kitcloudkicker

According to Derek and Beth in some aftershow interview - at dress rehearsal they were the ones awarded "immunity" and sat out the dance off so hadn't gotten the chance to run through exactly how it would go on the live show. (I guess that's why she looked so panicked before they danced?) Which I thought was interesting in that they apparently keep that dress rehearsal tight to time - so couldn't run the dance off with all 7 couples and had one sit out, and that they awarded a dress rehearsal "winner."

You're not gonna like this one - because she is Mark's girlfriend.

What happens when "conspiracy" lines up with reality though - to me Val and Janel deserved their best of the night. Though it was interesting Val pointing out Janel's weakling status - it explains why so much of her dances seem noodly to me, she tends to not have the strength of movement. They did it for me tonight though - it was a strong routine. Leah - had me wondering about her musicality, for a person with dance background she doesn't sell me on the fact that she feels the music. It might be the groundedness thing the judges mentioned. Sadie made me uncomfy when she started in on representing how Eve lead Adam astray - drifting too close to "women are the terrible temptresses that are the downfall of honorable men" territory. Their dance felt a little "contemporary by numbers" to me (maybe because I was already feeling ick). Alfonso - always great. Bethany - have been enjoying her arc. I will say with the two of them though that I'd really rather see real rehearsal moments than cheesy scripted packages. The best part of the rehearsal packages is getting a glimpse at how the partners relate, and cheesy acted packages are just blah. I'm going to call Leah as next weeks "shocking" elimination. She's getting lost in the pack, I think Tommy's going to outlast her.

Sadie seems to get consistently as much as double the YouTube views as any other competitor - with the outlier being the Carlton dance which crushes everything - but Alfonso's other dances haven't racked up nearly as much. I don't know exactly how YouTube views translate into votes, but it's what would make me rather shocked if it doesn't end up in a Sadie/Alfonso final two.

Hee, I'm picturing them in dancing shrubbery costumes.

Alphonso gave a cute interview about tapping with a Make A Wish kid (at about the 3:45 mark) Wanted to mention it because it 1. Reinforces that he seems like a really great guy ("If you can take 5 minutes out of your life to make someone really happy, why wouldn't you do that?") and 2. Makes it clear that his tap skills are not forgotten and kindles my hope we'll see them in the freestyle at the end. Unrelated, I've decided where I'd most like to see the Apache dance. In a bumper. With Will Smith. In the finale.

Time warp explained (with diagrams!) at about 0:55 I was actually glad they took the song and did something completely non-Rocky Horror with it. It's just so iconic, I think it would be really creatively limiting, and I really like what they came up with.

The thing I'm curious about, is that the dancers don't just get to blow tens of thousands of dollars (guessing) on giant production numbers in a vacuum - they have to be being actively encouraged and supported in it by the show. Len's complaints seem to be producer-level, "direction the show is taking" complaints. Kind of curious if he decided to shout and grump about it on the show live, since that's his forum. I'd be curious to know if there's more behind the scenes drama on that. I know Len's been around forever - does he have any sort of producer credit or sayso in the direction it goes, or is he contracted simply to judge? I liked Derek & Bethany, Alfonso & Witney the best (Alfonso clearly is the leader in this season, and I'd also like to see Bethany get the constructive criticism he does.) Val/Janel I also liked, and think was pretty harsh - the 7 was a low blow. Lea has a self consciousness about her when she dances that makes me like her dances less than I want to. Sadie I think was an off week - she just didn't have the power and intensity I like to see with a Paso - that might be Mark's creative block this week left them less time to drill it in? I though it was interesting to see Derek's drill sergeant routine with Bethany - they edited it like he was frustrated with her but it seems to be his teaching style and we just haven't seen it yet. (He didn't seem any more strict than a no-nonsense trainer in that sequence.) There was an Afterbuzz somewhat recently where Anna had mentioned that Derek's dancers are usually on point because he's relentless about drilling it in.

