S13.E08: The Next Generation: Top 9 Perform + Elimination

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Each dancer has another chance to wow the judges and win the hearts of the nation before one must say goodbye.

[LexieLily]

Sorry, but I don't know why Dmitry would choreograph a samba to HHCC for Junior SYTYCD when that is arguably one of the most beloved dances in SYTYCD history.

Edited July 26, 2016 by LexieLily

[spanana]

While I thought last week's two dances plus "solo" were too much for the kids, I thought having the kids doing one dance in their speciality tonight was the other extreme.  Take a kid like Jake, who has done exactly one dance outside of his specialty in the last 3 weeks.   Same for Kida, Jordan and a few others.  Not including group numbers of course.  So it's like they went from pushing them too hard to coddling them?  Maybe they thought a few kids were on the verge of breakdown after last week?

No surprise on Shaeden, and I'm not overly surprised on Ruby.  I don't think this competition has much use for female ballroomers and there are a lot of females so it's harder for them to stand out.  I also don't think this competition has a lot of use for the more mature dancers.  They want young and cute with cheeks you can pinch.  Hence why they will continue to give JT clever choreography from favored choreographers, and he will be right there in the finale.

Can we trade in Jason for Twitch?  None of the judges are bringing much to the table and Maddie at least has the excuse of being a kid. What is Jason's excuse?

Edited July 26, 2016 by spanana

[PhD-Purgatory15]

On this version, are we sure "in danger" definitely means bottom 2? If Ruby is going to go out in 8th or 7th....that is so ridiculous it just makes me sad. I'm hoping maybe she's actually polling in the middle of the pack, and this was a two pronged attack ( along with giving her and Paul a beautiful, airy AT this week) to try and move her up the rankings...

Enjoyed the step dance/Beyonce inspired routine from the new tap choreographer. Would get rid of Jake or JT in a hearbeat, but won't hold my breath...

Edited July 26, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Court]

I wasn't surprised about Shaeden but I grew to really like him. He got a raw deal with virtually no coverage before the lives and the last minute all star change. 

@PhD-Purgatory15 I'd be happy to see Jake  go as well.

[ketchuplover]

I'd take any of them as prez over any of our current choices

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Loved Cat's fringey flapper dress - that was a definite improvement over that light blue flowered pantsuit she wore two weeks ago.

I am really worried that the show is working these kids too hard. This week they each did a solo, a duet with their All Star, and two group dances. Remember in the non-kid seasons when the older contestants were exhausted from learning one partner dance and one group dance in a week? How are these children coping with doing twice as many dances each week? Even this week when they were allowed to dance in their style (unlike last week), learning three dances plus polishing a pre-choreographed solo is a lot of material to learn in less than a week. I think this week was definitely easier for the contestants because they had their All Stars to guide them (as opposed to last week when two of their dances were with fellow contestants).

One thing I like about this season is that FINALLY we are getting some variety in the stories behind the dances (for the record, I am totally fine with dances without any story and wish we would get more of those). Due to the contestants obviously being younger and smaller than the All Stars, we are finally rid of all the contemporary/lyrical hip hop/jazz/Broadway routines where the choreographers inevitably tell us that this dance is about a couple breaking up. I think the choreographers are leaning a little too much on the sibling or mini me stories, but at least we're getting a break from the angsty breakup dances.

Yay, Dmitry! I was cracking up and cringing when the camera zoomed in on Jake while the judges were giving their comments and the screen was just Jake's face and Jenna's boobs. That sums up what I dislike about this season. It is really obvious that Jenna is a grown woman dancing with a child whose face is at nipple level. Maybe I'm an uptight old lady because that makes me uncomfortable. For some reason, it doesn't bother me to see Ruby and Paul dance together. I think it's because Ruby dances maturely so their routines don't look like an adult dancing with a little kid.

Brian Friedman gets bonus points for using "Get Here" by Oleta Adams. He's hit or miss for me with his choreography though and unfortunately this routine bored me. That choreography was the level of what I would expect to see at a high school dance concert. I agree with Jason that Tate and Katherine dance at the same level because Tate is a mature dancer (heh, and it doesn't help that Katherine fell out of that triple pirouette combination that Paula was talking about). Ugh, we got to hear Maddie say "your guys's" again. Interesting that this was the first time Maddie admitted to seeing Tate (or any of the dancers) before. I loved when Nigel mentioned that Jason wrote the Megan Trainor song used for the opening act. I know Nigel thought he was telling us how awesome and talented Jason is but what it really did was pull back the curtain a little to reveal how incestuous the relationships are in the industry. Technical note: the smoke machine guys need to get their shit together. At one point, Katherine and Tate were almost completely enveloped in smoke. Those big white sheets were totally pointless.

