So You Think You Can Dance: Top 6 Performance Show
My take on last week's eliminations:
When the top 20 performers were named, Will was absolutely my favorite of the bunch. That said, I wasn't all that distressed that he was voted out last week for one reason: the judges. The more they gushed and gushed and gushed about Will the less and less and less I wanted to see him stick around. More than anything, the judges should take this as a lesson against over-hyping someone. Nothing about Will himself or his dancing ever made me want him off the show, however, so I was still sad to see him leave. He was absolutely a class act throughout the whole season, and his post-elimination speech was eloquent and uplifting as he encouraged viewers to pursue their dreams, saying "There's no depth to the ocean: Keep swimming."
As for Comfort, I think not getting eliminated two weeks in a row was a victory in and of itself for her. No big surprise that it was her time to go (again), but she, like Will, handled it beautifully.
This week:
How I would love to see Mark make it through this week too! I think everyone should vote for him just to piss Nigel off.
At first I thought I really liked Cat's sparkly silver dress, but now I'm not so sure. It has quite a high slit on the one side and something brown on the other...I'm confused.
How did I know Adam Shankman was going to be the third judge tonight? At least since it's only an hour-long show tonight, the judges won't have too much time to babble.
They put Mark with Courtney? Come on. Why does he always have to dance with the girl who almost got sent home the week before? That's not fair. Especially since it was clearly Mark's turn to dance with Katee. And TPTB are making Mark and Courtney dance first no less!
Courtney and Mark--Dance 1 (Viennese waltz): This was a very lovely performance. Wait, someone forgot to tell Adam that they're supposed to be low-balling Mark: he just said Mark did the best "rise and fall" of any guy on the show. Wait, now Mary thinks Mark has been "growing every single week"? Why has she never mentioned that before? Now I know what's going on; they think that if they're too mean to Mark he'll get sympathy votes, so they're being moderately nice.
Chelsie's solo: In a novel turn of events, she tries to do a solo without a ruffly dress on. I'm still not sold on it though.
Twitch's solo: Umm, the first half of the routine was a little light on the dancing. I don't need to see 10 seconds worth of Twitch putting on his glasses. Cat looks cute in them though ;-) Poor Cat wears someone else's grille and she still can't get nominated for an Emmy.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 1 (contemporary): Hmm, it's not like we haven't seen these two dance together a ton of times before... Can I please put a moratorium on routines choreographed to Celine Dion songs? I liked everything about this routine except the song. The lifts were especially cool. Is this a dance competition or an episode of "Namecheck Your Favorite Choreographer"? Come on. (And of course Nigel was "so thrilled" to hear that Katee and Josh were paired together--he paired them together!)
Chelsie and Twitch--Dance 1 (mambo): Poor Twitch is hilarious with his wondering where 1 and 5 went in mambo counting. Well, Chelsie really went to town with this routine. Twitch was certainly trying, but the basic mambo technique just wasn't there. The routine was really fast, though, so he didn't have much time to catch his breath. Hey, how come when Twitch is out of his element and does ok, he gets nothing but praise from the judges, but last week when Mark was out of his element and did ok, he got skewered?
Katee's solo: Props to her for trying to show a bit of a harder edge than we normally see from her in her solos. It was alright, but she definitely thrives more in the choreographed partner routines.
Joshua's solo: Easily the best solo so far. It was tons of fun, and he did some seriously difficult looking moves (and a crazy-high split leap).
Courtney and Mark--Dance 2 (jazz): Ahh, good, Mark can rock the crazy faux hawk again. I was a big fan of that routine: no gimmicks, just good music and strong choreo. And Mark and Courtney sold the hell out of it. They definitely tapped into some dark, raw energy, and they danced the routine beautifully. The routine certainly suited Mark's bizarre style, and Courtney had no problems channeling the weirdness either.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 2 (paso doble): I think I recently complained that here hadn't been a paso doble in a while, and now one appears. Josh finally has to do a shirtless number! I love Katee's skirt. I'd say they did a pretty good job for neither of them being a true ballroomer. Uh oh, the judge over-hype is starting to make me apathetic toward Katee and Josh. And that's not good, because I love them, and I think they're great dancers.
Courtney's solo: She might have wasted her best solo on last week's elimination show. In my opinion, she still did the best solo of the girls tonight.
Mark's solo: Ha, he's taking his shirt off too. Mark's dancing is just so weird. Half the time, it looks like he's doing an Arrested Development-esque chicken dance, but it's so freaking cool.
Chelsie and Twitch--Dance 2 (hip hop): Hmm, Twitch gets to hip hop again. On the other hand, Chelsie's only hip hop was that "lyrical" routine where she was jealous of Mark working too much, which wasn't really classic hip hop. Nooooooooooo, not Tabitha and Napoleon again...and they've come with a gimmick. Awesome. I do like Chelsie's crazy hair. Chelsie overdid the facial expressions, and that shorts/socks combo is not flattering. She did seem to be a pretty good hip hopper; her movements were definitely more blunt than Twitch's more fluid movements, but I don't know if that's bad or good or what.
My favorite routines:
Mark and Courtney's jazz
Katee and Josh's contemporary (minus the music)
Josh's solo/Mark's solo
If it were up to me, the Top 4 would be Katee, Josh, Mark, and Courtney.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
TV News Roundup
What I'm paying attention to:
- Based on a behind-the-scenes Gossip Girl feature I saw on Access Hollywood a few days ago, it seems like Blair Waldorf has spent her summer vacation figuring out how to turn Chuck Bass' name into swear words. So far she's got: "Chuck Basstard" and "mother-Chucker."
- Uh oh. Art imitates life as Scott Michael Foster (Cappie) drinks too much, gets in trouble. Evan Chambers is going to have a field day with this...
- Wildfire's Kris Furillo is hooking up with one of Rory Gilmore's ex-boyfriends on Supernatural! Genevieve is seriously brave to sign on for this job, as Supernatural fans have been notoriously harsh critics of some of the show's past female characters. I'm kind of missing Kris and the Wildfire gang, though, so I might tune in for this even though I don't watch Supernatural. Wildfire, Junior, Matt, and the wind turbine are all going to be so jealous though.
- Speaking of the Wildfire gang, Nana Visitor (still can't believe that's her real name) a.k.a. Jean Ritter is in the soon-to-be-released film Swing Vote (you have to scroll down the list to find her). I know about this because she delivers what seems to be a fairly important line in the trailer.
- Even after spending a year working on Private Practice, Chris Powell is still hilarious. Is it just me, or does he seem pretty serious when he's comparing the rest of PP's cast to a group of elderly people who need someone young to reassure them that they're still attractive?
- Grunberg comes dangerously close to admitting that he thought the second season of Heroes sucked too.
- My favorite season 2 Chuck Bass outfit so far.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
SYTYCD: The Great Eight
So You Think You Can Dance: Top 8 Performance Show
Cat looks lovely tonight in a fairly understated black dress.
Toni Basil, of "Mickey" fame, is the third judge tonight. She's an interesting choice, but I think I'm going to miss Lil C.
I could live without everyone having to do a solo, personally.
Will and Courtney--Dance 1 (samba): Good, we need more Latin dances this season. Wow, Courtney's outfit is out of control. This routine seemed really long and tiring, but they did a good job of keeping their energy up the whole way through. There were a few parts where they didn't seem quite together, maybe, but when you looked at either one individually, they both looked like they were hitting it really hard. Courtney definitely looked like a samba queen (and I don't think it was just because of the outfit).
Comfort's solo: Who knew she had all this ballet training at school? It doesn't always show... While I feel like I've spent half my life watching Comfort do solos, I think this one was my favorite one yet.
Twitch and Katee--Dance 1 (contemporary): Two kids from the O.C.! It's like Ryan and Marissa 2.0! (Side note: Katee's beating the hell out of Twitch this week--first she punched him in the eye, now she's kicking him...) It's a Duffy song, but the routine is clearly depicting the Life Story of Amy Winehouse (complete with her hair and makeup). Was I the only one worried that Katee was going to get her fingers slammed in the door? This routine was edgier than other routines of Mia's, and I liked it. Katee kicked the crap out of the dancing, both of them nailed the performance, there was a hardcore kiss and a lot of door slamming...what's not to love? (I could, however, deal without the Nigel/Mary sex innuendos.)
Will's solo: Will started dancing because he loved the final dance in Dirty Dancing! That's adorable. They should make a Dirty Dancing tribute routine for him to do sometime. Holy crap! He's dressed like James Brown! Are you kidding me?! I'm not sure the "dancing" was the best he's ever done, but the whole thing was freaking hilarious. Way to go out on a limb instead of doing the same contemporary solo week after week after week.
