I admit it, I voted

[alonewiththemoon]

At least I held out until the very end!

The opening group dance:  A Broadway number i actually liked!  Of course, the fact that it was Mein Herr and they were all cabaret'ed up made it a shoo-in.  Lacey wasn't staying in formation very well--part of her problem of dancing to the audience more than with her partner--but this was a number that showcased her style very nicely.

The solos: 

Lacey's wasn't bad; the Daft Punk music suited her style of dancing much better than most of the other music she's been using.  Her little interview segment made me like her as a person.  If she sticks with dancing, I think she can grow into something very wonderful.  Right now she reminds me of a quote I've heard attributed to a number of dancers to the effect of a woman under 30 has nothing to dance about yet.  I don't necessarily agree with an arbitrary cut off date of 30--life experience has got to count for more than actual years--but the idea that a young dancer hasn't yet lived enough to say something meaningful really applies to her, imo.

Neil's solo was very good, though it was a little too much gymnastics.  He's showing a real increase in maturity and poise, though; he had a sense of restraint when it was needed that I don't believe he had earlier in the season.  Something about his arms and shoulders reminded me of silas7 dancing :-)

Danny:  again, the musicality.  I suspect he's probably won.  He does have the advantage of having pretty much grown up in a dance studio, but he had the maturity in his dancing that the others are lacking.

Sabra:  I actually found her a little frenetic in her solo.  I know 30 seconds isn't a long time and they need to pack a lot of movement in there, but just a few moments of holding back would have showcased her spriteliness better.  Also, her beaded top reminded me of those cheap Thai beaded tops, with the unflattering fringe line all the way around.  Generally not a good costume.

Duets:

I thought Sabra and Neil's hip hop was very sweet.  It was as the judges said fun, but what is wrong with fun?  It came across more of a celebration of being alive than anything bubblegum.  I hardly watched Neil because Sabra just made me smile so much.

Danny and Lacey's waltz was very pretty.  They really do find the loveliest gowns for Lacey.  I wasn't as wowed by this as the judges were, but I think that's mostly my response to a waltz.  Danny was mean to Lacey, whether she really used a popsicle stick to fix her wrist or not--true colors showing?  Or just one dancer teasing another?  She did look hurt.  Or miffed at being exposed, I don't know.  Perhaps they are two of a kind.

Neil and Lacey's lindy hop was entertaining but didn't flow that well for me.  I could appreciate the work that went into it, but maybe that work was a little too obvious.

Danny and Sabra's cha cha was exciting, wish we could have seen more of them dancing together over the season.  I agree with the judges that up until the strobe lights it was a little low energy but Sabra just exploded after that.  Loved the slow leg lifts at the start of the strobe lights.

I loved Sabra and Lacey's fox dance.  When Wade Robson started describing it, I immediately thought of Japanese folklore about fox spirits, and judging from the costuming and music, that's what he was thinking of too, even if he didn't say it.  I thought that was some of Lacey's best dancing, and I wish she'd had the chance to work individually with Wade Robson earlier, it might have helped her a lot.  I thought it was touching and magical.  The judges were stupid.

Also loved Neil and Danny's spoiled dueling princes, it was a great way to play off the competitiveness that they were no doubt feeling and as was noted in the introduction, the boys both welcomed the chance to go for broke with the tossing and so forth since they weren't worried about breaking each other.  Mia Michaels did a great job of bringing out their personalities in the choreography.  Though if the judges thought the fox number was too much foxing and not enough dancing, why didn't they pick on Mia Michaels for leaving her dancers sitting in chairs for a good portion of the routine?   But both guys looked swell, as atalanta  noted it was shades of Julie Taymor's Titus Andronicus.

So in the end, I did cast a vote for Sabra, though I think Danny winning would be entirely legitimate as well, and probably what ought to happen.  If Neil wins it will be because of the teenage girl factor and everyone will know it.  I will just be baffled if Lacey wins.

If anybody wants to see any of the clips, you can find them at Mickeyworld.net.  One of the reasons I think Danny will be winning is that his solo video clip keeps timing out when I try to watch it, but none of the others do.

I did learn how to use the "chasing playback" feature on my DVD recorder, it's cool!  I started watching at about 8:30; there were so many ad breaks in the show that I'd caught up to real time by 9:05.  Tonight I imagine will be even worse, so I will be chasing the playback again.

Comments

[cassel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we watched the second half of week's Psyche first in order to skip through the commericals, and started watching SYTYCD around 8:40. Skipping ads, we reached the end at 10:05. There we A LOT of ads.

Another thing we noticed was that after Lacey's solo, they showed random shots of the crowd screaming. After Danny's solo, they not only showed his family and the judges giving him a standing ovation, but Lacey's brother as well.

[talesinsdaughtr.livejournal.com]

I _loved_ the fox dance.
Also, I really like the costuming and the concept of the dueling princes. A lot (So much that I may propose some sort of thievery to Lindau_Nemesis). I even think the song is a pretty good choice. But even after watching it a couple of times I can't really get into the choreography.
I think it is the chair portion of things that's bothering me about it.