Kris Allen and Jeanine Mason's Parallel Paths

American Idol and America’s Favorite Dancer Share Narratives

Aug 9, 2009

Jeanine Mason became the second female to win "So You Think You Could Dance," and she also followed a familiar script.

When Cat Deeley announced Jeanine Mason as the latest winner of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance in August 2009, it brought with it a satisfying déjà vu factor. A virtual unknown at the outset of a popular reality competition show consistently does everything asked and ultimately shines at the right time? Yeah, it’s been done before.

Nobody knew who Kris Allen was when Season 8 of American Idol hurtled into Top 36 Week. His audition song was left on the cutting-room floor, and it finally surfaced at the tail end of the season like some lost artifact.

In the messed-up world of Hollywood Week, when disruptive spats and whimpering cry-fests win the most air time, Kris was a bit player. Shown for about 10 seconds during a fine group audition, he didn’t appear again until that footage where the top guys are shown and they’re dancing goofily for the camera. Bikini Girl obviously deserved more attention.

Week after week, Kris showed a deft knack for choosing the ideal song for his own form of musical expression. And whether he strummed his solitary guitar for “Heartless,” or sat behind the piano for an impassioned “Ain’t No Sunshine,” he put genuine thought into arranging most of the music himself. Good musicians do that.

Similarly, nobody knew who Jeanine Mason was either when Season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance whittled down to the Top 20. In the audition process, the producers were heavy into the Kasprzak brothers, Brandon Bryant’s buddy Natalie Reid (who puzzlingly wasn’t selected) and more Kasprzak brothers. Without the benefit of being backstoried at all, Jeanine made the cut anyway.

Fans had seen plenty of her first partner, Philip Chbeeb, in the auditions as well. And when the two dancers drew a hip-hop number by Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo, it was standard fare for Philip, but Jeanine asserted herself right then and there. This was a dancer to watch closely.

Week after week, Jeanine brought it, by coupling her irrefutable technical prowess through her contemporary background with an engaging, irresistible personality. The girl is just naturally funny. Every word that came out of her mouth was hilarious, none of it forced.

Actually, though, it was her dancing that won people over, from her scorching Travis Wall contemporary piece “If It Kills Me” with Jason Glover – which simply worked in every conceivable facet – to her carefully-planned solos. Jeanine might have secured the title with her memorable, tango-inspired final solo, complete with a killer turn sequence and a rose in clenched teeth. Strategically risky, but breaking free from a wilderness of banal solos, she pulled it off. Good dancers do that.

Epilogue: Nigel Lythgoe Should Be Proud

These two people who for all intents and purposes auditioned on a whim with very few expectations are now the American Idol and America’s Favorite Dancer, respectively. It’s almost spooky how Kris and Jeanine’s storylines match up. Both earned their crowns, and both were equally deserved.

Whoever the favorites were of the folks at 19 Entertainment, they have to be pleased with the results. They couldn’t have asked for two better people to be representatives of these shows.

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