Mark and Comfort--Dance 1 (hip hop): Wow, they're making last week's bottom two survivors dance together? They are really hanging these two out to dry. Comfort gets to dance hip hop two weeks in a row? That doesn't make much sense; she hasn't had to do a Latin dance in forever. Well, Mark definitely has the "stank face" down. This was not my favorite hip hop routine ever, but I'm putting that on the shoulders of the choreographers (Napoleon and Tabitha), not the dancers. Mark and Comfort both did a good job. I did appreciate that it was a bit harder than N&T's typical "lyrical hip hop."
Katee's solo: Not the most interesting thing ever, but her dancing was lovely, as per usual.
Joshua and Chelsie--Dance 1 (Argentine tango): Dmitry! I'm not quite as excited to see him as I would be to see Pasha, but I'm still excited. Chelsie was giving Josh a really hard time during practice, eeesh. Someone in the costume department must have gotten a discount on fringe this week. The lighting was really dark during this routine; I think it was a darn hot routine, but it was a little hard to see. I think this was definitely the best tango we've seen this season.
Mark's solo: Mark was the only boy dancer in his liberal arts school, poor kid. He says he was always a little weird. His solo dances display that weirdness, but he has definitely learned to use it to his advantage.
Will and Courntey--Dance 2 (hip hop): NOOOooooooo. I don't want to see any more slow/lyrical hip hop. I'm over it. But Will's playing a ghost, so maybe that will save it... Courtney's outfit is weird. Well, this routine was better than most of T&N's lyrical hip hop numbers, and Will and Courtney danced it quite well--I wouldn't say it's going down in SYTYCD history though. I think Mary just suggested that we "cart [her] away and take [her] to the funny farm"--don't give us any ideas, Mary. I wish Lil C were here to critique the hip hop numbers.
Chelsie's solo: She was wearing some seriously hardcore makeup in the photos from the ballroom competitions. Hey, look, more fringe! I've seen other ballroom dancers do better solos.
Katee and Twitch--Dance 2 (Broadway): Why does Katee always have to do Broadway? Wait, again Katee wants Twitch and Twitch doesn't want her? I'm noticing a theme... Katee kind of stole the show with her superior technique, but Twitch does really bring it with his performance. The lifts were wild (esp. the one where she stradled his neck and he did a wiggly walk). This was one of my favorite Broadway SYTYCD routine ever (I think this season's Broadway SYTYCD numbers have been better than they were in the past). Katee hasn't done a bad routine yet.
Joshua's solo: I wished his solo had been a little longer, because he was just getting into it when it was time to stop. The boy can be sick though, when he wants to be.
Courtney's solo: Best female solo of the night--she displayed lovely dancing and great musicality. It was a powerful little performance.
Twitch's solo: I'm going to call this an old-school street-style solo. I'm not sure if that's the correct terminology, but "street" seems to be the watchword tonight (esp. from Toni), so I'm going to go with it.
Mark and Comfort--Dance 2 (fox trot): Here comes the payback for Comfort getting to do hip hop again... I love Mark when he's dressed up in Swing Era attire. Wow, they performed this routine better than I was expecting (close hold not withstanding, I guess). Ideally it could have been faster and smoother, but it also could have been much worse. I think Comfort did better with this than she did in any of her previous ballroom attempts (and it would have been nice if one of the judges had pointed that out). The spinning lift at the end was hot.
Joshua and Chelsie--Dance 2 (disco): Chelsie is coming off really annoying this week... Well, they're certainly sparkly to say the least. I can't believe they're ending the show with disco. Poor Josh, I feel bad that they made him do this ;-) The lifts were cool, especially the Dirty Dancing-esque spinning one (which is apparently called "the superman lift"), but I wasn't thrilled with the rest. Chelsie did do a good job of being a feisty disco diva.
While I don't enjoy agreeing with the judges, I concurr that this was a really great show tonight! By far the best night of performances this season. It's hard to pick favorites tonight.
Favorite Routines:
Twitch and Katee's contemporary
Twitch and Katee's Broadway
Solos from Will, Courtney, and Josh
Who's In Trouble:
Girls: It seems likely that Comfort will be sent home for good this week. Aside from her, I wasn't all that impressed with Chelsie this week--she did well in both of her dances, but nothing blew me away.
Guys: This is a really tough call. I'd love for Mark to stay around, but I don't want to see Josh, Will, or Twitch go either. Performance wise, I didn't think Will was as amazing as he has been, and Josh got stuck with some difficult dance styles--but both of their solos were great. I think Twitch made a case to stay with both of his couple dances. I'm at a loss.
Cat looks lovely tonight in a fairly understated black dress.
Toni Basil, of "Mickey" fame, is the third judge tonight. She's an interesting choice, but I think I'm going to miss Lil C.
I could live without everyone having to do a solo, personally.
Will and Courtney--Dance 1 (samba): Good, we need more Latin dances this season. Wow, Courtney's outfit is out of control. This routine seemed really long and tiring, but they did a good job of keeping their energy up the whole way through. There were a few parts where they didn't seem quite together, maybe, but when you looked at either one individually, they both looked like they were hitting it really hard. Courtney definitely looked like a samba queen (and I don't think it was just because of the outfit).
Comfort's solo: Who knew she had all this ballet training at school? It doesn't always show... While I feel like I've spent half my life watching Comfort do solos, I think this one was my favorite one yet.
Twitch and Katee--Dance 1 (contemporary): Two kids from the O.C.! It's like Ryan and Marissa 2.0! (Side note: Katee's beating the hell out of Twitch this week--first she punched him in the eye, now she's kicking him...) It's a Duffy song, but the routine is clearly depicting the Life Story of Amy Winehouse (complete with her hair and makeup). Was I the only one worried that Katee was going to get her fingers slammed in the door? This routine was edgier than other routines of Mia's, and I liked it. Katee kicked the crap out of the dancing, both of them nailed the performance, there was a hardcore kiss and a lot of door slamming...what's not to love? (I could, however, deal without the Nigel/Mary sex innuendos.)
Will's solo: Will started dancing because he loved the final dance in Dirty Dancing! That's adorable. They should make a Dirty Dancing tribute routine for him to do sometime. Holy crap! He's dressed like James Brown! Are you kidding me?! I'm not sure the "dancing" was the best he's ever done, but the whole thing was freaking hilarious. Way to go out on a limb instead of doing the same contemporary solo week after week after week.
Mark and Comfort--Dance 1 (hip hop): Wow, they're making last week's bottom two survivors dance together? They are really hanging these two out to dry. Comfort gets to dance hip hop two weeks in a row? That doesn't make much sense; she hasn't had to do a Latin dance in forever. Well, Mark definitely has the "stank face" down. This was not my favorite hip hop routine ever, but I'm putting that on the shoulders of the choreographers (Napoleon and Tabitha), not the dancers. Mark and Comfort both did a good job. I did appreciate that it was a bit harder than N&T's typical "lyrical hip hop."
Katee's solo: Not the most interesting thing ever, but her dancing was lovely, as per usual.
Joshua and Chelsie--Dance 1 (Argentine tango): Dmitry! I'm not quite as excited to see him as I would be to see Pasha, but I'm still excited. Chelsie was giving Josh a really hard time during practice, eeesh. Someone in the costume department must have gotten a discount on fringe this week. The lighting was really dark during this routine; I think it was a darn hot routine, but it was a little hard to see. I think this was definitely the best tango we've seen this season.
Mark's solo: Mark was the only boy dancer in his liberal arts school, poor kid. He says he was always a little weird. His solo dances display that weirdness, but he has definitely learned to use it to his advantage.
Will and Courntey--Dance 2 (hip hop): NOOOooooooo. I don't want to see any more slow/lyrical hip hop. I'm over it. But Will's playing a ghost, so maybe that will save it... Courtney's outfit is weird. Well, this routine was better than most of T&N's lyrical hip hop numbers, and Will and Courtney danced it quite well--I wouldn't say it's going down in SYTYCD history though. I think Mary just suggested that we "cart [her] away and take [her] to the funny farm"--don't give us any ideas, Mary. I wish Lil C were here to critique the hip hop numbers.
Chelsie's solo: She was wearing some seriously hardcore makeup in the photos from the ballroom competitions. Hey, look, more fringe! I've seen other ballroom dancers do better solos.
