cali1981

That was amazing because there was no inkling that there would be a "best girl" bonus that season until almost the finale as I recall. I suspect that the show runners understood that if Joshua won, Katee was almost 50% responsible for that and they chose to show their respect and admiration with hard cash. Of course if Joshua had not won with Katee already being eliminated, you have to wonder about whether she would have gotten the money.

I was very disappointed that Joshua and Katee didn't perform one of their many great routines. IMHO, they are the best pair that SYTYCD has ever seen and Katee may well be the best all around dancer that has ever been on the show. She nailed every routine that was thrown at her and made each of her partners a better dancer.

The shoot horses don't they?

In what galaxy does the ALDC group number beat Janette/Candy Apples's? Do the judges get any sort or pre-performance information about the routines that they will be scoring? Even if they don't, I mean, really? Janette's number was beautiful and Ava's height actually worked in the overall context of the story. I was very impressed with the kid's and mom's reactions to the concept and to gentleman who had transitioned and whose story was being told. BTW, did you catch Melissa's "who farted?" facial expression when Kira and Kalani showed up. I suspect that Melissa is always looking over Maddie's shoulder when Kalani is around because she's afraid of her possibly usurping her golden girl's false crown. And again, Kalani showed what a high class kid she is when she held Jo Jo and tried to buck up her spirits after she tanked her routine.

Too much ground to cover so I'll defer to all of the previous observations. Whoever was directing the show from the control room really dropped the ball during the seesaw routine. Granted, with two sets of seesaws and a B-boy in front of each one, it was very difficult staging to shoot but it looked like, with so much going on, the director couldn't decide which camera to go to at times so there just some abrupt cuts. It got a bit distracting. It might have been wiser to stay with the wide shot more or to have tracked the blocking in rehearsal and had the camera cues planned and ready to go. It would be surprising if that wasn't the case but it sure didn't look like it at times.

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you! Whenever Maddie doesn't win it's because the judges are inept or just don't understand that Maddie is the best little dancer that ever was. I'm sure that Abby told Maddie that the results were not fair, the judges were wrong, blah, blah, blah, as opposed to working on what she needs to improve on to do better (a la Alexa with Kalani). Abby has created a PR monster around Maddie aided and abetted by her unfit mother Melissa and now they, and Maddie, actually believe that it's all indisputable. Maddie is being victimized by these two horrible child exploiters and, at 12 years old, doesn't yet have the maturity to be able to read through all of the BS. Maybe if she doesn't win regularly at real competitions, she'll eventually realize that she needs far better training than she's getting at ALDC. I fear that it won't happen however. The kid has had her head filled with this hyper inflated image of herself and has had so many opportunities thrown at her so quickly that you have to wonder if she'll ever be able to break out of the fantasy land that she's living in.

That was so much more impressive than Abby's "teaching" techniques. Alexa constantly corrected Kalani but even when she got frustrated with her it was in the form of "you've lost your edge and you need to get it back". Alexa clearly saw that Kalani's involvement with ALDC had taken her backwards not forward. One thing that I'm always been bothered by is that bright red narrow lipstick that Kalani wears in some of her performances. It makes her mouth look like it's pursed up, almost like a cartoon character. Kalani is a naturally beautiful girl and that lipstick detracts from that, IMHO.

Maybe it's the editing or the "story line" but Jeanette is a joke. Her primary motivating tool is hatred of Abby? This is what she teaches her kid and the others? She is as bad as Abby in her own way. This show does nothing positive for the image of the thousands of talented, hard working and motivational dance instructors all over the country. It was nice to see Kalani do real choreography for a change. I have no doubt that shewanted to get away from ALDC. She had to know that her involvement with ALDC and the fame whore train has stunted her growth as dancer. She needs to stay home in AZ and resume the training regimen and entering real competitions to get back on track. Kira tweeted that the editing misrepresented what actually happened and that Kalani made the decision to leave as soon as Abby cut her from the group number, not after the awards ceremony. Hopefully she is gone and stays gone. Her future as a professional dancer is not tied to ALDC. You have to wonder about how Maddie will do when she has to compete in the teen divisions where there are dancers, talent-wise as good as her (or better) who have received much better training. She may be competitive but I suspect that disappointment will be her frequent companion.

Anyone notice that among the All-stars was Kayla Rodamski from Season 5, she of the great Addiction number by Mia Michaels? I was big fan of hers that season and felt that she was a better dancer than Jeannine Mason who won. On that season's finale, after she had been eliminated, Kayla and Kupono reprised Addiction and when it was done she got a thunderous, prolonged standing ovation which the director showed when he/she switched to the camera at the back of stage so that you could see Kayla standing there and the audience on its feet when the house lights came up. Its nice to see her back.

She would be better off leaving ASAP. Kalani is the whole package: technique, control, grace and physical beauty The time that she has spent on DM, while getting her national exposure, has probably cost her some real training and classes at home. Time to get back to the things that will make you the professional dancer that you want to be and stand every chance of becoming. Leave the 15 minutes to the Zeiglers. You'll be dancing professionally long after they are a faded memory.

Just read that the competition next week is on Kalani's home turf in Arizona and apparently Kira has tweeted something about Kalani doing something choreographed by one of her AZ teachers. You have to wonder even more now, if the blowout with Abby shown in next week's preview is going to be it for Kira, depending on what kind of contract she has with Collins.

That scene was very awkward and uncomfortable to watch and did show poor judgement on Holly's part. At this rate, Holly will have her PhD stripped away, then her Masters Degree and then her BA. Her participation in this exercise in child abuse has not distinguished her at all.

