08/16/2007

SYTYCD: Danny Tidwell Spins for the Win (Hopefully)

Here's the highlight of last night's So You Think You Can Dance finale, at least for me. Danny Tidwell's brief but breathtaking solo performance. Danny should be handed the competition. He's head and shoulders above the other three, although I'm a major Sabra fan as well. Tune in tonight for the last gasp and the results.

Danny and Sabra's performance, after the jump...

Posted 7:02 AM EST by Andy in Dance, Danny Tidwell, News, Reality TV | Permalink

Like it?

Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!

RECENT STORIES:

• Ian McKellen: Please Don't Call Me 'Sir' or 'Dumbledore'

• Suspects Arraigned in Gang Rape of Lesbian in Richmond

• News: Larry Craig, TB, Wicked, White House, Seacrest, Twitter

• Book Tackles Football, Undies, and Moisture Management Systems

• Towleroad Guide to the Tube #408

Comments

1. Wow, they're both great.

   I LOVE the 2nd performance... they are both such naturals (at least, they pull it off that way).

   Have only seen the show like one time, but thought it was cool. Clearly I'm missing some good dancing!

   Posted by: gabriel | Aug 16, 2007 8:50:53 AM

   
   

2. It's always irritated me when people say that the man in a dance couple is only there to be background noise and present the woman.

   Danny shows why that is load of crap. He's not just a prop for his partner; he shines and sometimes steals the show.

   Rock on Danny!

   Posted by: Zeke | Aug 16, 2007 9:10:04 AM

   
   

3. I voted for this dude every week like a tween in heat - I couldn't possibly be more obsessed. It's love I tell you - LOVE! (Sabra is adorable).

   Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 16, 2007 9:23:17 AM

   
   

4. Danny is the BOMB! Amazing, amazing talent & breathtakingly adorable too!

   Posted by: Karl | Aug 16, 2007 9:52:04 AM

   
   

5. I thought the duet/duel between Danny and Neil was quite good, too...could have been really cheesy (and okay, maybe it was), but it was just so amazing that the cheese factor didn't even matter!

   Posted by: stebbins | Aug 16, 2007 10:01:08 AM

   
   

6. Was that fabulous Freddie Mercury singing?

   Posted by: gabe | Aug 16, 2007 10:50:52 AM

   
   

7. Danny won't win. It will be Sabra or Neil, and with America's teen girls voting it will probably be Neil. Danny is a bit stiff and emotionless when he dances. Not always though - I was impressed with his last number with Sabra last night.

   Posted by: rc | Aug 16, 2007 10:54:47 AM

   
   

8. ...could swear i saw him doing that before on the west side highway.

   Posted by: A.J. | Aug 16, 2007 11:09:17 AM

   
   

9. um...i'm sure there is more to it, but it looked like he ran in circles for a few minutes...kind of looks like a saturday night live sketch...only if rachel dratch had done that bit it would have been good because it would have been at least funny instead of just kind of dorky and stupid looking.

   Posted by: dan | Aug 16, 2007 11:09:56 AM

   
   

10. I'm sorry. Danny is good (and hot as hell) but he has never been consistent. And he dances his best when he is alone. With a partner, he becomes kinda clunky. Sabra is the fiercest dancer on that show, with or without a partner. I believe that even one of the judges said that she looks like she's an old pro. She should win. But she won't. Just like RC said, with (Middle) America's teens voting, Neil will most likely take it.

    Posted by: soulbrotha | Aug 16, 2007 11:49:05 AM

    
    

11. Thanks for plugging this show which, while it shares some of the weaknesses of Idol, far surpasses it in [much harder to achieve] talent and sexiness.

    First, no, it wasn't Mercury just a great sound-a-like, but they do usually pay to use the original performances [unlike Dancing All Stars or whatever].

    Two: the numbers are choreographed to very specifically involve both partners. a. because the creator and two regular judges come from ballroom dancing competitions [now INSANELY popular if you ever watch PBS] where that is required, and, b. because only ONE person ultimately wins so they can't waste a couple routine just featuring one partner. I half expect them to someday include a parallel couples competition.

    Yes, it has the now-cliched sometimes intentionally cruel British judge, but the worst thing that it shares, as others have referenced, is the absurdity of letting amateurs, once again teenage girls [and women and gays who think like them] be the final judges [tho I am one who believes that Idol cheats at least a little].

