Carrots4

Was there really all that much Paso in Cole and Hannahlei’s pasodoble? It seemed like a lot of lifts and posing. It was cool watching Jean Marc demonstrating the lifts with Hannahlei, though. In the rehearsal package for the contemporary Cole spoke a lot about a trust fall lift that was proving very difficult. I missed it the first time I watched the routine, it was buried in the middle of the dance. Given the amount of time spent talking about it I was expecting it to be more of a standout moment. Does Mary really not know how to say Val Chmerkovsky’s last name? I was sure he’d choreographed a few times before. Does she not know of him through the ballroom world? Nigel telling Evan he was looking forward to seeing him dance with Gabby during the critique of their tap routine was really nasty. Yes, other people could have danced it better, no need to rub it in. Focus the critique on the dance you just watched, please. Nigel never fails to disappoint...

Some of the advice seemed relevant to the final routine, such as Jenna telling Michael Damieski to change how he was coming out of a move. Are they just scripting Jenna to suggest things the contestant was going to do anyway? I have no dance background, so I agree this part could be fake, I’m just curious how the suggestions are being faked.

It’s great seeing Chelsie again. During the cha cha with Jay Jay she prowled across that stage! Did All-Stars comment on both their partners? I remember one contestant being described as having an amazing heart by Lauren (?) but I don’t remember her saying anything about her other partner, which would be lousy for that partner when he watches the show later. Especially since he was cut.

The tap choreo was wonderful, but why did they need 6 separate boxes? Couldn't the show have put some clear plastic on top (so the dancers don't risk falling through) and had the same effect? It just seems like a nasty injury waiting to happen. It didn't seem like the gaps were essential to the choreography. Parts of Hailee's Ray Leeper jazz rehearsal (with Marco) showed her in black chunky-heeled boots for some of the moves. It had a really nice look to it. I wonder why they changed to sneakers for the performance. It made the dance feel a bit clunky for me.

Well, it's official. http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/09/03/cat-deeley-pregnant-expecting-first-child-patrick-kielty/

It was a little sad to see JJ eliminated, since she was an early favourite of mine, but realistically it was her time to go. Still not sure how Derek is still in this, as aside from a few dramatic moves in the group dances he does really fade into the background. Am curious if, as a dancer, it's easier to be eliminated after an injury (like JJ), or after a great performance (like Edson). Is it frustrating to get booted after one just nailed it, or is it preferable to have one last chance to show off one's skill? At any rate, at least they both get to go on tour, so that's some consolation.

Jaja and Edson as hip hop models? I wish they would have done it last week, just to see how an actual street dancer/model (Asaf) handled that routine. I don't know why they even bothered with Hailee's costume. A thin layer of chiffon over clearly visible dance underwear. Ugh. It detracted from the dance for me. I never would have guessed that Alexia was not a natural blonde. I can't see roots at all. I wish I had her colorist. I like that Jim measures his Jim time in bath units. A bath and a half of Jim time this week, although I'm not sure how half a bath works. It was nice to see his parents in the audience, they seemed really proud of him. I'm guessing parents who come out have to pay their own way? I wasn't a fan of the fish routine, but at least it's something different. It showed promise. I'm hoping the choreographers get a few more chances to figure the show out.

Elektruck, I remember that story about Jaimie from the All the Right Moves show. Started watching it online after seeing it mentioned here, funnily enough. Midway through the season Travis mentions that he doesn't want to let Jaimie perform with the Shaping Sound company too soon because she had come back too soon from an injury in the past, he paired her with an untrained dancer, and that dancer accidentally wrecked Jaimie's knee. He felt responsible for the injury and didn't want to risk further damage by letting Jaimie dance before the doctors cleared her. It was fun seeing all the SYTYCD alumni in that show. For any who haven't seen it, a Google search of "All the right moves Travis Wall" brings up most of the episodes. It is a little mindblowing how much abuse these dancers will let their bodies take before they take a break. I think there were three taped shoulders in the rehearsal footage this week, possibly even a knee brace, and still they're doing hours and hours of rehearsal a day.

A lot of the dancers seem to have taped-up shoulders in the rehearsal footage. Seeing as how they're only a few weeks into the competition, it makes me a bit nervous about how the dancers will hold up until the finale. Seems fitting that shoe fiend Megz had blindingly bright yellow shoes in the opening number. How does she manage 300+ pairs of shoes? Does she wear a different pair every day? I only have 30 pairs and there are still some I have never worn. Was disappointed that JJ's big fact was her topknot. She did have an interesting backstory in the audition rounds, I wish she had talked about competing with Comfort, or how she got into dance, or something other than the hairdo that we see on her head every single week.

Agreed. It was especially bad during the number with Jaja, Lily and the b-boys when the camera would focus on each b-boy in turn when they were doing synchronized movements. It wrecked the whole look of the dance. The studio audience loved something, but it wasn't what I was being shown at home.

It feels like the show has been making up the rules as it goes along this season, so I'm not sure that the contestants would have known about the lack of ballroom rounds during Vegas week. Had there been detailed information for the dancers trying out, I'd imagine it would have been leaked somewhere online. Since there didn't seem to be any spoilery info, it makes me think that Denys would genuinely not have known how little ballroom dancing there would be until he was done the callbacks. It was really annoying to see the ballroom dancers picked apart when everyone else in their group was dancing in their own style. Of course the ballroom dancers will look less polished in comparison! They used to cut those dancers some slack in previous seasons, why not this one?

Have they always been randomly subtitling Paula? Just noticed it this week, even though her comments were clearly audible. Was a little surprised that the recovering addict breaker did not do any "traditional" breakdancing moves. I would have expected some floor work or freezes from someone who introduced themselves as being all about breaking.

The engaged girl's choreography really turned me off. There were moments in her audition where everything ground to a halt and then she just walked to another part of the stage for her next move. Was surprised she got a ticket to Vegas.