SYTYCD Episode 15: IV REAL?

Squiggly light worms squirm as the 12 remaining dancers perform a great routine choreographed by Napoleon & Tabitha. Cat, beautiful and feminine as always, introduces our first couples.
No surprise in our first two couples, Thayne and Comfort are part of that 50% that is going to be in danger, Katee and Joshua are safe. Cat asks Mia her opinion on the Thaynefort predicament and Mia seems to spill the beans as she says that it is sad that at least one of them is going to be sad. When Jessica and Will are bottom-threed (over Mark and Chelsie—not a big surprise), Mary also gives us the preview: Will’s mentor, Debbie Allen is in the audience. He’s not going to be voted off! For the last couple: it is T & K, so I missed one! Even though there was a 50-50 chance of any couple being in the bottom, there is a certain vote manipulation by the producers in the final choice (read the fine print if you don’t believe me). Showcasing Twitchington’s solos actually makes sense at this stage.
For the break before the solos we get Alvin Ailey Dancers—a lot better than Robert Muraine! Thanks Nigel!
The solos seem to be almost irrelevant, as the results may have been previously announced. The solos do show that the “contemporary” style is rather ubiquitous and generic nowadays. Either by the…

(I wasn’t paying attention to the singing number during the break for the jidges decision until I hear the lyrics “I kissed a girl, I liked it” sung by this all legged/short skirted young girl! What’s going on with this show? I found the Pussy Cat Girls singing “When I Grow Up” very inappropriate for a show that has a very young following. And after last night’s Garden of Eden I was feeling kind of uncomfortable with the “amorality” —lack of moral standards, not meaning “immorality”—of the show. This song choice tonight kind of tops it for me. I’m not a prude but there are a million better choices that could’ve been made that would’ve offered so much better role models for the young crowd that sees this show! I understand this is a business as any other, but why not be socially responsible also? Is SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY completely foreign to Fox?)

Okay, back to the results…

As I was saying, either by the audition process or because of the general pool of dance instruction out there, “contemporary” seems to be a catch-all that throws in a lot of tricks, and glosses over a lot of technique. Of the top 20, 13 defined their style as contemporary or contemporary/other. The next category was Hip-hop with only 3 self defined dancers in this category. Clearly either contemporary is a vague category or it is taking over.
However… I am sad to see such a great “contemporary” dancer as Thayne leaving. As seen in his solo he has the technique, strength and training, but given the mix of styles required and the way the show is structured he did have to leave. I am not so sorry to see Comfort go, because despite the fact that she is a great hip-hop dancer, she has really shown zero growth, doing poorly outside her style, and always the same in her own style. Jessica has shown growth and versatility, and for that she deserved to stay, despite my prediction of last night.

P.S. About the IV Real Shirts, I have not found out exactly what they meant (I know, of course, that it means For Real). Someone suggested to me that it has something to do with Season 4, but that’s all I’ve found out so far….