Newest TV Guilty Pleasure: So You Think You Can Dance?

Monday night, AXN aired the finale replay show of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5. Now, I don't follow the show. I lean more towards its elder sibling which is the singing reality contest show, American Idol, but then one random night I was channel surfing and I saw this one episode of SYTYCD on AXN. I think it was the hip-hop routine done by Philip and Jeanine with all the chains and stuff and I was just....WOW. From then on, I was hooked.

The strangest thing is that I'm only hooked to this particular season of SYTYCD. I don't care much for the other seasons or even the latest one (Season 7), which I understand is also airing on AXN Beyond. I've seen one episode of the latter and it was meh. Season 5, however. I only got into it like in the middle of the season, like the Top 10 or something, so by then, most of the not-so-good dancers were already eliminated, leaving the very best ones fighting for the top spot.

I immediately liked Jeanine because of that aforementioned routine. Then later on, when she got paired up with Jason to do the "If It Kills Me" dance together, I got blown away. I never thought dance could move me as a person like that. I never thought I could ever get emotionally invested in a couple of people flailing and leaping and kicking around on stage, but that's what happened and it was magical.

The judges are great, too. They're real professionals. Like choreographers and real dancers, not just celebrities, so they really know their stuff. They have these terms like dance jargons that I previously do not know the meaning of but am now getting the hang of. Comments like "your lines are amazing" get thrown around often and on any other day I would not know what that means but I look back on the performance and it absolutely makes sense.

So You Think You Can Dance? Season 5 Finalists (L-R): 

Kayla Radomski, Brandon Bryant, Jeanine Mason, and Evan Kasprzak

Anyhoo, the Top 4 ended up being the very best dancers of the season: Jeanine, Brandon, Evan and Kayla. Before the finale aired, I already knew that Jeanine won, which is awesome because I really thought Brandon would go all the way to the top spot and I was kind of rooting for Jeanine right from the first time I saw this show. Now, I also like Kayla. In fact, I love her which, lucky for me, I only realized after the show ended. Less heartbreak that way. She ended up fourth place after Evan, who isn't that good a dancer but is really adorable. When he's in his element, he can be fantastic, too, so I understand why he won the hearts of millions of Americans. But Kayla, I think, won the hearts of the judges right from the beginning. She's a pretty girl, I give her that, in that spacey, blonde way, but when she's on stage dancing, she's like a completely different person.

I said that I've been rooting for Jeanine so, as might be expected, I was paying attention mostly to her. But that doesn't mean that I didn't notice Kayla. I think the nickname "white lightning" really suits her. She's got pale skin that turns luminous under the stage lights and she's got limbs that stretch for days. So if I were to describe my feelings while watching the show, it'd be like: "Oh, it's Jeanine, god she's awesome," and then "what's that white thing flashing across the screen?"

It wasn't until the last two episodes that I figured out that her name is Kayla. I didn't like her. I thought she was a bit of a jerk when she talked and made those cutesy, fan-pandering faces after her performance. Add to that the fact that the judges seemed to salivate after her "lines, her RIDIKULOOS lines" and, no it wasn't hate, but it was close to it. I only started seeing Kayla as a dancer when she got paired up with Brandon for the "All I Want" routine. Brandon is a god. He can make any partner look good but when he gets paired up with someone who is equally good, magic happens. And that's what happened with him and Kayla. It was just beautiful.

So long story short, I became a fan. I love her. Actually, I love all top four from Season 5 and I wish them all the best in their careers. I hope I can get to see them perform again, not necessarily as dancers. :)