SYTYCD: It's Raining Dancers

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 18 Performance Show"

Blogging SYTYCD recaps has become such an ordeal for me this season. Last week, I was on vacation and literally in the middle of picking hard shell crabs when SYTYCD came on, so typing up my comments was not an option. (For the record, I liked Janette and Brandon's fox trot, Ashley and Kupono's crash test dummies jazz, Melissa and Ade's contemp, Evan and Randi's jazz and Kayla and Max's samba. I was underwhelmed by Caitlin and Jason's Bollywood, Phillip and Jeanine's hip hop and Karla and Jonathan's cha cha. I didn't like Asuka and Vitolio's Broadway (and that's all on Tyce, IMO) or Paris and Tony's hip hop. I was overjoyed that they kicked off Tony and abandoned the hope that he'd be "this season's Ivan"--because, seriously, I wasn't the world's biggest Ivan fan, but he was way better at his style and others than Tony is. Tony wasn't even this season's Cedric, because at least Cedric could do a decent solo. Paris was a victim of being one of a few too many brunette contemporary dancers.)

My viewing of this week's show turned out to be even more of a disaster (involving a long driving trip, a rain storm of epic proportions, some nearly flooded out roads, and a FOX channel that was cutting in and out). Due to sheer perseverance however I have managed to now watch and recap all of the dances through a combo of tape recordings and online videos. It's taken me most of the day, but come hell or high water I was going to do this recap, so here it is:

Randi and Evan (Louis van Amstel jive):

• The featurette: Evan built his own car. I don't think I need to hear the word "fun" again for awhile.
• The dance: Wow, both of these kids can really dance. They showed great presentation quality in this zany jive style. My favorite part was when she did a back bend and he did a straddle jump over top of her.
• The judging: Hmm, Mary says that Evan didn't quite get the "triple step motion." Nigel makes sure to mention Louis right off the bat (after the judges ignored him last week). Nigel thinks Evan lost the "double bounce feel." I'm kind of lost.

Melissa and Ade (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Wow, Ade's full name sounds even longer than Kupono's full name. Uh oh, Ade says that Melissa's "rib is falling out."
• The dance: How exactly is Melissa playing "hard to get" if she's starting the dance on Ade's back? I think I like Melissa's hot pink pants. I liked the dance too, but I didn't loooooove it. It looked like it was made up of a bunch of stock movements from Sonya's other routines (the side-by-side pointed-toe hops from the comic book contemp, a lift similar to the one from "The Garden"). I think the dancers performed it well, but I don't think they brought anything particularly special to it. Ade's full-twisting wolf jump (Nigel called it something else) was phenomenal, however.
• The judging: Lil C rubbed his palms together and said the routine was buck.

Jason and Caitlin (Shane Sparks hip hop):

• The featurette: Jason was super cute when he was a little kid doing his Michael Jackson impression. Caitlin is annoying me.
• The dance: My enthusiasm over Shane Sparks doing the hip hop choreo this week instead of Napoleon and Tabitha was quickly tempered by some sub-par dancing, particular from Caitlin. When she was actually trying to dance, she looked--at best--like a low-rent Britney Spears impersonation, so I guess Shane tried to get around that by just having her sassily walk around and pose for most of the routine. Jason was all right though.
• The judging: Lol, Lil C just called this performance "a nightmare" and then says that it was "missing some nectar." Mary points out that they looked like they were impersonating Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. Frankly, Mary, I think that if you watch their Bollywood routine from last week, you'll see that it wasn't that good either.

Janette and Brandon (Doriana Sanchez disco): I can't believe they're still making people do disco on this show. Has anyone ever actually really liked one of these disco routines?

• The featurette: Brandon has "never worked out" a day in his life, apparently. I think they should phrase it that he "never lifts weights at the gym" because clearly the dude "works out"--he's a professional dancer for crying out loud.
• The dance: The lifts were really good, as you would expect from these two, but I also thought that the actual on-the-floor disco dancing was quite strong too. So, yeah, it turned out like most of the disco routines on this show: well danced, but ultimately not particularly inspiring.
• The judging: Lil C: "I believe that the primary focus of all obstacles is to induce labor so that progression can be born." Uh, yeah, right. Me too. Lol. The upshot is that Lil C finally likes Brandon (now that he's not under the influence of Mia).

