Lyson
This review may contain spoilers
An Objective Break Down
Captains - Great selection of captains for this season. It took Henry a while to find his footing with the three other previously experienced judges, but somewhere along the way near the middle he managed to stop seeming too lost and awkward. Lay was far more relaxed this season, got to see more of his humorous side, it was a nice change. Han Geng is an instant hit for me, I didn't watch S1 and 2 but I would probably have been rooting for him back then. Wang Yibo also seemed more comfortable and interacted somewhat more, albeit differently, with the judges and dancers, than in S3. Over all, aside from the poor editing of the Let's Chat episodes, all four captains meshed really well.
Judges - Whether it was the international judges or the Chinese judges, someone is always faulty or biased in the end, it's human nature. Maybe they tried to keep it real, but in the end, some judgements continually felt a bit off and didn't always fit right.
Music - The music suffered this season, due to the international exposure they clearly tried not to blatantly over use copyrighted music, which was nice of them to consider, but it also created a major deficit on the entertainment side of things. Many of the dances had less oomph, as the dancers usually play with the music and lyrics in equal measure, but lyrics were largely missing and catchy beats as well. So expect some flatness to the music throughout season 4.
Outfits/Props - Overall money well spent, the sets, costumes and props looked great.
Length - The 3 hours shows were okay, there was enough going on to make the time pass quickly. The finale this year however, was as long, but was far worse than last year. It was too long on top of being too drawn out, too many important moments and build up interrupted with talking (so much talking) about nothing really important. They need to cut the finale literally in half going forward. Their time management and long drawn out moments are not doing them any favours.
Dancers - Fantastic dancers. Although I disagree with the over hyped opinions of some dancers (international and Chinese), they were all still incredibly talented. I feel all the dancers who made it to the final deserved to be there, mostly, give or take. Some really disappointed in their final performances though, but I won't comment on that because it's personal taste and opinion. Over all the dancers who made it to the final were generally rightfully there.
Final Judging - I do not believe the final judging was rigged, purely because rigging a finale to be so anticlimactic is just bad form. And yes, the final hour was very anticlimactic. If they were going to rig the final, they would have done better to have some suspense with the two final dancers being from different teams. Three dancers from the same team dominating the top three spots would just be poor writing (if it was scripted), because a large vacuum in the build up immediately settled when everyone knew WangZhaBoom had won prior to the final battle even happening. A scripted ending would not have been so dull. In the end, the fans of WY were happy, but viewers of the show in general certainly felt a drop in the excitement. I know I did.
The Winner - Ye Yin (David) is great, really talented, no doubt. I enjoyed watching him perform every single time. Do I personally think he deserved to win? No, I don't. Why? All else aside, going up against Yang Kai and Bouboo, Ye Yin doesn't hold up. B Boys in general outshine other dancers because what they are capable is very impressive, then there's Yang Kai, who is a B Boy who keeps rhythm very well and plays off the music. Last year's win for YK was on point. This season, while David is high energy and quick execution, he also gets repetitive and is always walking the locking line. Then there's Bouboo, who interprets music flawlessly, executes on time and in time and can dance to literally anything while still managing to stand out and keep it fun and visually appealing, even against a B Boy. When it came down to the three of them this year, I think the final should rightfully have been between Yang Kai and Bouboo. I feel like WY's reaction (or lack thereof) to David winning, was obvious about that too.
The Bad Side- Even if it had come down to Boobou and YK, possibly the foreign dancer would still not have won. And due to this noticeable possibility, I think SDC has hindered themselves from having international dancers participate earnestly in future
The Good Side - All the dancers respect each other outside of this show, and so many great dancers got to meet and dance with each other. Some moments were so fantastic, it was really great to watch as a lover of dance.
The Highlights - Some of the battles are amazing, so, so good. As well as several of the choreographed sets, really fantastic. For the final, all of the captains intro dances were on point, and Wang Jiaer showing up to perform and swag like he does so well was definitely a bonus.
Over all, S4 is worth a one time watch through. Aside from a few routines and battle sets, I wouldn't rewatch this season.
Judges - Whether it was the international judges or the Chinese judges, someone is always faulty or biased in the end, it's human nature. Maybe they tried to keep it real, but in the end, some judgements continually felt a bit off and didn't always fit right.
Music - The music suffered this season, due to the international exposure they clearly tried not to blatantly over use copyrighted music, which was nice of them to consider, but it also created a major deficit on the entertainment side of things. Many of the dances had less oomph, as the dancers usually play with the music and lyrics in equal measure, but lyrics were largely missing and catchy beats as well. So expect some flatness to the music throughout season 4.
Outfits/Props - Overall money well spent, the sets, costumes and props looked great.
Length - The 3 hours shows were okay, there was enough going on to make the time pass quickly. The finale this year however, was as long, but was far worse than last year. It was too long on top of being too drawn out, too many important moments and build up interrupted with talking (so much talking) about nothing really important. They need to cut the finale literally in half going forward. Their time management and long drawn out moments are not doing them any favours.
Dancers - Fantastic dancers. Although I disagree with the over hyped opinions of some dancers (international and Chinese), they were all still incredibly talented. I feel all the dancers who made it to the final deserved to be there, mostly, give or take. Some really disappointed in their final performances though, but I won't comment on that because it's personal taste and opinion. Over all the dancers who made it to the final were generally rightfully there.
Final Judging - I do not believe the final judging was rigged, purely because rigging a finale to be so anticlimactic is just bad form. And yes, the final hour was very anticlimactic. If they were going to rig the final, they would have done better to have some suspense with the two final dancers being from different teams. Three dancers from the same team dominating the top three spots would just be poor writing (if it was scripted), because a large vacuum in the build up immediately settled when everyone knew WangZhaBoom had won prior to the final battle even happening. A scripted ending would not have been so dull. In the end, the fans of WY were happy, but viewers of the show in general certainly felt a drop in the excitement. I know I did.
The Winner - Ye Yin (David) is great, really talented, no doubt. I enjoyed watching him perform every single time. Do I personally think he deserved to win? No, I don't. Why? All else aside, going up against Yang Kai and Bouboo, Ye Yin doesn't hold up. B Boys in general outshine other dancers because what they are capable is very impressive, then there's Yang Kai, who is a B Boy who keeps rhythm very well and plays off the music. Last year's win for YK was on point. This season, while David is high energy and quick execution, he also gets repetitive and is always walking the locking line. Then there's Bouboo, who interprets music flawlessly, executes on time and in time and can dance to literally anything while still managing to stand out and keep it fun and visually appealing, even against a B Boy. When it came down to the three of them this year, I think the final should rightfully have been between Yang Kai and Bouboo. I feel like WY's reaction (or lack thereof) to David winning, was obvious about that too.
The Bad Side- Even if it had come down to Boobou and YK, possibly the foreign dancer would still not have won. And due to this noticeable possibility, I think SDC has hindered themselves from having international dancers participate earnestly in future
The Good Side - All the dancers respect each other outside of this show, and so many great dancers got to meet and dance with each other. Some moments were so fantastic, it was really great to watch as a lover of dance.
The Highlights - Some of the battles are amazing, so, so good. As well as several of the choreographed sets, really fantastic. For the final, all of the captains intro dances were on point, and Wang Jiaer showing up to perform and swag like he does so well was definitely a bonus.
Over all, S4 is worth a one time watch through. Aside from a few routines and battle sets, I wouldn't rewatch this season.
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