Katee and Twitch--Dance 2 (Broadway): Why does Katee always have to do Broadway? Wait, again Katee wants Twitch and Twitch doesn't want her? I'm noticing a theme... Katee kind of stole the show with her superior technique, but Twitch does really bring it with his performance. The lifts were wild (esp. the one where she stradled his neck and he did a wiggly walk). This was one of my favorite Broadway SYTYCD routine ever (I think this season's Broadway SYTYCD numbers have been better than they were in the past). Katee hasn't done a bad routine yet.
Joshua's solo: I wished his solo had been a little longer, because he was just getting into it when it was time to stop. The boy can be sick though, when he wants to be.
Courtney's solo: Best female solo of the night--she displayed lovely dancing and great musicality. It was a powerful little performance.
Twitch's solo: I'm going to call this an old-school street-style solo. I'm not sure if that's the correct terminology, but "street" seems to be the watchword tonight (esp. from Toni), so I'm going to go with it.
Mark and Comfort--Dance 2 (fox trot): Here comes the payback for Comfort getting to do hip hop again... I love Mark when he's dressed up in Swing Era attire. Wow, they performed this routine better than I was expecting (close hold not withstanding, I guess). Ideally it could have been faster and smoother, but it also could have been much worse. I think Comfort did better with this than she did in any of her previous ballroom attempts (and it would have been nice if one of the judges had pointed that out). The spinning lift at the end was hot.
Joshua and Chelsie--Dance 2 (disco): Chelsie is coming off really annoying this week... Well, they're certainly sparkly to say the least. I can't believe they're ending the show with disco. Poor Josh, I feel bad that they made him do this ;-) The lifts were cool, especially the Dirty Dancing-esque spinning one (which is apparently called "the superman lift"), but I wasn't thrilled with the rest. Chelsie did do a good job of being a feisty disco diva.
While I don't enjoy agreeing with the judges, I concurr that this was a really great show tonight! By far the best night of performances this season. It's hard to pick favorites tonight.
Favorite Routines:
Twitch and Katee's contemporary
Twitch and Katee's Broadway
Solos from Will, Courtney, and Josh
Who's In Trouble:
Girls: It seems likely that Comfort will be sent home for good this week. Aside from her, I wasn't all that impressed with Chelsie this week--she did well in both of her dances, but nothing blew me away.
Guys: This is a really tough call. I'd love for Mark to stay around, but I don't want to see Josh, Will, or Twitch go either. Performance wise, I didn't think Will was as amazing as he has been, and Josh got stuck with some difficult dance styles--but both of their solos were great. I think Twitch made a case to stay with both of his couple dances. I'm at a loss.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
SYTYCD: It's the Top 10, Baby!
So You Think You Can Dance: Top 10 Performance Show
Pre-show prediction of who is in trouble this week: Gev (process of elimination) and Comfort (seeing as she was already eliminated once)
So, let's find out what's wrong with Jessica: She doesn't look particularly injured... She "broke two ribs and fractured one"--wait, what's the difference between a "break" and a "fracture"? Whatever. It doesn't seem to have affected her ability to walk around in really high heels and a really tight dress. So that, at least, is something.
As for Comfort: I can't really see this shaking out in any other way than her getting voted out this week. And getting eliminated two weeks in a row has got to really suck. At least she (and Thayne) can go on the tour.
It's nice to see Lil C on the judges panel tonight. At least I'm fairly confident that he's not going to just start shrieking...
Courtney and Joshua--Dance 1 (hip hop): Courtney has never "popped" before. It will be nice to see Josh do hip hop because I feel like I haven't seen him dance in his own style in a really long time. Courtney's hair is fantastic! (Speaking of hair, has Josh's hair always been this long? He's got quite a pony tail.) Well, I'm not popping expert, but it looks like Courtney's doing a good job to me, and I'm just glad to watch a hip hop routine that's not choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon.
Chelsie's solo: Ahh, the solo, the bane of the ballroom dancer's existence. It was fairly standard fair, but she did a pretty good job. And her tiered dress made everything look extra cool.
Kherington and Mark--Dance 1 (Texas two step): Good riddance, Twitchington, I'm so over that pairing. I had a feeling Mark would be paired with Kherington this week, because she needs someone tall. Ok, so what I'm gathering is that the two step involves a lot of spinning around. Their dancing seemed oddly slow and not as smooth as it could be. Kherington's bikini top is weird too (it reminds me of Star Wars for some reason). Kherington looks slightly terrified--because of the dance or out of fear of a wardrobe malfunction? Mary's putting the blame on Kherington and her lack of connections.
Gev's solo: It was cool how he took off one of his shirts while doing a cartwheel. Other than that, it wasn't that exciting.
Comfort and Twitch--Dance 1 (smooth waltz): Seriously? They're making Comfort and Twitch do a smooth waltz?! That's just mean! Twitch: "I have a big hand though, so she has a big seat." At least Comfort has some chemistry with this partner. As far as waltzes go, this isn't the best one I've ever seen by far, but the performance level was better than I was expecting. The lift at the end was nice. Cat: "No one puts Comfort in the corner."
Courtney's solo: She started out with a lot of flopping to the ground (looked better than it sounds). I liked this solo--it mixed some leg extensions and "tricks" with some other dance moves.
Will and Katee--Dance 1 (Broadway): Sight unseen, I love this pair. Will's a cute nerd. I still, however, do not love SYTYCD Broadway routines, but as far as they go, this is one of the better ones. It was very well danced. Dimitri and Mia are hanging out together in the audience! Lil C says Will and Katee were "explosive in the character and even more explosive in the choreography," and I agree.
Mark's solo: Mark's own style of dancing is so weird. He always dances like a mad scientist or something. Nevertheless, I like it and I hope, hope, hope he doesn't get voted off this week.
Chelsie and Gev--Dance 1 (contemporary): Poor Gev, they're sure making him out to be kind of pervy... I like the song, I like how this contemporary routine is almost waltzy at times, and I like the lifts and the incorporation of Gev's tricks. I'm a fan. Nigel needs to stop pushing this Gev/Courntey stuff.
Comfort's solo: Why do I feel like I've seen this before?
Twitch's solo: I like the floor coverage that Twitch works into his hip hop solos and also his nice, fluid movements.
Courtney and Joshua--Dance 2 (rumba): Ahh, the boringest of all the Latin dances... (Why haven't we seen a paso doble since the first episode?) Wow, Josh is selling it; he's having one of his I-don't-look-like-a-hip-hop-dancer moments. I liked this routine significantly better than the other SYTYCD rumbas that I remember. It was a little faster and that last lift kicked ass. I'm glad that Josh has also noticed that Will and Twitch are "always nekkid on stage."
Katee's solo: This is the first time we've seen her dancing by herself in quite a while, and it's definitely worth watching. You can see the technique that everyone is raving about, but I also thought she did a good job of interpreting the music.
Kherington and Mark--Dance 2 (jazz): This routine is kind of disco-tastic. Not a bad routine at all, and I hope it's enough to keep Mark in the competition. They showed good technique. These last few weeks, I've noticed something lacking in how Kherington relates to her partner.
Will's solo: Hang on, Will's dancing and his chest is thoroughly covered...wait, what?!
Comfort and Twitch--Dance 2 (hip hop): I figured they were going to give this pair a hip hop number to make up for the smooth waltz. The futuristic costumes are fun. Twitch did the backwards worm! So, based on the individual hip hopping merits of these two dancers, putting them together should make for the best hip hop routine ever, and, you know what, I think it kind of was. I've liked other hip hop routines better for the characters (Transformers, mannequins, nerds, etc), but as for the quality of hip hop dancing (and, granted, I'm no expert), I think this one took the cake. And I'll agree with Lil C that this was the best performance by Comfort ever (she stole the show in my opinion). So apparently, getting eliminated is what it takes to give Comfort a kick in the pants.
Kherington's solo: Um, I'm not all that impressed. I'm beginning to feel like we've seen all K has to offer.
Katee and Will--Dance 2 (pas de deux?! WTF?): Katee's become quite the new dance pioneer. Ahh, look, Wills not wearing a shirt. Wow, I didn't know Katee's legs bent like that either! I think this is a perfect dance for these two technically proficient dancers. I'll say that I'm a fan of the pas de deux, (or "pa de dure" as I spelled it. Ha.) which, I guess, is kind of like ballet. Whatever it was, Katee and Will were super. You know, I think I'd like to see Katee win this whole contest.
Joshua's solo: We haven't seen him dance a solo in a long time either. Well, he made me giggle. I like how he seems so sweet in real life but can put on such an attitude when he's dancing.
