I LOVE SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!! I have missed it. You may have been able to discern a creeping apathy towards American Idol over the past few months, what with the lack of posting and all. Some of that was due to busyness, yes, but some of it was also I didn’t feel like putting up with it when it was actually on. But I feel nothing but excitement for SYTYCD. Let’s hope it keeps up. There is one note of apprehension about this season, and that is that apparently Wade Robson is no longer doing the show (perhaps he’s doing a group number, but not being a judge?), and neither is Shane Sparks. That pretty much leaves Mia Michaels as the only choreographer who consistently wows me. But we’ll see.

Here’s a handy list I made watching tonight for why SYTYCD is better than AI. And this is just from the auditions:

• The audition section isn’t a joke. Yes, they have their share of terrible and funny dancers, but the humor is not as mean as on AI. The focus is always on the audition itself rather than backstage shenanigans/sob stories, which means you get a good sense of individual auditions rather than just a montage of clips separated by three or four longer numbers. And the ratio of good auditions to bad ones is much higher.
• Cat Deeley. She’s beautiful, she’s British, she’s genuine, and she knows how to host without hogging all the screen time. I swear, she was on-screen tonight for a total of about four minutes, in a two-hour time slot. Ryan is on-screen probably 1/3 of the show, taking time away from the people we’re supposed to be watching.
• The human interest stories aren’t played as much for sobs and feel more sincere. One auditioner tonight was visually impaired, and while she didn’t get through, the judges all struck a sincere note of gratitude for her attempt and inspiration while being honest that she didn’t have a chance in the competition.
• I’ve said it twice: sincerity. I believe the judges, especially Mia, when they say things, or when they’re moved to tears. I do not believe Randy, Paula, and Simon anymore. They aren’t sincere anymore.
• Relatedly, the judges care about this, and they’re having fun with it, too. Especially this year, the AI judges don’t seem to be having fun anymore. If you look back at earlier AI seasons, even Simon seemed to be enjoying many of the auditions, good and bad. Now he’s just bored and frustrated most of the time. I love Simon, I really do, but something’s gone wrong…maybe just time for a judge switch or something. (Interestingly, he seems to have far more fun on the British version, The X-Factor, than he does on AI.)
• The judges are critical without being mean. Most of the time. They can be mean, and were more so a couple of years ago, but generally they’re good at actually giving constructive criticism.
• Continuity with previous seasons. Of the auditioners featured tonight, five of them had auditioned previous years, and I remembered all but one of them. And the judges brought up the criticisms and encouragements they’d made in previous years and noted how the dancer had improved or not in those areas. These repeat auditioners (with notable exceptions) are serious about improving their dancing to get on the show, which says a lot both about them and about the show - it’s seen as a place to test yourself, to try new things and learn to become a better dancer rather than as only a showcase for your existing talent. This year American Idol tried to emphasize the singers’ growth and treat it as an avenue to better performing, but it’s not that (Australian Idol is to a greater degree, just sayin’).
• Continuity with previous seasons, part 2. Not only are the auditioners repeats, but former contestants show back up. Travis Wall, runner-up in Season Two, was running the choreography segments tonight. Last year’s b-boys Dominic and Hok were in attendance, checking out the auditions from the side boxes. Last year, Season Two winner Benji choreographed one of the best routines of the season, and Season Three contestant Lauren had worked as an assistant on the show earlier. Where American Idol relies on outside celebrity talent as guest coaches and performers, So You Think You Can Dance relies on internal talent and thus is much more meaningful to repeat viewers. It has to, to some degree, because dance is a less celebrity-driven profession than singing, but it makes the show feel much more homey and familiar.

Is it next week yet?

Is it just me, or were they REALLY pushing Archuleta for the win? I pretty much picked Cook over Archuleta every round, and then Simon did the opposite. Not that the judges and I usually agree, it just seemed like both Simon and Randy were giving Archuleta more praise than he deserved. His first song was not flawless, and the songwriters’ song he chose was not better.

