S11.E07: Top 20 Perform, 2 Eliminated

[beeble]

Was anyone else uncomfortable by the premise in the Jourdan/Marcquet interrogation dance?  All I could think was, "Well, this is another tribute to Argentina, albeit an extremely awkward one…"

[phoenix780]

I tried to fast-forward through the pre-dance explanations, which was tougher this year because they seem shorter (yay!), so I didn't fully get that what was WCS wasn't disco.  Because it felt like one of their disco routines, just by a different choreographer.

[crossover]

Enjoyed this episode.  I don't expect every show to have outstanding choreography or enjoyable music.  So I won't down the show because I want it back next season, warts and all.  But because there were no standout routines, I focused more on the dancers and none of the couples elevated the routines.

The only couplings that looks interesting (physically and chemistry wise) are Zack/Jacque and Serge/Carly.  Maybe the shorter girls are still bigger than the shorter boys?  In either case, I would prefer to see Ricky with Tanisha since he can't have Jessica.  She's really a contemporary girl anyway.  Ricky's going to be around a while.  So at least make his a pleasing coupling.  Jourdan and Marcquet dance interpretations are too different to look good together.   Couldn't really tell about the hip hop boys because the girls were awful in hip hop.  So I couldn't get past that.  Rudy will be Rudy whoever he gets.  You either like him or not.  Casey doesn't grab me.  So it doesn't matter about his partner.  And Stanley lost his partner but I love his style of dance.

So far, my top 6 hopes are--Ricky (assured) and Stanley for contemp; Marcquet (almost assured) and Serge for ballroom; Zack for tap and Emilio for hip hop.  Jacque for ballet; Valerie for tap; Tanisha (almost assured) for ballroom; Jessica (assured) for jazz; Carly and Emily for contemp.

[crossover]

I like Benji a lot, but I think WCS is just one of those styles that is hard for non-experts to pull off, which makes Pasha and Sara all the more impressive.  It was really unlucky for Nick to pull that style when he was on the bottom.

 

 

 

Agree.  I love WCS but it has to be longer than 90 seconds to "wow" someone without the lifts and tricks.  I was hoping that Nick could pull it off since he's so use to partnering but he's so small.  Maybe a Marcquet and Jessica coupling would've been better for WCS?  Pasha had the size over Sara to pull off the lifts and tricks effortlessly.  So they could perform/enjoy the grooving style in between.  Nick and Jessica were just happy to get through the routine.

[Bella]

I tried to fast-forward through the pre-dance explanations, which was tougher this year because they seem shorter (yay!), so I didn't fully get that what was WCS wasn't disco.  Because it felt like one of their disco routines, just by a different choreographer.

 

Exactly! My attention was split last night, and I thought it was disco. In fact, I thought it was the best disco routine I've seen on the show in several seasons.

 

The only other things I remember are liking Misty Copeland as a judge, liking Serge and Carly, being disappointed with some of the choreography, and noticing how short many of the men are this season. 

[Lindsey]

I can't decide if I loved the opening number so much because it was genuinely good or if I was just so relieved that it was a non-Tyce Broadway routine. Either way, I really want to see On the Town now.

Travis is one of my favorite choreographers, but I have to agree with the other comments that he's gotten kind of same-y. His routines are starting to feel like the dance equivalent Nicholas Sparks movies: super intense emoting with a sad ending. I'd like to see him branch out a little. I think he has it in him.

[Gardencrown]

 

I love WCS but it has to be longer than 90 seconds to "wow" someone without the lifts and tricks.  I was hoping that Nick could pull it off since he's so use to partnering but he's so small.  Maybe a Marcquet and Jessica coupling would've been better for WCS?  Pasha had the size over Sara to pull off the lifts and tricks effortlessly.  So they could perform/enjoy the grooving style in between.  Nick and Jessica were just happy to get through the routine.

I think that Allison and Ivan had a WCS in Season 2 (I remember her fringy pants) -- while it may not have been technically great, it didn't suffer from all the labored lifts. I think part of Pasha and Sara's success had to do with the fact that Pasha was a much more experienced dancer than Nick (to say nothing of bigger). Pasha may never had done WCS, but he knew how to partner a woman >fans self a bit<. As I've said many (many) times, the show benefits by having more experienced dancers.

 

Which is why we let go of Malene...oh, wait...yeah, that was a disappointing cut. I kept thinking of how very different it would have been if they still had a results show. That way, Malene's great dance would have been uppermost in the judge's minds, while Jourdan and Brooklyn's meh dances would have been out there too. I don't think a results show would have changed the guy results, but it might well have changed the girl results.

 

The whole "picking a name" by the girls...I don't believe that was all random, or at least some girls would have picked a guy in her style. Yet the styles were all split up pretty evenly. I agree that so far Ricky and Valerie aren't working for me, though they both seem like lovely bubbly kids...but who else would they have put him with? I don't think Malene would have been a good fit, and I'm sure that Tanisha is a good bit taller than he is, and I don't think Nigel would want Ricky with Brooklyn because I suspect she's considered cannon fodder.

 

Hated, HATED both Cheeseman routines. WTF was that for Marcquette and Jourdan? And I may be alone in this, but I thought that the African jazz was pretty bad. It was danced way too "high" if that makes sense -- not nearly earthy enough. I thought that Jacque's (jesus the spelling of some of these names that I'm sure I'm messing up) danced it too prettily. And ohmydeargod the costumes were laughably bad. Has anyone but SC ever choreographed African jazz for this show?

 

The next few weeks will still be quite a crapshoot as to who is voted in the B3, and then the patterns will emerge. Voting for individuals means that the couples will probably shuffle around a bit more. Stanley and Jessica could be a beautiful pair -- but let's not give them contemporary every week, though they both could use a bit of a reprieve after horrible/difficult choreo this week!

[Shades of Red]

I want to add how shitty I think it is that the dancers find out who is in jeopardy before they have to dance.  Why does it matter?  Aren't they all supposed to be dancing their best no matter what happens?  There really is no reason I can think of that finding out who is about to be eliminated can't wait until the end of the show.