Chelsie and Gev--Dance 2 (jive): Ok, come on, guys, we need a good jive this season... Not to quote Mary Murphy, but when Chelsie's doing a ballroom-type dance, she is one hot tamale. Gev's personality translates well into a jive, even if he's not the best jive technician ever.
Major kudos to Lil C's judging tonight. I had a good feeling about him, and he came through. I liked how he even attempted to give constructive criticism instead of just complimenting people for looking hot and saying, "WOOOOOOOOO!"
Best Routines:
Chelsie and Gev's contemporary
Comfort and Twitch's hip hop
Katee and Will's pas de deux
Who Should Go:
Girls: Kherington (In my opinion, Comfort saved herself with the hip hop, and Kherington wasn't great at anything tonight.)
Boys: Well, I imagine it will be either Mark or Gev, and I'm not really sure who it should be. Neither of them were all that remarkable tonight.
Tomorrow night: A group Bollywood number!!! Mia choreographing the girls!!! A mystery guest working with the boys!!! Sweet!!!
Pre-show prediction of who is in trouble this week: Gev (process of elimination) and Comfort (seeing as she was already eliminated once)
So, let's find out what's wrong with Jessica: She doesn't look particularly injured... She "broke two ribs and fractured one"--wait, what's the difference between a "break" and a "fracture"? Whatever. It doesn't seem to have affected her ability to walk around in really high heels and a really tight dress. So that, at least, is something.
As for Comfort: I can't really see this shaking out in any other way than her getting voted out this week. And getting eliminated two weeks in a row has got to really suck. At least she (and Thayne) can go on the tour.
It's nice to see Lil C on the judges panel tonight. At least I'm fairly confident that he's not going to just start shrieking...
Courtney and Joshua--Dance 1 (hip hop): Courtney has never "popped" before. It will be nice to see Josh do hip hop because I feel like I haven't seen him dance in his own style in a really long time. Courtney's hair is fantastic! (Speaking of hair, has Josh's hair always been this long? He's got quite a pony tail.) Well, I'm not popping expert, but it looks like Courtney's doing a good job to me, and I'm just glad to watch a hip hop routine that's not choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon.
Chelsie's solo: Ahh, the solo, the bane of the ballroom dancer's existence. It was fairly standard fair, but she did a pretty good job. And her tiered dress made everything look extra cool.
Kherington and Mark--Dance 1 (Texas two step): Good riddance, Twitchington, I'm so over that pairing. I had a feeling Mark would be paired with Kherington this week, because she needs someone tall. Ok, so what I'm gathering is that the two step involves a lot of spinning around. Their dancing seemed oddly slow and not as smooth as it could be. Kherington's bikini top is weird too (it reminds me of Star Wars for some reason). Kherington looks slightly terrified--because of the dance or out of fear of a wardrobe malfunction? Mary's putting the blame on Kherington and her lack of connections.
Gev's solo: It was cool how he took off one of his shirts while doing a cartwheel. Other than that, it wasn't that exciting.
Comfort and Twitch--Dance 1 (smooth waltz): Seriously? They're making Comfort and Twitch do a smooth waltz?! That's just mean! Twitch: "I have a big hand though, so she has a big seat." At least Comfort has some chemistry with this partner. As far as waltzes go, this isn't the best one I've ever seen by far, but the performance level was better than I was expecting. The lift at the end was nice. Cat: "No one puts Comfort in the corner."
Courtney's solo: She started out with a lot of flopping to the ground (looked better than it sounds). I liked this solo--it mixed some leg extensions and "tricks" with some other dance moves.
Will and Katee--Dance 1 (Broadway): Sight unseen, I love this pair. Will's a cute nerd. I still, however, do not love SYTYCD Broadway routines, but as far as they go, this is one of the better ones. It was very well danced. Dimitri and Mia are hanging out together in the audience! Lil C says Will and Katee were "explosive in the character and even more explosive in the choreography," and I agree.
Mark's solo: Mark's own style of dancing is so weird. He always dances like a mad scientist or something. Nevertheless, I like it and I hope, hope, hope he doesn't get voted off this week.
Chelsie and Gev--Dance 1 (contemporary): Poor Gev, they're sure making him out to be kind of pervy... I like the song, I like how this contemporary routine is almost waltzy at times, and I like the lifts and the incorporation of Gev's tricks. I'm a fan. Nigel needs to stop pushing this Gev/Courntey stuff.
Comfort's solo: Why do I feel like I've seen this before?
Twitch's solo: I like the floor coverage that Twitch works into his hip hop solos and also his nice, fluid movements.
Courtney and Joshua--Dance 2 (rumba): Ahh, the boringest of all the Latin dances... (Why haven't we seen a paso doble since the first episode?) Wow, Josh is selling it; he's having one of his I-don't-look-like-a-hip-hop-dancer moments. I liked this routine significantly better than the other SYTYCD rumbas that I remember. It was a little faster and that last lift kicked ass. I'm glad that Josh has also noticed that Will and Twitch are "always nekkid on stage."
Katee's solo: This is the first time we've seen her dancing by herself in quite a while, and it's definitely worth watching. You can see the technique that everyone is raving about, but I also thought she did a good job of interpreting the music.
Kherington and Mark--Dance 2 (jazz): This routine is kind of disco-tastic. Not a bad routine at all, and I hope it's enough to keep Mark in the competition. They showed good technique. These last few weeks, I've noticed something lacking in how Kherington relates to her partner.
Will's solo: Hang on, Will's dancing and his chest is thoroughly covered...wait, what?!
Comfort and Twitch--Dance 2 (hip hop): I figured they were going to give this pair a hip hop number to make up for the smooth waltz. The futuristic costumes are fun. Twitch did the backwards worm! So, based on the individual hip hopping merits of these two dancers, putting them together should make for the best hip hop routine ever, and, you know what, I think it kind of was. I've liked other hip hop routines better for the characters (Transformers, mannequins, nerds, etc), but as for the quality of hip hop dancing (and, granted, I'm no expert), I think this one took the cake. And I'll agree with Lil C that this was the best performance by Comfort ever (she stole the show in my opinion). So apparently, getting eliminated is what it takes to give Comfort a kick in the pants.
Kherington's solo: Um, I'm not all that impressed. I'm beginning to feel like we've seen all K has to offer.
Katee and Will--Dance 2 (pas de deux?! WTF?): Katee's become quite the new dance pioneer. Ahh, look, Wills not wearing a shirt. Wow, I didn't know Katee's legs bent like that either! I think this is a perfect dance for these two technically proficient dancers. I'll say that I'm a fan of the pas de deux, (or "pa de dure" as I spelled it. Ha.) which, I guess, is kind of like ballet. Whatever it was, Katee and Will were super. You know, I think I'd like to see Katee win this whole contest.
Joshua's solo: We haven't seen him dance a solo in a long time either. Well, he made me giggle. I like how he seems so sweet in real life but can put on such an attitude when he's dancing.
Chelsie and Gev--Dance 2 (jive): Ok, come on, guys, we need a good jive this season... Not to quote Mary Murphy, but when Chelsie's doing a ballroom-type dance, she is one hot tamale. Gev's personality translates well into a jive, even if he's not the best jive technician ever.
Major kudos to Lil C's judging tonight. I had a good feeling about him, and he came through. I liked how he even attempted to give constructive criticism instead of just complimenting people for looking hot and saying, "WOOOOOOOOO!"
Best Routines:
Chelsie and Gev's contemporary
Comfort and Twitch's hip hop
Katee and Will's pas de deux
Who Should Go:
Girls: Kherington (In my opinion, Comfort saved herself with the hip hop, and Kherington wasn't great at anything tonight.)
Boys: Well, I imagine it will be either Mark or Gev, and I'm not really sure who it should be. Neither of them were all that remarkable tonight.
Tomorrow night: A group Bollywood number!!! Mia choreographing the girls!!! A mystery guest working with the boys!!! Sweet!!!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Burn Notice: Back in Miami
Burn Notice: "Breaking and Entering"
Yea, Burn Notice is back! It's nice to reclaim at least some of the glory that was last summer's television. Let's just see if I can remember anything that was going on...
The best part about Burn Notice is the characters. Michael, Fiona, and Sam are all extremely likable, and Michael and Fee are so cool that it almost hurts. The second best part about Burn Notice is that it's so freaking fun. It's like Alias before we had to worry about prophecies and entire cities blowing up.
Not that Burn Notice doesn't have it's share of high stakes. After all, Michael is being coerced into working for the people who "burned" him (for some unknown reason) and who do not seem like the nicest bunch of folks you'll ever want to meet. The lady on the phone is all kinds of annoying with her threats, but at least by the end of the episode we got to put a face to her voice. It wasn't a big surprise that the seemingly-random "firecracker" at the bar turned out to be the mystery lady, but it was still entertaining.
