Mason

She kisses Madison at the airport. She's now in a relationship with Dakayla. I'm no prude but the men on this show have been pilloried for less.

Huh. Next time they can skip the shared housing nonsense and just hang out at the airport 🙂 Grown adults and all that, but... given the scandals of the past with judges and choreographers, you'd think JoJo would have a little more respect for the show and future hopefuls.

All the goodwill gained from the nostalgia fest... lost the second Madison came in third. I was so happy til that point. If I understand correctly, she was cut because she didn't grow and was never in the bottom three. Even Dakayla was better than Anthony. I don't understand, I'm sure I never will.

White costumes with a white background. Again, monochromatic. I swear, they're going out of their way to make it next to impossible for anyone to be recognized. Madison represents everything the new format expects of its winner, so I hope she can persevere. I like her. If they are going to plug a product, they really should plug it 100%. I'm still left wondering how Gatorade Water differs from Gatorade or G-Zero, other than it's designed "for dancers like us."

Red costumes with red lights. White costumes with white lights. I couldn't pick anyone out. Cat put her arm around T-Pain like he was one of her dancers 🙂 Just occurred to me that we never see HMV or bicycle peddling. When did those (finally) fall out of style?

I think the new format would have worked a lot better if we'd had a top 20 and spent the first weeks doing the traditional pairs. Then, as the group was whittled down, then do these challenges. Those kids are desperate to be seen, and I don't blame them. Shouldn't commercial dancers be able to do solos, pairs and group work? Also, the house nonsense might go better if they had Cat as den mother. She could do her usual chat-and-support, and it might feel a bit more natural. Yes, it's lovely everyone gets along (at least on the surface) but why add the possibility of on-camera melt-downs?

Oh... I thought it was the bell for end-of-class.

Why is it raining in school???

Look at this, then tell me you don't see the resemblance!

I've finally figured out who JoJo reminds me of: Andy Hardy!! (Movie series from the 40s.) Tonight, I saw the best series of solos I've ever seen on this show. Those kids truly danced for their lives and, I suspect, were releasing a lot of pent-up frustration at not being able to showcase their skills and personality. Always part of a group, no opportunity to truly shine. (I see you!!)

Roman suffered from the absence of pair dancing. He's not built (by height, if nothing else) to be part of a line-up. I hope Maks sees that he gets a spot on DWTS. Alex, as always, continues to prove there's no style of dance he can't master.

Avery and Olivia, we hardly knew ye. But since we're in a race against time, I guess the idea is to assume everyone is cannon fodder and not get overly invested. For the dancers themselves, at least the current (and future) choreographers get a closer look at practice sessions and final product and hopefully approach the losers off-stage with a bit of work. I appreciate hearing the judges' comments; WofD didn't do that, right? Scripted or not, they flowed better than during the auditions, likely because they didn't have to redo anything due to Nigel's absence. I also learned something about how music videos are put together, so there's that. As long as the kids' dancing is genuine, I won't abandon the show.

Ah, so it's discount ABDC 🙂

I'm reminded of Fikshun's face on World of Dance, when he realized the decision had already been made and he'd barely performed. I'm sure the producers justify the change by saying "hey, in real life, there's no rhyme or reason why one dancer is chosen over another." Producers who don't dance, I suspect, and are oversimplifying things.

I've been trying to remember what the auditions remind me of... and it's The Next Step. I like the choreographer. Finally saw something recognizable as jazz. EDIT: Does anyone else think Olivia looks like Sporty Spice?