Kind of ridiculous to think that if Bethany is friendly with Janel, she can't also be friendly with Sadie. I doubt choosing Janel was any sort of snub on Sadie. Speaking of tiring storylines, the other one that gets ridiculous is when I see people insisting Val and Derek have some sort of blood feud, when clearly they're fine. It's amazing to me how much drama gets read into a show where most everyone seems pretty alright with each other. I think it's a tossup whether Michael or Tommy was the bigger albatross. Tommy can move better, but his memory issues might be a bigger disadvantage. I think the Rocky Horror song might be a disadvantage too - it's arguably more fun, but so iconic, it might be harder to do something to it that doesn't end up on the wrong side of too campy. (Instead of the fun side of too campy.)

Not "spot turns," the move - but the process of "spotting" a turn so you don't lose your balance. She doesn't always do this well - and therefore goes slightly off kilter - it's pretty obvious in her rumba especially this end sequence from about 3:10 onward. Bruno called her on it at the time, prompting Val to elbow her in the back and say "I told you so." (Which, since it's a known problem, gives me hope that Val is drilling her on it and she'll continue to improve.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70nl4e3EmSs&list=UULOIoa2aEGcM-z1hJx4vy4w (But then this convo should probably continue in the Janel thread.)

Someone else mentioned it upthread, but I hope Val pulls back a little on difficulty and focuses a bit more on precision. I'm not talking Michael Waltrip levels of easier, but enough that she can think less about the steps and lose herself more in the dance - harder choreography doesn't do her any good if she can only "mostly" execute it. Not to bring it back to Afterbuzz - but I liked Sharna's commentary this week - she said she learned from her experience with Charlie that packing with too much hard choreography doesn't do you any good if you don't give the dance moments to "breathe," more or less. That's when the star can really emote and connect with the audience. She has the Pretty Little Liars theme for music, which has potential for being a great creepy Halloween waltz. Her character on the show isn't particularly sexy either, so I'm hoping she can tap into that and show a different side to this crowd. I think she and Val have the potential to pull out something great, and I hope they do.

I don't think the issue is with Sadie's modesty, it's with any implied idea that anyone who isn't modest is somehow a worse person. I both respect Sadie's right to modesty and the other dancer's right to show more if they're comfortable. For what it's worth, I didn't really have issue with the ways that both Sadie and Candace phrased their requests - though with both there were a few moments that made me worry that they were skating the line into judgement/condemnation of others. Neither of them crossed it for me, though I can see how it may have come close for others. (And Sadie's parents make me uncomfortable in that they definitely seem on the other end of the line, but so far, in what's been shown on this show and not any others, they haven't flat out said it, so in the context of this show I'm inclined to let them be. Though I would like to see less of them. But is it terrible that I was just glad it was Mom/Grandma featured and not the dad again? It squicked me out a little less.) Sharna phrased it well on Afterbuzz - it's important that Sadie know that if she's in any way uncomfortable with something she's being asked to do with her body, she needs to speak up, and it needs to be respected. It brings up important lessons about consent, that are valuable outside of any religion aspect. Especially for young girls. And for what it's worth, I think Mark did a fantastic job in respecting that, and meeting her where was.

There were, but never in the same place as Pitbull. There was a bit where the dancers were in male/female partnerships, with Pitbull off to the side, and then Pitbull walked onto the main dance floor and the male dancers SCATTERED like cockroaches when a light gets turned on, and the women had to go over to him and gyrate around him. (GAG)

Ah, gotcha, I forgot about that 10. I agree, I don't think Julianne's been lowballing Sadie - or overscoring Bethany. I've actually really enjoyed her so far as a judge. And irrelevant, but last week and this week she's looked very very pretty.

I thought it was Carrie Ann - 9, Pitbull - 10, Julianne - 8, Bruno 8 (?) I thought the score was fair, especially since it wasn't 10-worthy. With the 10 it adds up to 1 point less than Bethany - which is pretty neck and neck, I doubt that impacts that much how many audience votes you need to pull to make up the difference. I also think it's headed toward a Sadie/Alphonso final 2. I wasn't sure who'd be that 3rd spot, but I'm kinda leaning towards Bethany.

