So, I didn't have time to recap last week's show. (I don't really have it this week either but I'm doing it anyway.) Before I get started with this week's, a couple thoughts:
Cat + Tarzan yell = LOVE.
Courtney & Gev are completely growing on me in terms of charm alone, and I thought both of their dances here were fantastically entertaining.
Thayne & Comfort each had a chance to rock my face off in their own styles, and while I actually thought they were good--better than the judges did, for sure--they were just good. Still, as much as I ragged on him for having only one expression, I'll miss Thayne's smile. He's a lovely dancer and seems like a real sweetheart.
Kherington & Twitch have reached a dangerous level of "good not great" for me, and I wasn't surprised to see them in the bottom three. They're delightful, and their solos were awesome, but I've lost a wee bit of love here.
Jessica & Will's much-loved first number was pretty great, and their second was pretty crap, just as everyone said. Will's solo blew my freaking mind. It's a shame that Jessica's injury will keep her from competing, because I certainly am not going to wish the girl harm. But it was also a good time for her to go.
Katee & Joshua are losing a bit, for me. Their swing last week didn't rock my world, and their waltz was lovely, but not exciting, and the Bollywood was almost too much of a novelty for me to tell how good they were. I'm going to guess they were good and I still think they're fabulous people, but something went a little off for me. I'm hoping they get it back tonight.
Chelsie & Mark are the big big winners in my book. Both their salsa and Broadway routines were smokin' for me. I think they're great and unique dancers and I love that they always get into character.
So my top 3 couples ended up in the top 3, and the bottom 3 ended up in the bottom 3. Onto tonight.
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(Not to be all obnoxious about it, but, um, Lil C and Dave Scott were at Monday's event, too. It was seriously the coolest event ever. Also, I don't remember who it was that tried to tell me Dave Scott didn't choreograph for this show, but I TOLD YOU SO. Okay, that WAS obnoxious...)
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Courtney & Joshua, Hip Hop: So fun! The whole Bride of Frankenstein concept was freaky and totally entertaining. I also thought it was danced well. Josh is ridiculously good in this style. Their chemistry, as a new couple, was good, but, I don't know. It kind of felt like Josh needed to be there for Courtney more. It felt a little like he was showing off instead of showing her off, which I think was kind of the concept of the piece? I don't know. I can appreciate that they're dancing for themselves as individuals now, but he's not going to earn any votes by being a selfish partner. Then again, maybe it was my imagination?
1. Chelsie solo: Ah the bane of all the show's Latin dancers. Great use of stage, for sure. Mostly, though, this makes it really obvious that her achievements with all the other styles she's mastered is that much more impressive.
Kherington & Mark, Country Two-Step: Raise your hand if the twirling baby mama kind of blew your mind? I mean, I can't twirl like that without falling down, and I don't have that kind of belly messing with my balance. MAN. As for how our couple does, I'd read from some country dancin' purists that this wasn't an actual two-step. Okay. Like this show has ever used a style as more than a "loose guideline" anyway. I mean, if Wade Robson were choreographing a country two-step, he'd have Kherington as a milkmaid and Mark as a cow (complete with costume) building pyramids with cornhusks on stage. So, I guess I'm saying I don't so much care about accuracy. I DO care about good choreography, and this stuff was really flat and boring for me. On top of that, there were a couple obvious mistakes, and I'm glad we had crazy/smart Mary Murphey to break down what was wrong with them for us. I think Mark's upright posture and Kherington's girl-next-door look totally suited the dance style, which was good. But halfway through it I found myself wishing I was watching the weird-ass Wade Robson version, and hoping that Mark's solo is the most awesome thing ever. And not caring about Kherington's at all.
2. Gev, solo: Did he goof a jump he meant to do? Does anyone care? This guy is all tricks, but I love them, and really think he does them better than anyone.
Comfort & Twitch, Smooth Waltz: To "Open Arms" by Journey. Awesome. These two look like they worked really hard on this, but are just way out of their element. The lines & extensions they do get right make me wish they would have gotten more right. I don't think it was as bad as Nigel & Mary made it out to be, but I do think for Top 10 dancers it should have been a lot better.
You know what I love, though? Cat Deeley saying, "No one puts Comfort in a corner," and then being so pleased with her own joke she giggles and sticks her tongue out. I don't want to get all creepy with this whole, "I'm meant to be friends with her" thing, but I seriously might have to start stalking her.
3. Courtney, solo: She's really throwing herself into it, and I appreciate it so much. You go, tiny little darling girl.
Katee & Will, Broadway: Katee + Will + Tyce = AWESOME. Or, at least it should. Tyce, WTF is up with having Will sit still, even for a second of this routine? And why was it all slow & flat? You had two technically awesome dancers, and you gave them this? YOU gave them THIS? Sigh. I mean, the Titanic thing was cute, but I think this was almost too easy for these two. And also I don't approve of the whole literal "corrupting the uptight guy on/near a boat" thing when we all know it's a song that a gambler named Nicely Nicely sings in order to confess his sins. Tyce, I say this with love, but I expect more from you, dude. ALL THAT SAID. I thought these two kicked this disappointing routine in the teeth, and did the best possible job they could have done with it.
Note: Mia sitting next to Dmitri in the audience. Who wants to help me start that rumor?
4. Mark, solo: On the one hand, I like his weird Queen dance. On the other hand, it doesn't really show off his freakiness or his technique enough.