Highlights:
- It's nice to see Fiona again since seeing the actress who plays her (Gabrielle Anwar) in The Tudors playing Henry's sister (who ended up being kind of pathetic, which is something Fiona will never be).
- Michael (on airbags): "Gone are the days when you could run through a line of trees without getting a face full of nylon."
- Back to Miami already...Michael had barely left.
- Poor Jimmy. He has quite an unfortunate tale.
- Sam trying to fit into Michael's shirt.
- Ha, nice accent!
- The scene where Mike and Fee were shooting at each other and trying to miss was pretty awesome.
- The Psych commercial of Gus and Shawn singing "Ebony and Ivory" is hilarious.
- Spies have such extensive experience in the strangest stuff (cutting through a floor, for example).
- Michael laughing when Jimmy tells the security guy to take off his jacket and pants.
- Jimmy giving Michael his car as a thank you.
- Ahh, the obligatory beginning-of-season-two break up. This is television; we can't have the couple be together, now can we?
I'm glad to have this show back. Now if only Damages had returned too...
SYTYCD: Picking the Top 10
So You Think You Can Dance: Results Show
I wasn't planning on blogging about this episode, but I'm so pleased with myself for calling the bottom three that I just wanted to gloat.
Maybe Nigel should consider that Kherington and Twitch made the bottom three because they're not as big of "favorites" to America as they are to the judges. Or maybe that tango just stunk so badly that no one could bring themselves to vote for them.
I think it's interesting who the top three couples couples have turned out to be at this stage of the competition. Mark/Chelsie, Courtney/Gev, and Joshua/Katee have all turned out consistently good performances throughout the competition. And most of them haven't gotten any (or at least not very much) undo favoritism shown to them by the judges. I'd say that this week, America got it exactly right.
Pre-solo observations:
Guys--Thayne's gone no matter what. He's been in the bottom three too many times, and there's no way the judges are going to eliminate either Will or Twitch.
Girls--Kherington will get a free pass: it's down to Comfort and Jessica.
Jessica: I'm just concerned that she's going to fall out of the top of her dress. The solo was better than the last one she did, but still not very exciting. Can someone explain to me why the judges put her in the top 20 in the first place instead of the girl who had the famous choreographer mom and was in High School Musical? She was so good!
Will: Must have decided that the dancing-while-wearing-as-little-clothing-as-possible thing works well for him. He doesn't need gimmicks though, because his solos are fantastic. All of the jumps and the flopping around was great (and looked a lot better than it sounds).
Kherington: I'd say that she's lucky that she's getting a free pass this week, because this solo wasn't particularly interesting. It didn't absolutely suck though, and it would have had to for her to be in any danger at all. In general, girl contemporary solos have been boring me to tears lately.
Twitch: Nice solo about a "mad conductor" that is based off a painting. How artistic, Twitch! Frankly, I just enjoy that he seemed to have put some thought into this solo instead of just jogging around, wiggling, or kicking up his legs.
Katy Perry is wearing a seriously short skirt.
Post solo observations:
Twitch and Will are definitely staying. As for the Jessica and Comfort, whoever makes it through tonight is most likely going to go next week anyway, because America hasn't taken to either of them. The only significance is that one of them won't be on the tour (unless they expand it to 12 dancers like I think they did last year). This stipulation has me convinced that Jessica will stay, purely so she and Will can perform the beloved "Adam and Eve" number on the tour.
The Results:
Comfort "really pulled it out with her solo"?! Really?! What was I watching? Jessica's been "absolutely stunning" in "at least one routine every week"?! Really?! Nigel's just blowing my mind here... (A translation of what he was babbling about is: they want the "Adam and Eve" number in the tour. They should just have the balls to say that.)
Why when everyone gets eliminated do they feel the need to tell us that "this is not it" for them and that they are going to continue dancing? Well, duh. We don't expect you to just pack it in and go get a real job.
I do agree with Nigel that it would have been nice to lose two girls tonight.
The best news out of all of this is that the partnerings will get mixed up next week and Will won't have to carry Jessica any longer. Whoever is her partner is going to have to really be on his game.
I wasn't planning on blogging about this episode, but I'm so pleased with myself for calling the bottom three that I just wanted to gloat.
Maybe Nigel should consider that Kherington and Twitch made the bottom three because they're not as big of "favorites" to America as they are to the judges. Or maybe that tango just stunk so badly that no one could bring themselves to vote for them.
I think it's interesting who the top three couples couples have turned out to be at this stage of the competition. Mark/Chelsie, Courtney/Gev, and Joshua/Katee have all turned out consistently good performances throughout the competition. And most of them haven't gotten any (or at least not very much) undo favoritism shown to them by the judges. I'd say that this week, America got it exactly right.
Pre-solo observations:
Guys--Thayne's gone no matter what. He's been in the bottom three too many times, and there's no way the judges are going to eliminate either Will or Twitch.
Girls--Kherington will get a free pass: it's down to Comfort and Jessica.
Solos:
Comfort: Lots of jogging around and nothing we haven't seen before or find particularly impressive.
Thayne: Also displaying nothing we haven't seen before, but I guess that's understandable since he's had to do solos week after week after week.Jessica: I'm just concerned that she's going to fall out of the top of her dress. The solo was better than the last one she did, but still not very exciting. Can someone explain to me why the judges put her in the top 20 in the first place instead of the girl who had the famous choreographer mom and was in High School Musical? She was so good!
Will: Must have decided that the dancing-while-wearing-as-little-clothing-as-possible thing works well for him. He doesn't need gimmicks though, because his solos are fantastic. All of the jumps and the flopping around was great (and looked a lot better than it sounds).
Kherington: I'd say that she's lucky that she's getting a free pass this week, because this solo wasn't particularly interesting. It didn't absolutely suck though, and it would have had to for her to be in any danger at all. In general, girl contemporary solos have been boring me to tears lately.
Twitch: Nice solo about a "mad conductor" that is based off a painting. How artistic, Twitch! Frankly, I just enjoy that he seemed to have put some thought into this solo instead of just jogging around, wiggling, or kicking up his legs.
Katy Perry is wearing a seriously short skirt.
Post solo observations:
Twitch and Will are definitely staying. As for the Jessica and Comfort, whoever makes it through tonight is most likely going to go next week anyway, because America hasn't taken to either of them. The only significance is that one of them won't be on the tour (unless they expand it to 12 dancers like I think they did last year). This stipulation has me convinced that Jessica will stay, purely so she and Will can perform the beloved "Adam and Eve" number on the tour.
The Results:
Comfort "really pulled it out with her solo"?! Really?! What was I watching? Jessica's been "absolutely stunning" in "at least one routine every week"?! Really?! Nigel's just blowing my mind here... (A translation of what he was babbling about is: they want the "Adam and Eve" number in the tour. They should just have the balls to say that.)
Why when everyone gets eliminated do they feel the need to tell us that "this is not it" for them and that they are going to continue dancing? Well, duh. We don't expect you to just pack it in and go get a real job.
I do agree with Nigel that it would have been nice to lose two girls tonight.
The best news out of all of this is that the partnerings will get mixed up next week and Will won't have to carry Jessica any longer. Whoever is her partner is going to have to really be on his game.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
SYTYCD: 12 Dancers Dancing
So You Think You Can Dance: Top 12 Dance
Last week's eliminations: Well, I guess it's been established that I'd have shown Thayne and Comfort the door in a hot minute, so obviously I was annoyed that they escaped elimination again. Kourtni Lind and Matt were my favorites of the bottom six, but I can understand why they were eliminated. No matter how they danced, America never seemed to vote for them, so they were just going to keep ending up in the bottom three week after week after week. I think the judges should be regretting how many contemporary dancers they put in the Top 20.
I like Cat's dress tonight.
Yea, Mia's on the judging panel tonight! As much as I enjoy her choreography, I appreciate her being on the judging panel just as much. She tends to add some honesty and sanity to the proceedings. And how scary is it that Mia Michaels is the sanest one at the table?
The first ever SYTYCD Bollywood routine?! Bring it on.
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 1 (salsa): Hot little outfit Chelsie's got there, and Mark fits the Latin role well. I'm liking this a lot; see why you should put ballroom dancers on this show? The lift at the end was great--but how he put her down was even cooler!! I think that was the coolest move if seen on SYTYCD all year!
Mia (to Chelsie): "You're so gorgeous, I want to stab you." Eesh, I guess my sanity comment was premature.