Asuka and Vitolio (Louis van Amstel fox trot):

• The featurette: That bubble thing Asuka can do with her mouth is strange.
• The dance: Asuka's got a lot of fake hair. I liked the swinging spiral lift thing. Overall, it was lovely and well-danced. Asuka especially looked good. I don't think, however, that this is something I'm going to be remembering for very long.
• The judging: Tell me, Mary: how was Vitolio supposed to be "honest" in his performance of that crappy Broadway number last week? (Mary and Nigel both give Louis more shout-outs.) No, Nigel, you're not seeing a "completely different couple" than last week--you're seeing the same couple with a better routine.

Max and Kayla (Brian Friedman pop jazz):

• The featurette: Max cooks for everyone; that's so sweet. It's nice to see Brian back to choreograph. So far this season, we've already seen Brian, Shane and Wade Robson all come back, which is great in my opinion because it means there will be fewer routines by Tyce DiOrio and Napoleon and Tabitha.
• The dance: This opulent couch and ottoman set up puts Mia's bench dance to shame. I'm not sure that I'm getting "princess and usurper" from these costumes. They look more like insane circus performers to me. As for the routine, I feel like it had the potential to be awesome, but it ended up being just cool. They danced it well though.
• The judging: Lil C: "I know how hard it is to pick up Brian Friedman's vernacular." Kayla's grandpa!!! I agree with Mary about the iffy nature of Max's outfit.

Jonathan and Karla (Stacey Tookey contemporary): I picked these two as the most likely to get kicked off this week in the EW.com prediction contest, but I was worried that they'd get some romantic contemporary routine that would score them the sappy vote, and sure enough...

• The featurette: If I've seen one contemporary routine about strangers meeting and falling in love, I've seen a thousand... At least Stacey seems like a nice person (yeah, that comment was directed at Mia...).
• The dance: And the music is "Falling Slowly" no less! With that song, they could just go up there and sit on their butts and still get enough votes to not be in the bottom three. Due to my technical issues, I've watched this one about three times now, and the first time through I was not particularly impressed. Now upon the third viewing, however, I rather liked it. Jonathan didn't do a whole lot, but Karla was really good.
• The judging: Mary says Jonathan did that style better than his own--which would be saying more if he were better at his own style...

Phillip and Jeanine (Tony Meredith tango):

• The featurette: Jeanine's obsession with her bear is a little creepy. Jeanine's use of the word "tragic" in regards to this practice seems very apt, with the groping and kicking and everything.
• The dance: Chbeeb cannot tango. He can't even make the appropriate tango face. And Janine's not that great at it either. This one was rough. Frankly, as we learned on last week's results show, a good tango isn't all that interesting to watch, so a bad one is really a problem.
• The judging: Lil C: "A lack of confidence is the heaviest anchor you can put on your creativity and your art." Lil C is freaking brilliant. The tangential discussion about bent knees was also informative. Nigel: "I loved the way your knees were bent throughout the entire routine." A nice thing about SYTYCD versus American Idol is that on SYTYCD when a favorite sucks it up, the judges actually admit it. There's no equivolent of pretending that Danny Gokey's performance of "Dream On" was actually good going on here.

Ashley and Kupono (Shane Sparks hip hop):

• The featurette: Kupono has some major OCD tendencies. This kid cracks me up. Kupono showed us his to-do list again!!!
• The dance: Why does Kupono's "shadow" have such tighter pants than him? At first I thought that Kupono was doing the side-by-side moves better than Ashley, but then when she did the solo dance, that looked pretty good. Overall, though, it wasn't fantastic from either of them.
• The judging: Lil C: "There was no synchronization to be had or to be found." Lol. Lil C says Kupono was the problem. But, seriously, how could Kupono be taken seriously as a hip hopper when he's wearing a rainbow-colored scarf and a bunny t-shirt?!

It felt like they were trying to stretch not-so-much content out this whole episode. The routines seemed long, the judges had lengthy chats, the commercial breaks were substantially long, and the featurettes were lengthy too.

This is kind of random, but I wonder if the choreographers purposely save their best routines for later in the season. I haven't seen any routines so far that match the quality of some of the iconic SYTYCD routines, so I'm thinking everyone is just holding their best work for later. Why should they trot it out now, when there's still the chance that the dancers who perform it won't make the Top 10 and the routine won't get to be used on the tour?

My favorites: Max and Kayla; Melissa and Ade; Evan and Randi; Karla and Jonathan

In trouble: Jason and Caitlin; Kupono and Ashley; and it should be Phillip and Jeanine but I'm guessing it will be Asuka and Vitolio instead.