For years I have avoided reality TV. I hate the whole idea of it. Why would someone watch a bunch of people be jerks to each other on television. Maybe if you know they are ‘acting’ it would be alright, but with reality TV in the end they are really just jerks. No fun. So, a few months ago, Mary told me she wanted to watch a show called “So You Think You Can Dance”. I was not exactly thrilled. Mary’s stamping friends really like the show and always talked about it at her stamp club. So, naturally, she wanted to see what it was all about.
What is the point of this show? How does it work? Well, it’s all about a dance competition from the initial auditions to finale. The show starts out going all across the country for auditions. You just show up and you get your chance to show a panel of judges what you can do. If they think you might have what it takes to be “America’s Favorite Dancer” you stick around and try your hand at group choreography later that day. In the end, the judges decide who they want to allow into the next round. This has UG! written all over it. You can only imagine how many people show up because they just want to look dumb on national television. The judges are brutal. It’s exactly what I imagined reality TV was.
After the auditions, the selected few get to go to a one week crash dance course where they are quickly trained in styles of dance many of them have never even tried before. Let’s say you are an awesome freestyle break dancer. If you make it to this point in the show you get to find out how well you can ballroom dance. You can imagine there are some honestly heart breaking moments during this section of the show. And you really get to know the people that have made it this far. By now, the people are all actual dancers that are looking to jump start their carriers. In the end, the choreographers decide who showed the most promise and the group is cut down to the people that will actually make it to the dance competition.
This is the part of the show that gets good. Next is the actual dance competition. Every week the guys randomly pull a girls name from a hat. That will be their partner for the day. The girl then draws a dance style out of a hat. That will be what they dance. They then get five hours to work with a choreographer to learn the moves before they are put in front of an audience and live national TV. When the dance is over, a panel of judges talks about how they did. Once all the dancers are finished, the judges pick the ‘bottom group’ of dancers for the night of which two will be removed from the show next week. The trick is that if you want to ’save’ a dancer you can call in and vote for them. The two dancers with the lowest votes from the group selected by the judges are the ones eliminated.
As the show progresses and the number of dancers dwindle the judges still give their comments but they no longer choose who will be in the bottom. America votes for all the dancers and the lowest ones go home until the final week when only one is left. That dancer claims the title “Americas Favorite Dancer” and takes home a laundry list of prizes. The most important of course is the publicity which will kick start their career.
I have to tell you, the first three episodes or so I could take or leave. The auditions are brutal and there are many really stupid people that just want to be on TV for a few seconds. Even if it means being made fun of in front of all of America. It’s worth the wait though. Once the actual competition starts the show is absolutely MUST SEE TV. What these dancers can do, how they can move. There were some nights I literally would shout out loud when a dance would end or someone did a particularly amazing move. As you watch the dancers you begin to learn about them and why they are there. Soon you have favorites and the few you think will make it to the end.
I won’t spoil anything here, but there was a point a few weeks ago during season four when due to some amazing dancing by the underdogs one week, the voting landed such that two of the best dancers where on the chopping block. One HAD to go home. I could not believe what had happened. Everyone assumed they would get enough votes so no one voted for them. Ouch! From that night forward, Mary and I watched the show live so we could cast our votes. No way were we not going to let others make stupid decisions for us again! There you have it. My dirty little secret. Not only did I watch a reality TV show, but I loved it so much that I even participated. I am so ashamed.
What can I say. I am a HUGE fan. I just loved this show. It was like the good days when the show “24″ didn’t suck. You would see an episode and you were like no way, that didn’t just happen. Then you were stuck waiting until next week to know how everything turned out. It is like an amazing roller coster ride of a show. I can’t recommend it enough. This past season, season 4, is my frame of reference. I bet the previous ones were good too, but I know for sure season 4 was AWESOME! Keep this show in the back of your mind and next summer when it comes back check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
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