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 1 (hip hop): By giving them hip hop, SYTYCD is definitely trying to show us why Comfort is here. Major props to Napoleon and Tabitha for trying to get Thayne to stop smiling--that earns them some major brownie points in my book. Well, as far as softer hip hop goes, this routine was all right, and "all right" is the highest praise these two are ever going to get from me. The best part was Cat namechecking Days of Our Lives. (Hmm, yeah, guess what, SYTYCD? We still don't know why these people are still here.)
Jessica and Will--Dance 1 (contemporary from Tyce): Wow, Will's got some seriously short shorts on! It took me so long to get over that, that I think I missed half of the dance. Well, this is nice; I'm sure the judges and the pre-teen girls are going to go gaga over it. Gotta say, though, that it still looks like Jessica is just a prop Will's dancing with. Ha, Mary's "You Tarzan, me Jane" comment was actually amusing. Mary seems slightly toned down tonight--it's nice, and I wonder how long it will last. Tyce and Mia hang out together at her house?
Courntey and Gev--Dance 1 (cha cha): PASHA AND ANYA!!!! Ok, I'm confused, because last time I checked, Kazakhstan was not Russia. Ooh, they started with a nice lift. Courtney always looks like she's having so much fun when she's dancing. Honestly, I can't even concentrate on the dance and whether it's good or not, because I'm so excited to see Pasha. Pasha's sooooooo freaking adorable.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 1 (krump): Didn't they already krump? I guess that was someone else...apparently my krump recall is not what it could be. Kherington's got some seriously tight, seriously shiny pants. Kherington might actually have been overdoing the gangster attitude, but I thought her dancing was pretty good. Twitch was good too, as expected. That was possibly my favorite SYTYCD krump routine ever, but I guess that's not saying all that much. Ouch, Nigel just compared Kherington to Miley Cyrus--that's uncalled for.
***Wow, I just switched over to 13 Going On 30 just in time to see the "Thriller" dance! Yea! Violet's got the coolest mom ever...***
Katee and Joshua--Dance 1 (Viennese waltz): Josh is playing a ghost. Shouldn't he be wearing white? Or a big sheet? If they hadn't told me he was a ghost, I'd have never picked up on it. In any event, this wasn't a bad waltz. Katee's leg kicks were gorgeous, and the "snake" lift thing was stunning. Waltz expert Mary says it didn't glide enough, and I'll buy into that.
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 2 (Broadway): I tried to guess what style they were dancing based on their outfits, and couldn't come up with anything. Mark looks kind of mime-ish, but I don't know what style of dance that translates into. Broadway, apparently. I guess that fits--suspenders definitely say "Broadway" or "jazz." Who knew Mark could do turns and splits? These two do dance very well together, considering how they seem to merely begrudgingly tolerate each other in the practices ;-)
Nigel: "You'd never go into a kitchen dressed like that, would you?"
Cat: "Not to cook."
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 2 (contemporary): First Comfort's style, now Thayne's. Hmm, someone's getting tonight handed to them on a platter. Or, more likely, someone's getting set up to fail and is about to have the hammer dropped on them. That's a frumpy dress Comfort's got on, especially considering the get-ups that Chelsie, Jessica, and Courtney have had on. Again, I'm going to say that this routine was better than usual for these two purely because Thayne wasn't smiling. I didn't think it was as bad as the judges did; this couple is getting a little low-balled tonight, but I'm not about to become a Comfort and Thayne defender here.
Jessica and Will--Dance 2 (quick step): The quick step: AHHHHHHH! Wow, Will just did a lot of back handsprings. Hey, a dance where Jessica's forced, omnipresent smile is almost appropriate! If this is a quick step, shouldn't they have been stepping more quickly? Most times, it seemed more like swing or a jive. I'm not sure that the quick step would be such a kiss of death if someone would just come out and do a good routine that was actually a quick step. It seems like it could be kind of cool.
Mia: "Will, you look tired of carrying her. ...You need a new partner." HA! Holy crap, Mia!
Courtney and Gev--Dance 2 (jazz): Ha, an Indiana Jones jazz number--that's interesting. This routine makes spelunking seem quite sexy! And I'm impressed that Gev could do that whole routine while wearing a man-purse. I loved this routine! Definitely one of my favorites of the night--and perhaps the season. Very good performance. And they do act like an old married couple.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 2 (smooth tango): Tango dance fighting, huh? The lighting in the beginning was so dark that I could barely see them. Ok, the music was demanding a passion that I just didn't see. It seemed like they were so preoccupied with what they had to do that they lost the performance. And I didn't see much fighting. This wasn't great at all (it was so bad that the judges even admitted it, despite their overzealous love for this couple). Again, ladies and gentlemen, this is why we need more ballroom dancers on this show.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 2 (Bollywood): Finally, the fabled Bollywood routine. Not sure I would have picked Katee and Josh to do it, but whatever. New choreographers! (Good, I was worried they'd have some non-Indian person choreograph a "Bollywood" routine.) Well, at least Josh looks amused with himself... Ok, I'm pretty amused with him too; he's selling it. That was fun. I can't really judge how authentic it was, but it was super fun. Let's have more cultural dancing. Maybe some polka next week? That Russian dance where they do the squats?
My Favorite Routines:
Courtney and Gev's jazz
Katee and Joshua's Bollywood
Chelise and Mark's salsa
The Bottom Three Should Be:
Comfort and Thayne
Kherington and Twitch
Jessica and Will
So, who is not going to make the Top 10? Based on the judges comments tonight, Comfort and Thayne may finally be in trouble. Comfort seems to have shown us all she can do. The boys who are left are all pretty strong, and I don't see anyone other than Thayne getting the boot. If something weird happens and Jessica ends up in the bottom three with girls other than Comfort, she's going to go.
Last week's eliminations: Well, I guess it's been established that I'd have shown Thayne and Comfort the door in a hot minute, so obviously I was annoyed that they escaped elimination again. Kourtni Lind and Matt were my favorites of the bottom six, but I can understand why they were eliminated. No matter how they danced, America never seemed to vote for them, so they were just going to keep ending up in the bottom three week after week after week. I think the judges should be regretting how many contemporary dancers they put in the Top 20.
I like Cat's dress tonight.
Yea, Mia's on the judging panel tonight! As much as I enjoy her choreography, I appreciate her being on the judging panel just as much. She tends to add some honesty and sanity to the proceedings. And how scary is it that Mia Michaels is the sanest one at the table?
The first ever SYTYCD Bollywood routine?! Bring it on.
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 1 (salsa): Hot little outfit Chelsie's got there, and Mark fits the Latin role well. I'm liking this a lot; see why you should put ballroom dancers on this show? The lift at the end was great--but how he put her down was even cooler!! I think that was the coolest move if seen on SYTYCD all year!
Mia (to Chelsie): "You're so gorgeous, I want to stab you." Eesh, I guess my sanity comment was premature.
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 1 (hip hop): By giving them hip hop, SYTYCD is definitely trying to show us why Comfort is here. Major props to Napoleon and Tabitha for trying to get Thayne to stop smiling--that earns them some major brownie points in my book. Well, as far as softer hip hop goes, this routine was all right, and "all right" is the highest praise these two are ever going to get from me. The best part was Cat namechecking Days of Our Lives. (Hmm, yeah, guess what, SYTYCD? We still don't know why these people are still here.)
Jessica and Will--Dance 1 (contemporary from Tyce): Wow, Will's got some seriously short shorts on! It took me so long to get over that, that I think I missed half of the dance. Well, this is nice; I'm sure the judges and the pre-teen girls are going to go gaga over it. Gotta say, though, that it still looks like Jessica is just a prop Will's dancing with. Ha, Mary's "You Tarzan, me Jane" comment was actually amusing. Mary seems slightly toned down tonight--it's nice, and I wonder how long it will last. Tyce and Mia hang out together at her house?
Courntey and Gev--Dance 1 (cha cha): PASHA AND ANYA!!!! Ok, I'm confused, because last time I checked, Kazakhstan was not Russia. Ooh, they started with a nice lift. Courtney always looks like she's having so much fun when she's dancing. Honestly, I can't even concentrate on the dance and whether it's good or not, because I'm so excited to see Pasha. Pasha's sooooooo freaking adorable.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 1 (krump): Didn't they already krump? I guess that was someone else...apparently my krump recall is not what it could be. Kherington's got some seriously tight, seriously shiny pants. Kherington might actually have been overdoing the gangster attitude, but I thought her dancing was pretty good. Twitch was good too, as expected. That was possibly my favorite SYTYCD krump routine ever, but I guess that's not saying all that much. Ouch, Nigel just compared Kherington to Miley Cyrus--that's uncalled for.
