Last week’s American Idol finale has left a lot of TiVos with nothing to do. Fox has responded with a second season of So You Think You Can Dance, produced by AI’s Simon Fuller, a near-mimicry of the Idol formula. In case you’ve missed it, here’s a clip of a typical attention-seeking lunatic skewered on his own bravado.



If you didn’t watch that clip to the end (and I would forgive you for that), you did miss the best part. Our fair competitor spits out at the judges: “Three words: Fuck you.” And then he tries to explain that, by “three words,” he was also including the exclamation point at the end. Nothing like a comeback that requires footnotes.


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I’m not really into SYTYCD, which is a surprise, given my lifetime adoration for legwarmers and street dancing. It takes courage and several pints to get me on the dance floor, and so I’m of the opinion that people should be less self-conscious about dancing, not more. Still, growing up watching Solid Gold and Michael Jackson has branded me with an appreciation for solid rug-cutting. Speaking of solid, check out these clips, currently making their rounds:

Indian Beatles
This Bollywood take on “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” from the 1965 film Janwaar is notable for two reasons: the head-scratching translation (“We meet because of destiny / We also make false promises”), and its serious commitment to the shimmy. Hollywood has all but buried the dance number, but in Bollywood, it’s still kicking.



Armi and Danny, “I Wanna Love You Tender”
All the funkiness we’ve come to expect from Finland. So the dancing isn’t great, but there’s something strangely stylish here, like an Abba video crossed with a Gap ad.



And so we must part, and I leave you with one of the best song-and-dance numbers of all time. Gene Kelly, you’ve ruined me.