Chelsie & Gev, Contemporary: To one of my all-time favorite love songs, "These Arms of Mine" by Otis Redding. It's official. I don't care for Sonya (Sonja?)'s choreography. "Let's have Chelsie on her back twitching her legs all weird in a dance about soul mates, shall we? Yes, and some abrupt, jerky-looking flips, and if we could do our best to have this gorgeous, graceful girl flopping around like a fish or a rag doll, that'd be GREAT." MEH, I say. I think Gev did a pretty great job in this style. Chelsie, however, looked kind of stupid, and that totally was not her fault.
5. Comfort, solo: She keeps getting better & better at her solos. I still think she's a bit out of her element in the top 10, but that was a good solo.
6. Twitch, solo: This guy is crazy, sick, astonishing, and awesome. I could watch him dance his own style all night.
Cat, standing shoulders up, arms akimbo, greeting Twitch in a lowered man-voice: "Hello. Do you fancy saving the universe?"
Courtney & Joshua, Rhumba: HOT. That was hot hot hot! The choreography by Jean Marc was sensational. Smokin'. And these two hit every connection in a way that just showed up every other couple so far. The trust, the chemistry, was great--Joshua definitely wasn't selfish in this routine, thankfully. I can't tell if the rhumba technique was there? But I don't care. And Mary says it was, so there you go. Totally awesome.
7. Katee, solo: The girl just dances like she can't help it. The moves are executed beautifully, with joy emanating through her. Loving her so hard right now.
Kherington & Mark, Jazz: Fun song ("Canned Heat"), fun choreography. The chemistry is off between these two. The steps were fine, but the performance wasn't super exciting. I think Lil C nailed it: they weren't confident enough. It should have been a lot more fun than it was.
8. Will, solo: Yes, he's a brilliant dancer and this was great, if a little over-wraught. I think I would have loved this much more with a different song.
Comfort & Twitch, Hip Hop: With Dave Scott choreography. This is BRILLIANT. Getting two awesome hip hop dancers doing awesome choreography like this is just a huge treat for the show and those of us who watch it. If Comfort stays around this week, then it's because doing this routine totally saved her bacon. YAY. I'll be watching this one again.
9. Kherington, solo: I think I'm officially over Kherington. I thought this was just okay. Maybe she has a migraine or something? But girl has had an off night.
Katee & Will, Pas de Deux: Let's get the two most technically proficient dancers on the show and have them try some ballet, shall we? Oh, yes please. This stupid version of "Imagine" SUCKS, but the dance is otherwise sublime. Sublime. These two. What a great pairing, and another great treat for us tonight. Yeah, there was a mistake, but this is some serious, serious dancing y'all. I loved Nigel's critique (when he finally got to it), and agree with him completely--if they'd nailed it, they never would have been able to surpass it.
10. Joshua, solo: So much fun, this guy. Tricks, dancing, performance, character, the works. He connects with the audience, I think, better than anyone else on the show.
Chelsie & Gev, Jive: These rarely go well, but this one is fun. The energy is really matching the song and the steps, and they attack it reasonably well. Chelsie's owning this, I think, more than Gev, and I love that Lil C is agreeing with me here. (I've actually been loving Lil C all night tonight.) Overall, though, it's a fun end to a long night.
That's a lot. I'm tired. Final breakdown for the evening, ranked from best/favorite to worst/least favorite:
Katee, Courtney, Chelsie, Comfort, Kherington
Will, Joshua, Twitch, Gev, Mark
Given how much I was lovin' Mark last week, and how much I enjoyed Kherington at the top of this season I never thought I'd be picking those two to be voted off at this point, but there you go. We'll see how right I am.
1 comment:
Hi Dinah!
Well, you know you just have to visualize exactly what you want and it will come to you - as your close encounter with SYTYCD shows! I'm so glad Mia was nice - I'm such a fan!
So I think you were right on with your critiques as usual. I must be the only one who didn't really get how Jessica and Will's garden of eden thing was so brilliant. J still seemed wobbly through it - she made it look hard. As a non-dancer I know it's ridiculous for me to expect people to perform extraordinary feats of strength while looking like a feather, but some people pull it off. J doesn't. Like Katee's solo - she did that move that female contemporary dancers like to do a lot - you know where they jump and land prone on one knee with the other leg extended? Every girl I've seen do that this season, from auditions on, looks like she made a huge WHAP! and bruised herself doing that, including Courtney. Katee did that and it looked different - not painful at all, just dramatic There's definitely a difference there for me that makes Katee stand out.
That said, I thought the right people got sent home because even though Mark had an off night, it really seemed like alot of that was Kherington. He does need to step it up on his solos. As does Chelsie. Do they get choreography assistance with solos? It seems like Chelsie can do anything so if she had better choreography for those solos she would be fine.
My final thoughts after Thursday - loved the group numbers! Loved loved loved the Mia Michaels piece with the wings and the makeup and the emotion. Thought the guys piece was fun. Was glad that K went instead of Comfort, but I think that Comfort is just willfully not connecting with her partners. The second piece was better - but it did seem more like a competition between her and Twitch than a partnership. During the waltz, you can see that she won't even look Twitch in the eye. Why? I don't know, he's so cute! But as someone wrote online somewhere else, I'm just kind of tired of seeing her 'try'.
In conclusion, this show is awesome and I also have a girl crush on Cat.
xo
A
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