Failure/Success of the new format

[mbcrowder]

OK, now that we're several weeks in, what do guys think of the format? I know several didn't like it before seeing it, but opinions change...

I think I REALLY like parts of this format. I like that the dancers are more easily judged by the public because they dance without another contestant. Too often in the past we've seen a weak partner spell doom for multiple contestants before the judges realize it was the weak partner causing the problem.

I love seeing our old favorites dance again. And to see their improvement since they were contestants. Courtney, Lauren, Kathryn, Mark - all sensational.

One thing I DON'T like - severely - is that the format has caused this ridiculous 6 guy to 2 girl inequity. Now they dance together, so we will have 2 guy-guy pairings ... not fair to any of those 4 dancers. I also don't like that we were down to 11 at the beginning, only able to see 1 week of dancing before making important decisions. WAY too fast to know how good they are.

Proposal: Next year ... keep the all-star partner format (mixing in more stars if possible). But after Vegas, it's 10 guys and 10 girls. Each week, we vote off 1 of each. Keep it equal at LEAST to the top 6 if not the top 4 - and THEN vote off individuals. This gives us a far better chance at really having 10 solid performers in the top 10. The Melinda's of the world go home early in favor of what could easily have been more likable dancers that didn't make this show at all.

Thoughts?

[jsciv]

I don't think it's unfair to the guys to have guy-guy pairings. The guys are in general stronger dancers this year and (as we've seen with memorable numbers from this year's Alex/Twitch number not to mention Travis/Benji, cool number and Neil/Danny's duel of princes) guy routines can be very powerful. It's a challenge to the choreographers and we're certainly not going to get ballroom, but I don't see guy-guy or girl-girl pairings as that big a problem.

It's obvious that the producers are trying to wrap their heads around the best way to do this format: Nigel's changes for next week are a clear indication that they know SOMETHING isn't quite right in the mix, but we know that Nigel and the judges have been VERY happy with the performances the all-star format has allowed, so I don't think it's going away.

[fan*addict]

I enjoy the new format, but agree that there needs to be some "tweeking", we shall see how it works with this weeks performances..

[Harmony2000]

I'm enjoying the new format enough to be willing to give them the time/chance to work out the kinks/bugs. It prevents assumed romances from dominating the voting and catapulting mediocre dancers into the finals on the heels of dancers who are much better and partnered with them. We've seen that season after season and this format prevents that, plus, I like the idea of both the choreographers and the dancers being challenged with having to do same sex routines.

Also, I've discovered some things about the all-stars I didn't know:

Allison - she's the shining star this season and I finally see what everybody was raving about her.
Ade - he can dance! In his season I thought all he was good for was being Melissa's forklift.
Lauren and Courtney - have matured into beautiful women who can not only dance but have this ability to inhabit the routines and make them come to life.

In my mind the all-stars addition is a complete win and now they just have to tweak it to improve the contestant side of it.

[JavaJo]

Proposal: Next year ... keep the all-star partner format (mixing in more stars if possible). But after Vegas, it's 10 guys and 10 girls. Each week, we vote off 1 of each. Keep it equal at LEAST to the top 6 if not the top 4 - and THEN vote off individuals. This gives us a far better chance at really having 10 solid performers in the top 10. The Melinda's of the world go home early in favor of what could easily have been more likable dancers that didn't make this show at all.

Thoughts?

Problem with that is the show would have to be on three days a week instead of two to fit in all the dances. Not really a problem for me...I could watch this show 7 days a week

I enjoy seeing the all stars, but I also liked the old format. Now if they had done what they are doing next week from the get go, I think I'd enjoy it more.

[RealityLovesMe]

I like that the new guys are featured. I think this show favors the men and the audience love the male all-stars better than the women BUT they also favor the male contestants so they vote off the women and we see less and less of the male all-stars.
Also, the judges have made a lot of mistakes with the eliminations this season. They always do! But with just one dancer going home each week, it makes these mistakes seem bigger than ever. Also, 2 girls against 6 guys is a mess!

[Florimel]

I like the idea of same sex dances in SYTYCD. The show has always had them in the finals and they have always been a part of almost every genre of dance -- ballet, jazz, broadway, folk/cultural, contemporary. I completely agree with Nigel that they do not belong in ballroom, but I can't think of another genre where they wouldn't work.

[Katydyd]

I'm really enjoying the all stars format. I'm agreed it needs a few tweaks here and there...I'd like a bigger slate of newbies to begin with, but with time constraints it makes it difficult. Also, I'd have hated to lose one of the guys simply because it was time for a guy to go. And, while I see how the same sex pairings can logistically work, I don't necessarily like how it's so unbalanced. I hope it doesn't mean a whole bunch of same sex dance numbers. Of course, if they're all like Alex and Twitch, then bring it on!!! They were amazing!!!! I really like that they're able to revisit some of the old routines though, and I'm looking forward to seeing the next all star couple dance

[Annika]

For the most part I am finding the new format to be enjoyable. I do wish they had started with a top 12 or top 15 instead of just a top 10 (well, they expanded it to 11).

I also wish there was a bit more time to get to know the dancers before going into elimination rounds. The *one* episode to showcase the dancers is just not enough time, and frankly, when the girls get put into an all-girl routine as their "showcase" it has almost _always_ been a disappointment. Girl-girl dancing too often is fluffy nothings (think: mama fox and baby fox - what the ???) or do a bad job of trying to show girl-tuffness and fails. Please, please, please, no more dance routines with 3 girls in tutus or spring-dresses-with-ruffles and parasols. Ugh! Unfortunately, since this still tries to be PG-rated family show, truly edgy stuff with two women (think sexual chemistry or lesbian love) isn't going to be put into the choreography.

Love seeing the Allstars - but I wish the palate was bigger - I want to see Dimitri dance again, Benji, and others, though no doubt it is partly an issue of the Allstars making themselves available for the long summer season and they may be working on other projects.

[Fierce Critter]

I like it and dislike it for pretty much already mentioned reasons. Most strongly:

1) Dislike the almost inevitable future of no more females in the top 5 at the end. The demographics of those watching this show just about guarantees that. Sabra was an awesome, deserving winner. With this format, she'd be doomed.

2) I don't like not being able to see the dancers grow. Yes, Melinda was about doomed from the start. But I really didn't care for Cristina or Alexie, either. Maybe they would have grown on me if they had been able to stick around and improve.

3) Initially, having half of the partnership be an all-star forced me to try to focus on HALF the dance - the contestant. This made the dances seem disinteresting. I have since re-trained myself to look at BOTH dancers, but I wonder how many viewers are still focusing on HALF the dance - whether that be the contestant or a more eye-catching all-star - and are not able to enjoy the dances on the whole?

4) With the girls dropping this fast, I would like to see them do something to balance out the elimination show-opening group dance. Like let female all-stars join and balance out the ranks or something. The group numbers have always been a favorite part of this show for me, and I can see them getting less interesting if heavily weighted with all guys or all girls (as if the latter would EVER happen with this current format)

I like the idea of having 10 girls, 10 guys, one each eliminated each week. But I agree - no way they can fit that many dances in each week unless they go to 3 days. OR, if they go back to something similar to season one, with a twist - that would be to have two performance shows each week, then on the NEXT week, at the BEGINNING of the performance show, cut all the dramatic crap and just do the elimination in the first 10 minutes. Of course the eliminated contestant would have already readied a performance for that week, but c'est la vie - maybe just let their parting bit be performing that number instead of a recap of their time on the season.