So here’s the question. Are they pushing Archuleta for the win because they really think he’s better? Because he’s more marketable? Because they secretly want Cook to come in second because he’ll have more creative freedom without Idol’s contract? Because they secretly want Cook to win and they’re using reverse psychology hoping to motivate Cook’s voters? I’m totally overthinking this aren’t I?

And then the question for me, and how/whether I vote. I want Cook to win because I think he’s ten times better than Archuleta. On the other hand, I don’t want him to win because I don’t want him to make Idol’s record, I want him to make HIS record. Maybe I’ll just let it alone and save my cell phone bill. :)

In unrelated life news, I’m all moved out of Waco and am back in St. Louis for a couple of weeks before I drive out to LA and find an apartment. And a job. Hopefully will have leads on that before I go out there. So that’s what’s going on, for those of you wondering.

Random Thoughts.

1) I’m getting a little annoyed that pretty much all the themes are a person rather than a genre. Okay, so each person sort of represents a genre (Mariah Carey = pop, Dolly Parton = country, Beatles = classic rock, Andrew Lloyd Webber = Broadway, Neil Diamond = rock), but limiting it to that person’s songs is so…limiting. How are the contestants supposed to pick a song that fits them when nothing in the person’s catalog, you know, fits them? It seems to become little more than an exercise in promoting not the contestants but the celebrity performers/songwriters. Plus, I’m sorry, but it gets really boring to watch at times. I’ve been clamoring for a Broadway/showtunes night for two years now, and I only get Webber? Nothing against him, he’s got some great shows, but it’s such a teeny slice of Broadway - what about some Larson (RENT), some Kander & Ebb (Cabaret), some Bernstein (West Side Story), some Miss Saigon or Les Mis, some Wicked or for goodness sake, some SONDHEIM? (Sondheim might be hard to do in 90 seconds, but I’m sure something could be figured out.) The other themes, of course, have similar issues, I just know more about Broadway.

2) The results shows are just getting insanely packed with stupid filler. There is no earthly reason for it to have an hour-long slot instead of a half-hour. The calls from viewers? Stupid. Guest singers with no relation to the show? Stupid. Thank God for DVRs. On the opposite side, how rushed was that performance show? Geez. I’m surprised Ryan didn’t make them all sing in double-time. And Paula had notes from rehearsal, clearly, and got flustered. Let’s not make it more than it is.

3) Okay, performances. Jason’s back to pleasant but not outstanding for me. Ready for him to go not because I dislike him, but because he’s clearly out of his league at this point. Syesha is stepping it up for me a LOT lately. She’s got the most Idol-ready voice at this point, and though she’s still not the person whose record I would buy, I’ve got to admit that she’s probably the strongest vocalist, and has been for a while, even though I tend to ignore her because of my love for David C. and Brooke. David C., incredible, incredible, incredible. I’d buy his record NOW. Brooke, seriously bad choice on the first song, and didn’t even get a good key for herself. Much better on the second - that’s her niche, and I love her in that mode. David A., good vocals, but yeah, I’m sort of bored by him now.

4) Results. I’m not really surprised. I take that back, I’m surprised that Jason is still sailing through. But once he was on the couch, I wasn’t surprised. Brooke’s first song was REALLY rough, and I knew she wouldn’t win anyway. She’s great at what she does, but what she does is not really Idol’s thing. I’m glad she was around as long as she was, and I’m sure she’ll be fine, singing songs that fit her much better than what Idol’s been throwing her lately.

5) Hopefully Jason will go next week. After that, it’s a toss-up. Will it be David C., the most clearly talented singer/musician with the best chance of actually making a hit record, but whose demographic doesn’t traditionally jive with Idol completely? Remember Daughtry went home in fourth place. Will it be Syesha, who’s peaking at just the right time and would be a near-perfect fit for Idol’s niche, but who hasn’t seemed to gather the fanbase she might need to bring it home? Will it be David A., who has the teen girl vote locked up tight, but is starting to bore a lot of the rest of us? Who can say?

Oh, joy, an entire night of singing Mariah Carey songs. *eyeroll* And most of the singers aren’t really Mariah-style singers - which I think actually turned out well. It meant they had to come up with their own takes on the songs because they didn’t have a chance of singing her version.