[TVSallyS]

I always assumed announcing the bottom at the beginning was so the judges could work this knowledge into their critiques. They don't want to praise someone as having the best routine of the night and then afterwards find out that person is in the bottom with two people they would much rather keep, based on their body of work (maybe this "best of the night" performance was a total anomaly in a body of mediocre work and they would still rather save the other two). They couldn't exactly justify booting them at that point (I suppose they could try to explain it was a "body of work" based decision, but it would still look really crappy to decide to boot someone right after giving them a standing O or something. It would just make for sour, unpleasant TV.) This way they can decide who they want to boot and then temper their praise for that person if they need to so there is less outrage about the decision seeming unfair. Or, if the person dances so well it really changes their minds and makes up for their prior work, they can of course go ahead and praise them if they want, I guess. The point is I just assumed they wanted all the info first, so all options were available to them, and they could say something in their comments that would set people up for the elimination more gracefully and it would not seem outrageous/unfair, or just unfun to watch.

Edited July 10, 2014 by TVSallyS

[OakGoblinFly]

I want to add how shitty I think it is that the dancers find out who is in jeopardy before they have to dance.  Why does it matter?  Aren't they all supposed to be dancing their best no matter what happens?  There really is no reason I can think of that finding out who is about to be eliminated can't wait until the end of the show.

 

 

It's pretty much a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" scenario.  At first the show didn't announce the "in danger" contestants until the end but it was clear from the judges' comments during critiques who was going home before they announced it.  Then they tried naming the eliminated contestant at the beginning of the show and force them to dance the routine even though they were gone.  With a one show format, I think announcing the "in danger" contestants at the start and waiting to the end to eliminate is the best way to handle the situation.

 

While I truly do believe that the judges' minds are made up who is going to leave before the show airs (they know the "in danger" contestants beforehand) I do think that a stellar routine can save a contestant.  If you were a dance named "in danger" it behooves you to try your best and be professional.  While this is a silly television show, it is also an audition for many of the dancers.  How they respond under pressure can go along way to landing a future job.

[ari333]

Welp, I guess I don't like Broadway if that was what the opening was.

Nappy Tabs was mentioned a few posts up and the name always makes me think of diaper fasteners. :)

Tanisha reminds me of someone who was on the show another season, but I can't recall who. Seems like it was someone with an unusually  spelled name with a K in it, but maybe I'm making that up.

Something about Sonya Blue Hair just rubs me wrong.

Wow, Nigel is a colossal ass. I keep thinking he can't out-do himself and yet he does. Emilio the Hobbit? And the thing he said to Malene, as mentioned - just wow. ASS.

I liked Luther Brown's choreo.

Edited July 10, 2014 by ari333

[StupidSexyFlanders]

Poor little Nick. He was cursed with "smaller than average male dancer" syndrome, and given a lift-heavy routine. Jessica is anything but large, but she's also not teeny tiny - Nick looked so uncomfortable trying to toss her around. And I'm sorry, Benji's great, but I hated that routine. The music choice was awful, and not in sync with the movements. He was doomed from the start. Such a shame - I would have rather seen Casey go home. He got a lot of praise, but I thought he was completely overpowered by Brooklyn (who shocked me this week!). I feel like I didn't notice him at all in their tango routine.

I agree with several others here who noted how awful Emily was in her hip hop routine with Teddy. I mean, she did nothing but back rolls, she was dressed like a 1950's housewife, and she looked very uncomfortable to me. I didn't understand the praise from the judges. On the plus side, Teddy looked 100 times better when he didn't have to dance next to Emilio. That was the most I've liked him since the show began.

Speaking of Emilio, that routine was another stinker. I mean, what did Bridget do that even counts as hip hop? He was great, though, as usual.

I'm not a big Tanisha fan, but I thought she wiped the floor with Rudy in their Sonja number. She was strong, fierce, and fluid, while he was none of those things. He was another that looked somewhat uncomfortable to me. I thought that could have been a standout piece if Tanisha had been paired with someone stronger (I think Ricky, Serge, or Marcquet could have killed that).

Malene was amazing last week in her own style, but I think it was right to send her home. Clearly she and Stanley got unlucky with the choreography, but I saw that lackluster high kick she attempted - not good. She did little more than stand around and swivel her hips for the majority of that routine. Stanley, I thought, looked pretty good, but I got what Nigel was saying about looking a bit "flaily". I still hope he sticks around a bit, though.

As for the rest: Serge and Carley: great. Ricky and Valerie: great. Marcquet and Jourdain: Terrible, tacky, incongruent routine, but he was magnetic. She was...okay. Jacque and Zach: a couple of slip-ups, but overall fine.

Predictions for next week: I think Jourdin and Emily are in trouble, then possibly Jessica or Bridget. Harder to guess with the guys, but Casey was in the bottom this week, and was barely noticeable in the tango, so he might be in trouble again. I think Serge will do better this week, so we might see some new faces in the bottom. Stanley might get burned from the Phone Fallout, and the third one I'm really not sure. Rudy seems to be too likable, but you never know. Alternatively, one of the hip hop boys might go down due to the lackluster routines and female partners.

[TVSallyS]

It's pretty much a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" scenario. At first the show didn't announce the "in danger" contestants until the end but it was clear from the judges' comments during critiques who was going home before they announced it.

Ok, yeah, I guess the problems I outlined in my assessment were related to the judges not knowing themselves unless they publicly announced it at the beginning. It is also definitely possible they could tell the judges privately and just reveal it to the audience at the end, but I agree with you that this also does not work because while it allows the judges to incorporate the info and avoid some of the issues I mentioned, it leaves the audience irritated wondering if they already knew and if that was influencing their comments, and why we were not just told at the beginning if they were going to broadcast it through their critiques anyway. I now am recalling a bunch of scenarios where it was like "that routine was great. What were the judges watching????" followed by "wait, do they know that person needs to leave because they are in the bottom with two better dancers so they are tempering their praise? If that is what is happening can't they just let me in on it so I am not so confused??" It was frustrating to watch. At least this way, if their critiques are influenced by bottom 3 knowledge, well, that's only natural. It's bound to happen and I think the audience expects it to. At least by letting us in on it, we can know to expect it, understand the potential influences at play, and it feels more transparent.

I think they have tried the other ways and they were all worse. This way isn't perfect, but I can't think of a better way.

