Dance! Show! is back, and soon I will have much, much more to say on that subject. (Dance! Show! is So You Think You Can Dance, which I used to think required no explanation because all other dance shows are inferior, but now that I am apparently converted to also watching Dancing with the Stars, guess I’ll have to be clearer around here.)

For now, however, just a few quick thoughts.

First up: Street versus Stage. I’m still not too sure about this. It seems like a cheap way to get more stage dancers into the top 20, especially now that they have gone to mixed styles, meaning everyone is dancing all styles now, so why not audition the dancers with a proper cross section of styles? But I’ll give it a chance because the group numbers have been simply outstanding, and there are just SO MANY street dancers who I ADORE. Speaking of which…

Early favourites: Jaja! JJ! Megz! Virgil! Neptune! LOVE YOU. In fact, I’d almost be willing to skip the whole season of actual dancing if they’d just crown Jaja the winner right now and have two hours of just her every week. On the stage side, it’s the usual mix of pretty young things and I always find it hard to pick individuals out. But so far Alexa is my fave – she’s the little one with the long blonde hair – followed closely by Jim the ballet guy.

Mixing it up: It’s interesting how they are going with a crazy blend of trios/quartets/duets this season, instead of the traditional couples-only, and looks like they will be mixing up the groups every week. AWESOME for the dancing. Poor, perhaps, for getting to know the dancers and seeing who really has the sparkle, and it’s so much harder to build chemistry among the dancers this way. I’m trying this season to keep an open mind about things in general because a) after 12 seasons, it’s probably a good thing that they are shaking things up, trying new things, keeping it fresh, and b) the internet has lost its collective mind over the changes (DON’T MESS WITH DANCE SHOW), so I’m aiming for higher ground (which admittedly, is totally unlike me). And speaking of which…

New judges: Man, there is a lot of hate out there for Paula Abdul and Jason Derulo. But I love them! They are both maybe a little too soft, too kind, but they both know tons about dance, they both LOVE dance, they both have the chops to be judges. I find them insightful, I almost always agree with them 100%, and a little kindness in the judging is welcome. Plus it’s SO much better having three regular judges than the revolving door of celebrities they’ve had in the past. It’s absolutely my favourite change for this season. Which brings me to…

Old favourites: I was so happy to see Spencer Liff and Dee Caspery back this week – love them both. Nappy Tabs are back, as are the Scotts – Christopher and Dave, no relation – and so far, not a single Sonya number (not that I dislike her, I just feel like they have greatly overused her in the past few seasons). Plus: freakin’ Phillip Chbeeb (SQUEE)! I love the variety here – hope it continues throughout the season.

Also, last thought – Cat Deely deserves an Emmy. Come on Emmy voters – MAKE IT HAPPEN!