'SYTYCD' Needs To Change Its Rules!
The hands-down best auditioner on So You Think You Can Dance last night, Nathan Trasoras, was unanimously, fawningly praised by all three judges. Nigel Lythgoe called him a "brilliant dancer" and compared to him past SYTYCD greats like Travis Wall and Danny Tidwell. From the minute he stepped onto that stage, he seemed like a top 20 shoo-in and a clear frontrunner.
But sadly, Nathan Trasoras will not be on So You Think You Can Dance--not this season, anyway. Alas, at 17, Nathan is under the age limit to compete on the show. But with an audition like the one below, I really think Nigel ought to pull some strings and make an exception for Nathan. Age ain't nuthin' but a number when a dancer has talent like this:
Really now, SYTYCD's sister show American Idol lets teenagers compete--this Idol season's best female, Allison Iraheta, was actually only 16, a factoid that the drilling-into-the-ground judges really never let the audience forget (Allison's youth was of kind of her selling point, even). And other Idol teens, like Diana Degarmo and David Archuleta, have gone very far in past seasons. So why the over-18 cutoff for SYTYCD? A dancer's career is particularly short, much shorter than a singer's--by the "ancient" age of 30, most professional dancers move into choreography or training, lest their aging knees turn to chalk--so it seems odd to make SYTYCD hopefuls wait until they're legal adults.
Anyway, since no one at Fox seems willing to become this kid's legal guardian or hire him an emancipation attorney, I guess I will just check off the days until Nathan's 18th birthday with red X's on my calendar, and impatiently wait until season 6. I have no doubt that Nathan will be back; the show producers, who probably also have red Sharpies in hand right about now, have clearly already reserved him a first-class Vegas plane ticket.
I will just take solace in the fact that making it through to Vegas last night was the thankfully 18-year-old Kelsea Taylor, a beyond-quirky, Corpse Bride-like, almost marionette-ish dark beauty whom I predict will be this season's female equivalent of season 4's Mark Kanemura. I cannot wait until mad-genius choreographers Mia Michaels and Sonya Tayeh gets their hands on this "beautiful, disastrous weirdo." She's definitely my season 5 favorite so far:
That being said, if anyone knows where Nathan Trasoras can obtain a convincing fake ID, quick--hit me up.
This show, like American Idol give the people with sob-stories too much air time, and show the better performers for two seconds, waving a phony ticket to Vegas.
I guess the producer's want to get an exclusive contract with the winner, and a contract with a minor may not be binding.
The top 20 are being announced tonight so we shall see...and I shall blog!