Street Dance of China: Season 4 (2021)

Great until the Last 2 hours of the Live

This season was exceptional because of the addition of the international dancers. Each episode made you laugh and cry. However, as expected by many, the very obvious scripting and rigging of the finale sent the weakest (though still talented) member of Team Boom to win. The scores for the battle section were ridiculous in range and they didn't focus at all on the stronger/better dancers. With so many highly talented international dancers with decades of experience; China still couldn't let one of them win. Because of this, though I watched the live the majority of it and woke up at 4:45am for it, I couldn't watch the last 2 hours. It just wasn't fair. And therefore, it doesn't get a solid 10 from me.

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Enjoyable Program to Watch

I am watching the first episode raw because I don't have the patience to wait for subs. Anyways dance is a universal language. You don't need to know what they are saying because their dance speaks for them. I love the captains. A little biased towards Yibo but they all seem so fun. I am excited to see what Henry has stored for us. A lot of things seem different, probably because of the pandemic

I'll update when subs are provided and tell if my opinion changed now that I will be able to understand what they are laughing at.
Update after watching with Eng subs-

Ok so this season looks very different, not only will participants be checked but also the team captains. For the rules of the match, they are referring to Chinese chess. If you don't know Xiangqi or Chinese chess, it's a game for two players, and "unlike at western Chess, the pieces are placed on line intersections, not squares. Each player starts the game with these pieces: 1 king (or general), 2 guards (or advisors), 2 elephants (or bishops), 2 knights (or horses), 2 rooks (or chariots), 2 cannons, and 5 pawns (or soldiers)." So basically all 4 captains were given necklaces that stand for king and the captains had to give the participants of their choice a necklace that either stood for rook, knight, cannon, bishop, or guard. Later they would have to decide which participants were suitable to send for rounds of battle, which included 1v1,2v2, 3v3, and 5v5. The captains will also lead the team members in a king battle.
They also had simulated toy figures for all the contestants.
Like Yibo mentioned the method for the battle was also very fair because for each section they were letting the captains pick from people who were at the same level or had the same capacity. Also adding the fact that they were picking from blind boxes. The captains also had the chance to "lock" one contestant of their choice to be in their team.
I liked that in this season they gave each team a choreographer.

Label Battle:
First Half: Yibo vs Yixing and Henry vs Han Geng.
Second Half: Yibo vs Han Geng and Yixing vs Henry.
For this battle captains had to pick 10 contestants and split them into the 1st and 2nd half. A necklace will be given to them depending on what role suits them.
2v2-They will wear bishop or pawn
3v3- Rook, cannon, or knight
5v5- pawns

Personal thoughts on episode 1:
I was very excited to see Yibo and Bouboo on the same team again.
Bunta and Kun were so cute. My favorite choreographers.
I was so sad to see Huang xiao and George were not on the same team.
Ibuki was so cute
Ac was adorable

The captains are very well balanced (reminds me of Lay saying balance last season), they all have their charms, Han Geng is relaxed, Henry is playful, Lay is a mix of playful and relaxed and Yibo well yibo is yibo.
All I got to say is this season the captains didn't come to play.

Ep2:

Henry really surprised me. At this point what can't henry do?

Second Half:
Lay: "Keven is pretty good. But Keven's heart is not in me. Keven's heart must be with YiBo"
Nelson and Zyko wow just wow. They are really good dancers and Like Yan kai said it looked like Zyko's body ascended. It felt as if his body weight was nothing.
I cried during the dance battle between Acky san and Nelson. Acky is a phenomenal dancer and you can feel his passion. For someone that is 47, he dances like he is in his 20's.
Hilty &Bosch you can tell they have been dancing together for a long time. Their chemistry and synchronization are spectacular. I look forwards to seeing more of them.
Omg, the little kids at the end. The little b-boy blew my mind and to think he is only 6 yet has so much talent.
Favorite dancers for this episode: KenKen, Bo Zi, and Han Yun
No no no I saw YiBo crying in the preview for the next episode :(
I want to see more of Bunta, kun, and Huang Xiao.


Ep3-

Only 49 people can go to the next round
So lay balance
Jackson art
and now henry compares them to musical instruments

YiBo was probably planning to murder Lay for not voting for BouBoo. Poor YiBo was probably having a mental breakdown
AC is adorable
Xiao ming with his "perish together" music was hilarious. During that scene idk if I was laughing because of what he said or because Lays laugh was adorable.

