Yeah, the spoiler out and about is heartbreaking. Jakob was the blond boy in the first contemporary routine who had the amazing jumps. He was partnering Ariana mostly.
OK, second contemporary. Well, I hate that song, so there's that. Beyond that, Billy Bell is just so freaking beautiful I can't stand it. His lines are beyond anything. So much extension. Toes pointed to the pinky nail on the pinky toe. Every move is finished. Did y'all see him get down into that plie in second? Forget about it. I freely admit that I really didn't pay all that much attention to anybody else in that routine. (Although I do continue to be pleasantly surprised by Victor. He's quite good) The girls were just there and made almost no impression on me. Noelle was still annoying in the rehearsal footage. And the high talker wasn't quite so squeaky. Score. Oh and my mom asked why the girls were dressed like that. She kept asking me if the dance had something to do with farming. She was very confused.
Ballroom routine. Well, I love that song, so there's that. It reminds me of Step Up 2 The Streets. And the backyard latin ballroom routine they did in that movie was scads better than what we saw up on that stage. Ryan is still ridiculously hot and a great lead. Karen is very sexy and she has good feet. Ashleigh was the weak link, but she was better than I had remembered. I didn't care for the choreo all that much.
Well, my favorite boys are still Russell, Kevin, Jakob and Billy, with Phillip and Nathan close behind. I also enjoyed Peter and Victor tonight. The two that I could lose out of the gate would be Legacy first and then Ryan. For the girls, Pauline, Ariana, Channing and Karen were the four who really made an impression. Ellanore was pleasant and I think she has more than what she got a chance to show tonight. Mollee didn't completely annoy me, but I almost forgot she was even in that Sonya piece, so that's not good. Noelle, Kathryn, Bianca, And Ashleigh can go any time in any order and I'd not care at this point.
I didn't realize there was a spoiler. Can we not talk about it anymore here, please?
Phillip was everything I expected, smooth and polished. His tapping is very old school, kind of Nicholas brothers. I was surprised how much I liked Peter! He was personality plus in that routine and his set was crazy.
Yes, and yes! I didn't remember Peter's audition, but I liked him tonight. Phillip was doing terrific old-school stuff in his audiition piece (the Ann Miller turns, the Kelly pose with his hands out flat and his one leg in a side lunge), so it was nice to see the choreographer gave him some more along those lines.
Billy and Jakob were ridiculous tonight. Ridiculous!
Is it me or was that Sonya piece terrible? Bad choreo and poorly danced, like they didn't know what they were doing. The opposite of sexy, terrible music, and they were dressed like ducks.
It was terrible, but I didn't really love the piece she did for the final three girls last season either.
Fingerless lace gloves and tutus - not sexy. That Sonya piece did nobody any favors, especially compared to Tyce's and Mandy's.
I was way impressed with the contemporary boys - Nathan, Jakob, Billy and Victor were all really good, and I could barely take my eyes off Jakob and Billy in their respective pieces. (Billy is tiny, yo - did you see him next to those little girls? Definitely in the 5'6" or less realm.) Channing was a little tentative - she needs to learn to throw her heart in. Arianna was a beautiful dancer but I have no sense of her - did we see her at *all* in the auditions?
I don't like the big stage, or at least the big stage combined with the weak camera work we get. I barely saw Karen in the latin routine because she was always behind Ryan from the camera angle.
SYTYCD has often had terrible camera work. I almost didn't watch the auditions because I didn't want to see the judges, I wanted to see the freaking dancers. Unless the judges' reaction was particularly unique or funny, they should focus on the dancers. I don't need to see Nigel sitting back saying "oh, that was nice".
Arianna was a beautiful dancer but I have no sense of her - did we see her at *all* in the auditions?
We saw a second of her at the very end of the LV auditions. Mia threw a pen at her. I wish we'd seen more of her because she was very dynamic in Tyce's piece and managed to break me out of my Jakob haze a couple of times. I think she's really, really good, not that we've gotten a chance to see it yet. I was actually surprised that Mary said that she'd been worried about her ability to hang. Ariana seems like a total rock star.
Is it me or was that Sonya piece terrible?
I like Sonya a lot more than I like her work. I've only ever really loved her Secret Garden piece for Mark and Courtney.
SYTYCD has often had terrible camera work.
True fact. The camera work during the tap routine was abysmal. I had to look away. How do you film a tap routine and not show the feet? Why do I just want to look at a bunch of flapping arms? There are only three people on stage. Why can't you keep them all in frame at the same time?
I feel like awful camerawork is brought up here a lot and I am pretty sure I have read the same complaint on other SYTYCD websites, so why the hell is it not addressed. It seems something that people notice and complain about.