Edited July 10, 2014 by TVSallyS

[OakGoblinFly]

Ok, yeah, I guess the problems I outlined in my assessment were related to the judges not knowing themselves unless they publicly announced it at the beginning. It is also definitely possible they could tell the judges privately and just reveal it to the audience at the end, but I agree with you that this also does not work because while it allows the judges to incorporate the info and avoid some of the issues I mentioned, it leaves the audience irritated wondering if they knew and if that was influencing their comments, and why we were not just told at the beginning if they were going to broadcast it anyway. I now am recalling that they tried this before didn't they?? And there were a bunch of scenarios where it was like "that routine was great. What were they watching????" followed by "wait, do they know that person needs to leave because they are in the bottom with two better dancers so they are tempering their praise? If that is what is happening can't they just let me in on it?!" At least this way, if their critiques are influenced by bottom 3 knowledge, well, that's only natural. It's bound to happen. Ay least we can know to expect it, understand the potential influences at play, and it feels more transparent.

I think they have tried the other ways and they were all worse.

 

 

That's exactly what happened and why now the "in danger" dancers are announced at the beginning of the show with the elimination coming at the end.  Not ideal, but the best under the circumstances. 

[crossover]

I agree that Malene wouldn't have been voted off if there was still the second night because she was so much better in her first routine than Brooklyn or Jourdan.  They probably never wanted Malene in the bottom 3 especially after all the praise they gave her.  But if she hits bottom with a stellar performance and they know she's not the most flexible dancer nor performed well in hip hop during auditions, they probably felt it's best to cut her now.  Nigel shouldn't have used the words that he did but I understood he was basing the decision on her dancing ability that they had seen.  They were just hoping the voters would like her enough to keep her.

 

An earlier poster mentioned Allison and Ivan's WCS because it didn't have the lifts and tricks.  Personally, I didn't like that routine.  It was too bland.

[Shades of Red]

Okay you've convinced me of the validity of announcing the "in danger" dancers ahead of time.  You've all made some very good points and I can see a different point of view on this that makes sense.

[ari333]

I hate this format and I guess I'll hate any way they do it because I miss the two nights. In that article a few posts up there was a mention of Fox not having room for two nights of SYTYCD because they have to have multi shows with Gordon Ramsay screaming at people (and calling them donkeys and donuts.) So true, and I say that as a Ramsay fan. I just prefer the two nights of this show and the other vote-then-eliminate type shows. 

 

I was shocked that Malene went home. It figures; I really liked her, so she was doomed. :)

 

I love it when they have great music that makes me dance in the chair at home or jump up or something. Bah.

Edited July 10, 2014 by ari333

[LadyMustang65]

I was not surprised that Nick was the guy to leave.  I didn't think he was that good last week, and he was not good again this week.  I was, however, extremely surprised that Malene was the girl to go.  She was the best ballroom girl by far last week, and I thought she was beautiful this week.  Not perfect, but I would have sent Brooklyn home.  She was not good last week, and I didn't think she was much better this week.  None of the girls wow me at all this season.  All of my favorites are guys - Ricky, Zach, Stanley, Marcquet (I'm pretty sure I butchered the spelling) and Emilio.  I enjoyed most of the routines - even the phone one.  But I really didn't like the West Coast Swing.  I adore Benji, but I didn't care for the music he chose.  I think the routine itself would have been much more enjoyable danced by someone else.  And I am really tired of the judges taking their dislike of the choreography out on the dancers.  Stanley/Malene really got it this time.  I don't care that they didn't like the use of the props through the whole routine.  That is *not* the call of the dancers - they just try to do the best they can with what they're given.  If they don't like the choreography, then they should say something to that effect - critique how well or poorly they performed what they were given and not the choreography itself.

[kechara]

I wondered if Malene was too tall for many of the guys...that might have been a factor.  There are some tall guys this year but some really short ones too it looks like

[picklesprite]

Uh oh. I was so bored with this whole show. I don't want to be bored with SYTYCD! I've loved it too long. I want this relationship to keep its spark.

 

Hate the cutsey interviews. Learn about the contestants? No, learn nothing about them, just feel sorry for them for having to fake so much hilarity.

 

So bored by the choreography. I'm really hoping I was just having a hate-everything night, and it's not the show's fault.

 

Several times, the dancers and the music didn't seem to have been introduced to one another.

 

Please, show, don't force these kids to force a personality on us. Just let them be more naturally themselves, whomever that might turn out to be. It's getting painful to watch those huge, ingratiating grins and all that jumpy energy.

 

Self-pitying sigh because I watched the whole damn thing. ::pets me::

 

 

[shimarella]

In agreement with much of what has already been said. 

 

I was sorry to see Nick go, even though I understood why...I like his personality while Casey didn't even register for me. I would have preferred to see Brooklyn go from the girls or the off-balance ballerina. Malena looked AMAZING and grown sexy in the broadway piece. It sucked for both dancers that Spencer didn't have them ditch the phones sooner. Almost everyone else left on the show is pretty much playing at being grown up now, which is a little boring for me. 

 

I liked Rudy & Tanisha's routine, even acknowledging the flaws in it..it was a quirky Apache-esque dance and less boring than the angsty emo contemporary crap. I was glad that Benji called that out, but not so glad about his lift-heavy WCS that barely had any flow to it. It did the dancers no favors and I'm not sure what they could have done with it in return. I'd like to see him do more WCS on the show so hopefully he took the note. 

 

Both Hip-Hop routines were very WTF for me although Teddy was enjoyable in his Gumby-esque way. They need to lay off the make-up a little though unless his next routine is a tribute to The Velvet Goldmine. Emilio's outfit was also WTF for me. I couldn't focus on the dance at all. And yes, both girls were middlin' to dreadful. 

 

Also: I'm sorry if I missed this, but did they eliminate the DoD for the bottom three/six dancers from this season???

 

 

I liked the Afro-Jazz routine primarily for the styling. I thought both dancers were super light on their feet for a routine that asked for them to be warriors but it was still a breath of fresh air after the mostly forgettable dances last night. 

 

I liked Misty. She did give them some good notes and I didn't mind that she referred to those notes as she talked to them. That's what I would do too. 

 

Also did I miss where they said they were eliminating the DoDs for the bottom 6 dancers? 

Edited July 10, 2014 by shimarella

[Rick Kitchen]

Is Misty from Minnesota?  If so, all the more reason for me to love her as that is my home-state. 

 

 

She was born in Kansas City and grew up in Southern California.

