S17.E09: Starry Starry Night

[jewel21]

Six of the series' favorite all-stars, including Comfort Fedoke, Lex Ishimoto, Amy Yakima, Ezra Sosa, Koine Iwasaki and Bailey Munoz, return to dance with the top six.

Airdate: 07/20/2022

[rlc]

At least we will see some decent dancers tonight. I wonder what sort of musical theater number they'll give Beau this week? Assuming they will eliminate Carter and Ralyn tonight.

[HerkyJerky]

JoJo to Carter: "That was my favorite SYTYCD hip-hop ever!"

Me: ARE U EFFIN' KIDDING ME?

EXHIBIT A:

[rlc]

Are they seriously praising Beau’s performance for essentially standing there while the wonderful Lex danced? Ugh.

Edited July 21, 2022 by rlc

[displayname]

Comfort Comfort Comfort Comfort

[Mason]

Beau the Human Forklift! How many seasons has it been since we had a forklift contestant?! though never before one who literally was. 

I predicted that the All Stars would do their best to humanize the contestants, given the horrible season they've been given. And I was right, with one exception: Lex. Wonder why?

[rlc]

There was a very clear bottom two for me tonight: Beau and Essence. Essence’s lack of training really showed tonight, but her sob story kept her in the top.

[BlackberryJam]

Fuck that.

[desertflower]

2 minutes ago, Mason said:

Beau the Human Forklift! How many seasons has it been since we had a forklift contestant?! though never before one who literally was. 

Exactly what I was thinking! He was basically just something Lex could launch himself off of. Look, I think Beau is sweet and he tries really hard, but he has obviously reached the extent of his dancing abilities and it is really time for him to go. I just DO NOT understand why they are keeping him around so long. It’s sort of cruel, because the longer he’s there the more the viewers resent him. 
And you can’t tell me any of those judges wanted to send Alexis home, she has been great. I could maybe see it getting split between Raelyn and Beau, but they are trying to tell us it was a three way tie and they just couldn’t decide?? 

I think everyone else did pretty well and I loved seeing Lex dance again, he’s so great. 
 

[DEL901]

49 minutes ago, HerkyJerky said:

JoJo to Carter: "That was my favorite SYTYCD hip-hop ever!"

Me: ARE U EFFIN' KIDDING ME?

EXHIBIT A:

I love that routine so much.  And for those who don’t know him, Alex Wong was a ballet dancer.  

As for the current crop of dancers, I think Essence is my favourite.   As for the zombie hip hop…no fair wearing a mask so he didn’t have to worry about the correct facial expression. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by DEL901

[vibeology]

OMG! Just send Beau home already. I was done with him in that performance when he got up from the table and walked in that half circle to his mark. It was so disconnected from the music and so sterile that it completely took me out of the dance. And character is the thing he's supposed to be good at.

Comfort is the gift that keeps on giving on this show. She's truly the best dancer on that stage every time she comes back. Her experience only makes her stronger. She is a star and Rayln doesn't have the presence to dance next to her. Rayln was cute, Comfort was awe-inspiring. And it's not that Comfort overdanced. She just has it. 

The zombie hip hop was boring. Slow Me Down has been used better on SYTYCD Canada. The tone of the Boy Jive was off. It wasn't aggressive enough to be a fight. Would have been better if they hadn't tried to lay that element onto it. Just let the two cute guys dance together.

[nx74defiant]

Hate the going through the whole bottom three for it to be a fake out non-elimination.

Couldn't help noticing Beau was barely in the group dance.

Lex was amazing and loved seeing Comfort again.

Edited July 21, 2022 by nx74defiant
Bad autocorrect

[Melonie77]

This season is reminding me of the one with Bobby Bones on DWTS. I really hope they send Beau home soon. Please.

Seeing the all-stars tonight really underlined how the contestants this year are just not as exciting. I wonder if they did not get as many auditions due to COVID?

Really not liking the panel of judges - at all...despite loving Twitch. 

[Haleth]

It's gotten to the point where I'm so indifferent I forgot to tape the show.  No eliminations?  Guess I won't bother watching online.  I think I'll just watch the Alex effin' Wong/Twitch video 6x instead.  That's my all time favorite too.

[bourbon]

Yay! A group dance! 

I get that this show (and shows like it) are never *really* about being the best dancer or singer or whatever. It's a personality contest to some degree. But I feel like this show is sacrificing any credibility at all in the name of pushing whatever agenda they're trying to push with Beau. It's great that they're no longer pretending that LGBT people don't exist and that they're being body positive in a way the Nigel-led judges panel never was, but it's time to stop when they're sending home much better dancers to spare him, it's time to stop. It's painful to watch his labored dancing week after week. We've seen his bag of tricks. Time to go.