Whenever Kida and Fikshun dance together, all it does is highlight why I think this next generation thing was a mistake. For me, Kida is an afterthought in his duets with Fikshun because Fikshun just draws my eye so much more. He is great in his style but he also has such stage presence. In contrast, Kida is just doing the choreography, not performing. I think that's partly what Jason was saying. I have not been a huge fan of Jason as a judge but this season I appreciate that he is the only judge who is trying to give any sort of constructive criticism to these kids. I knew that between Sheaden and Kida, the producers would want to keep Kida as the remaining male hip hop dancer (and of course they want to keep Fikshun over Marko), so I was pretty sure that Sheaden was toast even before I watched this episode.

JT's solo exemplified everything I dislike about young competition dancers. They learn all these tricks without proper technique. Sure, he did a triple pirouette into a double into an illusion into a front handspring, but his spotting was terrible. When he slid into center splits, he wasn't tuned out so his knees weren't pointing up. His back was arched when he did a handstand. These are all things that just guarantee future injuries. His solo was just trick trick trick trick trick and even though he was doing them, they were sloppy. Even if you dance with correct technique, dance takes a toll on your body and you may get injured. But if you dance with bad technique, it's just a matter of time before you get hurt.

Jordan and Sasha's jazz routine was too messy for me. I don't know if the routine was just too fast for them to do all the moves cleanly, but whatever the case, the end result was that it looked sloppy and they weren't finishing their moves.

Sheaden and Marko's routine was really fun to watch. It was a great combination of hip hop choreography and swag. I loved that Luther Brown's requisite explanation of the story was just that it was two guys going off. No long overly complicated story about how they're rich kids whose parents took them to France for vacation and their nanny brought them to the zoo but they ran away and now they're hiding out with stevedores at the docks.

Hated the All stars clown routine. What a waste of 90 seconds.

I appreciate that Miriam and Leonado's routine was about a brother and sister so we didn't get an Argentine tango that made me feel like an old grandma watching Ruby do an overtly sexy dance with a man twice her age. I know almost nothing about ballroom but I loved this routine. Ruby's ganchos looked so quick and clean and crisp (sometimes people who aren't tango dancers are so clunky and awkward or too tentative with all the leg hooking). There was one section in the middle that looked a little slow/awkward, but since I'm not familiar with Argentine tango, I'm not sure if that was the choreography or the execution.

I had mixed feelings about Tahani and Comfort's dancehall routine. On one hand, it's nice to see another dance style on the show because I can only watch so many flailing contemporary routines about a couple breaking up. On the other hand, dancehall has a lot of grinding and sexual energy to it which I feel was VERY toned down because of Tahani's age. I wish they had done this style in a previous season with an older contestant so they really do it justice instead of sanitizing it. Then again, would Nigel let an overtly sexual dance be shown? He was practically apoplectic about the butt dance a few years ago. Bonus points for that Sean Paul song because I just heard it on my way home from work tonight and I was remembering how much I used to love it. Ha, I loved when Nigel tried to say the dance had an African tribal feel and Jason immediately told him that it was Caribbean, not African. I was getting secondhand embarrassment just listening to Nigel's ignorance and I wanted him to just stop talking.

I was cracking up that Travis kept telling JT to point his feet because I used to think the same thing about Robert when he was on the show. You know, we got through the first two episodes without too much of the spinny camera so I thought maybe this season would be different, but it was back with a vengeance this week. I really noticed it in this routine and in the stupid clown routine, both of which were choreographed by Travis - coincidence? Gawd, I am so tired of Nigel patting himself on the back for Travis's Emmy nominations and then pimping the current routines as potential Emmy winners. STFU. Part of me appreciates that the choreographers get recognized for their work by the judges and get some publicity by being on the show because often they remain behind the scenes. But I am tired of the endless tongue baths. And this week, JT got essentially no critique despite the judges going on and on for so long. Jason spent most of his time kissing Travis's ass. After Nigel was done with all his Emmy talk (and thanks for letting me know which cameraman to blame for those fucking spinning shots), he talked about Robert and JT's bond with each other. Paula's insightful comment: "Applause was created for moments like that." Maddie said that JT will go far because he and Robert are a great couple. In other words, none of the judges actually addressed JT's dancing.

