S13.E12: The Next Generation: Top 4 Perform

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

With only the best of the best remaining in the competition, the dancers must give it their all to stay on top. The Final Four continue to stun the judges and the nation with incredible performances in a week without eliminations.

[pally]

if you are watching check your schedule...there is a telethon for Louisiana Flood relief showing at 8:00 Eastern time.  SYTYCD is showing at 11:00 (at least in cincinnati)

[LexieLily]

Why is Jenna the All-Star for contemporary?

I'm afraid the judges all might get broken arms patting themselves on the back so hard that these kids are doing so. well. OMG dancing outside their style. I haven't watched this season so far out of protest, but there wasn't anything else good on tonight. Please don't tell me this is the first time they've danced outside their styles, at top four week. Please.

[crowceilidh]

One thing I have really enjoyed about this season is that we have been shown a lot of dancing, some of it in imaginative ways.  For example, I like the idea of switching up their allstars. On the other hand, I hate how ALL the flaws just get glossed over.

Who was the choreographer for "Winning"?  I want to like Kida, because I love his dancing and his movement -- maybe it's my generation, but that kid is so friggin FULL of himself that I just want to hurl.

That Jenna and Emma dance straight-up made me cry.  Previous to this, the only dance I really have liked Jenna in was, of course, Korean Pop with Mark Kanemura.  I don't usually like the "emotional contemporary" but somehow this one kept transcending my expectations.

Couldn't watch that Travis dance the first time Tate did it and it was horrible this time.

I wish they hadn't done "The Mirror" because I've seen it on social media too many times.  

[Kira53]

2 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

One thing I have really enjoyed about this season is that we have been shown a lot of dancing, some of it in imaginative ways.  For example, I like the idea of switching up their allstars. On the other hand, I hate how ALL the flaws just get glossed over.

Who was the choreographer for "Winning"?  I want to like Kida, because I love his dancing and his movement -- maybe it's my generation, but that kid is so friggin FULL of himself that I just want to hurl.

That Jenna and Emma dance straight-up made me cry.  Previous to this, the only dance I really have liked Jenna in was, of course, Korean Pop with Mark Kanemura.  I don't usually like the "emotional contemporary" but somehow this one kept transcending my expectations.

Couldn't watch that Travis dance the first time Tate did it and it was horrible this time.

I wish they hadn't done "The Mirror" because I've seen it on social media too many times.  

Kidda tells himself positive things to overcome his fears.  If you listened to his talk with Fishun it was very clear why he has to prop himself up to face big challenges.  He is a fatherless boy since his fathers death.  It must have been hard.  I didn't see the auditions so I don't know his full story.  I just know he hasn't had a lot of formal training the way the others have had.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Kira53
Spelling

[44taylor]

Man, I love Tate and Emma. I'm going to miss those two when the season ends. Tate is wise beyond her years - well-spoken, insanely talented and doesn't seem to take herself too seriously. Emma is a doll. Her dance with Jenna made me a little teary. She just seems like an all-around super kid. I've watched Kida's robot dance a few times throughout the week and I hardly ever re-watch dances.  JT isn't going to win, right?? Someone tell me no!
 

[Tikichick]

11 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Why is Jenna the All-Star for contemporary?

I'm afraid the judges all might get broken arms patting themselves on the back so hard that these kids are doing so. well. OMG dancing outside their style. I haven't watched this season so far out of protest, but there wasn't anything else good on tonight. Please don't tell me this is the first time they've danced outside their styles, at top four week. Please.

Yes, they've danced outside their styles prior to this week several times.  I have to say, I think the kids have been required to do much more right out of the gate than the older contestants were in their seasons, learning multiple dances each week.  Without the break for the Olympics I think it would have been far too much, even on grown dancers.