I never know how critical to be of dancers when they don't get the tone of the dance right since it largely feels like a choreography thing. Keaton and Ezra's dance missed for me, although there was nothing wrong with what they actually did. It was far to cutesy and smiley for two guys fighting over a girl. They missed the mark in either having the jive be aggressive and more fight-like or just keep it cute and make it about two boys dancing. That said, Ezra was invisible for me. My eye went right to Keaton. 

The judges are awful. Even Twitch, and I really like Twitch. I never thought I'd miss Nigel.

[healthnut]

Were they suppose to eliminate 1 or 2, do we know? Because I, too, can’t believe they couldn’t agree to save Alexis. I can understand if they were only suppose to eliminate one and they can’t agree so presumably they’ll eliminate two next week. 

Luther Brown’s hip hop was the only routine I didn’t love this week, all the others were good but Carter’s hip hop and Alexis’s jazz were my favorites.

Loved the group routine even though Beau and Essence were merely after thoughts in it. 

So big Kudos to Comfort, still killing it as an all star at 30. Despite having not seen most of the seasons after season 7, I knew all of the all stars except the hip hop guy that won season 16 and Ezra. The guy that choreographed Carter’s hip hop was a choreographer on Come Dance with Me like Robert. He had to step in one week when a contestant’s dad got injured and he was awesome!

[mojoween]

After Keaton’s jive, Nigel dug a grave and then rolled over in it.

Ummmm…how is it possible that Comfort has not aged a day in like 17 years?

Amy and Alexis, two brown-haired girls dancing in the dark.  How could they tell the difference?

Having Beau try to do the same jumps with leg extensions like Lex was a big mistake.  Also I love Essence so much, but she’s just not sinuous like Koine and it looked off.  Also she was really just ballast for Koine.

I was spoiled to no elimination (damn Twitter) so that was a bummer.

[peachmangosteen]

The description for next week said 'the Top 6 perform again,' so it seems obvious this was planned before they even knew who'd be in the bottom.  

I don't get how Essence keeps staying out of the bottom. Her facial expressions are way ott and she's just never as good as her partner and it always shows. I also kinda don't get Keaton. I like him doing contemporary but he does almost nothing for me in pretty much any other style, especially ballroom/disco. 

I was rolling at how they made it abundantly clear that the Keaton/Ezra dance was between best friends. They must have said they were friends like 15 times. Embarrassing lol.

[DEL901]

I think it was 2 who were “supposed” to go home.  tWitch said they each wanted to save a different dancer, but as much as I love Beau, it is beyond time for him to go home. tWitch was clearly unhappy.  LOL, he really has no poker face. 

[nx74defiant]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Amy and Alexis, two brown-haired girls dancing in the dark.  How could they tell the difference?

The lighting often drives me crazy. Two dancers in dressed in red - lets bath the stage in red light; blue costumes - blue light; make everything monochromatic.

They have no idea that we might want to actually be able to see the dancers on a Dance competition.

[jackjill89]

Beau literally carried Lex. Lex figuratively carried Beau through that entire dance. Beau doesn't connect with jack, and I don't understand why they keep propping him up. He has no extension, no through lines. He just wobbles around. Yes, he seems like a nice guy. Yes, he has some dance talent, but he's not good enough IMO. People have said they could see him on Broadway. I can only see him in regional theatre. 

I didn't mind Carter this week. Thought he did a decent job. I think it's because I couldn't see his face. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by jackjill89

[Jillibean]

I am finally caught up on this show and am so relieved to see general agreement that Beau in particular is way out of his depth at this point. I was actually sort of annoyed by the package before hand, because as horrible as I feel that he went through that experience and as happy I am that he survived, clearly after that no judge could give the commentary that should have been given, which was that he did barely anything in that entire dance. Lex danced, and Beau stood there projecting emotion (sort of). It was bad. At this point letting him dance off into the sunset would be merciful. 

Essence is also out of her death but she at least has gotten some constructive criticism. The judges seem almost afraid to say anything to Beau about his dancing skills, maybe because Jojo has made her preference for him so plain. And yes, he brings something special and unique, but his dancing is not up to par and everyone seems content to ignore that (except blessedly the studio audience who has voted him into the bottom twice in a row now).

5 hours ago, bourbon said:

The judges are awful. Even Twitch, and I really like Twitch. I never thought I'd miss Nigel.