"They were acting as a patient, but Jr. Taco is a patient himself" When I tell you I cried while laughing during his performance..
Colin's performance was really heartfelt. I agree with the judges, that kind of performance is hard to judge. When YiBo started crying I also broke down crying. It's not only dancers but I think this applies to all career-oriented people or people chasing after their dreams. Sometimes we are so focused on accomplishing our goals that we forget or don't have time to reply to our family members.


Ep4
I admire George for not giving up even tho he was injured. I was hoping to see more of Huang Xiao and George but oh well...sad that he left
Henry: "I am learning to play erhu recently"
Han Geng: "Then I am going to play the zither"
Henry: "About zither I..."
Yibo:"I can do some magic"
Yixing: "I can play drums, Chinese drums.It follows the beat"
Henry: "I can also try it"
Han Geng: "Actually, we are a band"
I love their bickering.
Huang Xiao never fails to amaze me.
Xiao Ji is hilarious since last season. He only called out because he had to use the restroom.
Acky san always gives such a good performance
Li Chunlin wow, his performance was awesome. Although the music wasn't his and the choreography was made right there and then it felt like he had practiced it already.
I get so excited every time someone I like makes it.
Xiao Jie is always so creative
Glad to see Keven made it


Cypher-
Henry: Popping
Yixing: Krump
YiBo: HipHop
Han Geng: Popping
All 4 of the captains were amazing. I can't even pick a favorite
AHHHH George came back. Thank you yixing



Ep5-
I liked how yang kai took his time to explain the song it did not only help the foreign dancers understand the story but it all brought them closer as a team. Their efforts really showed in their choreography. He is a phenomenal team leader.
Jr. Taco and Xiao Jie are both hilarious
Both Nelson and Acky-san did great performances but I preferred Nelsons
Wang YiBo-" I don't want to lose, I wan to win win win"
I am glad to see huang xiao and George on the same team again.


Ep6-
Huang Xiao and George can really understand each other very well in terms of dancing.
As always Huang xiao gives an amazing performance, this time with KenKen.
Ma Xiaolong is an amazing choreographer.
Love Xiao Ji, he is hilarious
WaiWai, Fan Fan, Boris, Tao tao, Cici, Eleven, Li Chunlin, and Bunta gave an amazing performance.
Wang Yibo never fails to amaze me. He pays attention to each dance to the point he knows their style and can say who choreographed what part.

Ep7-
YiBo made the right decision in speaking with his team and asking them about their feelings and opinion.
"When we are together in a team, we have to learn from each other, talk to each other and communicate"-YiBo
Han Geng was so thoughtful with his gifts and YiBo's gift to Yang Kai's son was so sweet.

Team BOOM(YiBo)-David, Liang Liang, Nelson, BouBoo, Hilty&Bosch, Jr. Taco, Momo Koyama, Yang Kai, Toozin

Team FKM(Han Geng)- AC, Ibuki, Zyko, Ma Xiaolong, Stone, Xiao Ji, Xiao Jie, Acky, eleven, Yu Wan, FanFan,

Team Lit Dragon(Lay)- Poppin C, George, Huang Xiao, KenKen, BoZi, Bunta, Daswitch, Mt-pop, GoGo brothers

Team Tiger Warrior (Henry)- Han Yu, Chika, Rochka,Mr. Three, G-co, Boris, Li Chunlin, WaiWai, Cici, Tao Tao,c-Lil

Sdc3Yibo: What YiBo wants YiBo gets
Sdc4 Yibo: What YiBo wants YiBo still gets
Wow, we have some great singers among the dancers, especially Ma Xiaolong.
Henry finally made his very own band with the dancers(as expected)
YiBo's magic show. I need a front-row seat to see it.
This episode was so fun, I was laughing from start to end.


For episodes 8-12 you will have to watch it yourself to know what happens *wink*

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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.

