Talk:So You Think You Can Dance (American TV series) season 7

The changes, fewer finalists, Mary Murphy, fewer audition cities. . . Is this show ending soon? Eltownse (talk) 20:32, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

This isn't a message or discussion board. Thanks. --User:Woohookitty ^{Disamming fool!} 11:59, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Re. accuracy of a small piece: I thought Kent Boyd was supposed to be from Wapakoneta, OH? I don't want to change it in case there were more accurate sources... 99.254.28.208 (talk) 08:11, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Kent Boyd's hometown

There has been some back-and-forth activity on this page listing Kent Boyd's hometown as either Botkins, OH or Wapakoneta, OH. Which should it be? I am originally from that area and have family in both Botkins and Wapakoneta, and I can relate what I know, have been told, and have found.

The Boyds live in Pusheta Township, an unincorporated area in Auglaize County, between Botkins and Wapakoneta. As Kent said in the August 4th episode of the show, he lives in a farm community between two towns: Botkins, where he goes to school; and Wapakoneta, where goes to dance. They live about two miles north of Botkins and four to five miles south of Wapakoneta. Thus, they live closer to Botkins. They also are within the Botkins school district, and as Kent said, he attended school in Botkins (he graduated from there in 2010). He was also Botkins' homecoming king in 2010. Despite living closer to Botkins and being in the Botkins school district, the Boyd's residence is within the Wapakoneta postal delivery area. Thus their mail goes through the Wapakoneta post office and they have a Wapakoneta address. However, I know many people who do not define their residence by their postal address, and having been from that area I know people often define their hometown as where they went to school. So Kent would be from Botkins.

To add to that, prior to a few years ago when the Boyds moved to their current residence, they lived in Botkins across the street from the post office. Kent lived there when he began preschool and through elementary and junior high. So for a large portion of his life he actually lived in Botkins and grew up in Botkins. Looking at Kent's page on the official Fox "So You Think You Can Dance" website (http://www.fox.com/dance/contestant/kent-boyd/) he lists his hometown as Botkins, OH (this information is in the header at the top of the page to the right of his picture - give it time to load). What additional evidence than this is needed to show that Botkins is Kent's hometown? Shouldn't this page list his hometown as it's listed on the show's official website? But there is more.

In an interview with Kent's mother for the June 15th edition of The Sidney Daily News (http://www.sidneydailynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=138&SubSectionID=282&ArticleID=218102), she states that the family considers themselves to be from Botkins and that Kent bleeds black and gold (Botkins' school colors). Then, there are clips of "Wapakoneta" that appear on the show. On the June 2nd episode of the show, when viewers are first introduced to Kent, except for the shot of the sign entering Wapakoneta, all of the other shots I recognize as being in Botkins. Someone not familiar with the area would not know this, but there are a few shots that anyone should be able to identify as being in Botkins. There is a shot of Kent standing in front of a building that clearly says Botkins Library, and a shot of him standing in front of the Botkins Fire Department. In a shot near the end, where he is standing in a field, the water tower in the background says Botkins. Also, the Marathon station where "you know you've made it big when your name gets up on this sign right here" I know is located at the intersection of Main and State Streets in Botkins, and underneath the sign that wishes Kent good luck is a sign advertising the Botkins Young Farmers Palm Sunday Breakfast. Clearly this gas station is in Botkins. Then, on the August 4th episode when the camera crew once again returns to Kent's hometown, they show Kent waving at people and greeting them at where I recognize to be the intersection of Main and South Streets in Botkins (the Marathon station previously mentioned can be seen in the background). Again, someone not familiar with the area would not be able to recognize this, but in that same segment they also interview Mayor Steve Woodruff. A quick internet search for "Mayor Steve Woodruff" will reveal that he is mayor of Botkins. It is obvious that when camera crews have gone to Ohio to record Kent's hometown he has taken them to Botkins. Why would he do this if Wapakoneta were truly his hometown? It seems clear to me that Kent considers Botkins to be his hometown and it is listed as such on the show's official website, as mentioned earlier. Why should this page list anything other than Botkins, OH as Kent's hometown? Let's take a look at the other side.

As stated earlier, Kent's mailing address is Wapakoneta and this is undoubtedly the address he used when he registered for the competition. The show has gone to great lengths to spin this fact to make it appear that Kent's hometown is Wapakoneta. Why? Because it's entertaining. The June 2nd episode when Kent was first introduced, and everyone stumbled over the name Wapakoneta, was funny. And the June 10th episode when Nigel traveled to Wapakoneta was hilarious. That is a level of entertainment that couldn't have been achieved if the show had used Botkins as Kent's hometown. The show continues to try to capitalize on the entertainment value of Wapakoneta and they seem to say Wapakoneta on the show far more often than the hometowns of any other contestant (I have not actually kept count and can't state that with certainty, but it does appear that way to me). In the end, it all comes down to money. The show needs to get high ratings to get higher advertising dollars, so they do what they think is best to make the show more entertaining and appeal to more people. Thus, making Wapakoneta appear to be Kent's hometown makes better business sense. That is totally understandable. Since they have gone to such great lengths on the show to portray Kent's hometown as being Wapakoneta, and since this Wikipedia page is about the show, then why not list Kent's hometown here as Wapakoneta? My gut feeling is because that is not truly accurate. Botkins is the more accurate town to list as Kent's hometown. Maybe there is a way to reconcile the two and list Kent's hometown as something like "Botkins with a Wapakoneta address"? 75.186.31.15 (talk) 21:56, 7 August 2010 (UTC)