***Wow, I just switched over to 13 Going On 30 just in time to see the "Thriller" dance! Yea! Violet's got the coolest mom ever...***
Katee and Joshua--Dance 1 (Viennese waltz): Josh is playing a ghost. Shouldn't he be wearing white? Or a big sheet? If they hadn't told me he was a ghost, I'd have never picked up on it. In any event, this wasn't a bad waltz. Katee's leg kicks were gorgeous, and the "snake" lift thing was stunning. Waltz expert Mary says it didn't glide enough, and I'll buy into that.
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 2 (Broadway): I tried to guess what style they were dancing based on their outfits, and couldn't come up with anything. Mark looks kind of mime-ish, but I don't know what style of dance that translates into. Broadway, apparently. I guess that fits--suspenders definitely say "Broadway" or "jazz." Who knew Mark could do turns and splits? These two do dance very well together, considering how they seem to merely begrudgingly tolerate each other in the practices ;-)
Nigel: "You'd never go into a kitchen dressed like that, would you?"
Cat: "Not to cook."
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 2 (contemporary): First Comfort's style, now Thayne's. Hmm, someone's getting tonight handed to them on a platter. Or, more likely, someone's getting set up to fail and is about to have the hammer dropped on them. That's a frumpy dress Comfort's got on, especially considering the get-ups that Chelsie, Jessica, and Courtney have had on. Again, I'm going to say that this routine was better than usual for these two purely because Thayne wasn't smiling. I didn't think it was as bad as the judges did; this couple is getting a little low-balled tonight, but I'm not about to become a Comfort and Thayne defender here.
Jessica and Will--Dance 2 (quick step): The quick step: AHHHHHHH! Wow, Will just did a lot of back handsprings. Hey, a dance where Jessica's forced, omnipresent smile is almost appropriate! If this is a quick step, shouldn't they have been stepping more quickly? Most times, it seemed more like swing or a jive. I'm not sure that the quick step would be such a kiss of death if someone would just come out and do a good routine that was actually a quick step. It seems like it could be kind of cool.
Mia: "Will, you look tired of carrying her. ...You need a new partner." HA! Holy crap, Mia!
Courtney and Gev--Dance 2 (jazz): Ha, an Indiana Jones jazz number--that's interesting. This routine makes spelunking seem quite sexy! And I'm impressed that Gev could do that whole routine while wearing a man-purse. I loved this routine! Definitely one of my favorites of the night--and perhaps the season. Very good performance. And they do act like an old married couple.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 2 (smooth tango): Tango dance fighting, huh? The lighting in the beginning was so dark that I could barely see them. Ok, the music was demanding a passion that I just didn't see. It seemed like they were so preoccupied with what they had to do that they lost the performance. And I didn't see much fighting. This wasn't great at all (it was so bad that the judges even admitted it, despite their overzealous love for this couple). Again, ladies and gentlemen, this is why we need more ballroom dancers on this show.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 2 (Bollywood): Finally, the fabled Bollywood routine. Not sure I would have picked Katee and Josh to do it, but whatever. New choreographers! (Good, I was worried they'd have some non-Indian person choreograph a "Bollywood" routine.) Well, at least Josh looks amused with himself... Ok, I'm pretty amused with him too; he's selling it. That was fun. I can't really judge how authentic it was, but it was super fun. Let's have more cultural dancing. Maybe some polka next week? That Russian dance where they do the squats?
My Favorite Routines:
Courtney and Gev's jazz
Katee and Joshua's Bollywood
Chelise and Mark's salsa
The Bottom Three Should Be:
Comfort and Thayne
Kherington and Twitch
Jessica and Will
So, who is not going to make the Top 10? Based on the judges comments tonight, Comfort and Thayne may finally be in trouble. Comfort seems to have shown us all she can do. The boys who are left are all pretty strong, and I don't see anyone other than Thayne getting the boot. If something weird happens and Jessica ends up in the bottom three with girls other than Comfort, she's going to go.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
SYTYCD: 14 Dancers Dancing
So You Think You Can Dance: Top 14 Dance
Last week's eliminations: Not too sorry to see Chelsea go, although I did like her solo. I never thought she excelled in the partner dances. I am majorly annoyed that the judges squandered yet another opportunity to spare us from watching any more of Thayne and his huge, scary smile. As I liked Chris, I was sorry to see him go, but I didn't think his solo was that awesome. Kourtni and Matt's solos were great.
Tonight:
Whoa, Cat took her penchant for weird dresses to the next level tonight. That thing is bizarre and not particularly attractive.
Is Kourtni Lind wearing just one sock as a fashion statement, or is it hiding an ankle brace?
WHOA--they're dancing twice tonight?! Sweet! That means the judges won't have to comment on every routine for 15+ minutes.
Jessica and Will--Dance 1 (jive): I still just do not like Jessica, and that definitely stands in the way of me enjoying any dance they do. She always either has a fake smile on her face or a look of dead seriousness/fright. In this routine, they were definitely trying really hard, but something also definitely didn't seem quite right with most of it... Ahh, Mary says there were lots of "missed connections"--that must be it. Nigel suggests that Jessica's "weight was in the wrong place," and I'll concur. I'll also concur that Jessica's going to be in big trouble once she gets separated from Will.
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 1 (Broadway): Hmm, Comfort and Thayne doing Broadway--could this routine be any less appealing to me? Thayne fits into the Broadway dancing mode rather well. I think Comfort's in over her head though. I have to say that the music/choreo made me like this Broadway number more than I usually like the Broadway routines on this show. Ouch, Nigel's being harsh (honest?) tonight--good.
Kourtni and Matt--Dance 1 (hip hop): I don't think Matt's as bad at this as he thinks he is--I'd say he's rather good. I liked this routine, and I thought they danced it well. Wait, there are hip hop competitions? I think Tabitha and Napoleon are just jealous because someone else choreographed a better hip hop routine than they do (I'm not a really big fan of the two of them...Dan needs to come back as the third judge).
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 1 (jazz): Mark is selling it ;-) I like this routine because I can actually see that it is "jazz" as opposed to contemporary. All in all, it was all right--nothing earth-shattering, but definitely enjoyable. These two are definitely consistently one of my favorite overall couples.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 1 (paso doble): I don't think that Twitch has the paso doble story quite right, but whatever. Dancing with the capes in the beginning made for a dramatic opening, but I enjoyed the post-cape dance much better. This was one of the first times I thought these two really earned their superstar status in this competition. I wish I knew what the moves are that Mary said weren't good--it's not helpful when she uses the correct names for the moves if they don't show us a clip of what she's talking about. Right, Nigel, Travis and Heidi did do a fabulous paso doble in Season 2...everything was better back then.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 1 (contemporary): Another routine from Mia Michaels about a doomed couple...I'm noticing a trend. I wasn't sold on the really slow beginning, but once they really started to dance, I was impressed with both choreo and performance. I think Katee nailed the facial expressions and performance. Quite good. Katee is definitely a find. (And I like her best without the bangs.)
Courtney and Gev--Dance 1 (hip hop): Ahh, thank goodness, someone finally brought back the baggy hip hop clothes--I've missed them. Courtney did pretty great; half the time, I don't think I even notice that Gev was up there with her. Part of the problem might be that you can't see his eyes because of the hat.
Jessica and Will--Dance 2 (lyrical jazz): Lyrical jazz with a big shirt, ok... This routine is kind of '80s-eriffic. Letting Will show off all his muscles is definitely a good strategy. I liked this routine. Jessica bothered me far less in this routine than she usually does. The lifts were really cool, and the pulling-each-other-across-the-floor-by-the-shirt stuff was cool too. Something about the silly faces Will occasionally makes reminds me of Bill Cosby.
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 2 (waltz): I'm going to say it was all right, but not great. Comfort still looks like a hip hop dancer trying to waltz. The long, spinning lift was lovely, however. Hmm, Tabitha thinks something about Thayne looked phony...you don't say.
Kourtni and Matt--Dance 2 (mambo): Matt: "I don't hate the mambo, the mambo hates me." The lift in the beginning was pretty good--and these two don't do a lot of lifts. Well, it wasn't as smooth as a Benji/Heidi mambo, but it didn't suck. I'm not sure these two really can do "down and dirty" all that well; they're both kind of innately classy.