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Great until the finale, which was a farce

Until the final episode, this was a very engaging program. The inclusion of so many world class international dancers really lit a fire under many of the Chinese participants. But the finale was worse than a joke, it was an insult to the stellar international dancers who participated in it. Rather than having professional judges, it was determined by partisan audience vote (all Chinese, many quite young, filled with Wang Yibo groupies many of whom wouldn't have known good street dancing if it ran over them). What an insult to the foreign dancers who endured the draconian Chinese quarantine rules and gave up 6 months of their lives to participate in this program. China has some interesting dancers, but too many of them just aren't of the caliber of their foreign counterparts. China, if you don't feel confident that your own dancers can bear a head-to-head comparison with some of the best dancers in the world, why did you invite them? Oh, and I noticed that there wasn't a single US dancer on the program? Why was that? Since street dancing and the musical forms that it is danced to are all creations of the African-American community in the US, why the glaring omission? Also, the traditional Chinese-themed choreographed story dances did grow a bit tired as a format as the program progressed. The heart and soul of street dance is the expression of raw emotion, not sweet-themed stories. I hope in the future the organizers will back off from pushing this format and let street dance be street dance and not try and make it into a staged choreographed and highly rehearsed storytelling theatrical dance. Of course, just my personal opinion after over 50 years involvement with many forms of dance.

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This review might contain some ideas of mine that you don't like. I'm sorry in advance.

I am so happy to see dancers and captains again from previous seasons. I like this kind of show. I don't care if it's a script or not. I just loved to watch them uniquely dance. There are pros and cons to watching this show. There is such an episode that it will make you cry and as well as laugh out loud. What I like is the idea that they invited international dancers. The stage is very sophisticated. The Captains, as well as the dancers, look very classy too. I'm swooning over Wang Yi Bo and Zhang Yi Xing here. I like the different styles of dancing I've watched, for the grand finale. Maybe this is what you got in expecting a lot. I still prefer the SDCS3 finals. LOL. I invested a lot of time watching youtube live and only disappointed myself in the end. I dozed off watching the couch interview to all the dancers who didn't make it to the top 8. (I hope they cut it out on the edited video later). When I woke up, I found out that the live video wasn't available because of copyright issues. I spoiled myself by seeing who is the ultimate winner through Youku's post. I'm just disappointed with the ending, and the only thing that I like about the grand finale is the expensive looks of Captains. Zhang Yi Xing's krump and Flying Apsaras in the opening and Wang Yi Bo's "This is old school." Capt. Lay and Capt. Yi Bo's captain show. Huang Xiao, George, Li Chunlin, Yang Kai, and Buoboo's performance. My favorite team got the overall champion. Most especially Wang Jia Er's appearance. I hope they'll hire professional judges to score the performance. Because if the audience has its biased team even if this team didn't perform well they'll go after with their biased. Despite it all, this is still one of my favorite Chinese variety show

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A showcase of street dancing

I enjoyed watching the interaction between dancers from different countries as they worked together to overcome language barriers. I knew nothing about street dancing before watching, and respect the dance skills these dancers have and their ability to work together to merge styles, techniques, and languages. I was disappointed in the final episode as the contestants were overshadowed by the number of other performers in their routines and the fact that I could find no video to watch with English captions throughout the show. Not understanding the comments of the captains and contestants was a disappointment. The first 11 episodes gave great insight into the personalities and skills of these talented young people, so not having an English translation for the finale was a let down.

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Season 4

This season is so cool?.
In this season stage and set is so cool?.
Salute to 4 captains.
Wang Yibo, hange ge, lay and henry.
And salute to all participants.
☆┌─┐ ─┐☆
│▒│ /▒/
│▒│/▒/
│▒ /▒/─┬─┐◯
│▒│▒|▒│▒│
┌┴─┴─┐-┘─┘
│▒┌──┘▒▒▒│◯
└┐▒▒▒▒▒▒┌┘
◯└┐▒▒▒▒┌

◢✊?◣ ◢❤◣
✊?✊?✊?◣ ◢???
◥✊?✊?✊????◤
◥✊?✊???◤
◥✊??◤
◥ ◤

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For those interested in Street Dance or the main hosts

I cannot compare this season with the previous ones because this is the first one I watch. The set-up of the venue is intricately designed and tailored to each leader. Grand. Since most of the dancers are champions and legends of international competitions, there should be something that amazes you, even if you don't dance. The judges are also of international level so 100% for the cast. There are pop-up signs which show the types of dance techniques as the participants dance, so I get to learn a thing or two about the dance techniques as well.

Unfortunately, the rules of the competition are kinda confusing, but that's not important anyway.

Dancers who are champions and legends do not necessarily mean that they will impress you the most. I love Han Geng's gentleness, Lay's meekness, Henry's energy and Yibo's empathy. A must-watch for street dance lovers and those interested in these celebrities because you'll get to see the cool side of them dancing.

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