Missing Twitch

Last year, I became a big fan of the dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance, to which I was introduced by my girlfriend. In a way, I suppose you could think of it as American Idol for dancing, but the analogy requires some qualification. The overall quality of the performances is much superior on SYTYCD--even the poorest performances on any given night are quite good, especially when one considers that the contestants must master radically different styles (from hip-hop to waltz to Broadway) from one week to the next. And, as was pointed out on Television Without Pity, the difference between the judges on Idol and the judges on SYTYCD is that the latter actually seem to know what they're talking about.

This week's episode boasted some of the best performances that I've seen since I've been watching the show; the decision of who to eliminate each week has become very tough and is only going to get tougher. However, despite the quality of the dance my girlfriend and I both agree that something is missing this season, when compared with last season. That something is, in a word, personality. All of the contestants are excellent dancers, but none of them pop off the screen and threaten to become full-fledged stars. I am hard-pressed to identify a dancer that is a favorite of mine this year...I would have trouble identifying any more than a handful of them by name. This is a sharp contrast to last season, when by this time I had not just one but a number of favorites, and I can still name them today, without even having to Google "SYTYCD Season 4"...popper Joshua (who won last year), the brilliant Katie (who should've won), breaker Gev, ballroom dancer Chelsea, and the indefatigably charismatic hip-hopper Twitch.

The closest to a personal favorite of mine this year is Phillip Chbeeb, wildly entertaining within his native hip-hop element and impossible to dislike, but unfortunately beset with difficulty when attempting dance styles outside his own genre...I honestly have to say I think he is probably the least-skilled dancer left in the competition. Hopefully one of the more technically proficient dancers will demonstrate some genuine pizzazz in the next few weeks, and provide a strong rooting interest for me down the stretch.

I'm Sad Ace of Cakes is Over

I gained a new favorite TV show this season, and I discovered it in an unusual corner of the galaxy. Ace of Cakes, if you've never seen it, follows a bakery in Baltimore called Charm City Cakes that specializes in creating custom cakes that resemble anything but cake. Although it's clear that much of the bakery's day-to-day business lies in crafting relatively traditional tiered wedding cakes &c, the show focuses on the creation of cakes--really as much sculpture as food--in the shapes of spaceships, baseball stadiums, zombies, and Lord knows what else. You can see a few of them on the bakery's website. The work is truly extraordinary, and often involves a not insignificant measure of engineering. You'll never see so much attention paid to the structural properties of food.

I suppose you could call it a reality show, but Ace of Cakes is devoid of all of the characteristics of that genre that irritate me. Everyone in the bakery is completely likable, from goofy owner Duff Goldman, to the wry and ironic office manager Mary Alice, to the phlegmatic professional Geof, to the various decorators and carvers and artists who make the place run. There are no manufactured villains--there is sufficient narrative drama in the bakery's attempts to continuously top its most ambitious designs. It's really more of a documentary than a reality show.

Ace of Cakes is one of those shows that, upon discovery, I couldn't get enough of (much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, back in the day). Not long after I learned of its existence, Food Network had a Saturday marathon, and my girlfriend and I watched it for hours, each episode brand new (at least to us). When the new season began, I looked forward to it every week.

Alas, the season just ended last weekend, with the Charm City gang flying to Hawaii to create what must've been the most expensive cake in history for the 100th episode of Lost. So I'm feeling a little sense of loss right now. But it's tempered by the knowledge that there must be tons of reruns out there I haven't seen yet, and Food Network will no doubt air them all at one time or another over the summer.

Thank goodness for DVR!

WHAT???

What! The! Hell?

HOW can Danny have not been sent home on American Idol? After that crappy performance? And at the expense of a great rocker like Alison?????

B!

S!