WTF was Nigel babbling about before he eliminated Sheaden about how his word is his bond? Quit dragging this shit out while these poor kids are standing onstage waiting to hear which one of them is getting sent home. I hate seeing these kids heartbroken and crying.

Edited July 26, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Tikichick]

So sad to see Sheaden leave, even though I knew it was coming -- even without Jason's slip of the tongue about two weeks in the bottom two.   His performance quality was top notch and the chemistry with Marko was dazzling.

You waste the powerhouses of Comfort and Tahani on dance hall, and a tepid interpretation for age appropriateness at that?

WTH was going on with Sasha and Jordan's number?  Sasha had a few missteps and may have played a part in some bits being out of sync.  Not like Sasha, even a little bit.  It was refreshing to see her in something strictly so light and carefree for a change, she usually brings us the fierce and emotional.  Jordan has such a sparkle about her, but I'm not sure why this number didn't flow properly.  

I think Jake is talented, but they are portraying him as only a one-note character.  I think he may be in trouble.

Brilliant way to camouflage Kida's weakness this week with that makeup I assumed was a mask.  Don't think it's gonna work much longer unless they got a Santa-size bag of tricks to deploy.  Winds up really spotlighting Fik-shun's uncanny showmanship, which then turns a harsh spotlight back on Kida's biggest weakness.

As high as JT is riding the crest of the wave so far, I think the inability to negotiate outside a narrow window of narrative is going to wind up being a really unpleasant inability to emotionally handle the inevitable nudges of criticism as the weeks move on.  (The All Stars who had a tough time with Sheaden's departure this week better brace themselves to deal with the cutest, littlest of the bunch dissolving at even a hint of criticism.)

Tate's solo was pretty remarkable in many ways.  Supremely talented dancer.  I worry her height, reserve and partnership with another reserved dancer/all star may present some difficulties reminding the audience to vote for her.  She's so far above the others in training and abilities she could compete in the standard version of the show and the audience wouldn't have any clue of her age.

Ruby was very lucky for the choreography and genius "story" behind it this week, along with costuming that really sold it too.  Her appeal is running very thin and she needs help to remain I think.

Tap is going to be a hard sell to keep Gabby's partner I cannot remember the name of going on week after week.  The look presented this week with song choice and choreo was good.  

Maddie's "critique" and comments, complete with lack of variation or grammar, are going to be the death of me.  When the show is running long, simply ban the use of the word awesome and things will move right along like a top.

[Primetimer]

The top nine dancers all perform in their home styles, with their mentors. It means JT knocks out a Travis Wall routine, while Nigel lectures the kids on how to be good little soldiers.

View the full article

[MissLulu]

Just not loving this version of the show at all. Much is cringe worthy, especially kids doing ballroom with adults. So many kids over do the facial expressions and the pre-interviews with Cat have me reaching for the remote to fast forward. They sound very rehearsed. All the critiques are overly positive and then the elimination is too painful. 

Edited July 26, 2016 by MissLulu

[Gardencrown]

As I said once before, I am somewhat surprised that the level of performance/dancing is not substantively different than previous years...it goes to show that the many, many 18 year old competition dancers we have seen really do have a sameness about them because though I can see some improved technique from say, age 11 to age 18 -- it ain't all that. Oh, how I long for a show when many dancers were -- gasp! -- in their twenties and had the physical and emotional maturity to reflect that.

I hate to see the system so obvious in terms of who was fodder. Poor Sheaden.

I adore Ruby -- feel like she's brought some of the best ballroom we've seen on this show in eons. Are people not voting because they're squicked out? I don't get that -- I think that she and Paul have been wonderful together. Plus, he just seems like the nicest sweetest guy ever. Maybe she's not getting votes because she seems legions older and more mature than Emma, J.T. and Jake? I wonder how Tate is doing in the votes? I like her and Jordan a lot, but I absolutely love Ruby. She constantly draws my eye (which is saying something because, hello -- Paul); she's confident on stage, but she seems like a normal goofy thirteen year old off stage. I remember the times that Anya was in the bottom (lo those millions of years ago!), and I hardly ever understood that either...phooey, I don't want to lose Ruby.