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 2 (fox trot): Wow, that's quite a dress. She looks like Mrs. Peacock in the lounge with a candlestick. A very classy routine and quite enjoyable to watch. You could tell Chelsie knew what she was doing, and Mark did a good job keeping up with her. He brought back his classic movie star look for this routine, and I quite enjoy that look for him.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 2 (contemporary): Why do I feel like I've seen these two do a contemporary number before? I guess it's because that waltz they did a couple weeks ago had some strong contemporary overtones. Whoa, Mia flat out brought a bed onto the stage...that's gutsy. And rose petals too--she's pulling out all the stops. This routine may go down as a classic, but I'm not completely sold on it. I feel like Kherington was barely in it. It was no bench routine in my book.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 2 (West Coast swing): West Coast swing means one thing: Benji!!! And Lacey! And a dog! (whatever...) I think Benji's toned himself down a bit since last season. Um, that was the slowest West Coast swing (WCS) I've ever seen... Color me disappointed. That was nowhere nearly as good as Pasha and Sarah's WCS last season.
Courtney and Gev--Dance 2 (Broadway): Both of the Broadway routines were better choreographed tonight (in my opinion), but the whole medium still just kind of sucks. I did like Courtney's outfit. Gev did rock his character in this routine, for what that's worth. If you need a dancing dorky tourist, Gev's your guy.
Favorite Routines:
Katee and Joshua's contemporary
Will and Jessica's lyrical jazz
Chelsie and Mark's waltz
Destined for the Bottom:
Comfort and Thayne
Kourtni and Matt (which is unfortunate because I like them)
Courtney and Gev (by process of elimination, even though they were fine tonight)
I'm going to go on record as saying that it's a major problem that there aren't more ballroom dancers on this show this season. (Chelsie is the only one left at this point.) And I think that its especially a problem that there are no male ballroomers left. Dancers like Heidi and Benji and Pasha and Lacey can really make a partner number. Because they have a strong base of knowledge in the waltz and Latin styles, the routines they and their partners do can be more difficult and more interesting. This season, we're left with a lot of contemporary dancers and a few hip hoppers who are trying to do waltzes, Latin dances, and swing routines, so of course it's not going to be as good as the dances we've seen in the past.
Last week's eliminations: Not too sorry to see Chelsea go, although I did like her solo. I never thought she excelled in the partner dances. I am majorly annoyed that the judges squandered yet another opportunity to spare us from watching any more of Thayne and his huge, scary smile. As I liked Chris, I was sorry to see him go, but I didn't think his solo was that awesome. Kourtni and Matt's solos were great.
Tonight:
Whoa, Cat took her penchant for weird dresses to the next level tonight. That thing is bizarre and not particularly attractive.
Is Kourtni Lind wearing just one sock as a fashion statement, or is it hiding an ankle brace?
WHOA--they're dancing twice tonight?! Sweet! That means the judges won't have to comment on every routine for 15+ minutes.
Jessica and Will--Dance 1 (jive): I still just do not like Jessica, and that definitely stands in the way of me enjoying any dance they do. She always either has a fake smile on her face or a look of dead seriousness/fright. In this routine, they were definitely trying really hard, but something also definitely didn't seem quite right with most of it... Ahh, Mary says there were lots of "missed connections"--that must be it. Nigel suggests that Jessica's "weight was in the wrong place," and I'll concur. I'll also concur that Jessica's going to be in big trouble once she gets separated from Will.
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 1 (Broadway): Hmm, Comfort and Thayne doing Broadway--could this routine be any less appealing to me? Thayne fits into the Broadway dancing mode rather well. I think Comfort's in over her head though. I have to say that the music/choreo made me like this Broadway number more than I usually like the Broadway routines on this show. Ouch, Nigel's being harsh (honest?) tonight--good.
Kourtni and Matt--Dance 1 (hip hop): I don't think Matt's as bad at this as he thinks he is--I'd say he's rather good. I liked this routine, and I thought they danced it well. Wait, there are hip hop competitions? I think Tabitha and Napoleon are just jealous because someone else choreographed a better hip hop routine than they do (I'm not a really big fan of the two of them...Dan needs to come back as the third judge).
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 1 (jazz): Mark is selling it ;-) I like this routine because I can actually see that it is "jazz" as opposed to contemporary. All in all, it was all right--nothing earth-shattering, but definitely enjoyable. These two are definitely consistently one of my favorite overall couples.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 1 (paso doble): I don't think that Twitch has the paso doble story quite right, but whatever. Dancing with the capes in the beginning made for a dramatic opening, but I enjoyed the post-cape dance much better. This was one of the first times I thought these two really earned their superstar status in this competition. I wish I knew what the moves are that Mary said weren't good--it's not helpful when she uses the correct names for the moves if they don't show us a clip of what she's talking about. Right, Nigel, Travis and Heidi did do a fabulous paso doble in Season 2...everything was better back then.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 1 (contemporary): Another routine from Mia Michaels about a doomed couple...I'm noticing a trend. I wasn't sold on the really slow beginning, but once they really started to dance, I was impressed with both choreo and performance. I think Katee nailed the facial expressions and performance. Quite good. Katee is definitely a find. (And I like her best without the bangs.)
Courtney and Gev--Dance 1 (hip hop): Ahh, thank goodness, someone finally brought back the baggy hip hop clothes--I've missed them. Courtney did pretty great; half the time, I don't think I even notice that Gev was up there with her. Part of the problem might be that you can't see his eyes because of the hat.
Jessica and Will--Dance 2 (lyrical jazz): Lyrical jazz with a big shirt, ok... This routine is kind of '80s-eriffic. Letting Will show off all his muscles is definitely a good strategy. I liked this routine. Jessica bothered me far less in this routine than she usually does. The lifts were really cool, and the pulling-each-other-across-the-floor-by-the-shirt stuff was cool too. Something about the silly faces Will occasionally makes reminds me of Bill Cosby.
Comfort and Thayne--Dance 2 (waltz): I'm going to say it was all right, but not great. Comfort still looks like a hip hop dancer trying to waltz. The long, spinning lift was lovely, however. Hmm, Tabitha thinks something about Thayne looked phony...you don't say.
Kourtni and Matt--Dance 2 (mambo): Matt: "I don't hate the mambo, the mambo hates me." The lift in the beginning was pretty good--and these two don't do a lot of lifts. Well, it wasn't as smooth as a Benji/Heidi mambo, but it didn't suck. I'm not sure these two really can do "down and dirty" all that well; they're both kind of innately classy.
Chelsie and Mark--Dance 2 (fox trot): Wow, that's quite a dress. She looks like Mrs. Peacock in the lounge with a candlestick. A very classy routine and quite enjoyable to watch. You could tell Chelsie knew what she was doing, and Mark did a good job keeping up with her. He brought back his classic movie star look for this routine, and I quite enjoy that look for him.
Kherington and Twitch--Dance 2 (contemporary): Why do I feel like I've seen these two do a contemporary number before? I guess it's because that waltz they did a couple weeks ago had some strong contemporary overtones. Whoa, Mia flat out brought a bed onto the stage...that's gutsy. And rose petals too--she's pulling out all the stops. This routine may go down as a classic, but I'm not completely sold on it. I feel like Kherington was barely in it. It was no bench routine in my book.
Katee and Joshua--Dance 2 (West Coast swing): West Coast swing means one thing: Benji!!! And Lacey! And a dog! (whatever...) I think Benji's toned himself down a bit since last season. Um, that was the slowest West Coast swing (WCS) I've ever seen... Color me disappointed. That was nowhere nearly as good as Pasha and Sarah's WCS last season.
Courtney and Gev--Dance 2 (Broadway): Both of the Broadway routines were better choreographed tonight (in my opinion), but the whole medium still just kind of sucks. I did like Courtney's outfit. Gev did rock his character in this routine, for what that's worth. If you need a dancing dorky tourist, Gev's your guy.
Favorite Routines:
Katee and Joshua's contemporary
Will and Jessica's lyrical jazz
Chelsie and Mark's waltz
Destined for the Bottom:
Comfort and Thayne
Kourtni and Matt (which is unfortunate because I like them)
Courtney and Gev (by process of elimination, even though they were fine tonight)
I'm going to go on record as saying that it's a major problem that there aren't more ballroom dancers on this show this season. (Chelsie is the only one left at this point.) And I think that its especially a problem that there are no male ballroomers left. Dancers like Heidi and Benji and Pasha and Lacey can really make a partner number. Because they have a strong base of knowledge in the waltz and Latin styles, the routines they and their partners do can be more difficult and more interesting. This season, we're left with a lot of contemporary dancers and a few hip hoppers who are trying to do waltzes, Latin dances, and swing routines, so of course it's not going to be as good as the dances we've seen in the past.
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