crowceilidh

I'm in the middle of watching the epi and came here to comment that the judging on the Essence-Keaton-Alexis number from JoJo seemed like a direct battle response to Twitch's take-down of Beau the dance earlier. And other than that, so far I'm enjoying the dances. There is no tension to this format. Beau shouldn't have made it into the top 20, I don't care what JoJo thinks.

And, at this point, why? It's not like there is the same adulated shipping going on that occurred when they kept the top twenty in somewhat strict couples for the top ten (which I enjoyed, and miss) and it's not like adulated shipping couldn't happen irregardless. I mean, they've done what they can to sap this show of anything worth watching -- I feel badly for the contestants. Big Judge outfits are stupid. Carter's pants were the most egregious costume flop I've seen on this show in all of its seasons. Good god.

Here is Jess interviewing Comfort about it in 2020:

Jessica was Will Wingfield's partner. I felt their brilliance was overlooked a lot of the time. He was so amazing. She was very very good and that was rarely acknowledged. They mostly got crapped on for this number, for example, which was all kinds of amazeballs at the time, 2008? (it always struck me there was something dance-political about that diss). Unfortunately, there isn't a very clear copy of it up on youtube - starts at 2.28 after the mini pkge and the choreo (TWO MINUTES+ show, jus'sayin'): Will Jess Hip Hop Anyhow, Comfort was booted top 10 and then replaced Jess immediately when Jess had an injury. It was great for Comfort. She went from demonstrable strength to demonstrable strength in the last 10.

I'm there for Comfort any time she shows. Look at how far back she goes and look at how amazing she has become. I think it's so cool that they still want her when they almost tanked her. Still sorry for Jessica King though. I like Lex too. The rest were fairly non memorable to me.

Okay I've calmed down a bit now. That was a pretty good show. Thiago is unlikely to have been removed so fast in a bigger cast - it is pretty weird that he is out before Carter, Waverly or Beau I think. I liked the dance alright, but more emotive music might have helped, as it did for... Beau is being given gifts a bit. He didn't get Bollywood or African Jazz (Yay! Sean Cheesman!)j He did a good job, but.... Waverly needs to do something to connect. It doesn't help that yet again they aren't really lighting him well enough and the stupid distances they are sometimes getting away from dancers. I want to see how he's reacting to hte music and I just don't.

I'm becoming convinced that the showrunners are friggin idiots. Okay they have less money, so why spend it on clown cosrumes for the judges? Also, in the dance prep let's see some reality not this scripted bs every other reality show does ('we're going to have to brin our sexy") - those are the great moments. And more of the choreographers. I didn't realize that was Jonathan Platero in the teaching section because we saw so very little of him that who had time to recognize him? And WHY on god's green earth do I need to see a camera shot swoop from the freaking studio ceiling when I'm trying to watch dance?

Just starting in to watch this week and gotta drop by here to say: WOW Cat Deeley! What an entrance, what an amazingly well-structured and fitted dress! She is just lovely in all kinds of ways.

For the Canadians in the group, Beau is the spitting image of Sean Cullen, right down to body type and dancing ability. I think Sean is a trifle more handsome in his older years now, but otherwise... Sean is a comedian, radio host, broadway guy, tv special guy. I couldn't find a pic that wasn't too much of a headshot to demonstrate the similarities.

Or how about eliminations every other show with the bottom 4 shown each time and votes kept for both shows (I know there's a word for that, but my brain refuses to divulge it)? It's a teensy little show now, they could do it and it would be way more fair.

Wow that's a short show. They kept all the dancers because it's the third show or because they need to use up time between commercials next week? I don't agree with ditching dancers on the first show anyhow - that's why the getting to know you rounds when they danced in their own styles were so good. So they're keeping these couples together for a while eh? I like that they get a chance to build a bit of a working relationship. Leah didn't really add anything, but she wasn't awful. I wish she would stay on the side of toned down and lady judge-like most of the time. I agreed with the bottom 4. Amazeballs. Keaton reminds me of Kameron Bink somehow. As soon as you knew which person was staying out of the first two presented, then you could pretty much figure out who their partner would be in the next couple just by lining them up physically. How is the show going to keep enough sponsors without using calling numbers?

I've only watched one dance, but I appreciated how long it was. Also Luther Brown YAY. Didn't think they were all that.

So long as she avoids developing schtick(please listen JoJo), Remini is capable of being a talking head that I will listen to. It's highly disappointing that they couldn't find someone more dance educated though.