Hardly anyone can stand next to Fik-Shun and pull focus away from him. Love him or hate him, he has such a natural facility of movement and is always, always a showman. Kida is good, but it's almost tough to be with Fik-Shun. Jake and Jenna, through no fault of their own, looked kind of ridiculous. And Hip Hip Chin Chin??? No! The original with Danny and Lacey was flat-out one of the sexiest numbers ever on the series. The comparison was unfortunate, to say the least. Glad Dmitry is getting work -- I hate how he hasn't been on DWTS (and his fiancé is gorgeous, not surprisingly).

Emma reminds me of a girl who was in my church middle school group when I worked in that ministry, so I'm partial to her, but I find Gabby really, really tedious (I don't know why, just do). J.T. is cute but one note. Tahini is fine...she's fine...but...eh. Still think she goes for the cute too much in her hip hop.

[dcalley]

10 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

WTF was Nigel babbling about before he eliminated Sheaden about how his word is his bond?

Stealing from Michelle Obama.

I've watched the last two shows through the official youtube clips and skip everything but the dances, and I frequently skip those, too, after a few seconds.

[After7Only]

15 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 

I had mixed feelings about Tahani and Comfort's dancehall routine. On one hand, it's nice to see another dance style on the show because I can only watch so many flailing contemporary routines about a couple breaking up. On the other hand, dancehall has a lot of grinding and sexual energy to it which I feel was VERY toned down because of Tahani's age. I wish they had done this style in a previous season with an older contestant so they really do it justice instead of sanitizing it. Then again, would Nigel let an overtly sexual dance be shown? He was practically apoplectic about the butt dance a few years ago. Bonus points for that Sean Paul song because I just heard it on my way home from work tonight and I was remembering how much I used to love it. Ha, I loved when Nigel tried to say the dance had an African tribal feel and Jason immediately told him that it was Caribbean, not African. I was getting secondhand embarrassment just listening to Nigel's ignorance and I wanted him to just stop talking.

 

I love dancehall but was disappointed with this dance.  Comfort was very obviously dancing down, either to match Tahani and/or to tone down the sexy.  Actually both Nigel and Jason are correct about the root of dancehall.  It is Caribbean, but the roots of Caribbean dance is West Africa.  Comfort knew this, but I'm disappointed in Jason that did not.  

I don't know how many weeks I can watch these kids cry during elimination.  Nigel gave his speech about it being a competition and being professionals, but these are still just young kids.  They just aren't mature enough to not show their true feelings.  But Cat still rocks in how she interacts with the kids

[MillyVanilly]

Summer holidays means my child is home with me on my day off (how dare they do this to me!!!) - it was interesting to get a 4 year old's opinion on the show though. Here go our comments (I wrote them down as we watched):

 

Jake: Me: I thought he was fun as usual. Not sure why I love this kid so much when I have always hated the muggers (including Jenna!) but he is definitely one of my favourites. I also thought his solo was great! / Small Fry: "he is so smiley. And has cool hair. The mummy is a giant"

Tate: me: The hell was going on with the stage? That was truly terrible putting on stage - I could barely see the dancers for like half the routine. I wish Tate would do less extending and more dancing in her solos. I know she has insane extensions, legs that go on forever and wonderful splits, but I would like to see her do more dancing than that. Someone (ElectricBoogaloo I think) said JT's solo was trick trick trick trick. Tate's solo to me was HMV step HMV leap HMV reach HMV HMV HMV. / Small Fry: "their dresses are nice but there are too many clouds."

Kida: Me:  very cool routine, I have a weak spot for puppets though and always like a good puppet routine, sync was off a couple of times and Fikshun outdances Kida constantly whether that is Kida's fault for not keeping up or Fikshun's for not dancing down... I don't know. Kida's solo to me was very lazy. I think this kid is probably my bottom most dancer. / Small Fry: "I don't like it it - it's creepy, make it go away." (we do not share the same love for puppets it seems!)

Jordan: Me: I did not really like the routine, but think she and Sasha are awesome and they could walk on tiptoes across a room and make that look amazing - however that routine was not their best. / Small Fry: "they are so pretty. Twirly twirly twirly."