David Archuleta - "When You Believe"
Good song choice for David, and he brought it home. Whatever I may think of Mariah (and to be honest, I don’t think about her at all, really), her suggestion to go into the falsetto on that one part was dead on. A bit too many vocal acrobatics at the end, but it is Mariah night. Someone had to do it.

Carly Smithson - "Without You"
I quite liked the low-pitched portion of this, but I always feel like she tries too hard on the high parts. Her low range is really strong and powerful but she’s not as good in the high range as she (or the judges, apparently) think she is. And I think Simon’s comment about her overthinking is exactly right, and I think it’s part of what I sense as a lack of authenticity. It’s like she’s always just performing and never really letting herself go to the music.

Syesha Merado - "Vanishing"
Technically solid as usual, but I just can’t bring myself to care very much. It’s really nothing about her, though, I don’t think. She’s just sort of on the bland side in terms of arrangement and originality.

Brooke White - "Hero"
I was really worried for Brooke having to sing Mariah Carey, which is completely outside her zone. And it wasn’t perfect; she did get a little nervous toward the end, I think, but got it under control. Overall, she remains one of my favorites, and I thought doing the acoustic take was a gutsy move which worked much better for her than any of her options would have.

Kristy Lee Cook - "Forever"
She’s getting stonger every week, which is nice to see. Really good job on the ending especially; I found my attention drifting before that. She doesn’t, I don’t think, have the chops to compete with the top three or four here, but it’s been good to see her improving.

David Cook - "Always Be My Baby"
Holy mackeral, that was incredible! Seriously, I think it’s time a rocker won the title. He’s original, he’s smart, he knows who he is and what he does best, and he capitalizes on it just about every single week. Best performance of the night by a country mile (which is appreciably longer than a city mile, dontcha know). I felt like I wasn’t watching a competition anymore, I was watching a concert.

Jason Castro - "I Don’t Wanna Cry"
Jason’s no longer one of my must-save favorites (that title now being reserved for Brooke and David C), but I do still like him, and I thought this performance was quite good. He kept it where he could handle it and handled it well. He seems to be getting more comfortable every week, too.

Best Tonight: David Cook, David Cook, and David Cook. And David Archuleta. The others were all good but not great for me.
Bottom Three: Syesha, Kristy, and…don’t know.

We can discuss the results in the comments after tonight’s show.

And the liveblog’s back. [Feedreader/Facebook/Livejournal readers click through to see embedded liveblog].

We got back from spring break last night, but I just got around to watching last week’s American Idol tonight. And let me just say, I’ve been clammering for a Beatles-themed night for the past two years (i.e., all the years I’ve been watching), and I WAS NOT WRONG. I didn’t love everyone’s performance, but by and large, the quality of the show was high. Did anyone else think it was interesting that they refused to call it Beatles night, but instead called it Lennon-McCartney Songbook night? I mean, yes, that gave the contestants the option to choose songs they wrote for other bands, but who’s gonna do that? I bet it had something to do with the rights, again. Sheesh. They apparently already have the rights to George Harrison-penned songs, since Taylor did “Something” in Season Five, so I guess maybe they wanted to make a big deal about having the OTHER, MORE FAMOUS Beatles songs now? I dunno. It was strange. Relatedly, I wonder if they have the rights so that contestants can choose Beatles songs on other nights, or if it was just this one time?

Anyway, the performances. Brooke’s “Let It Be” was easily my favorite by a mile. I would absolutely go see her live right this very minute. She and Jason should team up and tour all the little intimate venues around. Using the piano? Genius. Keeping it simple? Genius. Infusing it with more sincerity than I thought Idol could ever manage? Genius. When I say Idol is better with instruments because it attracts better artists, that performance is EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Carly came a close second with her killer take on “Come Together,” which has always been a Beatles song that I respect but don’t really like that much; I don’t know that she made me like it better, but her performance definitely made me like her better. I’ve been feeling like the judges are over-promoting her for the past several weeks, but this time she deserved the praise, and I’m on the Carly train. And Chikezie did the best job of mixing up an arrangement and coming out with something very cool; it might’ve helped that I didn’t know the song very well, but I enjoyed his version. Jason, of course, with “If I Fell”. I actually liked him better this week than last, but I wish he had gone for more of the high notes instead of swallowing them…that style works for him, but I think it would work better if he didn’t do it all the time.