Maybe this is the long game he's been playing? Honestly though, as much as I enjoyed Nigel's dance expertise he always, always put his foot in it at some point, and when I think about what his commentary to someone like Beau would have been, I'm happy he's not here this season. I do miss Mary, though, and I would have loved really anyone who is a dance expert in the place of Leah or Jojo. When they fired Matthew they should have slid in Allison in his place. She at least knows what she's talking about, has experience in both contemporary and ballroom (I know there was a lot of controversy about her as a DWTS pro, but I imagine she at least has to have some understanding of proper technique based on her time there) and the banter between her and her husband would have been cute.  

3 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I think it was 2 who were “supposed” to go home.  tWitch said they each wanted to save a different dancer, but as much as I love Beau, it is beyond time for him to go home. tWitch was clearly unhappy.  LOL, he really has no poker face. 

I sort of love that about him. I wish he could get, like, two votes, because I think he's a lot more on target than anyone else on the current panel. 

[realdancemom]

Bringing in the All Stars made for a good night after a disappointing show last week.  However, Alexis was the only one that matched her All Star and she ends up in the bottom.  Boo to the studio audience.  I think it was planned to have no elimination.  If not, I hope the judges would have been smart enough to keep her.  Beau would have been the easy elimination to me.

Agree with the comments.  It helped that Carter had a zombie face so we didn't have to see cheerleader Carter.  He was decent.

Beau and Essence showed their lack of training.  I expect that from a hip hop dancer though and that's how it's always been through the seasons.  Even Comfort who I love now, had terrible classical technique when she was a contestant.  I remember cringing at her feet. 

It's time for Beau to go.  Lex carried that dance.  But it also reminded me that Anna carried Beau in their contemporary routine.  She did all the difficult movement and technique.  Now, she's gone and he gets to stay.  Not right!!  Also did Lex get accidentally hit during practice or the show?  He had a cut under his eye.

Alexis was terrific as usual.  I'm wondering if she was at the bottom because of the lighting and there wasn't a sad story.  So it wasn't an emotional piece that made the audience or judges cry.

Nigel would never have let Beau get pass the auditions.  And I wouldn't have either based on technique.  But Nigel would have been cruel and made some comment about guys needing to dance masculine.  So in that sense, I'm glad he's not on the panel.  I don't think he would have wanted a ballroom/Latin dance with Keaton and Ezra either even with the story about fighting about a girl.  I agree with the comments here that it didn't seem like a fight.  So I agree with Leah's comment there.

I do appreciate Nigel's dance knowledge and he really cared about this show.   Just like Len from DWTS, both can be grumpy but most of the time I agree with their technical criticism.

[desertflower]

I think the tone for Keaton and Ezra’s dance was tricky, because while they were competing/fighting over a girl they were also supposed to be “one upping” each other. So I took it to mean in theory the girl was watching them, so they are supposed to hate each other, but still put on a show to impress the girl? So maybe that’s what the smiles were about?Maybe? Again, I think it was tricky and perhaps the choreographer should’ve been clearer about what the tone was supposed to be. 

[cinsbythesea]

I was thrilled to see Bailey, Comfort, Koine and Lex back on the stage, all of them particular favorites of mine.   Pairing Beau, who I find entertaining, with Lex really did show the contrast between a dancer with beautiful lines and one who....doesn't.   It illustrated to me what many have been saying on this board about Beau's technique of dancing compared to the five other dancers.  Broadway will love him I hope.  And I have to agree with Twitch's comment about Comfort being one of the best dancers the show has had....love her!!

Edited July 22, 2022 by cinsbythesea

[sharifa70]

10 hours ago, mojoween said:

After Keaton’s jive, Nigel dug a grave and then rolled over in it.

I completely agree with this. I kept thinking he had no bounce in his knees and no flicks in his feet. All season I’ve been surprised at how fluidly he moves in spite of his build, but this time the jive did him no favors.

I appreciated tWitch’s defense of the “flavor” in Comfort and Ralyn’s routine, and how specific it was. It’s about time this show treated hip-hop like more than a novelty.

Pairing Lex and Beau was a mistake; it really highlighted Beau’s shortcomings. I also agree with everyone who noticed that it seemed like Lex did all of the actual dancing, which is particularly surprising when the choreography usually tries to highlight the contestant. Beau was definitely the muscle here.

[P2C2E]

Oh god, just put Beau out of his misery already.

[sharifa70]

1 hour ago, P2C2E said:

Oh god, just put Beau out of his misery already.

I wish they’d put him out of our misery.

