As the number of dancers still in competition get whittled down, with us just down to four guys and four girls, the gap between all the dancers is clearly narrowing. I still feel that, in two weeks’ time when the one overall winner is announced, it’s far more likely to be one of the boys — but this week I did feel that the playing field was a lot more level than it has felt previously.
Apparently this week’s audience share for SYTYCD were, according to overnight figures, quite a bit down on previous weeks. I’m sure that will disappoint people at the BBC, who do like to ensure that BBC1 has a strong presence in live Saturday night viewing. However, as I discussed last month, the BBC’s remit means that ratings alone, especially overnight ones, shouldn’t be the only means by which the Corporation’s output should be assessed.
But back to the show, and as with previous weeks, the couples’ dances are available below. This week more than any other, though, I felt that the real highlights came from one or two of the solo dances and, in particular, the boys’ group dance — and to my disappointment, the BBC doesn’t put those highlights onto YouTube. However, the main show and the results show will be available for the rest of the week on the BBC website.
Dancing to Move from Dreamgirls, the first group dance came from the girls. Not a song I’m overly familiar with, and the opening verse has an odd beat structure which Stephen Mear’s choreography coped with well, as did the girls. At one point nearer the end, though, only Mandy and Lizzie were on the correct beat, with Yanet setting into a spin and leap a beat too early, Charlie similarly sticking out as she finished the move far too late.
On to the couple routines, and the first randomly drawn couple were Yanet and Robbie, who of course danced the first two live shows together, dancing a lindyhop. As we’ve seen whenever the dance has popped up on Strictly Come Dancing, it’s a very difficult dance to get right both technically and in a way that connects with the audience. Unfortunately, the choreography by Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas actively got in the way of either, with the staging as a ‘mad professor plus sexy secretary’ not contributing anything more than an occasional gasp of ‘WTF?’
Initially dancing solo, Yanet looked lost and all over the place, only gaining a better shape once Robbie joined her. And while their complex sequence of throws and spins provided some crowd-pleasing moments, they didn’t look either smooth or comfortable.
The first solo of the night was from Alastair, which the SYTYCD dancers have decided is this year’s “let’s pretend he’s coming from another profession”, a la Connie ‘telesales’ Fisher or Daniel ‘cement administrator’ Boys. He may have come from a farming family, but the guy is a professional ballet dancer. It’s disappointing whenever any show decides to downplay professional credentials — I’m fairly sure the contestants aren’t ashamed of their training backgrounds, so why try and fool the audience? Anyway it was a typically good ballet routine, showing as much as one can in 30 seconds.
Lizzie’s solo routine featured choreography that was more traditional street dance than last week’s character-filled piece. I didn’t feel it was as impressive, which was a shame, as she’s one of the show’s more charismatic girls.
The second couple to dance were Charlie and Drew, dancing a lyrical hip-hop routine choreographed by ZooNation’s Kate Prince. Two dancers who are both unfamiliar with the genre, but produced a charming performance. There was possibly an over-reliance on props, though: the love seat obscured some of Drew’s moves, while the story was a little too complex to be told in the allotted time. When it came to the performances, Charlie’s tendency to beam sweetly throughout fitted her character quite well, I thought - while Drew delighted again, in a performance that was comparable to his week 2 contemporary routine with Hayley.
Back to the solo routines, and Tommy’s disco hip-hop routine was excellent, a real improvement on last week’s rather lacklustre breakdance. Any dance based around Blame It On The Boogie is bound to be a crowd-pleaser, but the technical excellence of his routine made it one of the best solos of the night.
In contrast, Mandy’s choice of music (the love theme, Kissing You, from Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet) resulted in a balletic routine that was a much harder sell to the audience. For me, it was Mandy’s best solo yet. I think Mandy’s shaping up to be a much stronger competitor than I probably gave her credit for at the beginning of the live shows’ run.
Lizzie and Alastair had a contemporary routine devised by Rafael Bonachela, who choreographed Drew and Hayley’s phenomenal performance two weeks ago. And to be honest, this didn’t really live up to the promise of that routine, for all its lyrical beauty. A couple of lifts were a little too awkward, but far more were executed with grace and style. For two dancers who come from such different disciplines to work so well together is, for me, one of the reasons why I’m really enjoying this whole series.