[EyewatchTV211]

The references some of you have made to Pasha and Sara remind me of their season, and I actually still think that season had the most talent overall (despite what Nigel and Co. want us to think).  Admittedly, I haven't watched every season since in full, especially the few years where contemporary seemed to completely take over.  I guess I should also admit that Pasha is my favorite all time dancer. :-)  

[ari333]

I loved the African jazz routine and the music for it. I think "animalistic" is a compliment or at least that's how I took it.

 

I liked the hiphop by Luther too. And a tango has to be super bad for me not to love it. Loved it.

[Lara Morgana]

I started watching this show Season 1 (which really sucked but I was so excited to find a dance show I didn't realize it at the time).

 

  Season 2 and Season 3 dancers were far away the best.  Those two seasons had excellent choreography, great music and contestants that you really cared about.  I was lucky enough to see the Season 3 all stars on tour and meet Danny (sigh), Lacey, Pasha (best smelling man EVER), Sara, and the rest.

 

I don't know what happened to the show.  Season 4 wasn't quite as good as the previous 2 although it did have my guy Mark on it (another sigh).   After that it has been all downhill.

 

I think that like a lot of people I'm tired of the same old choreography  - as more than one person mentioned - flail, flail:   roll about on the floor, roll about on the floor;  gentlemen carry your partner while she flexes her feet.

 

So freaking boring.  I'm way over it.

 

Also sick of Nigel and his constant pimping of his favorites.  I guess Jessica is going to be another Sabra - she will make it to final four come hell or high water.

 

Enough bitching and moaning. 

 

I started out this season loving Ricky and Marquette and I still like them.  But Serge and Emilo are also becoming my favs along with Stanley who can leap about like Michael Jordan.  

 

As for the girls - don't really care about any of them.   I do feel for Ricky -  he's stuck with poor clunky Valerie.

 

So glad to see Benji.  He was the reason I really fell in love with this show back in 2005 - everything he did was outstanding.  Wish he had chosen a different song for this episode but truth is Jessica and Nick just didn't have the chops to do a WCS.

 

Prediction- if Stanley ever finds himself in the bottom 3 he's a goner.   Nigel will eliminate him just so Jessica and Ricky can be together again......after all they are the golden couple (shades of Josh and Katie Season 4).

[luvthepros]

.....When Valerie was pulling a name I thought "anyone but Ricky!" I love watching Ricky dance, and I knew those two wouldn't partner well.......

I thought the partnerships were paired by TPTB but the dance styles were pulled from "the hat". I plan to watch the show again so will pay better attention to that detail.

[allypenguin]

I missed the last 20 minutes, but if Nigel actually said that to Malene he can go fuck himself. What an awful and disgusting thing to say to somebody. I'm very sad to hear that she was eliminated, too. I also didn't hate the Spencer Liff broadway that much, either, but I was nervous throughout the entire thing that they would get tangled up in the telephone cords.

 

Bridget was horrible in the hip hop. It was not hard hitting at all from her. Just ugh. Emilio rocked what he was given though. Luther and Dave Scott can stay. That bombardment of contemporary/jazz at the beginning of the show was so brutal. Can Mark come back and choreograph already? Or maybe Blake Mcgrath, since SYTYCD US is keen on featuring choreographers from SYTYCD Canada. Just new blood. PLEASE. I need a good break from all the Sonja and Travis (even Stacey too)

 

I laughed when Benji said his dance didn't have any story to it, and it was just to have fun. Definitely felt like a playful dig at the show, haha.

Edited July 11, 2014 by allypenguin

[thewhiteowl]

Cat, you lovely beast, so glad you found some conditioner for your hair and a comb.

The opening number was pretty good and really looked Broadway-esque.

Gah, did not like Tanisha and Rudy's thing. Sadly, I think Tanisha has some skill and has been unfortunate in her partners. Her hair do was not flattering. At all. Rudy is this season's Jose.

Ricky and Valerie were just okay.  I felt nothing but they didn't suck.

Emilio and Bridget were cute little hobbit-y hip hop-ers but I really didn't care for the routine.

Love to see Benji but when your choreo causes a shoulder to dislocate, man, you need to re-think it, just saying.

Nick and Jessica really bombed that.  It was bad all around.

Serge and Carly were shockingly good. Best of the night IMO.

Teddy and Emily were okay, he was definitely better, IMO. I found it entertaining but not great.

I had high hopes for Malene and Stanley but this was just bad.  Even if you took the phones out, there was little content and no connection. It really did look like they were dancing two different pieces.

Jourdan and Marcquet, sucked. Sloppy  and out of control.

Casey and Brooklyn were quite good. I bought it,  I liked their connection and control, it wasn't the most complicated of tangos but it was well done.

I liked the African  Jazz but I noticed Zack looked stiff in the shoulders while Jacque was giving it her all.

Nigel was his usual ass-y self, Mary was fairly irrelevant and I thought Misty had some good critiques.

Not a stellar night for this show but not terrible either.

Edited July 11, 2014 by thewhiteowl

[luvthepros]

Just in case some of you didn't see this photo, Zack appears to be not just a tapper.......

[rereader2]

The telephone number reminded me of nothing so much as rhythmic gymnastics.

[traboule]

Tanisha / Rudy - As soon as Sonya said that this piece was really grimy, strong and aggressive, I knew what the dancers' costumes would look like - some variation of the costumes worn by S9 Matthew/Audrey and s10 Paul/Makenzie. Anyway, this piece seemed kind of samey, not just in costuming. I did like the quick choreography done during that first "you you you you" part in the music. I thought Tanisha was good. Not a fan of Rudy. The chair part at the end seemed awkward to me.

 

Ricky / Valerie - I thought the piece was boring though Ricky cuts beautiful lines as always. Really looking forward to seeing him in something other than contemporary though.

 

Emilio / Bridget - I didn't find the choreography to be interesting, and Bridget's hip-hop dance attitude struck me as being affected. Waste of Emilio's charisma, which was more showcased last week. Oh and while I found the Q&A for all the contestants to be pretty forced, I did like Bridget's answer of "Neither. Wizard." when asked "Vampire or werewolf?"

 

Nick / Jessica - Unfortunately for these two, the only WCS I remember on the show is Pasha and Sara's and it's one of my favorite SYTYCD dances. I didn't know what was going on in this dance. The poor dancers had to dance half their routine to the sound of Aretha warming up an audience. And Jessica's outfit plus the spin at the end made me think disco. I did like this one part in the middle where they sort of shuffled? or something toward the front of the stage, her in front and him behind. That part was cute and lively.

