Can I just say Twitter has added another level to my world of reality tv anticipation. I've never been afraid to make bold predictions and assumptions on this blog. I use previews to make predictions for shows that are pre-filmed and I use observations from contestant interactions to make assumptions and anticipate what will happen on future shows filmed in real-time. So let's talk some shows..

Here Come the Newlyweds just finished. I called a McMorris/Corliss finale, of course, and I was pulling for a Corliss win. The thing that bothers me about this show is they never show the votes. It is a reality show. Show the votes. That's how I get a sense of what's going on and with that, I could have made a correct final prediction much earlier. Of course I thought the Corlisses were great because they own a tattoo shop and are not the traditional-type couple. I think this show tries too hard to be wholesome. If the Corlisses was as out-of-the-box as they could find, they weren't trying hard enough. There's nothing odd about the Corlisses. They're just an honest, real couple. I appreciated that.

Big Brother continues with it's odd theme and pregnant host. I love that Julie Chen said she wouldn't go on maternity leave and would continue doing important work on BB. She's afraid if she left for a season, they'd realize she could easily be replaced with a computer-generated voice or a likeable previous contestant like Janelle. Also, I like how maternity leave was even an option. There are a lot of pregnant women, I'm sure, that do more work while on maternity leave than Julie Chen does hosting BB.

Anyway, I'm not trying to make this a post about ripping on Julie Chen. She doesn't actually bother me that much. I just find her amusing. In a Mary Murphy kind of way.

Let's talk about the actual show, though. I'll admit I watched the first episode and then missed the nomination episode and then watched most of tonight's episode. This is a show that I like to be spoilered on. I like knowing who's nominated.. who won veto, if there's a replacement nominee, etc. Based on that, I decide if I feel like tuning in. There's kind of the boring first two weeks period that we're going through right now. It doesn't get interesting until someone's switched alliances at least once. So I'll wait until then to comment on the characters. I do find Chima annoying, though, but it doesn't seem like she's going this week.

So You Think You Can Dance is on fire as usual. I will say the upcoming season in the fall is a bad idea. We might not see the effects of the decision right away, but I'm telling you it's a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I love the show. I wish it was on all the time. BUT I'm telling you it will be bad for the show. It's possible we'll see it in the upcoming season, but most likely we'll see it next summer. For one thing, it's not a good idea to double up on a show that has consistently been been known for a particular season. I find that summer shows try to do this a lot. Summer is a legitimate television season. Big Brother doubled up, Hell's Kitchen is doubling up. I find that the two seasons of BB that were coupled together are less memorable than past seasons. I find that memories of those seasons blend together in my mind as if they were one big season. Another thing that I worry about, which is SYTYCD specific, is the resting period for auditioners. I recently watched both season 3 and 4 Vegas weeks and it's ridiculous how many contestants were shown in the Vegas week of the season before they were part of the Top 20. Not only do they look more mature in their actual season, but they very apparently grew extremely between the time they were rejected on one season and the time they were selected on the next. Doubling up does not allow for this. SYTYCD is not like Idol. While it is about marketability, I think it's much more of a specialized skill, and dancers at the level that SYTYCD requires are often committed to dancing as a profession, while I don't think it's true for singing at all. So you get many of the same dancers coming back year after year who've taken more classes, gotten stronger. There needs to be a resting period to allow for that growth. I don't ever want to see a season weaker than the one before it. I fear that that will happen at some point with the doubling up.

Anyway, I'm excited for this week's mixing of the couples. I think we will quickly see who's been carrying the weight in certain partnerships. I also think the first vote will be very revealing. I will not be surprised if Melissa goes this week. In fact, I'll be surprised if she stays. There's nothing compelling about her to me. Well, let's see.. who do we have left? Oh, there's Kayla too. I can see her leaving before Melissa, but it's kind of a toss-up. Let's do a classic list-through of the contestants now. How about it..

Melissa: So I just listed out all of the names and I'm proud of myself for knowing all of them. Let's just say I don't call many of them by their names. For example, I refer to Melissa as Grandma because she's the grandma of the show. It's not actually an attack on her age. I just love how 29 is suddenly old now. It's the same idea as when 27 was suddenly ancient on Top Model.

Anyway, so Melissa.. There's something really off-putting about her personality, or at least the way she carries herself. I'm tired of hearing about how she's a ballet dancer, but mostly because she has not been given hip-hop yet. If the girl can krump, I'll shut up. But for now, she has not proven to me to be able to step out of her style any more than Chbeeb did. But when you're a hip-hop dancer, all that is talked about is whether or not you can do other styles. I would like the same conversation to be had with other dancers. Basically, I think she's been given a very easy first five weeks. I'm not saying any of the dances she's done have been easy.. I just feel like so many of her dances have been about her looking graceful, or modified in some way to play up her ballet experience. Anyway, we'll see this week.