Amanda scared me to death when she seemed not to know the Beatles at all in her interview (and picked a song she didn’t know before?!), but she pulled out a performance that was both definitively her and recognizably the Beatles. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. And as far as Simon’s criticism that it wasn’t as good as last week, that’s definitely true, but last week she was incredible–so that’s not a particularly harsh critique. David Cook, I’m not sure what I thought. I think he did a fine job singing it, and I really like him (very glad he eschewed the guitar this week; he smartly knew it would be too much). I think I just disagreed with his interpretation; I don’t feel like “Eleanor Rigby” is that angry of a song, but his rendition was definitely angry.

Michael and Syesha were both adequate, but not outstanding; Ramiele has one of the purest, prettiest voices, but she has got to stop singing so boringly. I’ve defending her for a few weeks when the judges have called her boring, but at this point she really does need to step it up. David Archuleta. Oh, David, David, David. I love you, and the judges love you, and we all love you, but you don’t know the Beatles? Really? And so you decide to cover a Stevie Wonder cover of a Beatles song? Not a great idea, even if you can remember all the lyrics. And “We Can Work It Out” is one of my absolute favorite Beatles songs, and I was so disappointed. Bring it back next week, David. Bring it back.

And the definite bottom two. Kristy, stop listening to the judges when their advice makes you do things that are crazy. Sticking to a country vibe does not mean taking a classic rock song and turning it into THAT. Whatever THAT was. I mean, in all fairness, “Eight Days a Week” is a great song and I could actually see putting a country twist on it, but you took it WAAAAAAY too far. Gutsy move, but ultimately dumb. On Australian Idol last year (sorry, tried to make it without a reference, but couldn’t), one of the judges, Dicko, said “You’ve got to stop being a contestant and start being an artist.” That’s exactly what Kristy needs to do. Saying “I turned this song into a country song because the judges said I needed to stick to county” is not being an artist, it’s being a contestant; it’s making choices based on what you THINK the judges want, which you THINK is what the country wants, which you THINK will make you win. That kind of decision-making doesn’t really work, because what the judges and the country really want is for you to become a self-confident artist who knows who she is and what she wants (and BTW, what you want is not to win American Idol; American Idol is, or should be, a means to the end of becoming a recording artist, not an end in itself), something you will never become if you spend all your energy trying to out-psychologize the judges.

And David Hernandez. Way to define “karaoke performance.” Thank you for that at any rate. I liked you before, man, but you lost me completely here, and apparently I’m not the only one. Well done, America, for getting at least two of the bottom three spot on. I wouldn’t have put Syesha in the bottom personally; my guess is her forgettably mediocre performance coupled with her going first put here there.

At first I was thrown off by having all the bottom three sing their songs again on the elimination show (and I’m still not completely sure it’s not just waste-of-time filler), but at least it did make it so that they didn’t have to sing AFTER being eliminated. It’s really hard to sing when you’re completely crushed, and I usually just feel bad for them. And KAT! Kat Kat Kat! Yep, I still love her to death. In fact, she almost sounded better than she did two years ago; partially due to her over-straining her voice so badly near the end of her season, though. Anyway, she’s working on a new album apparently, and my fingers are crossed that it won’t be quite so hip-hop/dance-centric and overproduced as the first one. Please? For me?

You know the worst thing about watching American Idol live? I have to tune to Fox a few minutes before seven, and Two and a Half Men reruns are on, and it sucks. Why can’t they have, say, Arrested Development reruns, or Family Guy reruns, or something good reruns? No. Two and a Half Men.

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[Feedreader/Facebook/Livejournal readers click through for embedded liveblog. At or after seven, that is.]