 

Serge / Carly - The first dance I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. The part that Nigel noted about Carly looking up at Serge near the beginning was something I had noticed too. A good choice on her part or whoever told her to do that. I also liked the part where Serge reached up his arm from his position on the floor and it mirrored Carly's kick in the air. I thought they had good chemistry. The only nitpick I have was near the end where Serge is kind of repeatedly grasping his hands around Carly while the song says "I'm latching onto you." It started looking a bit sloppy / silly.

 

Teddy / Emily - I thought Teddy had some nice charismatic moments in this dance and was living up to the flirty theme named by the choreographer. Emily seemed to be mugging for the audience too much. I thought she wasn't very good at all. Like there's this part where she's dancing over his crotch basically and she was just so perfunctory in her movement and facial expression. I think even Fik-Shun and Amy were sexier, or at least enjoyably cheekier, in a similar move in "After Party." I'd like to see what Teddy can do in other styles.

 

Malena / Stanley - I got worried when I saw it was going to be a prop-heavy dance. Those rarely go well unless they're dispensed with early on, which didn't happen. I agree with Mary on that point. I did enjoy some of the aesthetics of the routine anyway and maybe because I've just glommed onto Stanley but I thought he looked great in this, not flaily at all. I think someone could get that impression because Malena wasn't doing a third of the kicks and leaps that he was. I especially liked this one part where he was crossing in front of Malena on one knee and sort of rolled his head back. She looked sexy and totally 1960's but she wasn't doing much impressive other than that. Which is too bad as I really liked her last week.

 

Jourdan / Marcquet - I didn't like this routine at all. I thought he wasn't sharp in any of his movements.

 

Brooklyn / Casey - I liked how they looked on the stage. At one point in the first 30 seconds, Brooklyn hooks her left leg around his inside thigh and down and then back up around his waist and I thought it looked nice and quick and sharp. I appreciate this one more with each rewatch.

 

Jacque / Zack - I like Zack and I think I could like Jacque once I see her dance more, but I felt like the costumes weirdly obscured their dance somehow, despite the fact that they were form-fitting. I think it was the colors. Anyway, I thought they really committed to all of it, costumes and everything. Zack did stumble a little at the edge of the stage, but it took me the 2nd time to notice.

 

I'm sorry Malene is going. I can see that her technique may not have been versatile, but she somehow brought more variety to the female ranks this season. Maybe it was her maturity, I don't know. I'm curious about the Stanley/Jessica pairing. He's my favorite dancer so far, but I'm on the fence with Jessica.

[Cuatro1234]

I really enjoyed the opener, but I thought the 3 sailors were showcased too much.

 

Tanisha/Rudy--didn't like it.  Especially for the first couples dance of the night.  Thought it was a bore.  ari333, I think the dancer Tanisha puts you in mind of is Kherrington from S4.  Tall and blonde with similar length hair.  And didn't Kherrington get a West Coast Swing too that season??  Man, the WCS on this episode was plumb awful.

 

I was prepared to hate Ricky/Valerie because I am getting tired of Travis, but I thought it was terrific.  I thought Valerie looked better in this contemporary number than she did in her tap number last week.  She looked fluid and flexible, and I thought she did a great job.

 

Teddy looks like David Bowie!

 

So does Marcquet have a wandering eye (strabismus)?  And then Misty Copeland kept talking to him about controlling his eyes??  I thought this was very awkward.

 

I am not getting all the Serge/Carly love.  I like both of them just fine, but again, I was supremely bored with that piece.  That section at the beginning where she looks back at him?  I thought she was unsure of what to do next, or something.  It just looked insecure to me.

 

I miss the solos.

 

Bridget was awful.  Thank goodness they put her in the audience first so 1/3 of her dance was just walking onstage.  Then there was some crazy camerawork that I think was designed to camouflage her badness.  She and Rudy are my next choices to go home.

 

I liked Stanley and Malene together, and thought their routine was fun, although they should have ditched the phones halfway through.  I think Nigel critiques that style and anything from that era really harshly because he thinks he was the best at it and no one else can come close.  Stanley and Malene reminded me of Jakob and Ashleigh, but I thought Malene was better than Ashleigh.  I was looking forward to seeing what they would do in the future.  Now Stanley will be with Jessica and hmmmm I wonder how that will be.

Oh and on IDF it was posted that Ricky is pretty short, and that Tanisha is the second-shortest girl.  She looks very tall to me--maybe because of her lines, or the fact that she wears heels for ballroom?

[crossover]

Jourdan / Marcquet - I didn't like this routine at all. I thought he wasn't sharp in any of his movements.

 

I didn't think that Jourdan/Marcquet had the best routine.  But, I disagree that he wasn't sharp or didn't complete his movements.  His sharp movements vs her fluid style is what I didn't like about the routine.  I think the goal of this routine was to highlight Jourdan in a positive light because of her disaster in her own style.  After seeing the B3 girls, they probably had decided to cut Malene.  Thus, the sexy broadway where the female really needs flexibility to sell the routine.  But, they also had to make Jourdan and Brooklyn look good as well so that the cut wouldn't be so bad.  Thus, Sean focusing on her legs and using Marcquet's partnering ability to enhance them.  And, giving Brooklyn the M&L tango which is hard for a ballroom dancer to make look bad.

 

I THINK Misty was talking about in the beginning of the routine when Marquet was sitting in the chair and Jourdan had him around the head.  He rolled his eyes back then.  I guess he was going for someone losing conscientiousness.  I guess Misty thought he went too far with it.  Didn't she say something like he took it too seriously?

[SilvaVocat]

I hated the West Coast Swing choreography. It was just one awkward lift after another. If choreographers are supposed to, in part, show dancers to their best advantage, why give them a dance full of tricks they can't do instead of giving them a dance full of, I don't know, dance steps?  I'm frustrated with how the choreo on this show has become "Who can design the biggest, scariest trick most likely to do permanent physical damage to a young dancer who has little/no partnering experience?"

