SYTYCD

[alonewiththemoon]

The judges are really not holding any punches this season.  Though Nigel's "Mama I have to go pee pee" was a pretty accurate description.

Chelsea T and Thayne's king and his unobtainable woman number lacked pretty much anything--the costuming did not help, which of course was not their fault, but ultimately their dancing was quite flat.  They showed some spark in the final 30 seconds or so but it just wasn't enough.  Wouldn't be surprised to see them in the bottom 3 tonight.

Chelsie H. and Mark--I think I am a sucker for men doing tango.  Chelsie looked good, but Mark was deceptively impressive.  There were one or two kicks he did that were so perfect and fast, and in that shiny black suit on the dark stage he looked like a cobra dancing.  I don't know much about the technicalities of tango, but all their footwork looked convincing and they definitely brought the passion.  One of my favorite routines of the night.  (also I love that Gotan Project song, so another reason to love the routine) Huge sympathy to Chelsie for having to dance with her toe popped out of her shoe--that looked painful! And that Cat Deeley is such a nice lady!

Jessica and Will's hip hop--I disagreed totally with the judges on this one.  I thought Will was a bit phoned in and Jessica had a lot of liveliness and spark.  Will's dancing was solid at the core but it never reached his hands.  It's clear however that the judges intend to keep him in the show til the end, so they aren't going to come down on him that hard.

Kourtni L and Matt's foxtrot was elegant and pretty, though in some places the footwork was a little plodding.  I shared Nigel's observation/criticism that it was a bit smirky, all ha ha look at us doing foxtrot instead of just convincingly doing it.

Courtney G. and Gev's contemporary piece--Mandy Moore's love and violence choreographies really do not sit well with me.  It's funny, that simmering undercurrent of suppressed violence works so well in tango, but to me her choreographies look more like parables of domestic abuse rather than love.  They did an ok job with it.  Some of the floorwork bits looked wobbly and hesitant to me.

Katee and Joshua's Broadway routine totally blew last week's Broadway by Twitchington out of the water.  They totally brought it.  I expected Joshua to be amazing--he's pretty much my favorite of the men right now, though he's not exactly in the tra-la-la place of my heart--but Katee has been a real surprise so far and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her.

Susie and Marquis' salsa was embarrassing to watch.  I thought she was supposed to be a Latin dancer--everybody kept commenting that she was street salsa rather than ballroom salsa, fine, but she still didn't have any passion, wasn't dancing to the music and clearly had a hard time keeping up.  Her dancing looked labored and leaden.  Marquis at least was with the music, but even I could tell he was sloppy.  If there is justice in the world Susie will be sent home tonight.

Kherington and Twitch's Viennese waltz was lovely in parts and a little clunky in others.  I don't think it's entirely fair to give the dancers these big tearjerker routines with a backstory because it's nearly impossible to judge them fairly.  I thought Mia Michaels' comment about Kherington smiling too much was totally accurate criticism for the piece as a dance piece, but because this choreography was intended for something besides just a dance piece, i.e. therapy of a sort for a sad little girl, that criticism couldn't be applied.  I did like the part where Twitch held Kherington cradled in his arms and waltzed across the floor; in another piece that would have been terribly romantic.  Also, that man is seriously cut.

Comfort and Chris' krump was also a bit of disaster.  I thought Comfort gave it all she could, but a partner like Chris in a choreography like that just drains energy off the stage.  She would have been far better with a partner who had more confidence and grounding.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the bottom three tonight, but I would definitely expect her solo to keep her in.  (she totally reminded me of Lil' Slugger with her athletic socks and long limbs and pulled down hat :)

So I would pick Chelsea T and Thayne, Susie and Marquis, and Comfort and Chris as my bottom three couples.  Susie should be out out out.  Not sure which of the men.  Chris and Thayne have seemed pretty one dimensional so far and Marquis I think is going to be a very good dancer someday but is still a bit unformed now.  That one will come down to the solos for me, but based on the duets I'd say probably Chris should go, because he seemed least able to break out of his regular comfort zone of his own dance style.  Marquis' salsa technique was about as bad as Chris' krump, but at least Marquis looked like he was trying to express something in the music.



I danced last night myself; this piece of music is starting to get where I want it.  I've booked a couple hours at the Dance Complex on Sunday so I can get some real work done.

Comments

[goat.livejournal.com]

I always look forward to your critique.

And wow, I totally did not get Chelsea & Thayne's piece - I thought he was the unattainable one and she was lusting. He was definitely not masculine enough for the piece, though I enjoy his dancing. I did think Chelsea's dancing was pretty exciting, and I still want to see more.

I missed the violence in the Mandy Moore piece, I thought it was a kind of sleepy sweet new love sort of story.

I was pretty impressed w/ Katee & Joshua. I don't like the Broadway routines, but this one had me smiling.

I am horrified by how bad Susie was...

[bintblue.livejournal.com]

Just like last year, I am going to wait for your wonderful SYTYCD commentary each week, and just say "I agree!' and make a few comments. :)

Joshua and Katie are both total nerds...who knew?! They are great together.

I was surprised Susie made it as far as she did. Last night was blah. I felt really sorry for her though, I am sure she is beating herself up today.

I could not believe how harsh the judges were to Jessica. Over the top. And Mia Michaels should have been allowed to make commentary on the dance separate from the back story. I thought she did a good job setting it up, praising the choreographers and mentioning the kid, but then pulling away to the technical. I was annoyed when Nigel actually interrupted her to disagree. Rude!

Chelsea and Thane. Oy. Hated it.

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

I tried to post in reply to yours earlier and LJ ate it.. oh well! I agree.