It was certainly not an easy road for contemporary dancer Chris Jarosz this season on So You Think You Can Dance. He sailed through the audition round, getting a ticket straight to Vegas after performing his solo for the judges. In Vegas, he survived each elimination round, showing that he can pull off any style. When he hit the Top 20 though, things changed. Perhaps it was the odd pairing of him and hip hop dancer, Comfort Fedoke. Perhaps it was the dance styles they were given from Krump to African Jazz. Whatever it was, the judges weren’t having it with him and, week after week, cut him down after his performances. Last night, they sent him home and today, he spoke to BuddyTV in an exclusive interview.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Hey everybody this is Gina from Buddytv and today im talking to Chris from So You Think You Can Dance. This whole season, I felt like your mother, every time the judges said something bad to you I wanted to be like, “Leave him alone!” I feel like they picked on you the whole season, it made me so mad.
Yeah, it was intense for sure. They were mean a little bit.
What was the hardest comment for you to take, because there were definitely a lot of things that they said that I felt like they didn’t need to say.
I think the krumping comment that Nigel made, I actually didn’t take it that hard because he was kind of like making a joke and I didn’t think he was making fun of my dancing. It was kind of like the grabbing the crotch thing and stuff like that, that’s something that I didn’t have too much control of. He was just kind of being a little obnoxious, and I actually kind of thought it was funny what he was doing, it was good TV and stuff. This past week I think the hardest comment was when Mary said that I kind of let my partner down. I think that was the hardest thing, because for the past three weeks I kept on being like Chris, I either stayed with Comfort, like I kept up with her, or I wasn’t good enough, like I was never better. I think in partnerships you shouldn’t be better, it should be equally amazing. That was always a little frustrating.
Well actually, I liked this week’s routine the best, I thought you showed so much. So when you were doing it I was, “Oh yeah!” I thought you were going to stay, and then the judges came down on you. What did you think of your routine this week?
First of all, the third week was definitely the hardest week for sure, it’s just you’re constantly going and you’re stressing out about all different things and stuff. I thought this week’s routine, I had fun doing it, it definitely wasn’t my favorite. When I thought of jazz I didn’t think of this routine. Just kind of from the feedback that I got before we actually performed it on stage in front of everyone, I was kind of prepared to get the comments that we got. We were constantly told to work on more things and to try harder and things like that, so I actually wasn’t too confident going into this routine. Even though it was jazz, and jazz, contemporary, lyrical kind of can mesh together, this still wasn’t my style because it was more like an African jazz and I’m definitely not used to that. I definitely had fun doing the routine, it was so tiring, I have like some crazy marks on the top of my feet. I got bruised up and stuff, and it was such an amazing experience to work with Tyce. But it definitely wasn’t my favorite, after I did the dance I wasn’t like, Oh my god, that was such a rush. I was always kind of scared going into it.
Is there a style of dance or a choreographer that you wish you got to work with before you left the show?
Yes, I think Tabitha and Napoleon have been putting out such amazing, amazing work. I would have loved to have worked with them and do some of their hip-hop. Also Adam Shankman, the judge last night, I’m just such a big fan of his stuff, I was like in love with the movie Hairspray. I wasn’t sure if he was going to do a dance at all, because I know last year he did a group dance, but I would have loved to work with him. Maybe I’ll find the show I can work with him, I don’t know. He’s just, he’s great.
Did you feel during the run of the show that the judges were sort of gunning for America to get rid of you and Comfort early on?
I don’t think so. Nigel said last night that we’ve been in the bottom all three weeks, but the first week we weren’t in the bottom, that was our jive week. I think the first week they were open to see everyone dance and I don’t think they had their favorites yet, I honestly don’t. But then by the third week I felt like they’re kind of pushing for some people to exceed because they’ve done so well. I don’t think they were opposed to if we had such an amazing night that they weren’t going to give us props, but I think America has their favorites and I think the judges kind of want to push for that. But I do feel like the judges would be hard on those people. Like Joshua and Katee have had such crazy routines, they’ve killed it every week. I was telling Josh last night, I think that’s almost a little bit more pressure because if they were to mess up next week or whatever, I do think the judges are going to be hard on them. But I do also think that the judges now have their favorites, kind of, because those couples have performed so well.
Do you have any regrets about being on the show or was this what you hoped it would be?
No regrets at all, this is everything I could have wished for. I honestly never thought I would ever make it. I didn’t even think I was going to make it to Vegas, I made it straight through to Vegas, that was crazy. Just to be in the top 20, I kept on telling my friends if I go home the first week I don’t care. And then once I got into the top 20 I was kind of like, Oh, I really don’t want to go home the first week. And then to make it to the third week, I feel like I’ve experienced the show. I don’t feel like it was cut short. I think if I went home any earlier I might have been like, Oh, I wish I could have done more. But I mean I can say I worked with Mia Michaels, Tyce DiOrio, Shane Sparks, Wade, Tony Meredith, Lil’ C. That’s a lot of people. No regrets at all, it was the best.
Well I hope you find lots of success in the future, and I just wanted to thank you for your time.
Thank you very much.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