 

I did appreciate Benji's dig about story dances. Just once I'd like a Contempo choreographer on this show to say: This dance is about the joy of movement and music. Even the dances that are about a couple in love (as opposed to the dances about a couple in a one sided relationship) are angsty. Even "the ultimate connection" has to be full of obsession and angst. Can Contemporary not express joy? That would seem like a major flaw in a dance style, and maybe Contemporary needs to take a time out and think about what it's doing. You know how in all the dance movies, the uptight ballerina type sneaks out to take a jazz class or learns to hip hop from the sexy inner-city boy and discovers that she truly loves dancing again?  Contemporary needs to go sneak out and take a jazz class.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awwww, I love Cat so much. She sounded like she was getting a little choked up at the very beginning of the show when she said that two people would be eliminated. She just loves these dancers so much that it makes me love her even more. No mention of her annual 4th of July pool party this year?

 

I'm always a little wary of the group numbers in the early weeks because there are just so many dancers on the stage that it's hard to tell who is who. I also tend to be wary of Broadway numbers like this because when you have different groups of dancers and different costumes, it can look messy. But this routine was good in both respects, particularly for the guys. The groups were well defined and the guys' costumes were different enough that you could see who was in the sailor group vs who was the cop or the baseball player. The costumes weren't as effective for the girls but at least they gave them very different colors so you could see who was the waitress, who was wearing bright green, etc. The girls also didn't get as much time to shine so they got the double shaft in this routine, but it was still fun to watch. Josh Bergasse can stay if he lets the girls shine more next time.

 

So modest and cute that Cat introduced him as an Emmy award winner but didn't mention she was nominated earlier this morning. And she was so adorable when she saw the judges in their baseball jerseys and just cracked up. I laughed hearing Nigel say "no hitter" like it was in a foreign language. Cat should be proud of her pitch. I've seen far FAR worse opening pitches.

 

Interesting that last week they let each dancer do a solo during the intro but this week they had to dance with last week's partner. I guess they decided letting 20 people do solos took too long. I miss hearing Cat say, "Here are the guys and here are the gulls," and watching them walk towards each other.

 

Gawd, Nigel is turning into even more of a windbag with every episode. First he had to bring up the Germany-Brazil game and then use that as an excuse to quote Winston Churchill. Please STFU! If he absolutely must blather on, I wish he would at least be more succinct. It's so easy: "You're all great and we don't want to see any of you come home. No matter who is eliminated, this isn't the end for any of you. Good luck!"

 

Rudy and Tanisha's jazz piece was average to me. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it didn't wow me. But considering how annoying I usually find Sonya's choreography, that's an improvement for me. I wish they hadn't kept flashing the lights during the routine because it sometimes made me feel like I had just missed a move. I love Misty as a judge. She actually gives constructive criticism instead of the generic ass kissing or meh comments we get from Mary and Nigel. Her advice to be more grounded while partnering and thinking of himself as the trunk and his partner as the leaves was great.

 

Valerie and Ricky are goofballs. A Miley Cyrus party? I'm always afraid for the non-contemporary dancers when they get contemporary or jazz with Sonya, but Valerie did a decent job. She didn't wow me or anything, but she didn't look like she was totally lost. She didn't look like a non-contempo dancer struggling with the style or the technique as we have seen in past seasons. I loved that Misty talked about how all dancers learn from other dancers, choosing what to emulate as well as what they don't want to imitate.

 

I was already tired of Bridget's dead daddy story during audtiions so I feared they would milk that story all season, especially if she got assigned contemporary, so I'm glad that she got a non-lyrical hip hop this week without any chance for the judges to ask if she was channeling the pain of losing her father (mark my words, they'll do it!). She also won some points from me for saying she liked wizards instead of werewolves or vampires. Anyone who prefers Harry Potter to Twilight can't be all bad, right? Nigel was dumb to criticize Emilio's costume. First of all Emilio didn't pick it out. Secondly, you're basically talking shit about the costume staff for the show (or the choreographer if he requested this look). Emilio, not surprisingly did well in this routine. Bridget was given a gift by Luther because the choregraphy was not overly complicated or too fast and there was a lot of posing, but she didn't even come close to pulling it off. She had no swag, she wasn't hitting the positions, and she strangely looked like she was trying too hard in some parts and not trying hard enough in other parts.

 

Oh, Nick and Jessica, your partnership is doomed in my head because I will always expect to see Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson when I hear anyone say "Nick and Jessica." I'm down with Nick's super power being lasers shooting out of his eyes though. YAY for Benji's return! Not only is he awesome (and so ignored by SYTYCD) but I also love that he said there's no theme, just dance. But damn, was that really the sound of her shoulder popping out or did they add a sound effect to make it seem worse? Either way, UGH. Poor girl. I got heebie jeebies! Once again, Misty is an awesome judge. I loved that she said they both could have more energy in their feet more and that Jessica's foot was basically flopping around during the partner fouettes.

 

Surprisingly, both Mary and Nigel had some comments that weren't totally useless. I agree that this was a difficult routine in terms of the speed and the number of lifts/tricks and that Jessica was making too many faces. I'm glad Mary pointed out that even though Nick is a ballroom dancer, he has never done West Coast swing. At the same time, I felt like Nigel was being negative about Jessica to make her more of an underdog instead of his obvious favorite and that his comment about the difficulty level was to excuse Jessica for not excelling at it. As several people have pointed out, the point of the show should not be to give the dancers watered down routines when they aren't dancing in their own style, so it felt a bit disingenuous for Nigel to say that Benji was mean for giving them such a hard routine.

 

Carly's groundhog noise was weird. And Serge has a crush on Minnie Mouse? Ooookay. Gawd, Sonya, when you say things like, "I expect this piece to be profoundly moving," or you assume that you're asking these dancers to go to a place that YOU think they haven't been before (despite the fact that you just met them and therefore don't know enough about their lives or personal relationships to know ithe depth of their emotional places), I just roll my eyes. I totally agree with Misty that Serge is a great partner and that he was so tender and gentlle and emotionally connected. I know that Mary has been one of those weepy ladies for years (which can be kind of annoying), but I liked that she said the reason that this routine got to her was because she knew Serge has had a journey to get here and she wasn't expecting this from him.

 

When Cat introduced Emily and Teddy, I could not remember who the hell Emily was even as I was looking at her. I had to check to see what routine she danced last week because I had no idea who she was. I like that instead of having Luther Brown choreograph both hip hop routines, the show had Dave Scott do the second one. See, show? This is how you keep the choreographers and the audience from getting totally burned out. Emily was up and down in the routine for me. She had some moments where she looked great and other moments where she looked awkward. There was a little too much hip swiveling and body rolling for me. I'm not opposed to it, but I felt like it was getting repetitive. Emily was smiling and mugging too much. I hate when Nigel says things like "You were moving parts of the body that I bet you you didn't think you had." Nigel, they're dancers. I'm pretty sure they have moved every body part AND been aware of it.