    So will it be much sexier moving and in repose Neil, also an extraordinary dancer given his age and background, or Danny, hot only when he tries, but, yes, the better-trained and instinctively better dancer? There has been some fantastic pair dancing which we'll apparently see recapped tonight [Mia Michaels! Mia Michaels!], but, as Andy [and the judges, two actually trained and the cute but self-identified formally ignorant hip hop choreographer] said—in two minutes last night, nearly half of it in midair, Danny showed he's a STAR who can be thrilling to watch.

    Important "perception" note here. I LUV YouTube, but I've been knocked out by a performance from the show watching it on my TV and then rewatched it on the comparatively tiny images from YouTube and it's a let down. But that's the medium's fault.

    And there's far more of the "gay" angle of this show than just which ones we like to see rip their shirts off. First, the negative, referenced last night. The show's creator and chief judge, Nigel, whether or not he's a closet case as I expect, is quelle homophobic. Or dare I say "heteronormative." On more than one occasion he's told guys they "dance like a girl" and preparing to dance together last night in Romeo costumes to West Side Story steps, they only half-jokingly repeated Nigel's insistence that they be "more masculine."

    Both guys "pass" pretty well [yes, I think they're gay], but while Danny lets his guard slip once in a great while and "drops a bobbie pin," Neil manages to appear like an "average" guy [albeit with great cheekbones, bedroom blue eyes, a dazzling smile, and an ass that is calling your name]. But Neil has repeatedly been criticized for having "no chemistry" with his female partners while Danny fakes it really well. Of course queens, and not genuinely interested straight men, have been faking attraction to their partners in on screen and stage ever since women were finally allowed on stage. And it doesn't stop there. If you ever saw Torvill & Dean skate you would think they were constantly in coitus when they weren't on the ice, but, in fact, weren't a real couple at all. As Charles Laughton once explained to Laurence Olivier, "It's called acting."

    So is Neil just a bad actor who repeatedly can follow direction or, at 20, so "post gay" that he can't even imagine pretending to be attracted to a woman, even when he's been almost explicitly told that that's exactly what he HAS to do, even for three minutes on stage when $250,000 and a career MIGHT depend on it? [More than once I've imagined Nigel pulling him and a couple of others aside in private and saying, "Look. I know you suck cock. I was young once me self. But this is show biz and they all want to think you DON'T suck cock. So can you pretend that the girls are Danny or Justin or whomever you'd really want to shag?]

    It will be interesting to see who "the girls" choose: very sexy when he wants to be but essentially "non-threatening" Neil or the less traditionally attractive Danny who can perform magic with his body? Last night, after a standing ovation, Nigel said their was only one other dancer they had in their four [?] years as good, Blake. But Blake, unlike Danny, oozed sex, often the hint of rough sex. When he turned it on he was like a five foot cock on legs. He also oozed attitude which got him eliminated half way through his season. [Being caught on film saying you know more than the judges is NOT a good idea.]

    As for tonight, place your bets. And tell Pasha to call me. Please.
    

    Posted by: Leland Frances | Aug 16, 2007 12:06:01 PM

    
    

12. "Was that fabulous Freddie Mercury singing?"
    
    It's actually a much maligned Gavin DeGraw cover but I like it.

    "Danny is a bit stiff and emotionless when he dances"

    Contrary to what the judges of SYTYCD (and Lacy fans) would have you believe most dancers don't run around grinning like idiots though after a few weeks in the botton three at the beginning of the show Danny has learned to mug with the best of them.

    Here is a link to the early July NY Times article on rising ballet star Tidwell that pretty much put Nigel, Mary and company on notice.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/arts/dance/11tidw.html?ex=1341892800&en=c1d5f7826893ae94&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

    Neil is cute and all but HE'S the stiff one - he flips well but there simply is no grace to his form or style (a style which rarely transcends reasonably entertaining) -and his shoulders are always hunched which bugs the hell out of me.

    Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 16, 2007 12:09:11 PM

    
    

13. Should read, "So is Neil just a bad actor who repeatedly CAN'T follow direction or...."

    Posted by: Leland Frances | Aug 16, 2007 12:13:48 PM

    
    

14. Lythgoe needs to be smacked for his homophobia (and I don't go with heteronormative, because this is DANCE).

    As Danny already had a pretty damn good career going before he decided to compete on this show, I'm not sure (other than $250,000) what the point of his being there is.

    Posted by: Jerry | Aug 16, 2007 12:33:18 PM

    
    

15. Neil has had so many memorable performances (the dance with my father routine with Lacey (?), the business meeting routine with Sabre, and the scary routine with Lauren). I am rooting for Neil...gayness should not be ruled into this at all. Danny's smugness irritates the heck out of me.

