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.

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.

THIS. Totally this--would've LOVED to see Anthony sex that piece the hell up. And, there just wasn't a lot besides "sex it up" for the guy to DO in the piece.

oh, Anthony would have ROCKED that piece.

Lauren and Ade/Mandy Moore/Jazz/Oh Yeah- Oh, Mandy. How I adore your obsession with cheesy bad 80s pop. I felt like neither Ade nor Lauren got it. No chemistry. No connection between them. They might as well have been alone up on that stage. And someone needs to smack that smile off of TBC's face because for real? It's just not on. I kind of hate her a lot. Technically very solid, though. I gotta give them both that.

Kent and Anya/Tony and Melanie/Cha Cha- Throw Kent into the deep end no life prserver and see if he floats. I love Kent. He's better than a basket of kittens and puppies. But can I keep it real with y'all? Anya drank that fool's milkshake. It was like watching a full grown woman dance with her pre-pubescent nephew at some family wedding. She's inappropriate and he's a teensy bit watch from the hall but it works because they're both trying soooo hard. His footwork in many places was not good. The hip action was kind of there in some sections, but other times not. He handled the lifts beautifully. And he did make a game attempt to lead. Oh, I know what it was like! It was like watching a really talented junior dancer do an exhibition with his teacher. You can tell that he has all the potential and the tools to be crazy good, but he's not quite there yet. Still, he's adorable and not going anywhere anytime soon.

Ashley and Neil/Tasty/Contemporary/Some Donny Hathaway cut- Tasty does so much better in this style. Why won't the show recognize? It was a fine piece, and like the Lauren and Ade number, technically well danced. But there was no there there. I totally agree with the judges that there were steps but no feeling. She's such a non-entity. I hope she grows a personality soon.

Robert and Courtney/Sean Cheesman/African/Some Cirque du Soleil song- Yes I do believe this is the guy who choreographed the frog piece for Noelle and Russel. I think that was a far better piece. There was precious little African in this African jazz, I'll tell you what. And Robert was way too pulled up doing what little African there was. It was far from the best African infused piece they have had on the show in terms of either choreography or execution. That would still be Tasty's Lion King group dance with Danny and Sabra crushing it. Robert was goo here, though. The boy has skills. And he's awfully pretty.

I don't know who's B3. I think Adechike's gotta be one, no? Beyond that, I'm not sure. They're all really good. Maybe Ashley for being kind of non-descript. And. . . gosh, Alexie for being too cutesy? TBC for being too toothy? Cristina seems like she doesn't have a very deep fanbase and she kinda got lost next to Pasha? I just don't know. I do predict a girl boot first.

Yeah, agree with most of this except Melinda. She has struck me the wrong way somehow. Like so much of her is a front. Her thing America doesn`t know is the same thing she said in her profile piece last week, and career-promoting to boot. Idk. So I didn`t like her and I didn`t like her jive. Her retractions were good, but I think she missed a lot of the footwork, timing, and expressiveness. Hmm.
 
Lots of other good stuff. Unfortunately some of it was the All Stars. Like Mark. Mmm, Mark on the teevee screen.
 
Anyway, Alex is amazing. I loved the routine, I loved the passion. But I don`t mind the shakey bits. I really think his motion is astounding. I hope he does have a journey here. I did my part. I called! I voted for him!

TCDC:

Thank DOG that for once they're not trying to pretend that whatever time of year the show is being broadcast is when the show was shot.