 

Malene and Stanley caught my attention right away with the beginning of their Broadway routine. Malene was so sexy but in a classy way, and Stanley exploded onto the stage with his leap. Props can be the devil, especially when you have to use them for an entire routine so I was really nervous for them, but I thought they did very well with those phones, catching every toss. I think at some points, they looked like they were in different routines not because of the choreography but because their individual styles while performing this routine didn't match each other, but individually they each looked pretty good. I didn't think their performance was as dismal as Mary and Nigel tried to make it seem though.
 

Hee, Marquete was so cute when he boureéd over to Jourdan. And damn, Jourdan knows pi to 11 digits! As soon as I saw the table, I thought uh oh, if this isn't good then people will just say it's a weak imitation of Sabra and Neal doing Mandy Moore's Sweet Dreams routine. Sean Cheesman gave them fun characters to work with (I'd rather see the interrogator/prison characters than another angsty writhing contemporary routine with the girl in a flowy skirt and the guy wearing capris and/or no shirt). Jourdan was really aggressive which was appropriate. I thought it was rude for Nigel to say that she made a lot of mistakes last week that they overlooked. If you didn't mention them last week, TOO BAD. You had your chance and you didn't notice then so shut it.

 

I don't understand this show's music standards though. They used an edited version of "Work Bitch" that didn't contain the word "bitch," but it was okay to use a song with lyrics telling a girl to bring a bottle of gin and they'll end up between the sheets until 8am. And it's okay to show the word "bitch" on the screen when they showed the song title, but not to hear the word "bitch" in the actual song.

 

It cracked me up that Casey's first question to Brooklyn was wehether her hair is dyed or natural. Dude, have you seen her hair? Either she is growing out a dye job or she had it ombréd, but in either case it's not natural. To be honest, Argentine tango on this show is a crap shoot for me but this one was pretty good. As soon as it was over, I totally forgot about it though.

 

I fear for Jacque and Zack being paired together. Putting the ballet dancer with the tap dancer seems like the producers are trying to get rid of them. The colorful unitards in front of the painting used for Jacque and Zack's routine reminded me of those challenges on Face Off where the contestants have to make their models blend into tbe background (and I love those challenges!). I agreed with Misty about Jacque's jaw but I actually first noticed it when she and Zack were interviewing each other.

 

Should I assume that Chloe Arnold was the tapper in the middle wearing the red shoes? Frankly it felt like she was Beyoncé and the others were her backup dancers.

 

Why didn't any of the bottom six get to dance for their lives? Did they just run out of time or what? I'd rather have less talking from Nigel and more dancing. At least let the bottom six do solos to let us see them excel at their specialty.

 

Last week I said that the best thing about the new voting system would be not watching the dancers hold up their fingers as Cat read their phone numbers. But this week I learned that has been replaced with the dancers awkwardly staring at the camera while Cat tells us to use the Fox app. I guess it's a trade off.

 

I always feel bad for Cat when she has to tell the dancers who are crying and consoling the eliminated dancers to hurry up and get off the stage. Are they not showing the farewell packages anymore either?

 

I think that Allison and Ivan had a WCS in Season 2 (I remember her fringy pants) -- while it may not have been technically great, it didn't suffer from all the labored lifts.

Yes! I always remember that dance for the fringed pants! I thought Allison was so laid back and effortlessly hot in that routine but it landed them in the bottom 3 (perhaps deservedly so because Ivan was pretty bad in this routine):

Edited July 11, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Whimsy]

She was born in Kansas City and grew up in Southern California.

 

So the Twins jersey probably was just given to her.  Oh well, I still got a thrill seeing her wear it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

In Misty's defense, you are allowed to like a sports team even if you've never lived in that city!

[NextIteration]

She was born in Kansas City and grew up in Southern California.

 

 

So the Twins jersey probably was just given to her.  Oh well, I still got a thrill seeing her wear it.

 

 

In Misty's defense, you are allowed to like a sports team even if you've never lived in that city!

 

The All-Star game is in Minnesota this year. ;)  I'm sure that's why she didn't have a NY team jersey.

[tvloserlife]

I finally got around to watching this last night.  I did not realize how attached I had gotten to Nick - I knew he was going but when they announced the bottom 3 I still felt like it was a punch to the gut.  And when he was eliminated he looked like such a sad puppy.

 

I have mixed feelings about Misty.  I adore her constructive criticism, but she has really been working on her shit sandwiches - "You were so fierce and sexy and fierce!  By the way, you could have done this part better <insert actual constructive criticism here>.  But you were fabulous and fierce!"  I think if she removed those very fake bookends, I would love her commentary much more.

 

I really couldn't watch the WCS - Jessica's popped shoulder creeped me out so much (I'm very squeamish), and I spent the entire dance worrying it would pop out again.  Not a good dance, not a good song choice, and not danced well.

 

I did not think I'd like Zack going into this for whatever reason but so far between the tap last week and the African Jazz this week I'm thinking he's a very strong contender!  I hope I didn't just jinx him into getting sent home next week...

 

I usually love Luther Brown's choreography and I actually thought his dance this week was really great but unfortunately it was executed very poorly.  Meanwhile, I thought Dave Scott's hip hop was danced wonderfully but the choreography wasn't hard hitting enough for me.  I wonder how it would have looked if they just switched dancer.

 

With the enormous number of dance styles you can choose from, is it really necessary to do two contemporary, two jazz, and two hip hop numbers each week anyway?  So many dances are already variations anyway, including broadway and African jazz, and if they learned anything from Canada they could bring in house, dancehall, or krump instead of having two hip hop dances.  They could choose different standard or Latin ballroom dances as well as others like disco, swing, salsa, hustle, etc.  No need to have repeats that will likely get compared directly to each other anyway!  Their current variety of dance styles is really souring me on contemporary.  I would actually prefer to see a country two-step or a Russian folk dance once in a while just for the sake of breaking up the monotony at this point.

[NextIteration]

I'm flat out bored with Sonya and Travis for the most part.  Bring back Dee, do something!  Cheeseman stunk out the place this week, as did Spencer Liff and Benji!.