Felt quite sorry for the other three last night after the judges all but hoisted JT on their shoulders and ran him around the theater for a victory lap.  Completely inappropriate, and might not be the slam dunk they've certainly convinced JT it is.  Even with the blatant favoritism this show has made an art form, that behavior last night took the cake.  All of the kids did wonderful jobs last night and might have caused people to vote for them.

When I saw Tate's out of genre assignment (picked out of a hat, sure) I thought it was a blatant manipulation to block her from taking the crown.  She did a spectacular job in what was absolutely the biggest challenge of the night.    (Guarantee you Jonathon would not have performed the "look no hands" lift with Maddie.)    I wonder if anybody is being at all real with JT that it's entirely possible he won't win?   It won't matter because you know there's a line formed weeks ago to hire him.

Hats off to Kida for absolutely killing it in the redo of his favorite routine.  His performance quality has come up immensely, as has his hip hop dancing itself.  He looked like a worthy teammate to Fikshun last night.

Emma only needs two of the three words they were allowed to describe her -- sheer joy.  Her enthusiasm is so endearing, and her dancing was impeccable.  

[Primetimer]

In the penultimate episode of this wayward season, best routines of the year are reprised, and no one goes home. Great.

View the full article

[crowceilidh]

I would like Emma to win.

Quote

Hats off to Kida for absolutely killing it in the redo of his favorite routine.  His performance quality has come up immensely, as has his hip hop dancing itself.  He looked like a worthy teammate to Fikshun last night.

Yes, as the weeks have progressed, Kida's dancing comes closer and closer to Fikshun's.  I thought it was quite obvious last night and in fact, I watched Kida MORE than Fikshun last night.

I understand Kida wanting to big himself up for his confidence, BUT all of his answers to the questions were pretty annoying.  When asked why he wanted to come on the show (it was to show people that kids can be as good as adults - because we don't know this?) his answer was super self aggrandizing etc etc.  He can have confidence AND be humble - Fikshun strikes me as an example of that, I think (as does Twitch).  He didn't know he was going to dance other styles, so he can't have watched the show which always seems grossly stupid/negligent to me (DWTS or SYTYCD).  

Edited September 6, 2016 by crowceilidh

[Tikichick]

1 hour ago, crowceilidh said:

I would like Emma to win.

Yes, as the weeks have progressed, Kida's dancing comes closer and closer to Fikshun's.  I thought it was quite obvious last night and in fact, I watched Kida MORE than Fikshun last night.

I understand Kida wanting to big himself up for his confidence, BUT all of his answers to the questions were pretty annoying.  When asked why he wanted to come on the show (it was to show people that kids can be as good as adults - because we don't know this?) his answer was super self aggrandizing etc etc.  He can have confidence AND be humble - Fikshun strikes me as an example of that, I think (as does Twitch).  He didn't know he was going to dance other styles, so he can't have watched the show which always seems grossly stupid to me (DWTS or SYTYCD).  

I haven't found Kida overly braggadocious.  He's actually gotten more negative critique than any of the final four.  It's been honest -- and I do have to give him credit for working on at least some of it enough to demonstrate it.  The redo number last night really showed growth in how he emotes his performance in the number -- as well as growth in his hip hop skills as well.  I'm sure he feels his lack of training in the other styles -- ironically something Fikshun can empathize with and probably mentor him on as well.  Kida may decide to emulate Fikshun's choice and stay comfortably in his genre, or turn towards Comfort's course and train in a wider pool.  Granted, Comfort was not the untrained dancer they sold us as a competitor in season four.  However she did very obviously train like a demon in the time between season four and when they debuted the All Star concept a few seasons later. 

To answer the question above about why Jenna as a contemporary All Star this week?  They were switching partners and needed to portray mother/daughter, which meant female.  I think they were avoiding All Stars with partners still competing.  Sasha was already in Sean Cheeseman's # with Kida.  They selected Jenna over Comfort.  It might surprise some viewers to see Comfort come out there and give you all the feelz of that contemporary number, but I know she could take our breath away as well.

