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Reality Twists and Turns
So You Think You Can Dance - Sabra and Danny by Kelsey McNeal/Fox
As Cat Deeley herself might say, "Well done, you." And by "you," I mean America, in making exactly the right call in the final So You Think You Can Dance voting and putting Danny and Sabra in the final two. My own speed-dialing Wednesday night went to Danny, a truly awesome dancer, but I’m at peace with Sabra winning the ultimate prize. The show was overdue a female winner, and Sabra's raw, exuberant talent (not to mention her total lack of attitude) was a marvel to behold throughout the competition.
As for Thursday's final show, props to giving Lauren and Pasha (the two evicted in Monday's pretaped show) a chance to get their well-deserved public ovation. For the most part, I had a ball watching the two-hour finale, which felt like a greatest-hits replay of the best dances of the season and a tempting promo for the national Dance tour (which I'm giving serious thought to attending, and I wouldn't get within miles of an American Idol concert).
Very cool, by the way, to give the spotlight to two of the most distinctive dancers not to make it to the actual competition: clogger extraordinaire Brandon Norris (but did Cat really need to confess she'd sniffed his shoes? Gross!) and especially Brian Gaynor, the diminutive guy with the big heart whose scoliosis hasn't inhibited him from putting together one knockout routine that has won him the undying admiration of Shane Sparks and everyone else who's seen him.
The dance reprises were well chosen and mostly well executed (although with less at stake, some of the dancing wasn't as sharp as during the competition weeks). They made for a brisk two hours.
But, as you'd expect in a Fox reality finale, padding was inevitable. Which meant a Pussycat Dolls number that gave me plenty of time to load the dishwasher, a grating plug for Fox's American Band reality contest (an American Idol for bands, which is wisely being relegated to Fridays in the late fall), and a ridiculous (not in the good sense) Internet cartoon of Cat and Nigel Lythgoe "dancing" that Cat teased throughout the episode while wearing her bizarre tutu getup.
They probably could have cut a montage or two, or the live performance of the "I’ll Remember You" number, to give us more time to savor Sabra's victory and to give runner-up Danny a chance to bask in his own glory. Barely had Cat read Sabra's name than the credits began rolling as the confetti fell. With the group hug and all of the other end-of-show chaos, we barely got to see Sabra again until they lifted her high as the show abruptly ended.
Not a perfect score, maybe, but still, the show was grandly entertaining. As was the entire series.
Elsewhere on the reality rialto:
On Thursday night the Big Brother house chose to keep Dick, the most obnoxious player ever, over Dustin, the latest player to be brought down by foolish hubris. All together now: ick!
The smart move when Dick won Power of Veto immunity and gave it to his daughter Daniele would have been for Jessica and her crew to put up one of Dick's few allies: Jen maybe, or certainly the space-filler Zach. Regardless, the fact that anyone besides Daniele would choose to keep this loathsome creep around after a week of listening to him spew his homophobic and religion-baiting bile is beyond contempt. Strategy, schmategy. Some things go beyond the bounds of mere game-playing. But then, anyone watching Big Brother and expecting to see even a shred of anything resembling human dignity is on a fool's errand. With Daniele the new HOH (say it aloud and it's even funnier), Dick is guaranteed to still be on the show for the next two weeks. Which means I'll only be reading recaps for a while.
Finally, the issue of Top Chef's first (I'm told) do-over. This season's "restaurant wars" turned out to be a bit of a bust Wednesday night, and because there was no real winner, they're giving both teams a second chance and won't eliminate anyone until next week. Cop out! While one of the problems with this show is that we can't really know just how bad some of the food really is, could Tre's overly smoked potatoes and Brian's front-of-house meltdown really have been such huge factors that their "April" team couldn't be declared the lesser of the two evils? It felt to me like the producers are too desperately trying to keep the odious Howie in the game; he was the clear loser this week, unable to deliver an edible risotto (a restaurant staple) for a team that blew it by putting odorous vanilla candles on every table and providing a "Garage" menu way too heavy for the Florida clime.
I'm a little peeved but not all that upset, because anything that extends the Top Chef season for a week or more is OK by me. Watching it is one of my least guilty of this summer's guilty pleasures.
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Aug 17, 2007 12:36 PM
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I watched Big Brother, so I record SYTYCD and got to fast forward through most of the parts (I didn't not watch the Pussycat dolls lead singer, the highlights of the season, the AI Band thing or any commercials and so was able to watch Burn Notice in its entire form and the Daily Show started right on time). I felt bad Danny didn't get the send off he deserved, but then I am glad at who won, my thinking being that Danny, Neil and Lacey have dance and performance careers clearly in front of them (so less dancer poverty likely for them), whereas Sabra might have been back on the audition route (really good dancer, but maybe too sweet for show business). She still might be, but she will have the comfort of the money.
I am (and I feel like I am alone) a Eric and Jessica fan of BB8, so I see the strategy point of last night eviction. I am just annoyed it means that in all likelihood, they have to rely on Zach in helping them get rid of D&D later on and so he might get a free ride to the top three.
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Aug 17, 2007 2:12 PM
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It felt to me like the producers are too desperately trying to keep the odious Howie in the game; he was the clear loser this week,
Not another Howie basher! The guy can cook!
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Aug 17, 2007 4:10 PM
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I, too, was surprised at the soft-opening do-over in Restaurant Wars. It does mimic real life, though. I wouldn't mind if Top Chef extends by a week, but I suspect we'll have a double-elimination somewhere down the line.