The third set of solo routines produced another display of strength from Robbie. While it didn’t feel particularly different from last week, the man has such control that it’s a pleaure to watch. In contrast, while Yanet is a great Latin dancer, I think her routine this week demonstrates that she’s better when performing as part of a couple, as with last week’s Salsa with Tommy.
The final couple to dance, comprised last week’s dance-off survivors Mandy and Tommy, dancing a Broadway routine to There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This from Sweet Charity (a song that has a recent history elsewhere in the BBC). Its cod-Latin rhythms are, as Nigel Lythgoe intimated, reminiscent of Bernstein’s in West Side Story, and Bob Fosse’s original choreography attempted to outdo Jerome Robbins. The confidence this routine had was helped, no doubt, by its choreography by Stephen Mear, the choreographer for the Menier Chocolate Factory’s current revival. Both Mandy and Tommy really responded well to the work, producing a routine that was enthralling and charismatic throughout. Arlene felt they weren’t quite on it, but Tommy’s performance in particular, in a style he’s not as familiar with as the other boys in the competition, was for me a great demonstration of all-round ability.
Bringing up the rear in the solo dances, Drew had a bizarre routine to Blondie’s Call Me, danced with a gold telephone seemingly with a direct line to his crotch. That’s possibly a little too much on-the-nose interpretation of the song’s intent… His sequence of pirouettes was breathaking enough without needing such a gimmicky prop, to be honest — especially as he was able to maintain eye contact with the rapidly moving camera throughout.
Charlie, on the other hand, went for another routine that seemed to combine a sequence of moves designed to show her range, without necessarily interpreting the music she’s dancing to.
The final performance of the main show was the boys’ group number, the Dance of the Cygnets from Matthew Bourne’s version of Swan Lake. Intriguingly, especially since Nigel Lythgoe went out of his way to mention his association with Hayley’s father through the Young Generation, no mention was made to Bourne’s connection to both Drew (who has toured with Edward Scissorhands, among other Bourne works) or Alastair, who has performed professionally in Swan Lake. The dance world is a fairly small one, so connections like this are always going to crop up — by not acknowledging them on screen, I do worry that it may look as if the show’s trying to hide something it doesn’t need to.
As for the dance itself, it was a phenomenal display of group work. Everyone I’ve spoken to since has different opinions about whether one particular dancer stood out or not — after numerous rewatchings, I think all four did exceedingly well. And it demonstrates a further positive effect of this show — after that dance, a number of people on Twitter were already talking about booking tickets for the latest tour. While it may be the populist end of modern ballet, it’s getting people off the sofas and into the audience for professional dance shows.
The results show opened with a fun group number by Gareth Walker, but it was all about who would leave. Yanet and Charlie received the lowest scores from the girls, which I actually correctly predicted at the end of the first show - don’t worry, normal service will be resumed and my predictions will be as incorrect as ever imminently. When it comes to the boys, I think all four are so strong that it’s almost impossible to predict which two would be in danger. And, as quickly as my prediction ability arrived, it departed, as I suspected Alastair would go, only for him to be saved by the public vote. A hint, maybe, that dressing up your dogs is not an effective method to guarantee votes for your son, Mr and Mrs White…
Yanet leaving was no surprise, to be honest — although I suspect Charlie may well follow her out the door next week. I don’t envy the judges their choice out of the boys, though. They did make the right choice, though — Robbie is a better fit for the series and deserves to stay in. Which isn’t intended to take anything away from Drew. I just think that he has a promising career as a choreographer, and while his participation in So You Think You Can Dance will have raised his profile, I think the prestige of winning the series will sit better with one of his fellow competitors.
However, if the BBC recommissions SYTYCD for 2011, it’ll hopefully be for a longer run. And that will mean that more choreographers are needed — wouldn’t it be great to see Drew McOnie’s name on that list?
I did think the girls got a very uninteresting group dance compared to the boys whereas last week both lots were good.
The boys definitely have it for the show - I like all 4 of them whereas of the girls, no-one really stands out for me.
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