Blog post about SYTYCD from the Cultural Leanings guy (if you've seen my links elsewhere on b.org:

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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.

See I started S1 in the Lauren Sanchez era pre-Cat days back when we had to two step 11 miles through the snow uphill both ways to watch this little dance show that no one else was studying. And back in those days, the dancers swapped partners every week and lo, it was good. And I hated the change to fixed partners up til someone got voted off or top 10. And even though that format gave us Benjelle and Josh and Katee, and Mark and Chelsie, I never learned to love it, just not to hate it. I want to see great dancing, and I often felt that we wound up with some weak dancers getting much farther than they should in the competition based on being in a popular partnership. I'm happy to let the exclusive pairings go.

See I started S1 in the Lauren Sanchez era pre-Cat days back when we had to two step 11 miles through the snow uphill both ways to watch this little dance show that no one else was studying. And back in those days, the dancers swapped partners every week and lo, it was good. And I hated the change to fixed partners up til someone got voted off or top 10. And even though that format gave us Benjelle and Josh and Katee, and Mark and Chelsie, I never learned to love it, just not to hate it. I want to see great dancing, and I often felt that we wound up with some weak dancers getting much farther than they should in the competition based on being in a popular partnership. I'm happy to let the exclusive pairings go.

kat is me. The bad outweighed the good on that change.

Sadly, I forgot to set my dvr for tonight and just got home. Anyone know where I can catch what I missed? The dancing, that is, I don't care about all the other stuff.

Melinda and Pasha/Tony and Melanie/Jive/Song? Who knows?- Awwwww. I love Tony and Melanie. That was a fun routine. And packed. They did not go easy. I thought Melinda started off really well. The character and performance were there from the jump, but the technique was also not half bad. The flicks and high kicks were good. She was fast and light on her feet. Nice arm placement and extension. Then she got tired, which makes sense because jive is no joke. It will kick your ass. About half way through, her form totally fell apart and that's when the pigeon toed thing started happening. Overall, not half bad. Pasha? Damn!

OMG, the camera people messed up the INTROS, good grief. Staying on Alex so long they miss someone's intro? Not on.

In his intro dance outfit, Billy is flagging with a red hanky. My my Billy, into being a fisting top, are we?

Cat just insisted Kent get off. Ahem.

I was like "Oh, Tyce has Lauren helping him...." and then I remembered the whole All Star concept. Dang. (Ah, I see, the hanky is part of his COSTUME. So the COSTUMERS want him to be a fisting top...). I...felt no chemistry, but hard to say if that's because of them or because I hate Lauren and was trying to ignore her.

Ooh, Mark and Sonya! And, um, Christina. Here's where the all star thing falls apart...when you look awful next to the all star who is dancing in their own style. Whereas if you were dancing with a partner who wasn't All That, you might not look SOOOO bad? Maybe?

...convenient that Jose got his own style the first week. Why am I suspicious that's not random, that he didn't pull foxtrot?

Adechike and Katherine and sexy businesswear and Peanut. Mmm. But...on watching, I liked the theory better than the actuality. Katherine got to do some fun dancing, but...not sure if it was the choreo or Adechike or what, but...yeah, I think I'm with the judges, it was lack of chemistry, since there wasn't much for him to show off fancy dance-moves-wise.

Damn, Pasha does have a nice ass in those pants. I thought Melinda did better at the jive than most of the folks on this show end up doing, though I didn't notice the pidgeon-toedness they're talking about--I was just looking at the bouncey and the flicks.

Alex and Allyson--oh, but to THIS song? Really, Sonya? I mostly liked it--there were a few parts i was like "ooh..." but then one or two other parts that seemed overwraught (that maybe wouldn't have if it were another song, honestly)

Awww, I missed Twitch. :) I think if I weren't hating this song, I"d enjoy this routine a bunch, it was cute.

Ade and Lauren--Mandy Moore, what was up with the pointy shadowpuppet hands thing there near the end?

Kent doing chacha? Strength, confidence, and sexy? Hmm. NO, Tony, American teenagers do NOT chacha at Homecoming. Kent, quit making weird open mouth faces. You're adorable, but better when you're not gaping like a fish. (OMG, Cat called him out and now they can't criticize him for it!)

Ashley does robot voice and teams up with Neil! Perfect! (Oh, fine, it was OK).

Robert: America knows nothing about you! Tell us! ...OK, part of this dance just felt like riverdance meets african dance. WTF? They did seem to dance it well together. Seriously, though, Adam--one of the best? Compared to...the other boys just shown? Not to mention the boys in other seasons? I...don't know about that.

OK, now to go read what y'all wrote! Whee!!!

Alex and Allison/Sonya/Lyrical/Hallelujah- There are no words. I loved everything about that piece. There was not one moment I didn't love. The fact that Allison didn't even make top six on her season is criminal. She and Alex were a dream together. Alex Wong, y'all. I give up. I'm already out of superlatives and it's week one. Honestly.

Alexie and Twitch/NappyTab/Hip Hop/Butterfly- Another lyrical hip hop mash up of suckiness. It was overly twee from the jump, but Alexie made it even more twee. I agree with the judges, no swag. Not that she had a lot to work with. She danced like it was dance team hip hop which makes sense from a former Laker Girl. Cute as a button, though.