Melissa is a pathological liar so why would anyone take anything that she says at face value. Somebody, please get Jill off this show and put us out of our misery. The woman has the intellectual fire power of a fire hydrant. Sorry Jill but, while your kid is very pretty, she is not going to be a professional dancer, let alone a "star". Please give it a rest already. Loved Kalani's solo. She has wonderful control and grace when she dances. Maddie's solo was somewhat of a departure from her usual stuff but it was dependent on the gold gimmick a bit too much. I really loath Gianna's constant threats that "Abby is going to see all of the dances,. blah, blah" How about just telling the girls to go out there and do their best. It's like The Usual Suspects where Kevin Spacy says that Keyser Soze is a spook story that gangsters tell their kids, "Rat on your pop, and Keyser Soze will get you". There you have it, Abby Lee Miller, the Keyser Soze of the dance world. From the tease for next week, it looks that may it for Kira and Kalani (finally one hopes). Abby removes Kalani from the group dance in what looks like her typical MO of getting back at the mom by punishing the kid. One has to wonder if she would deny Kalani a solo at "nationals" as well. Why hasn't a child protection or licensing agency shut her down already?

The choreography looked like the same old, same old. This kid needs better choreographers than Abby and Gianna.

Maybe Satan felt that having Vanessa's look alike avatar staring at her and verbally coaxing her to the nether regions would be both terrifying yet comforting for her. It seemed to me that it backfired completely because Vanessa seemed to use the doll to grow stronger and bolder as she verbally duked it out with Big Red. The only thing he accomplished was to "release the Kraken" as the myths would put it. All that was left was her fan club of scorpions as she crushed her symbolic self physically and psychologically. Quick addendum: I just watched that scene again and Vanessa growls "Beloved, know your master" as a tear runs down her cheek and she crushes the doll's head. You can hear hear a male voice screaming and I assume that's Satan. Vanessa is clearly the evil female spirit/mate found by Lyle as he was deciphering the puzzle. These demons have very complicated relationships don't they.

I really like the way Billie Piper can shift from a heavy, menacing voice to one that is calm and casual when she is discussing raining death and havoc on everyone. She did the same thing in her showstopping scene with Caliban when she sat down and almost matter of factly began talking about their possible actions. She has really transformed Lily/Brona into something very special.

Amazing season finale with enough intriguing hooks to keep us coming back. Eva Green killed the scene in which she battles and belittles ole Satan Claus. Her guttural "Know your master" was stunning. Billie Piper continues to hit her scenes out the park now that "Lily/Brona" is a full on villain in cahoots with Dorian. You had to know that Caliban could break out of his cell at will. Still, it was satisfying when his captors got theirs. It was, perhaps, deliberately cruel when he let the blind daughter live to be so handicapped and alone in the world. In his last scene on the ship in the Arctic or Antarctic he seemed to be the only one on board. It reminded me of some of the Dracula movies where his ship arrives in London with only one dead man tied to the wheel. I almost laughed at Chandler/Talbot being in that not very sturdy looking cage on the ship. Methinks that the Inspector is in for a most unpleasant surprise at the next full moon.

Good for her but: 1. It make Melissa even more smug than she is now, if that's even possible 2. It will give Abby yet another Maddie accomplishment to beat the other girls over the head with every day. 3. Abby will claim that she is responsible for the endorsement deal when we all know that she had nothing to do with it.

That smug, sarcastic look on Gianna's face, while she was sitting with Abby, was quite surprising and very distasteful. What the hell happened to her? Until now, she didn't seem to completely drink the Abby BS Kool-aid.

Kalani, like Nia, appears to be a very solid and generous young lady. The pep talk that she gave to Nia before she went onstage for her solo was just plain wonderful. Whatever Kira is or isn't, her daughter is a product of her being a very good mother, unlike Abby's ass kisser Melissa who I would let raise my pet turtle.

I'll just sum it up last night in one word: gruesome. In the tease for next week, I didn't see Kira among the moms. Hopefully she took Kalani and hightailed it back to Arizona. Abby's screaming at her about who she was sleeping with was the height of hypocrisy. Didn't your hand maiden Melissa have an affair while she was married? Oh wait, Melissa and "boyfriend" bailed Abby out of a financial hole. Guess the old saying "money talks, bullshit walks" is true. The producers are doing Maddie no favors at his point. They are framing her as entitled, a poor sport and, at times, a bit arrogant. Not charming in a 12 year old and not a good omen for things to come. Abby clumping around in her bra? It may take years to erase that image from my mind. I couldn't quite get what the production hack was saying when that happened but I assume it was something about shutting the cameras down. When Abby was sitting there curling her lip and quivering, after Kira let her have it, she looked like a CGI character from a Lord of the Rings or Star Wars movie. Notice how idiot Jill had to shoo the girls over to comfort Jabba the Hut. Nothing like heartfelt spontaneity, eh?

I was just looking at the clip of Lily and Clare on YouTube and someone posted one of the funniest comments ever: "Why is Billie Piper yelling at Meatloaf?".

Kenzie was actually pretty good. She seemed very comfortable on camera and saying lines with the other kids. Maybe she'll end up as an actor who will be working long after her big sister's 15 minutes are up. Wonder how Melissa would feel about that turn of events.

Because Kalani is not the most special Maddie and she and Kira are probably just passing through. I believe that their primary affliation is with another studio.

If they also bring in Abbott and Costello, I'm gonna feel like I'm a kid again at my local movie theater's Saturday matinee!