    Posted by: dean | Aug 16, 2007 12:41:35 PM

    
    

16. Dean:

    Even crusty homophobe Nigel has said on multiple occasions that a) this is a popularity contest, not a test of dance skills, and b) that he would prefer a girl winner this time…

    Posted by: Jerry | Aug 16, 2007 12:57:26 PM

    
    

17. Andy, thanks for this post, but as your adoring fans and Jerry have already stated; this is done for. We as gay men know full well, when America (tweens and grannys) has it's say- everythings fucked.

    Thank god they got exposed. The top 10 will WORK!!!

    Posted by: lexxicuss | Aug 16, 2007 1:12:47 PM

    
    

18. Remember this is a competitionto find America's FAVORITE dancer, not America's best. And for that reason alone it should be SABRA ALL THE WAY. Danny has--hands down--he best technique on the show, but his personality is Yawnsville (especially when compaired to his ultra-hot "brother" Travis). Whereas Sabra has charm, expression, and mad skills. Its time for a girl to win the show, and she's the one to do it!!! (BTW, did anyone else catch Travis and Ivan's--odd--performance at Fire Island this summer? Are they a couple? Andy, get on this! Now that's a duet I wouldn't mind watching...um... dance.)

    Posted by: kennjamin | Aug 16, 2007 1:23:27 PM

    
    

19. For you Travis luvers, here’s a notorious candid of him you might not have seen [not the ones in drag]:

    http://www.rickey.org/blog/images/2006/08/travis-wall-01-2006-8-12-thumb.jpeg

    And I caption this photo of him and Danny, “Just go slow at first, ok?”

    http://www.traviswall-online.org/cpg1410/albums/userpics/10001/danny_travis_movemnt.jpg

    Not sure what you think "heteronormative" MEANS, Jerry, but that is exactly what the dogmatism and demagoguery going on here is. The idea that we live in a world where one gender can only be attracted romantically/sexually to the opposite gender and, therefore, all romantic/erotically-tinged partnered dancing must be done in boy-girl pairs.

    Thanks for the Times article, Giovanni, though I think it a little hard on the show [if not Nigel]. Anything that can contribute to dance becoming more popular [except for the robotic, never look at your partner nonsense that modern ballroom competitions enforce] is great news.

    I was also happy to see them [and, in effect, SYTYCD itself last night] bitch slap that idiot savant Shane Sparks, the "choreographer" and "judge" who didn’t want Danny on the show, complaining that he “stood there like he was God’s gift to the world.” Well, shit for brains, what's wrong with that? Better than a wanna be in oh-so-cliched gangsta drag like you. Thug your sorry ass over to the Kirov school that Danny trained at and see if you can keep up. K?

    Posted by: Leland Frances | Aug 16, 2007 2:34:10 PM

    
    

20. Neil won my votes last night, several hundred of them. His solo was extraordinary. Danny's ballroom dance performance was nothing short of amazing. But I am totally in awe of Neil's growth over the past few weeks. And last week, his fearless comment "this is my first time on the tamale train?" to that female judge that screams her head off, was so spontaneous and brought the house down. I pray that he gets the right agent as he has crossover talents in modeling, acting and dance that will put him on the cover of magazines. And yes, all of them have long careers ahead of them.

    Posted by: Johnny Lane | Aug 16, 2007 3:33:25 PM

    
    

21. Well , I suppose if he had to lose to someone...

    Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 17, 2007 12:24:18 AM

    
    

22. YAY! Danny lost! :-) I'm still saddened it wasn't Neil who won...but at least 3 of my final 4 picks made it thru (the one missing: Pasha).

    Posted by: DEan | Aug 17, 2007 10:14:38 AM

    
    

23. Sabra is great and definitely deserved to win. But my heart still belongs to Neil, who will cross over nicely into the acting world very soon I am sure. And of course, I fell in love with Lauren when she was able to make this little bit of choreography actually work:

    "Run downstage center screaming in terror." (from the Devil/Angel dance with Neil)

    Posted by: Gregg | Aug 18, 2007 2:55:40 PM

    
    

24. I agree with all you said, Gregg.

    Posted by: Dean | Aug 18, 2007 5:06:47 PM

    
    

25. Danny is best. it is not fair that he held the 2nd. more danny on www.dannytidwell.net

    Posted by: wallie | Aug 22, 2007 9:31:51 PM

    
    

Post a comment