YouTube is in the middle of a maaajor marketing push, that Bethany is one of the faces of. I think that's what she was going for. YouTube itself is not a small internet thing - it's beginning to stake a claim as being a serious model for shows and content - breaking into the Network/Cable/Netflix mess of the future of entertainment "content." The fact that she's one of the faces of that is no small thing. But she also has a clothing line and several other business deals - she's on somewhat of a Martha Stewart career track if she's smart about how she manages her career here on out. Clearly, not that big yet, but that's the model - show + merchandise empire. The only difference is her show is online. I have to say she's growing on me. I liked that the tango was a pretty straight tango - and while it wasn't perfect it was pretty good for as little time that they had. --- And I was right! If they keep making the first dance spot the "dead in the water" dance spot, it's going to take any and all suspense out of it, show.

Leah hitting Derek with the mic made me want to see Herb Welch fill in for Erin next.

Oof. I was on team "I don't give a shit whether Janel and Val are faking a relationship or not" but that package was straight out of the Maks and Meryl script book. I think I've been tipped into the annoyed by it group. I'm glad Carrie Anne called her out on being off-balance - the thing that bugs about Janel for me is she's almost so good. That's what so jarring about when she has those moments when she's hauled from one place to another by a partner, or through a messy turn. And cut it with the love story crap! It feels so fake. Do you think they'll keep making the eliminated couple go first? Seems like the, "you're already gone" spot... thinking it might be a swan song for Jonathan.

Gossip! Apparently Pitbull diva'd out and refused to sing with the male dancers on stage, so it's going to be another female pro sexydance opening number. (via Kristyn Burtt)

I don't really get the cross-season vitriol...Zendaya, Bethany, and Sadie didn't compete against each other. Nobody said they were more or less mature than Zendaya, or better dancers. They all seem like relatively decent kids to me, with Zendaya being the best dancer of the three (but again, she competed like 3 seasons ago, so okay?) and Sadie having some beliefs that I don't agree with, but I'm willing to cut her some slack because she's young, and sheltered. She reminds me of some of my more conservative cousins - she has plenty of time to learn still. If she doesn't in a few years I might write her off then (though, will I be paying attention to her at all in a few years, probably not.) Personality wise, I'd say they all display somewhat similar levels of teenagerdom.

I'd like to throw in for this kid Maybe in the troupe?

On Burlesque - it does traditionally come from comedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlesque (Literally. "The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the Italian burla – a joke, ridicule or mockery.") I thought it was a fair critique, it was missing a little of the slow, teasing, wink wink stuff. And I don't have anything against risque either, (and don't really see any hypocrisy in Julliane & Carrie Anne's critique.) I just think it was stuffed with too many lifts and not enough downbeats, Janel literally couldn't get her feet back under under her, there were a few moments when Artem looked like he was dragging her through a turn or into another lift. I think Janel has potential, but the critique that she doesn't finish her movements is spot on. I'd like to see her more grounded. And Artem didn't necessarily help out there with the choreography in this one.

Youtube fans are interesting. There seems to be an intimacy to that bedroom to bedroom/laptop to laptop contact and a lot of Beth's fans really seem to believe she's like a good friend who's made it big. The flipside is they seem to turn easily, with a lot of them throwing temper tantrums, declaring they were over her and they felt abandoned when she "left them" and didn't post any videos for a month. So yeah, I have no idea how that translates into votes for this show. In other news, Bethany and Derek seem to be off to Australia for something, which seems like a bad idea.

I don't know if anyone knew that, she seems to have unleashed it upon teenTwitter™ only in the last week or so. It's a little much autotune for me, but this video of her singing with her niece is kind of the cutest http://instagram.com/p/tVi24mp7tU/?modal=true

Who would have guessed that assigning everyone weird dances would result in a bunch of...weird dances.