Sheaden - Me: again, did not care for it very much but neither did the Small Fry, she was messing about so I did not watch with much attention. I saw it got a standing ovation from all the jidges and thought to maybe rewatch but could not be bothered. No comment from Small Fry as she was busy being a pain.

Ruby - Me: a really lovely dance. But old lady me is still not that comfy with romantic ballroom style (which AT  very much is, it is all about the hotness of the moment and the attraction and basically the essence of a vertical expression of a horizontal desire!), and it made me a bit uncomfortable seeing her knickers briefly. Her solo was ok, not too memorable I thought. / Small Fry: "the lady's leg keeps getting stuck on the man's leg. She can jump so high!"

Tahani - Me: I like the dancers but did not love the dance - I thought it was just not quite there in general and hated it in terms of wardrobe (the sleeves did not help them with the arm movements at all). Her solo was good I thought. She is massively growing on me and I thought she was fab in the group routine to Wolf. / Small Fry: "the little one is not as fast as the big one. I like the big one's hair more."

JT - Me: I have to confess something... I love Travis! And that to me was such a smart aesthetically pleasing routine! Loved it. Despite not having much love for JT in general, I thought that was the best routine of the evening. Fast forwarded the jidges (I have read that people hated the commenting on this one, so I am glad I did). JT's solo may as well have been his solo last week, or the week before... has he done that same solo to the same music before? It looked familiar. Or maybe he always does the same (just as likely). / Small Fry: "the mirror boy can fly like Peter Pan. He nearly stepped on the man's privates, hahahahahah!"

Emma - Me: looked a little dance recital to me. I know the tap was hard and having done tap myself I know this was not recital level at all, but I did not find is pop from my screen or make me go "wow" in any way. Emma's solo was fun - she seems like a really fun sweet kid and that comes across in her dancing. / Small Fry: "I like tap dancing, it's so clicky!"

Not surprised at Sheaden's leaving, once again heartbreaking how sad he got and I wish they prepared the kids a bit better for this. And the adults (I also hate when the adults would break down sobbing on elimination... you knew this was a possibility, and they are not sending you into the lion's den, so get it together!). All in all that was not my favourite episode even of this series... I prefer when they dance out of their styles with each other than with the all stars. Maybe on weeks where they have even numbers they'll do that and on weeks with uneven numbers they will be with all stars...

Edited July 27, 2016 by MillyVanilly
forgot to put essential words in!

[realdancemom]

The judging is not very good.  Jason does give some constructive criticism so that part is good.  But then he flirts with Jenna and got mixed up with the Dancehall choreographer's name with the song artist.  Maddie says the same thing all the time.  I kept hearing amazing.  Her best line was last week when she said that Tate and Kida looked like highlighters.  Paula knows what she's talking about and it shows when she uses the proper terminology when she is praising somebody.  But she won't give negative feedback to kids so she'll say something like the F word is fun, fantastic, etc.  Nigel is Nigel.  I don't even know what he was blabbing about at the end.  Just say who is leaving the show.

Didn't need to see all those vote for me speeches.  I guess I would rather have that than parent drama like in Dance Moms.

Dmitry shouldn't have used Hip Hip Chin Chin.  He doesn't even have an excuse since he was the one that choreographed Lacey's and Danny's number.  That is one of my favorite numbers.  Of course, Jake and Jenna can't compare favorably since they can't act sexy.  I will say that Jake really tried to extend his lines and dance bigger.  But he's still a kid.

Sheaden was never treated fairly so I'm not surprised he was sent home.  He was never highlighted during auditions and the Academy.  He was one of the few that did receive negative feedback although not this week because they probably knew he was going home.  He lost his All Star which isn't the show's fault.  It is their fault that they gave him Marko.  If the All Stars had to do all dance styles, then Marko would have been a good choice since he does all styles decently.  But since they are only dancing their specialty, then Marko was the wrong choice.  He is not a hip-hop specialist and it shows.  Sheaden was the only one that was better than his All Star.