[Melonie77]

As each week goes by I like JoJo as a judge less and less especially if she is the one keeping Beau on. She's way too young for the job. She's younger than many of the contestants. I don't have any confidence in her opinions despite her years of training.

I'm still upset they sent Anna home. 

[P2C2E]

On 7/20/2022 at 6:45 PM, HerkyJerky said:

JoJo to Carter: "That was my favorite SYTYCD hip-hop ever!"

Me: ARE U EFFIN' KIDDING ME?

EXHIBIT A:

She probably wasn't even born when this aired.

[Lovecat]

3 hours ago, P2C2E said:

She probably wasn't even born when this aired.

The mere thought made me feel super-old (and a little queasy), so I looked it up--Alex competed in 2010, so JoJo was about 7 and was probably watching.  Phew.

Just the other day Alex posted a reel (I think that's what the kids call the videos on the Instagram?  ::rocks in rocker and smacks gums together::) of himself dancing along in his living room to that Outta Your Mind clip.  He was so damn good, it was really a shame when he was injured during his season.

On topic:  Listen, I've been one of the biggest Beau stans this whole season.  I love that they cast two dancers (Beau and Virginia) outside of the usual body type, and I think Beau's fun to watch when he's in his element.  But the guy's been out of his element too many times now, and it really is his time to go.  I thought that non-elimination this week was some kind of bullshit.

And yes, Nigel was somewhere clutching his pearls during that male-male jive.  I do think it's great that the show has unclenched enough to feature two men in a ballroom dance, even a "meh" one.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Lovecat

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, Lovecat said:

I do think it's great that the show has unclenched enough to feature two men in a ballroom dance, even a "meh" one.

They made sure you knew they were just friends though lol but baby steps, I guess.

[displayname]

Season 7 had a tango duet with Robert and Kent.

[HerkyJerky]

This is one of my favorite all-male dances!

[sharifa70]

The jive when they were supposed to be fighting made me think of this one, with two guys fighting believably:

[realdancemom]

I was just thinking of how the contemporary would look with Lex and Thiago.  Thiago would have matched his technique and I think he would have dug deep to get into character.  He go the character down for his red jacket audition.

[displayname]

Did anyone else think the Ellenore routine for Amy/Alexis would have been better as a solo for one of them? It just looked disjointed with the two of them. Or maybe it would have been impressive as a group. But not a duet, for me.

[dogdays2]

Beau keeps getting contemporary or Broadway. It’s clear they can’t give him hip-hop or disco or jive or quick-step or anything that requires quick, concise moves.  I wish they had to draw for dance styles as in the old days.  Oh wait - then the fix wouldn’t be in. 

i applaud Beau for getting as far as he has and it was nice to see someone with a different body shape advance.  But he’s no longer asked to do what the others have to do - hasn’t for weeks now.  That’s not fair. 

Nigel may have been cruel, but at least Nigel put talent first.  As did Mary.  This is a travesty.  

On the flip side, didn’t thin Keaton was at his best. 
 

Edited July 23, 2022 by dogdays2
Spelling

[Electruck]

I was so happy to see Ellenore! She’s taller than I remembered. 
 

I miss the plain basic stage they had in the early days of this show, where no matter what the contestants were wearing, you could still see them. I could barely make out Alexis and Amy’s movements, and usually couldn’t tell who was who. 
 

Bailey! so good to see him, too. What a bundle of energy in that dance. Carter did a surprisingly good job in it, though I agree with others that the mask helped.

[sharifa70]

I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole re-watching past favorite duets, and it just depressed me even more to see how very, very good the duets used to be and how very mediocre this season (particularly this episode) has been. If we miraculously get another season, I want tWitch and Cat to stay, but I want Nigel and a non-screamy proper ballroom expert to come back to the judging panel. I don’t miss the “HOT TAMALE TRAIN!!!!!!!!” but it would be nice to have, you know, dancers who *would* have been on it if it were still around. 

15 hours ago, Electruck said:

I was so happy to see Ellenore! She’s taller than I remembered. 

A couple of her duets with Ryan were two of the videos I watched when I was in the rabbit hole. Man, seeing past contestants coming back as choreographers is bittersweet: yay for their continued success, but dang, the current contestants don’t hold a candle to them.

[displayname]

Ellenore easily one of the finest dancers to have participated in SYTYCD, IMO. Her musicality was a treasure.

Edited July 24, 2022 by displayname

[Court]

On 7/20/2022 at 10:04 PM, rlc said:

Are they seriously praising Beau’s performance for essentially standing there while the wonderful Lex danced? Ugh.

