SYTYCD

[alonewiththemoon]

Pretty strong opening night.  I thought Tony was the only dancer who really looked out of his league.  Plus every time he tried to pull a stank face I wanted to smack him.  He ought to go home tonight, but the teenage girl factor might keep him in.  Among the women, I don't know.  I wasn't impressed with married Randi talking about how out of her comfort zone she was--honey, you're trying to be a professional dancer, you'd better expand that comfort zone fast!  I thought Paris and Caitlin were pretty weak too.  I think Kayla was wearing that heavily fringed dress for the samba to hide the fact that her hips weren't really swiveling that much on their own.  Any of those four would be my pick to go home, I suppose.

Routines--I loved the crash test dummy love story choreographed by Wade Robson (who else) and danced by Kupono and Ashley to Felt Mountain by Goldfrapp.  It was so beautiful and other worldly and both dancers looked like they really *got* what they were being asked to do.  My least favorite routines would be Paris and Tony's hip hop, which I think had a good idea going for it and Paris gave it what she could but Tony just dragged it down, and the Bollywood piece, in which Caitlin and Jason were never grounded enough to be believable.  They looked more like they were doing sparkly aerobics than dance.  A few of the other routines were a little creaky (Janette and Brandon's foxtrot, Asuka and Vitolio's Broadway number), but you could see the potential there.

Predictions for who will go far:  Phillip Chabeeb, Asuka, Evan (he might be one-trick, but he has passion and romance in his dancing, something that is really missing from a lot of dancers), Ashley, Melissa, Ade and Max.  I would love to see Kupono go far--he might be my favorite dancer--but that stupid feminity issue is probably going to keep cropping up.  Way to insult the social gender dance norms of Hawaii, judges!

I kinda want to see Step Up 3D now...
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Comments

[goat.livejournal.com]

I didn't really care for the Broadway piece, though I hope that Asuka & Vitolio get to stay in the competition (I'm pretty sure the judges wouldn't let him go). I'd like to see Tony gone, he just doesn't have the chops, and I don't think that a few weeks with SYTYCD is going to improve him enough. I really dislike it when the judges go out on a limb like that and the person just ends up letting their partners down continually.

I didn't connect with the Bollywood either, but damn! That kiss on the end was quite real, and it was fun replaying it several times to watch the expressions on both of their faces.

Phillip Chbeeb is pretty much unbelievable. Loved the Richard Marks routine towards the end, I think they really captured the spirit Mandy Moore was aiming for. The Samba at the beginning was super hot, and damn does that girl mean business! I like Kupono, too, in a lot of the same ways that I liked Mark last year, and yeah, he'll probably be let go in favor of some more normal dancer just like Mark was.

Overall I am really impressed with this year's Top 20. There's no one I actively dislike, and I think a lot of the dancers have a great combination of technique and personality.

[alonewiththemoon]

OMG that kiss! That was totally for real! Both dancers looked a little surprised by it, too :)

I realized watching him last night that the thing that really bothered me about Tony is that he was unwilling to let go of "being a hot guy" in order to convey any real meaning or emotion. I.e., his stank face was ridiculous because he was still trying to be cute while scowling. If he ever gets over himself, he could be something, but for now, he's pretty much just a Backstreet Boys back up dancer wanna be.

But with him gone, I agree that this is a great looking crop of dancers!