. The autistic boy segment bothered me a little bit, because if felt exploitative and a little mocking, but then again, he chose to try out, and it would defeat the purpose not validate his efforts, so after some thought, I think they handled it in the most supportive way that they could.
It’s odd we didn’t see much of the choreography round at all. I guess they didn’t have enough time with all the stand out auditions they wanted to show.
I always love when Lil C is on. His choice of words is usually entertaining, and he loves dance and seems so appreciative of the gifts that it has given him.
I’m just glad that the show is back on.