I was so angry at the ending. It was a bunch of bullshit. I thought we were finally getting rid of Beau. 

On 7/20/2022 at 9:45 PM, HerkyJerky said:

JoJo to Carter: "That was my favorite SYTYCD hip-hop ever!"

Me: ARE U EFFIN' KIDDING ME?

EXHIBIT A:

Well this makes me miss the old SYTYCD. The show needs to get back to this.

[HerkyJerky]

10 hours ago, sharifa70 said:

A couple of her duets with Ryan

I forgot about Ryan until you posted this.  Wasn't his wife on the show too?  What was her name? Did she get very far?

[displayname]

25 minutes ago, HerkyJerky said:

I forgot about Ryan until you posted this.  Wasn't his wife on the show too?  What was her name? Did she get very far?

Ashleigh and Ryan were both in the top 6 in sytycd 6.

[rollacoaster]

On 7/21/2022 at 7:59 AM, mojoween said:

Ummmm…how is it possible that Comfort has not aged a day in like 17 years?

17 YEARS???????!!!??

*****crumbles to dust screaming*****

Ressurrected by video of Twilex performance.  Thanks @HerkyJerky!

Edited July 25, 2022 by rollacoaster

[AncientNewbie]

I remain torn as a casual fan of dance but longtime viewer of this series. I don't miss Nigel's perviness or his iron-clad views on gender roles in dance, but he did judge. I don't miss Mary at all, to be honest. I'm glad to see some different types moving along this year, but I'm also disappointed in overall quality. On and on...every plus has a minus this season. 

I felt Lex really outshone Beau to a tragic extent, but none of them really kept up with their pro dancers this time around. 

[luvthepros]

I just now watched the show so I'm late to the party. There are 45 replies on this thread and I have not begun to read any of the comments. These are my thoughts.

The judges really fucked up by not eliminating Beau. I know who wanted to keep him and Jo Jo can leave any time now and don't let the door hit you in the ass. They team up the best with the worst. Lex Ishimoto is a genius in Contemporary dance and they put lumbering Beau with him? Someone was trying to get rid of Beau but that strategy just didn't work and we all have Jo Jo to thank for that. Damn you Jo Jo. It was sooooooooo good to see Lex on that stage again.

Alexis had a severe disservice done to her. She is teamed with a dancer who looked just like her with the same costuming and both in pony tails. As I watched this dance on a very dark stage, all I could think to myself was Amy is a great contemporary dancer and if Alexis matches her movement, then Alexis did what she was supposed to do and that was ACE CONTEMPORARY. Alexis is a top notch ballroom dancer and she killed that contemporary. I don't trust the audience when they put an amazing dancer like Alexis in the bottom three. (Kudos to the audience though for putting Beau in the bottom).

Keaton did well but I think he is staying out of the bottom because they girls love him and he reminds them of Patrick Swayze. I liked his haircut.

No comments on the rest of the dancers.

On 7/20/2022 at 10:04 PM, rlc said:

Are they seriously praising Beau’s performance for essentially standing there while the wonderful Lex danced? Ugh.

My thoughts EXACTLY! 

[luvthepros]

On 7/21/2022 at 4:13 AM, Melonie77 said:

This season is reminding me of the one with Bobby Bones on DWTS. I really hope they send Beau home soon. Please.

Seeing the all-stars tonight really underlined how the contestants this year are just not as exciting. I wonder if they did not get as many auditions due to COVID?

Really not liking the panel of judges - at all...despite loving Twitch. 

Bobby Bones......yup. Had the same thoughts as you.

[luvthepros]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:00 PM, realdancemom said:

I was just thinking of how the contemporary would look with Lex and Thiago.  Thiago would have matched his technique and I think he would have dug deep to get into character.  He go the character down for his red jacket audition.

Just the mention of Thiago's name makes me shake my head even more that Beau is still in this DANCE competition. The name of the show is not "So You Think You Can Be a Character Actor?". Thiago and Lex would have had that stage on fire. Such a gorgeous missed opportunity for dance enthusiasts.

[Pattycake2]

It KILLS me when someone says “Oh, they’d be good on Broadway,”. Thousands of dancers dream of being able to dance (or sing) on Broadway.  It’s tremendously hard to join a Broadway cast, even in the ensemble.  You have to be extraordinarily talented.  I can think of only a few of the SYTYCD cast that have danced/performed on Broadway.  Alex Wong , Thayne Jasperson, Ariana Dubois, Neil Haskell, Evan Kasprzk, and Jess LePronto.