The audience doesn't appreciate ballroom dancers especially female ones.  It's not just Ruby since other ballroom dancers even cross-trained ones usually end up at the bottom.  The judges have to save them.  I think Ashleigh didn't end up at the bottom because she was paired with Jakob.  Tanisha also didn't end up at the bottom until she was eliminated.  I admit that I have a bias towards Tanisha since I know her.  But IMHO, I think she was the most versatile out of all the women during her season.  She not only could do ballroom but also hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary.   As I mentioned last week, Ruby not only has the disadvantage of being a ballroom dancer, but some people didn't like that Paul picked her over Sophia.  Also there are people that think Paul and her dancing is creepy.  I didn't think she should have been at the bottom.  I think Tate and Ruby dance more maturely than the others.

Enjoyed Gabby's and Emma's tap number.  I like Jordan but Sasha and her duet was a mess.  J.T. will get votes because of Travis' choreography and it was done well.  I did enjoy Travis' clown dance but if they are trying to get a younger audience, I can see how it could have been scary for them.  Kida is good in his style but he has to dance with Fik-shun.  I always loved Fik-shun's solos.  It's not just the way that he moves his body which he has amazing control.  He's an entertainer and has a megawatt smile.

Edited July 27, 2016 by realdancemom

[spanana]

I admit I didn't watch every season of SYTYCD, but don't female ballroomers often struggle for votes?  I know there are exceptions.  Lacey made it to the finals and was popular.  Chelsie Hightower made it decently far due to her own popularity.  I didn't watch the Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold season to know how often they had to be saved by the judges.  Jenna only made it as far as she did because Nigel endlessly saved her. Anya didn't make it nearly as far as Pasha.  Tanisha was something like Top 8, despite being better and more well rounded than people that outlasted her.  The other ballroomers that season were eliminated within the first few weeks.  Again, there are several seasons I didn't watch, so correct me if there have been a lot of finale bound female ballroomers.   All this to say I think it's less about Ruby and more about the audience not overly appreciating female ballroom.

[realdancemom]

3 minutes ago, spanana said:

I admit I didn't watch every season of SYTYCD, but don't female ballroomers often struggle for votes?  I know there are exceptions.  Lacey made it to the finals and was popular.  Chelsie Hightower made it decently far due to her own popularity.  I didn't watch the Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold season to know how often they had to be saved by the judges.  Jenna only made it as far as she did because Nigel endlessly saved her. Anya didn't make it nearly as far as Pasha.  Tanisha was something like Top 8, despite being better and more well rounded than people that outlasted her.  The other ballroomers that season were eliminated within the first few weeks.  Again, there are several seasons I didn't watch, so correct me if there have been a lot of finale bound female ballroomers.   All this to say I think it's less about Ruby and more about the audience not overly appreciating female ballroom.

Yes, I was trying to say the same thing.  Female ballroom dancers don't get votes.  Lacey was popular but I think some people could have been voting for her because of Benji.  Witney and Lindsay took turns being in the bottom.  They were saved by the judges.  Otherwise, they would have been eliminated early.  I wasn't really clear in my post.  I just meant to say that Ruby not only has the female ballroom problem but the other problems that I mentioned.

[realdancemom]

I forgot to comment on Tate and Kathryn.  Why so much smoke?  This trick is done on DWTS because some celebrities do need to hide their footwork.  Tate and Kathryn don't have that problem.  I want to see their legs and feet.  I also agree with those that stated that Tate needs to do more than just leg extensions.  For her duets, that's on the choreographers.  But a lot of her solos do the same thing.  She's better than that.

[calipiano81]

Yeah, I think female ballroom dancers tend to come across as more mature and confident, due to the nature of their dance style. That unfortunately does not appeal to the young female voter, who would rather vote for someone who could be their best friend.

It probably wasn't as much of an issue during the earlier seasons (although I agree Anya did have a hard time), since all of the contestants, as a whole, were on the older side. The contestants started to get a lot younger beginning in Season 7 and we started to see a lot more of the female ballroom dancers struggling early.

Quote

As I mentioned last week, Ruby not only has the disadvantage of being a ballroom dancer, but some people didn't like that Paul picked her over Sophia.  

As I commented on YouTube, to me, it wouldn't have made sense for Paul to choose Sophia, as great as she may be. (Actually, those fans should probably be more upset with Kathryn or Sasha for not picking her for their teams.) Paul is a Latin ballroom dancer. Unless he wants to dance contemporary every week (which, during his own season, it felt like he almost did), it seemed like a no-brainer that he would choose a versatile ballroom dancer (a U.S. National Junior Latin Ballroom champion at that) like himself. 

