First, I have to say this. "WTF is wrong with the camera people/director?!?!?" I just spent two hours screaming at the tv that they were framing the dancers ALL WRONG. So annoying. It really took away from my enjoyment of the performances all night long.
Now, the performances.
Billy: Well done, and a Broadway number from Tasty that wasn't a Fosse rip-off! Liked it.
Cristina: I deliberately watched her instead of Mark on the first viewing, and I don't know what the judges were watching, because it wasn't what I saw. She left me cold and feeling nothing.
Jose: Not too bad for a b-boy not used to choreography, but nothing special. Not in my bottom three, but just barely out of it.
Adechike: Strong dancing, way outperformed by Kathryn, but not the complete disappointment the judges said it was. I thought he didn't do that bad with the performance, and thought there was at least a small spark of something between them.
Melinda: I admit to not being a ballroom expert, so I missed all the pigeon toes that the judges saw. I did see that she did a better job with the jive than most non-ballroom dancers have in seasons past, and she really sold it with her face and acting skills, so I give her some points there. Comparing her jive dancing to Mollee last season, I think she was much better. (Then again, Mollee annoyed the hell out of me.)
Alex: What the judges said.
Alexie: What the judges said. Cute and innocuous.
Lauren: What the judges said. She hit her spots, did the moves correctly, but talk about no charisma, no connection, just smiley-face and "look at me!!" Very cheerleader-esque overall. Blah.
Kent: So damn cute!! And he was having a grand old time on that stage. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it wasn't the best cha-cha ever (nowhere near it, actually).
Ashley: Super-meh. She's a cipher.
Robert: What the judges said. He started to stand out for me last week, and he has real potential to be in the top four.
My choice for bottom three this week: Ashley, Lauren, and Cristina, with Melinda being a close fourth.
I love Alex. Definitely one of my favorites this season.
BTW, I liked Alex's piece, but does anyone think it was over-praised? Mia said: best danced on any SYTYCD stage anywhere up to date?
Wha-what?
Robert kind of got on my nerves with his Sally Field schitck
The camera work is funkier than ever. Please come back, Crack Monkeys. All is forgiven. Good gosh, some of the dance in intros couldn't even keep the kids in frame.
Billy and Lauren/Tasty Broadway/Footloose- So underwhelming. To pull Mischa Chan, Broadway and Tyce all in the same week and get stuck going first? Alright, who in the production hates Billy? He killed it, what there was of it to kill, but really? Really? First dance fail. I thought Shankdaddy's critiques were right on point. It's all about becoming a Mark-style performer now 'cause the dance skills he got. I didn't track Lauren at all, but that might be because I hate her. Loved seeing Tool Time with Billy and Billy's dad.
Blog post about SYTYCD from the Cultural Leanings guy (if you've seen my links elsewhere on b.org:
[link]
Cristina and Mark/Sonya/Jazz/Missed the song- Mark! That said, I did not enjoy the routine. Sonya has done much better. THAT said, Mark turned it out. He's a beast. I think he's gotten even better since he was on the show. And I have to join the judges in giving it up to Cristina. That style of movement had to sit so strangely on her body, and while Mark did blow her away, she had some nice moments. The attitude tha Mia pointed out was also an "Alright, then" moment for me. And the toe point was not bad for someone used to dancing shod all the time. She handled the sinuous motion very well. All in all, I enjoyed her more than I enjoyed the piece. And Mark! The bitch never broke character, even when walking off stage. Watch and learn, newbies. Watch and learn. I hope GaGa is handling that correctly, or making sure he gets handled if she's not his thing. I would gladly have that man lick my leg.
Jose and Comfort/NappyTab/Hip Hop/ Some Ne-Yo song- NappyTab are so booty y'all. Why are they still here. That choreography did no one any favors. Neither the song nor the steps were hip hop under any definition of the genre I've ever known. Jose danced what he was asked, so in that sense it was OK, I suppose. I still want more power and dynamism from his b-boying. His tricks always look so slow and labored. Comfort is still a great hip hop dancer. Too bad she was handcuffed by all the lack of hip hop. Eh. Wouldn't get me on the phone.
Adechike and Kathryn/Travis Wall/Lyrical/Addicted to Love- Kathryn was everything in that routine. She was serving. Exquisite. And Ade was just . . . there. Anthony Burrell, I have never missed you more. That dance called for a man, grown and sexy, and Ade just did not deliver. Points off to Travis, though, because the dance was practically a love letter to Kathryn. Ade had to stand and lift an awful lot, or catch, or just sit in a chair and get pushed around. Definite bottom 3 bait.
From le nubian's link:
However, so much of a layperson’s experience with the show is about seeing the dancers form relationships with one another: viewers were often heartbroken when the original pairs were split up at the Top 10, and when the series switched to individuals it relied on the time we spent watching them grow ahead of time.
That's exactly what I'm going to miss -- that sense of a bunch of kids coming together, getting paired up with relative strangers, and growing together as partners. I get caught up in the relationships on this show, and it's interesting to me to see which ones forge strong bonds.
Yeah, Billy did not have the luck of the draw, but he was great. Cristina surprised me. Lauren just couldn't lose the smiley cheerleader persona, even though she handled the dancing well. Alexie was better but still a little too cute. Kent surprised me, too -- he was giving his all. Alex is like unto a god, and I loved the piece. Adechike's piece did seem to show off Kathryn more than it did him. Melinda -- eh. Ashley -- no opinion yet. Robert seems like a terrific dancer, but I wasn't crazy about the piece. (Was that the same guy who choreographed Russell and what's-her-name's fabulous frog dance last season?)
oh man Hair Tumor on Top Chef. Ewwwwwwwww
The nasty, nasty whiteman dreads? Man, dreads are fine in my book, but I do NOT want a man who has long-ass dreads that look like something the fucking CAT threw up anywhere near my food.
And he didn't even make his own puff pastry. LOSER.
