I've only seen the opening number so far, but it was really lovely. Is Travis the only choreographer who lets boys touch each other??

Is Travis the only choreographer who lets boys touch each other??

Not on last night's show.

Oh, good.

I would like this Ricky/Zach hiphop number more if they weren't wearing ridiculous low-crotch pants. Or if, y'know, it were different people. (I think I really like the choreo, just...not for these two)

I also feel like Zach and Jessica got a much better deal with the Broadway (which HAS been so much better this year in general, probably due to the prize) than Ricky and Valerie on the African jazz. Oy. I haven't really been a fan, but I liked Jessica quite a bit in the Bollywood and the Broadway numbers.

Hmm--think that "on the town" had something to do with the lack of hiphop folks in the top ten? I'm suspicious.

The lighting on this Katherine/Ricky number is awful. You can barely see him. Which might be an interesting concept if he was the all-star, but no.

I felt like Valerie was outshone by Aaron, while he and Zach weren't so unequal. Possibly that's choreo or guy vs girl but...

When I saw JTF was the guest judge, I was annoyed that it wasn't a dancer, but honestly, I think he's been great, and it's nice to laugh when they all get so fraught.

The lighting on this Katherine/Ricky number is awful. You can barely see him. Which might be an interesting concept if he was the all-star, but no.

Srs.

African jazz

Not a thing. Kill it with fire. Down with Sean Cheesman.

Well, I sometimes like Cheesman but never when he's trying to promote the nonsense that is African jazz.

Haven't seen last night's show yet but I am excited. I really like this F4!

I realized last night one of the things I like best about this season is how excited Ricky gets when he and his partner or the group really nail a piece. He is just so happy, and it seems like it rubs off on the others.

Well, I sometimes like Cheesman but never when he's trying to promote the nonsense that is African jazz.

Hah--I also find the costuming to be borderline offensive on many of the "African jazz" pieces. I mean...

But not in the Bollywood?

I don't have a problem with the costuming for the Bollywood pieces. I am not Indian, however, and so I don't know how true to form those costumes are. But in general, when one is doing traditional ethnic dances, I think it is OK to wear ethnic costumes. So for example, when Twitch and Joshua did that truly horrible Russian dance, it made sense to me to dress them in traditional dress.

This takes us back to the problem that African jazz is really not a thing. In fact, African dance in and of itself is far too broad of a category, although it is used as a shorthand in the dance world and is a term that I'm pretty OK with. Most of what we see on US TV and/or take in a local dance studio is probably some variation of West African dance, of which there are many styles, or even Caribbean dance styles, although this crazy show has also tried to make Latin Jazz happen - another thing which is not a thing. And I promise you that aside from the Lion King group dance in S3, which was labelled Broadway and not "African jazz" and therefore presented a highly stylized version of what Hollywood thinks African garb looks like but hey, that was true to the style of the piece and so it gets a pass - also it was glorious, I have yet to see the cracktastic wardrobe team from SYTYCD put these kids in authentic West African costumes for any "African jazz" piece they have ever done. Normally, it just seems like an excuse to do some extreme face and body painting and/or use kente cloth in an attempt to make the kids look "savage" or "fierce" or "wild". Insert icon for flames on the side of my face here. For me, that's the distinction between the African jazz costuming and the Bollywood costuming on this show. I can't speak for anyone else.