Not another Howie basher! The guy can cook! Yeah. Bad risotto.
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Aug 18, 2007 10:32 AM
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I rarely disagree with Matt, only on very few things(like your sudden love for Heroes, when I still think its not the great show everyone think it is) but Big Brother is great. It's just fun, horrible TV. I don't watch it for anything educational, I wish it for these people to behave horribly.
And Daniele winning HoH isn't that funny, since she is probably the best comp player in the house. She's won two vetos, and two HoHs. Nothing funny about it...
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Aug 18, 2007 2:20 PM
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Hmm I voted for Sabra this entire season with Danny as her second so I am right again just like with AI. I loved other singers more but I knew if was gonna be Jordin who won.
Big Brother is giving me a hard time right now. I love the show but I got a bit pissed off from the forums so I had to force myself to just get the occasional email and watch the show. I was finding out too much from the feed and the chats that it was destroying the show for me. I still love Eric and I am wishing him luck and much success in this dangerous game that America is have him play.
Top Chef is the best show on tv and there is no way Tre's potatoes caused that much of a disaster. I was upset with the do over but I too like the idea of an extended season but I think there will be a double elimination. I love Howie but he may be one of the chosen. I would not mind seeing Hung out of here. Any hoo I can not wait for the next episode and for them to screw up their do over.
Karma
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Aug 18, 2007 2:54 PM
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So Matt, When you don't like what people have to say, do you delete the comment yourself, or pass it off to one of you unfortunate employees?
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Aug 19, 2007 1:28 PM
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i wonder how long howie and his attitude would last on hells kitchen????
i am thinking that wednesday will be a double elimination...
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Aug 20, 2007 8:34 AM
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Not another Howie basher! The guy can cook!
Yeah. Bad risotto.
And a lot of pork (while being a sexist pig himself.)
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Aug 20, 2007 10:19 AM
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I was extremely happy that Sabra won SYTYCD. I was honestly on the fence between her and Danny, but I was glad that Danny was at least recognized as runner-up.
I guess I disagree with your Big Brother thoughts, however. You must be a fan of the Late Night Crew. I don't understand that. Not only is Jameka a sanctimonious hypocrite, but Dustin was a pompous megalomaniac. It was incredible to watch his power-hungry self get kicked out last Thursday. And Amber?! Matt, have you seen her anti-semitic rant online? Plus, I love how whenever Amber "cries", there's never any tears... The only one I can even stand in that alliance is Jessica.
Daniele as HOH is funny? Dani is the biggest competitor in that house! Jen also has a good track record, but other than that...no one has stepped up as a major threat in challenges but those two.
Dick on the show is the best thing CBS could ask for. He's so polarizing that either you love him or hate him! I guess for now, America can agree to disagree.
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Aug 20, 2007 12:16 PM
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I love Top Chef because it seems to lack some of the "rigging" that most reality shows have; that is, allowing friction-causing characters to stay on to create drama.
With the do-over I am no longer sure. Howie was definitely the loser that week, they just didn't have the balls to send him home.
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Aug 20, 2007 1:32 PM
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Call me crazy, but I really enjoy Evil Dick on BB8 and was going to stop watching had he been evicted. The reason he acted the way he did last week was in order to guarantee Daniele's safety. He figured if everybody hated him so much they would evict him over his daughter. Once he won the POV, he totally changed, behaved and somehow saved himself over the whiny and overconfident Dustin. I know I am not alone in my feelings as if you get the BB8 web site on CBS, Evil Dick is by far the most popular player. Also, how about America's choice to be evicted completely changing the game. Great twist this season and go ED.
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Aug 20, 2007 1:50 PM
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I am very happy with the results of the show. Sabra has been my personal favorite for the last 7-8 weeks.
I, too, watched the show on TiVo, so I could skip past the PCD and Nigel and Cat's "dance". I wish the producers had left out those two items so there would have been more time at the end to properly congratulate Sabra and to give Danny his due. I didn't like to have to look thru the credits to see what was happening on stage.
That said, I already have my tickets for the tour and am really looking forward to it. We have a group of 47 all going together. Can't wait!
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Aug 20, 2007 5:01 PM
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I think Matt said that Danielle being the new HOH is funny when said out loud because HOH would be pronounced like "ho", and Danielle is kind of a ho.
So Matt, what do you think about that video on Youtube where Dustin calls his dog the n-word? Do you think he's racist or do you just think it's a joke that people are looking too much into?
I'm a fan of Jen and Zach, personally.
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Aug 20, 2007 6:51 PM
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Interesting how we can have differing opinions here! I almost stopped watching because ED did not get evicted. I think he is the most despicable person ever to be on BB. His behavior when he was "trying" to get people to hate him was extremely disturbing to me and very uncomfortable to watch (for me). I understand that some people actually like that kind of thing and enjoy watching it, but I do not.
That said, I did happen to enjoy Sunday's show which made me laugh in a number of places, especially on how truly stupid Amber is! It was fun to watch the show without developing a knot in my stomach from ED's demoralizing behavior of last week.
And we all know that no matter how good Danielle is at winning competitions, ED will always be calling the shots when she is in power so it's really him in charge.
I am just so sure that ED staying in the house will come back to bite everyone in the a@@.
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Aug 20, 2007 8:51 PM
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