"So You Think You Can Dance" Tries Going Gay Again... And Does MUCH Better. Willem de Vries & Jacob Jason: "There's A World Of Same-Sex Dancers!"

So in this week's audition episode, same sex ballroom dance couple Jacob Jason and Willem de Vries auditioned for Mia Michaels, Mary Murphy, and Nigel Lythgoe.

The camera spent arguably more time on the judges than it did in showing the emotional and smouldering audition dance, but that was okay - Nigel and Mary and Mia were frozen in place, careful not to squirm, or roll their eyes, or make ANY offensive gesture or remark.

And that's good. They're in the spotlight, and they know it. "So You Think You Can Dance" is a big show, with a lot of people watching, and Nigel and Mary (and the other judge - I think it was Mia - they pulled the video from youtube) didn't do themselves or the show any favors last season (just this summer) when they fidgeted and rolled their eyes during a two guy couple audition, and Nigel told the guys that he thought seeing them dance together would "probably alienate" a lot of the show's viewers.

This time round, Nigel said:

"Thank you for showing me that same-sex ballroom dancing can be very strong and very good."

Mia even teared up, complimenting their courage. And Mary said nice things as well.

For a show that's arguably one of the gayest things on TV (Adam Shankman as a judge, Ellen DeGeneres as a guest judge last season, all those GLBTQ choreographers and dancers and the audience... Hello!) it's nice to see they're being more respectful.

Sure, they had to get brow-beaten for their homophobia first, but they learned that it's not cool to put down us Gays.

And yes, that is progress.

Sweetest moment? The other auditioners in the theater, cheering for Jacob and Willem when they finished their routine.

"So You Think You Can Dance: Season 6" - They've got me back as a fan.

And both Jacob and Willem made it through choreography to Las Vegas - we'll be watching and cheering them on! (And, just so the judges know - we'll be watching them, too.)

Namaste,
Lee

PS- The photo is from this Reuters article.

Why I Hate "So You Think You Can Dance"

Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel did a Samba together as their audition for Season 5 of "So You Think You Can Dance."




It's not the fact that it took the show 5 seasons to have the first two guy couple audition.

What I hate isn't that the two guys fell during their routine.

Or that one of them had to make a point to assure us viewers that he's straight.

It's not even that Misha and Mitchel were all puffed up about how "masculine" their dance was going to be (as they had double the masculine energy) while they stood there with their flowing hip scarves and plunging necklines.

What I hate is how UNCOMFORTABLE a romantic same-gender dance made the judges.

Check it out:


Oh, and that line of Nigel Lythgoe's

"I think you probably alienate a lot of our audience."

WHO does Nigel think is watching his show??? It made him uncomfortable, and the only cover he could come up with for his own homophobia was to try to put it off on saying 'oh, America's not ready for this...'

Argh!!!

And he continued...

"I'm certainly one of those people who like to see guys be guys and girls be girls on stage. I don't think I liked it. To be frank."

Oh, it made him (and all the judges) squirm!

And then, that final line of Nigel's:

"You know what, I'd like to see you both dance with a girl."

And then the other two judges agreed!!!

When they saw them dance with women (in the choreography section) shockingly enough, neither Misha or Mitchel got to go to Vegas.

While the judges were polite on the surface, their VAST discomfort with the whole notion of two men being romantic with each other SCREAMED out. Nigel even had to cover his eyes at one point during the audition! He couldn't even look.

Ugh.

How do you spell homophobic?

S-o-Y-o-u-T-h-i-n-k-Y-o-u-C-a-n-D-a-n-c-e

I don't know if I can watch the show again. Someone let me know if a gay dancer makes it into the top 20, okay?


Namaste,
Lee