Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

HOLLA at my fellow SYTYCD fans and new Puffpiece readers Nicole, Chrises & Lesley! Now that I've told you my predictions are uncannily accurate, this week's will surely be all wrong. Let's see, shall we?

How is it I never stop being charmed by the "Here are your girls... and these are your guys" cross-over deal at the top of the show?

1. Kherington & Twitch, hip hop: Seriously, Twitch--lose the plastic frames. (Or perhaps Kherington could "accidentally" step on them.) They're dumb. That out of the way, I feel like this is the first proper hip hop routine we've seen so far this season. They got the dance down, they performed it well, they hit it hard, and they had fun with it. I kind of wish the choreographers could have incorporated more of Twitch's own style of popping in this routine, but otherwise I thought this was great.

Holy shit Mary Murphy is wearing GLITTERY SILVER FALSE EYELASHES.

2. Courtney G & Gev, Rhumba: Courtney's kind of killin' me in this package, with the "let's get ready to rhumba" joke and the "hi mom!" aside. Adorable. Their dancing is, for me, unpolished, actually, but fine. They're a very likeable couple, and their chemistry is fun, but given some of the other dancers in the competition, I just keep wishing week after week that they were better. Yeah, it's great that the inexperienced dancers are "pulling it off," but in a competition that's supposed to have America's most awesome dancers in it, it seems a little weak to me.

3. Comfort & Chris, (African) Jazz: To Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People," no less. When the music starts, I want this routine to be genius. I want it to be raw and dirty and sexy and awesome. It's... not. Tyce DiOrio + Marily Manson should equal supremely awesome, right? I mean... right??? There just wasn't enough passion here. And honestly, the music and choreography could have saved them, but the thing is, while these two are good dancers, they're not awesome performers. I like what Adam Shankman said here, that the music should have felt like it was really moving through them, and it didn't happen.

4. Jessica & Will, Disco: Fine, I GET IT, Will is Classy. I do not have to be sold on this guy, I'm already prepared to see him in the final four. That said, this routine was a mixed bag for me. At some parts, I thought it was delightful and fun. Others, clunky. Like, a teeny girl like Jessica shouldn't seem like a box of lead when she's being lifted, should she? I'm no expert, but I thought the lifts here were a bit heavy. I also feel like Jessica is constantly Trying Too Hard, whereas Will is just effortless, and maybe that's why the two of them consistently feel like such a mis-match. Still, it was cute.

5. Kourtni L & Matt, Contemporary: Oh, Matt, with your ninja mask. What?!? No. And who's this Sonya with her giant mohawk and her comic-book style? Hmm. As for the routine, I thought it was kind of weird and over the top, and really well done. I sometimes think good choreography can save weak dancers, and I think in this case good dancing kind of saved some weird-ass choreography. The faces were a bit much, but they were clearly having fun with it, and their technique was flawless, and I liked it.

6. Chelsea & Thayne, Quickstep: These old-fashioned ballroom routines make me want to watch Gene Kelley movies. It makes me wish these young dancers would watch them too, and understand how fun they're supposed to be. The quickstep in particular invariably comes out a little stiff from concentration, and this is no different. Thayne needs a new expression besides "40-watt smile." He's a cutie, but it feels inauthentic and I'm bored. Overall I think they did the steps, but it didn't blow my skirt up at all. (It's weird that the judges said kind of the same things here, by the way. Maybe I've been watching the show too much and I'm starting to read their minds/predict their critiques?)

7. Chelsie H & Mark, Hip Hop: These two are really growing on me every week. I think they're getting better, and they really seem to commit to every style and every character the choreographers throw at them. I didn't love the super-literal routine here, and I didn't care for the song, but I loved the dance and the couple anyway. Totally intense and believable and fantastic.

8. Katee & Joshua, Samba: Y'all know I'm mad in love with these two, but I'm kind of nervous for them with this routine because we haven't seen any formal partnering from them yet. From the first note, and the first drum of Joshua's fingers on the stair rail, I know I shouldn't have bothered. And then Josh starts moving his hips and I literally gasp and yell "DAMN!!" out loud in my living room. Twice. Oh, my. This routine is smokin' hot and perfect and I am even more in love with this couple than I was 3 minutes ago. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

I'm going to rewind my DVR and watch those last two again. So good.

As for predictions, this week is tricky. There were 4 outstanding routines, and 4 that were just okay. Not dancers, per se, but routines. Part of me kind of wishes Jessica & Will would end up in the bottom three so they could send away Jessica & see about maybe a new partner for Will, and maybe that'll happen this week. (If they paired him with Kourtni so our top 8 dancers were Kherington & Twitch, Kourtni & Will, Chelsie & Mark and Katee & Joshua? THEN we'd have a real competition.) But I'm going to assume America can see how brilliant he truly is, and allow the junior underdogs Courtney & Gev into the bottom three instead.

Staying: Kherington & Twitch, Jessica & Will, Kourtni L & Matt, Chelsie H & Mark, Katee & Joshua

Bottom Three: Courtney G & Gev, Comfort & Chris, Chelsea & Thayne

Of those three, Chris & Thayne have the most to worry about. One of 'em is going, and taking a partner with him.

One more prediction: I will be very much surprised if Joshua doesn't win this whole thing.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dinah, you are spot on with your critiques and predictions, I think. (I was thinking the same thing about Kourtni and Will.) Will was smokin hot in that disco. Josh's bootie was amazing. That two step was painful to watch - they looked like they just hated it! I like Thayne because he reminds me of guys I know and love but he's got to find another note. Hopefully he'll get another week to try and Chris will go tonight. I thought that Kherrington should have brought just a tad more Sam Ronson persona to her bit - her acting part of performance is not as strong as Chelsie H or Josh who both seem to completely transform on stage. My current favorites: Josh, Chelsie, Will & Kourtni, with Mark and Katee right up there. I really hope Gev gets to do a hip hop routine soon - he was a standout in last week's group number.
I definitely see some people lifting their partners up and making them better (Joshua) and some dragging their partners down (Jessica, Matt), making routines that could be amazing kind of meh. I have faith it will all shake out as the competition continues though. It's my first season so I'll just have to see. Thanks for getting me into this show Dinah - it's my summer crush!
xo
Amy

Dinah said...

Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I agree with you totally on Kherington's performance--she's just a *little* too cute for me sometimes and she's going to have to watch it with this group. Katee, Chelsie, and Kourtni kick her ass when it's time to "act" in the dance. I also agree about Gev--I'd love to see him do his own thing one of these weeks.

I never even addressed last week's group routine, but I must say I love that Shane Sparks really used and showcased the show's top hip hop dancers, especially since we have so many GOOD ones this year.

Anonymous said...

Even before I read your post, I was thinking Jessica and Chris ought to be the ones going home. She's starting to kind of lose it - "heavy" is a good word to describe her dancing last night. I know she's better than that, but she's starting to look out of her depth.

The only reason Chris didn't go last week is that the judges saw their opportunity to get rid of Marquis. I thought his solo was kinda weak, and if he has to do it again, he's toast.

I didn't even notice Mary's eyelashes. I was just grateful that her dress was doing a better job of containing her than last week's number.