 

I want my dang show back!

[bourbon]

It was interesting what Nigel and Misty said about the interrogation number. Misty said he was taking his character too seriously and Nigel said he needed to stay in the angry prisoner character more. Totally agree with Misty. How can that number be played anything other than campy and tongue in cheek? How are we supposed to enjoy a played-straight number about possible Geneva convention violations? The whole number just made me uncomfortable. I really liked Marcquet in auditions. He seemed to have some humor about him, but none of that is really coming through for me now.

I like Rudy. There. I said it.

So agree about contempo choreography. Where is it written that contempo = angst? That said, the choreographers know that angsty contempo is what gets the jidges' and audience's attention. It's funny, because so many of my favorite contempo routines *aren't* terribly angsty, but for the most part, it gets votes and tongue baths and Emmy nods. So, we'll get a lot of rolling on the floor and reaching out and staring into middle distance and running offstage.

The jury is still out for me on Spencer and Benji's choreo. The phone gimmick and Benji's lifts killed the routines and damned the contestants. Not sure where I come down in the debate.

Nigel is truly vile. I almost can't watch this show anymore. He is really that bad. If it were only that his commentary is offensive, but his truly stunning levels of assholery make it so that good dancers are eliminated over weakers ones week after week, season after season. He really needs to step down. He is not fun, entertaining, or even informative. Go away. Now.

[waving feather]

The best contemporary choreographer we had on the show is still Mia. Like her or not, she has produced the most memorable routines over the course of a few seasons (Let the Drummer Kick, anyone?). Travis can only dream to be like her. His routines all blend together for me. Worst contemporary choreographer on the show, imo. And his choice of music is always generic and uninspiring. Top 40 angsty love songs all the time. Bleh.

 

I miss Wade's Jazz, too. It's always so distinctive.

 

I'm surprised we didn't have any standard ballroom this episode, like a Viennese Waltz. This show is make or break by its choreography, rather than the dancers.

Edited July 11, 2014 by waving feather

[Princess Sparkle]

Also: I'm sorry if I missed this, but did they eliminate the DoD for the bottom three/six dancers from this season???

 

 

They've been really hit or miss on when they're making them dance after moving to one night a week.  I remember being so mad that Nico got eliminated last season without ever getting to dance a solo to help save himself.  

[Bella]

Didn't Nigel lecture them last season about not putting their all into the DoDs? For once, I agreed with him.

 

I felt like doing a solo dance of their own choosing in their own style didn't tell us how they could compensate for whatever deficits they showed in dancing someone else's choreo with a partner. And when they just went through the motions, I felt like it was a drag on the show. There are enough dead moments that I have to FF through without adding a bunch of HMVs, rolling backbends, and chest thrusts that have been practiced to death.

[waving feather]

There are enough dead moments that I have to FF through without adding a bunch of HMVs, rolling backbends, and chest thrusts that have been practiced to death.

 

Yeah, no thanks to most of the contemporary competition type solos. Most of them are dull as dirt. I would love to see solos from the tappers, though, because aside from their showcase number, there's no chance that they'd get to show off their specialty in any of the other regular dance styles that they get on the show.

 

I would enjoy solo from Emilio, too.

[ThirteenthJuror]

 

I'm flat out bored with Sonya and Travis for the most part.  Bring back Dee, do something!

Bring back Dee just for the rehearsal footage and I'll be happy. I live for Dee and his deadpan delivery to the camera when explaining his piece to the viewers. Then to see his reaction after the dance in the audience as if he were at a funeral. I swear he's in a competition with himself to see what they'll let him get away with as far as bringing in props on stage. He's had a piano that served as a casket; a bathtub, ladder, lightbulbs, pillows, apples...etc. I do love him for being different and not making his pieces about angst and loss all of the time.

 

 I forgot to mention Misty in my critique the other day. Loved her. I think the reason why she would use "fierce" and other other adjectives before giving them pointers, was a nice way of tempering her critique. She knows as a ballerina what it's like to be constantly critiqued, so I think she was trying to really help the dancers with useful information, but she didn't want to destroy their confidence in the process of doing that. she's been my favorite guest judge they've had so far.

[DearEvette]

I forgot about Nigel making his rude comments to the young woman who left.  Uncalled for and very disrespectful.  I must have blocked it out not believing I was hearing right.

 

Nigel does that shit all the time.   A couple of years ago he made a statement about a female dancer "looking ugly" when  she talked about quitting.  But the way he said it, given his cumulative comments about the dancer up to that point, made it seem like a reference to her phsyical attractiveness.   It is bad enough she was cast as obvious cannon fodder but to give a back slap about her looks was just foul.  Making matters worse, she was an AA female dancer who, let's face it, don't get a ton of exposure on SYTYCD.

[phoenix780]

The best contemporary choreographer we had on the show is still Mia. Like her or not, she has produced the most memorable routines over the course of a few seasons (Let the Drummer Kick, anyone?).

 

Thanks for referencing that piece- I'd never seen it.  And watching it clarifies for me why their contemporary routines are always they are, because at this point I'd swear that would be called Hip Hop, maybe with the word "lyrical" thrown in.  Or was it called Hip Hop at the time?  

 

I thought Misty's use of "fierce" was more related to the forum, like it was her way of trying to fit in on the show, or appear to be looser and more casual than she actually is.  I don't mean that as a diss- I loved her- it was just awkward to me every time she did it.

[Bella]

 

I thought Misty's use of "fierce" was more related to the forum, like it was her way of trying to fit in on the show, or appear to be looser and more casual than she actually is.  I don't mean that as a diss- I loved her- it was just awkward to me every time she did it.

 

She strikes me as very serious and focused - which she'd have to be to reach her level of success - and I thought "fierce" was her version of Mary's "hot tamale train." In other words, also quoting Mary, "that was amazing!"

 

Mostly I was happy to have a guest judge who didn't a) babble or b) have an agenda.

[picklesprite]

I especially miss Wade's choreo.

 

The music choices this week were a big part of the problem for me. Too many of them seemed insipid, inspiring insipid work.

 

I'm ready for Pilobolus to drop by and shake things up. Kidding. Pretty sure I'm kidding. Or Cirque du Soleil.

 

Forgot to mention that the one number I did like was the opening Broadway. Loved the make-up and costumes of it, too; the lipstick, alone, made the girls look alive.