So You Think You Can Dance, Season 14: Academy Week 1

It’s Academy Week in So You Think You Can Dance and while it’s cool that they gave it a name and all, anyone miss calling it Vegas Week? Can I still call it Vegas week even though they’re aren’t in Vegas? Of course I can, this is my blog and I can do what I want.

 

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

 

Season 14

Academy Week 1

 

Anyway, Vegas Week opens with an awesome opening number. Maybe it was a tad bit over produced or maybe it was just trying to live up to this number and couldn’t, but I loved seeing different styles blend together. And while the show has some obvious stand-out favorites, that’s okay because some of them are my favorites too and I hope that means they make it to the live show.

Speaking of which, the format is sticking to the same format as it did with the kids, which I totally don’t like. I wish they would have a Top 20 so more dancers can make it. I don’t like the All-Stars being all catty or showboaty. Sometimes I can’t tell if they’re just acting for the sake of drama or if that’s how they really are. That being said, I love the addition of Jasmine to the fold. She brings a certain amount of humility to the whole thing. She’s basically what Alicia Keys is to The Voice(at least how she was her very first time on the show) while Allison, Robert, Fik-shun and Comfort are more like Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera. (I am in no way comparing Allison to Christina because Allison is awesome and basically she can do and say whatever she wants because she has the awesome dancing to back it up.)

Anyway, back to the format, I hate the teams, I hate there being only 10 contestants making it to the live shows. It’s not enough time to get to know them. I like seeing the dancers dance with other contestants before they move on to the All-Stars.

My favorites are pretty much all the dancers they showcased:  Logan Hernandez, Dassy (InYoung Lee), Lex Ishimoto (who I am surprised picked Gabby the tapper, but I’m glad because Allison already scooped up Logan so if Lex were on her team then she would only be able to pick one of these guys, hopefully that means both Logan and Lex will make it.) I’m rooting for those guys, hope they make it.

I am somewhat sad the contestants didn’t like Ryan. Sure he’s weird, but he had obvious technique, obvious training, and he was a contemporary dancer who did tutting. I mean, he was just doing what he felt, and what he loved in his own weird way. I felt like that should have been respected. I mean if someone can come on the show and practically dislocate their shoulder while dancing (also called “bone crushing”) then his weird dance style should also be respected.

Day 1 has come and gone and the dancers already picked some people for their team, but I’m confused and interested to see how things progress as things move on. Do the dancers that have been picked still get to dance the other styles? Do they still participate in the team dance where the contestants make up their own routine? I’m confused and intrigued.

Can we just get to the live shows already?