[Cuatro1234]

I really thought that the clown routine was Travis's way of thumbing his nose at the show. "See, I can dump a giant steaming turd on the floor and they will put up with it!"   I can honestly say that was my least favorite dance in SYTYCD history, including Jeannine and Phillip's Russian.  

I like Kida.  He's more controlled and understated than Fik-shun, whom I also like.  So the pair are not a great match. 

Tired of Jake.  He and Jenna remind me of the mouse and the elephant (no offense to Jenna, who is not at all a large woman). 

I wonder if they are pulling bottom girl and bottom boy, instead of true bottom 2.  Remember Lauren's season, when she was the last girl standing because they did true bottom 2/3?  This season started with 6 girls and 4 boys, right? 

Its become very formulaic how the first comment from whichever judge is a compliment to the choreographer. 

[observer]

Personally, I find Nigel to be insufferable, for reasons that already been discussed.

Never been a fan of Jason Derulo's, don't dislike him, just never paid much attention to him.

But I will be his fan forever just for his (warranted) correction of insufferable Nigel about the dancehall origins.  Totally Jamaican in origin.

Nigel was WRONG, but of course with his insufferability and overwhelming ego he could not even entertain that possibility, and had to go down in flames as he sputtered some words about how he "thinks you will find if you look into it" that is is indeed African in origin.  WRONG, Nigel, the words you are looking for that escaped you are, "I was wrong."

Loving Miss Paula this season, I find her comments informed and cogent.

I'm of a mixed mind about the child performers, on one hand I do find them a bit rehearsed and cutesy, but on the other hand, I suppose to succeed in show business as a child you have to be able to learn how to charm people.

[crowceilidh]

Just catching up on last week's show.  Ruby certainly hooked her foot on Paul's legs quite a number of times in some of those supposedly gorgeous ganchos.  I bet he's a mass of bruises if that's what she was doing in performance.

I love Luther Brown's choreo.

[crowceilidh]

I am sick of Jake's "Lothario" act.

Shaeden lucked out to have Marko, in the end analysis.  They were really well paired.

This week, the mirror routine showed up on the fb feed of a 70 year old girlfriend of mine who doesn't even have tv.  It was pretty outstanding even though the constant butt-kissing of Travis Wall is really tedious.  I also find Robert's humble gratitude faces fairly tedious.

Jordan and Sasha's outfits were fantastic.  I'd be interested in watching Tahani dance, but even on the immediate second time through Comfort pulls all the focus for me.  I love her presence and her dancing.

I didn't think that was great dance hall, but all I really know about dance hall is that some of the best routines on the Canadian show were dance hall so I'm hardly an expert.  I could have sworn somebody danced it once on the American show - was it maybe a demonstration dance?

I really don't like tap much, but that was a pretty good routine.

The fog machines were so OTT that I stopped watching Tate and whatshername from the only season I didn't watch.

[Mertseger]

On 7/28/2016 at 3:01 PM, observer said:

Loving Miss Paula this season, I find her comments informed and cogent.

She is, indeed, much more suited to this show than AI.

Maddie's not great, but still better than Ellen (to everyone's surprise) and Mia (to no one's - still love and miss her choreo, tho).

[CelineA]

I object in principal to the new format, so against my better judgement, I caught up on the performance episodes last week. I agree with those who feel the kids are being pushed too hard by demanding essentially the same effort delivered by young adults in prior seasons. I am not sure I can finish the series.

 

20 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

Just catching up on last week's show.  Ruby certainly hooked her foot on Paul's legs quite a number of times in some of those supposedly gorgeous ganchos.  I bet he's a mass of bruises if that's what she was doing in performance.

I love Luther Brown's choreo.

I was surprised when the panel praised this dance so highly. It was awkward & full of noticeable mistakes.  I think Ruby would benefit from a better partner. I didn't vote for either Alan or Paul during their seasons, but always felt that Alan was the  better dancer in Latin and even in contemporary. It has not surprised me that Alan is going farther in the cast of DWTS.  Ruby at least has enough maturity to make it feel less like I'm watching my niece's recitals, so I hope she isn't eliminated too quickly

On 7/25/2016 at 9:40 PM, LexieLily said:

Sorry, but I don't know why Dmitry would choreograph a samba to HHCC for Junior SYTYCD when that is arguably one of the most beloved dances in SYTYCD history.