Ade: I think he's slipped under the radar. And I don't mean that in a sense of he's the dark horse. I mean I don't necessarily think he's proven himself yet either. I'm glad he had to do a solo finally last week. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does tomorrow. I can see him leaving soon.

Randi: So I have this Mormon conspiracy theory.. that they're the driving force behind many things that happen in this world. I think they're the reason she's gotten away with getting into the Top 10 without having to prove herself. I'm not happy with the fact that all these couples are getting into the Top 10 without having to dance for their lives. I would have something to say about her if I had had the chance to see her in the situation. Since I haven't, I can't say she's particularly compelling to me either. This is not just a dancing show. You have to open yourself up to the viewers. Be fun. Make us smile.

Evan: I think the whole thing with his brother in the Vegas show really pimped him out. I mean, that was a lot of airtime and it's helped carry him through the first half of the show. Remember someone else that this happened to last year? Katee. Other than the fact that they continue to use her friend Natalie for ratings (which pisses me off to no end.. Natalie seems like a really nice girl and I hate that they're taking advantage of that).. that whole drawn-out unnecessary event last year benefited Katee so much. She was known when Top 20 began. Joshua was also known. They both also happened to be amazing dancers, so that sailed them into the finale. I knew they were unbeatable when I saw they were paired together.

Anyway, the point is Evan was given a gift from the producers/editors/whoever made the choice to abuse the storyline of two brothers fighting for one spot. I saw last year's Vegas show. Evan was there. He was almost on the show. Of course he was chosen over his brother. He was clearly stronger at that point. I'm sure his brother will be either on the next season or pimped out like Natalie was.

Kayla: I would like to state an observation. She is not close to the other dancers. Not in the way that SYTYCD dancers usually are. This is purely observation from watching the show. I'm really interested in knowing more details. Is it just a personality clash? Do other dancers not think she deserves to be there still? Maybe I'll elaborate more later, but I know I'm right about this..

Kupono: I thought he should've left instead of Max, way back when that happened. I don't really get this whole thing about how he's made amazing progress and now all the judges love him. He never had an Ivan or Dominic moment, so I don't really see it..

Janette: Her hair bothers me, but I just watched last season's Vegas episode and it was so much worse then. Do I think she's good? Yes, she's very good. She's great at what she does and she's surprisingly good at other styles too. Do I like her on the show, though? No, because the judges are cramming her and Brandon down our throats. We all remember what happened when they did that with Allison.. she went home way before her time. And I didn't like Allison at all on the show. Watching it back again, though, I realized how amazing she was. If indeed Janette or Brandon deserves to win, I want to be able to see that. Stop telling us how amazing they are all the time.. it makes them seem a little arrogant to no fault of their own.

I also wish they would stop pretending it's a big deal when she's good at another style of ballroom. She's a ballroom dancer. I don't care what she specializes in. She's going to be better at any ballroom than a non-ballroom dancer any day of the week. Are we trying to pull for a ballroom winner this year? I told y'all last year they were gunning for a hip hop winner.

Brandon: SYTYCD loves to make guys look like assholes and then have them do really well in the show based on their talent. Danny anybody? Whatever. If they stopped telling us what to think about Brandon, maybe I'd develop an opinion. He's a great dancer, but I feel like I haven't had the chance to really see who he is on the show.

Jeanine: I kind of became a fan of Jeanine through her association with Chbeeb. But I can tell you what I like about her that has nothing to do with her partnership, though. First of all, her solos have been impressive. I feel like she puts a lot of thought into her solos and her dancing in general. She mentioned being the girl who nobody would have expected to be here. So that means she's not just dancing well out of pure talent. She's playing up on her strengths and she's using her head. And I'm a big fan of people who work hard rather than rely on natural ability. Terin Humphrey anyone?

I feel like I've gotten to know her on the show. This show gives the dancers opportunities to appeal to the viewers. It's the dancers' job to make use of those opportunities. Be endearing. Be fun. I've said that already, but it's really important. The viewers need to relate to the contestants. I find her to be much more compelling than any of the girls left on the show.

Jason: Sad Boy. I remembered him from last year. And I remembered him being sad. Then they put him with Caitlin, who was totally Sad Girl. She had one foot out the door for several weeks before she was actually cut. I don't think that partnership benefited Sad Boy at all. He's at least interesting to me. I'm interested in seeing him with a different partner.

Can I just say I'm loving following NappyTabs on twitter. They never give anything away, but it's fascinating to me hearing their perspective on certain things. Can't wait to see their routine tomorrow.