One day of choreo with one choreographer and only 12 contestants in the live shows? Budget has taken a pretty big hit which was obvious by the one city, 42 cast auditions but this is dire. Come to think of it, $$ might have something to do with Nigel stepping down too. I wonder if the judges get paid the same as each other.

I'm not a professional about this in any way, but I know some things about sex addiction and coaddicts tend to have a type (sex addicts), so this may explain people's instinctive reactions to Gleb and his peccadilloes: "While she [Jana] was separated from now ex-husband Mike Caussin as he sought treatment for sex addiction at the time,[Gleb] Savchenko was married to Elena Samodanova." It's my understanding that if you've spent time bundled with sex addicts and their partners, that above statement is just like saying 95% chance Gleb is a sex addict just based on that alone.

I strongly suspect this is a face-saving story. He never came across as cool in a dance way or knowledgeable - esp against JoJo's teen hollering and Twitch's coolness, cred and empathy. I suspect they turfed him because he wasn't enough. I feel badly for him as he seemed to be trying to give good advice and not to make it all about him. I'm glad they made up a story to cover it because he doesn't deserve to be tarred by the show. I really hope their next choice is more watch-able

Really can do without JoJo. I am now ffing through her look-at-me b.s. and Matthew who is just dull. Really hated the move to big backstories during auditions when it happened, now that it seems to have reached its apex I am even more bored. Everybody reaches for the emotions during these packages in totally cliched ways - there is nothing new in most stories and the complete lack of authenticity to the way they are put together shows why they aren't necessary. I am here for the dance; not to find out that you're traumatized by your grandmother's death so that I must vote for you. I wanna vote for you because you are a gifted dancer. Also, the judges are NOT the stars of the show, no matter how much competitive reality shows love to wallow there. Piss off. Twitch is an in alright choice. I love him and he doesn't appear to be utterly corrupted by his experiences with fame. I did so much ffing that I'm wondering if I missed seeing these people go to choreo or are we not going to see that? I've missed one season (the year they doubled, I just didn't have time for the second season), but as they've messed more and more with judges who aren't trained in a field of dance or are just famous/desperate, I've been less and less happy. I know Nigel has a group of ageist cancellers out there who always hated him, but the man laid a golden egg and they have just killed him. Hmmm. I also think casting the very bottom of the age range is stupid -- no way are they all better than older contestants, so there is something else at the bottom of that decision. I suspect the youngers are easier to exploit.

You have to admit, these writers are perfectly capable of plotting such tomfoolery. I mean, c/mon, two career criminals who just happen to be bf and gf and just happen to look identical to Chenford?

I really liked Chen when this whole show started. But the needy in-denial thing she goes through with Tim is highly dislikeable and makes her seem much less together. She has daddy issues. I don't want to see them -- I want to see her grow the eff up.

Wasn't it nice seeing John Nolan all on his own? Yes, yes it was.

This paragraph has a few lies: "keep the show fresh" my ass. They punished Tom for speaking out about the right wing political casting. "Mastermind"? Anybody think "the audience grew"? By what metric? The "we made a big mistake hiring Tyra and we don't want to admit it" metric? When the show was first on, it wasn't so obvious that Disney owned ABC but it sure got more and more obvious as the years progressed. I found this distressing because I find Disney to be a repulsive corporation.

The judges are completely unwatchable. If I never see Jenna D-T again it will be WAY too soon.

I love the relationship between Sam and Kelly so much. They bond stronger and harder all the time -- just when you think they can't bond anymore than they have, they do. I also love the general lack of glamour. The epi I watched today, Duff threw herself at a fleeing female criminal and instead of looking like some frat boys' "girls catfighting fantasy" both went down like a couple of sacks of potatoes. The actress who plays Duff is so cool; she just throws herself all in. Being Sam's mother was a terrible role for Sonja Smits. She brought shine to places in the role, but mostly her written character was so godawful. I guess there has to be an explanation for Sam's neuroses, but who thought, hey let's make Sonja Smits irritatingly dislikeable? My favourite line this season was when Tara Swallows told Kelly and Sam to tiptoe out of there, Duff did some sarcastic fancy tiptoe and Tara said, "Hmm, more like a pas de bourree". The unexpectedness made me laugh. I also like how the tone of the whole show is always shifting. I don't know how they've made it work so that I like this aspect. I can't imagine liking such a shift in other shows.

In comparison to the storyline for Jenna Dewan Tatum, the storyline for Niecy Nash was delightful. FFS. Who is JDT blackmailing and what with?

Nolan and Bailey have anti-chemistry. They spent a lot of time attempting to disprove that this episode. They failed.