Yes, that was a bad choice.

A number of these kids have an over-polished persona, which I find tedious, but Jake is the worst. The faux-flirting with Jenna (shame on her for delightfully responding), the sexualized context of some of the routines, the saucy preening in his "man's world" solo...all of that is too much. I don't blame him. He's a kid. We got a peek behind his highly developed facade during the judging after the bullying number he did with Tahini, when his face crumbled in tears. I feel badly for him that someone in his life has encouraged that facade and has not allowed him to just be a kid. I can't imagine how much effort it's taken him to be "on" like that all the time. I don't think the show is handling any of that very well, starting with Jenna.

I am weary of many of the all stars. Kathryn's talent can't be denied, but her voice & eyes are among the most dead of any performer on this show. Though it's the fault of the choreographers, everything she does tends to look the same and thus, a very beautiful dancer in Tate seems to be swallowed up in the ho-humness. I hope Tate can shine in her non-contemporary pieces.

These are talented, sweet kids, but I do wish they had kept to the older dancers. Even they had seemed overly young in recent seasons. Fikshun & Amy Yakima looked like junior high kids as it was. I miss the early days when choreographers could construct their work around men and women.

Edited August 1, 2016 by CelineA

[Anothermi]

On 2016-07-27 at 10:42 AM, realdancemom said:

Dmitry shouldn't have used Hip Hip Chin Chin.  He doesn't even have an excuse since he was the one that choreographed Lacey's and Danny's number.

Knowing this show and it's control issues, I would assume Dmitry got the job specifically TO reprise his Hip Hip, Chin Chin. I don't believe it was his call.

[Darknight]

Just saw this show. Thank goodness I don't watch this. Wtf is Maddie and Jason doing judging? I hate the next generation. These kids can't become professional dancers at this age anyway

 Professional dance is geared towards 17/18 and up. I like the original show. Some of these kids are talented but I want to see them do the same thing as adults. Tate is a lovely dancer. I've followed her for years. I also followed dancetown where Ruby is from. They placed at the dance awards. 

[Anothermi]

So, I'd just been mostly lurking on this thread and experiencing this show via the posts, but I broke down and hunted out the routines from the performance episodes. This was the 1st episode that I must have paid attention to and I found I quite enjoyed watching the All Star routine - despite it being by Travis Wall . It was quite a different take on that song. I didn't understand (I'm cross posting episodes here) why Cat didn't make her "creepy clowns" comments for this one - where it would have been entirely fitting -  and instead laid the clown theme on thick for the Toy Graveyard one by Pharside & Pheonix the following week?

Anyway, I'm good with routines with All Stars in them. Not so much with just the juniors. I liked quite a few of the routines with junior/mentor. Perhaps it was the fresh, new concepts the choreographers had to come up with in order to be age appropriate. I don't bother evaluating the juniors. I just hand wave their weakness away because what else should I expect? I liked:

- the Dave Scott marionette one with Fikshun and Kida

- the "sax dance" by Ray Leeper with Sasha and Jordan

- the Luther Brown one with Marko and Shaeden. I love Marko and am so glad he's Shaeden's mentor. Joshua was just wrong for him period - without the other reason.

- the Argentine Tango by Miriam and Leonardo for Paul and Ruby. It was such a relief to watch an AT without the dark, brooding sexual tension. So different! And that goes a long way with me after 12 years.

- I even liked Travis' "mirror" dance a lot for Robert and JT although I started feeling sick after the hyperbole thrown at Travis. Unfortunately I'm going off Robert with this partnership. Just something is putting me off.

- the tap routine by Chloe Arnold for Gabby and Emma. But by this point I was ODing on cute!

If I forget about the competition and enjoy what scraps I can of the All Stars and what the choreographers can do with kids, I think I can hang in there.

Edited September 3, 2016 by Anothermi
because an AT is not at all like a Paso Doble!

[crowceilidh]

Yes.  I was a HUGE Robert fan during his season and I thought he should win, but he is almost creepy this season.  It's feels almost like he's emotionally faking his way through the whole thing.  I'm pleased for him that the interwebs are giving him his dancing due, but the similarity of the story told by every dance they do is also creepy (I don't mean creepy in the perverted sense at all).