5 Thoughts For Monday, April 28th.

• I passed a discarded bunch of 3 long stemmed pink roses this morning. Wilted, and still in their acetate wrapper and ribbon. Jilted lover? Apology gone bad? Apology never made? Break-up? What do you think?
  
• Mmmmmm, coffee this morning was (again) followed by mmmmmm, cute redhead. I'm glad he's still around, because I hadn't seen him buying his morning coffee for a while.
  
• Like, OMG, the grand finale of "So You Think You Can Dance" was so excellent last night. My two favourite boys were in the final duo, so I was happy that either of them won. Yay Jack!
  
• And while I'm still like all OMG and everything, the opening sequence was brilliant! Not only did it include all of the top 20 (so they think they can) dancers, but all of the judges and the key choreographers from the season too. Cute idea, and fun to see the judges busting some moves.
  
• We had a huge turnout for knitting at the pub yesterday, including a bunch of newbies. At one point I had a somewhat bizarre conversation with an American guy that came up to chat to us. First off, "Are you guys knitting because you've given up smoking or something?" Um, no. Because a) we like doing it, b) it's kind of meditative and relaxing and c) because you can make cool stuff. Then he turned his gaze on me and started talking about guys knitting, and shared the gem that in the past when he has "read guys' profiles" and they stated that they liked knitting he had been all "um, okay" (the 'you weirdo' was implied). Then he went on to say he thought it was cool. Um, okay. Thanks. (My 'you weirdo' was implied.)

Transformation

Well, well. It didn't take me long to start to form my short list of favourite dancers on So You Think You Can Dance: Australia. Inevitably, hot on the heels of the list based on perfomance and skill, comes the Hot List. An informal ranking of the boys from hottest to nottest. I know it's shallow, it's just what I do.

Anyhoo, Henry wasn't real high on my list. I mean, he seems really sweet, he's hellaciously talented, he works well with Vanessa, etc, but the long hair and scruffy chin fluff... not working.



Sunday night, I nearly fell to my knees. Thank you Jebus!



See! Ok, I would have been happy for the chest hair to stay but I have to say this new look is like a 1000% improvement. And the African inspired Samba routine? AMAZING. Vanessa has been kind of meh for me so far, but she was frickin' incredible on Sunday night. That 'death drop' lift at the end, the one where her face ends up centimetres above the dancefloor, scary and thrilling.



I'm kind of hoping Rhys wins though, because I love his amazing dance skill (really, this boy can dance anything), his campness, his joy, his quick wit, his ease with himself, and the fantastic relationship he has with his family. To see the close bond he has with his very blokey Dad is really refreshing.



You go, girl.

SYTYCD:Australia - Episode The Second

My previous post about So You Think You Can Dance: Australia seems to have divided us into two camps. Me in the Pro Camp (so to speak) and Everyone Else in the Eh, Not So Thrilled Camp. Ok, fine.

Just you wait peoples, the magic will happen.

So, my thoughts about last night's auditions episode 2:

• This is kind of odd programming. I mean, yes I'm glad they appear to be charging through the auditions episodes quickly (because: not my favourite bits), but it premiered on Sunday, then was on again last night, but not on tonight and back on again on Wednesday? WTF? I like structure people! Weekly or daily, pick one.
  
• Again with the hats Matt Lee.
  
• Sob stories. Oh my gawd, the sob stories! Don't get me wrong, I feel for people who have been through hardships, but auditions/job interviews/first dates are NOT the place for them. Maybe that's harsh, but stand up there and be judged on your merits.
  
• I don't think the producers feel that way though. They obviously primed the judges with information about the contestants who had special needs or sad stories to tell, while it seemed like the judges knew little or nothing about everyone else. Maybe I'm wrong, but they started signing to the deaf contestant as soon as she started walking on stage, and they pushed a couple of the contestants who had sad stories to 'tell them about their backgrounds'. Going for the tears.
  
• Perhaps it was editing, but I'd rather they concentrate more on the dancing and then let us get to know them afterwards. I think that also serves those contestants who get through (as a good number of them did) better, by having everyone be on an equal footing without it seeming like a pity party.
  
• I was bit unsure about Natalie Bassingthwaite as host, but I've warmed to her. She was really sweet and encouraging to some of the dancers that were upset that they didn't get through.
  
• Yowza, there are some cute boys! Pray they make it to the final 20.
  

Shouldn't That Have A Question Mark On The End?

So, episode 1 of So You Think You Can Dance: Australia.

My fellow Australians - Verdicts? Opinions? Love/Hate? Couldn't Care Less?

Here's mine:

• Wow, they just used the exact same opening sequence and program idents as the US version. I guess cut & paste is cheaper, right?
  
• The audition episodes are always my least favourite bits. Having said that, last night wasn't really an exception, although it wasn't too bad and I did find myself getting a little misty a couple of times.
  
• Ok, shut up. Seeing people really, really happy always makes me tear up.
  
• On the upside; the dance standards look fairly high, and it bodes well for the other cities given that they've only done Perth and Brisbane auditions so far.
  
• On the downside; 'dance is my life', 'I've lived through such hardship', 'I have way more confidence in myself than my skill would deem reasonable' cliches were in full force.
  
• Is it just me, or did some of the hard luck stories seem to get an easier ride through?
  
• Judge Matt Lee, what's with all the hats pumpkin? Unless I missed it flash by in the promos, it looks to me like you've got some sort of hat on in every future episode...

*cough*prematurebaldness?*cough*