[realdancemom]

I enjoyed this episode.  I wish they made the kids dance with other All-Stars from the beginning.  Then they could be challenged but it wouldn't look as bad as when two kids are out of their genre.  Overall, the dancing for this season has been better than I expected.  There have been more clunkers in the adult season.  We also saw good tap dancing and ballroom which we don't always get in other seasons. 

I didn't vote because I wouldn't mind if any of the kids win at this point.

Kida has improved so much with his performances.  As others mentioned, it was difficult dancing with Fikshun since he has so  much charisma when he dances.  Fikshun can also put humor into their pieces while Kida's face used to be too serious.  Kida is almost matching him now.

JT surprised me in the Bollywood number.  At first, Marko did everything.  But then JT also started doing some of the harder moves and that dance takes a lot of stamina.  So this was his first dance that I liked where he wasn't dancing with Robert.  I guess he needs to dance with an All Star.

I think Tate's performance improved a little in Travis' number.  She didn't need to improve technique wise.  I think Tate shines in other genres like hip-hop and last night's Salsa.

I have enjoyed watching Emma and Gaby tap.  She has a great personality and she's versatile too.

ETA - NBC is going to have a show called World of Dance and Jennifer Lopez is an executive producer.  I do plan to watch that show. 

Edited September 6, 2016 by realdancemom

[crowceilidh]

Quote

 I wish they made the kids dance with other All-Stars from the beginning.  Then they could be challenged but it wouldn't look as bad as when two kids are out of their genre. 

I think that they just hadn't thought of that solution until now.  I'm actually fairly impressed with all the different kinds of things they tried this season.  I just wish I wasn't watching little kids.

Who sat out the allstar dance that had the set of moveable bars in it?  5 guys, 4 girls.  

I really didn't like the first Allstar dance much, but I have to say that somehow I didn't spot that it was Travis who choreographed it.  I was waiting for a name I didn't know.

[Kira53]

2 hours ago, realdancemom said:

JT surprised me in the Bollywood number.  At first, Marko did everything.  But then JT also started doing some of the harder moves and that dance takes a lot of stamina.  So this was his first dance that I liked where he wasn't dancing with Robert.  I guess he needs to dance with an All Star.

JT isn't nearly as accomplished or skilled as the other kids so dancing with an All Star works better for him since no one expects him be a match the skill of the All Star but he looks pretty bad when compared to another kid.  He always "plays" a little kid when dancing with an All Star so the much lower skill level is consistent with playing the "kid".  The "kid" dances like a "kid".  The other finalists match their All Stars steps and are close to equally skilled. They do it very well sometimes better (especially Tate and many times Kida).  JT gets thrown around and it's "great".  He doesn't have to match is All Star or even match his child competetor.  That's why he looks to bad dancing with another child - he is not as accomplished and his technique is no where as good as the other children and it is glaring when they danced together.  I think they cut out child dancing because of his poor performances with his peers.  I'm going to hate it if he wins on cute.  He is cute but the others are cute and dance at a spectacular level.  The other three are child All Stars.  JT is a child dancer - better than many his age but not up to dancing with a child All Star.  But he can be the little buddy to an adult All Star and be "great" because of the lowered expectations.  The choregraphers really helped him to get to the finals by not asking too much of him and keeping him in the role of a little kid. - And his partner Robert, who was overlooked in his season, has always been a great All Star and he did the rest on the dance floor and in the rehearsal footage.

[EVS]

Aren't JT and Emma almost the same age?  I think JT has lower expectations because he looks much younger.  The choreographers really play up the "cute little kid" role for him in most of his dances. I think he is a good dancer, but I am more impressed by Emma because she has held her own without the benefit of that role. She wasn't my favorite when the season started, but I have really been impressed with her as the season has progressed.

[Tikichick]

2 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

I think that they just hadn't thought of that solution until now.  I'm actually fairly impressed with all the different kinds of things they tried this season.  I just wish I wasn't watching little kids.

Who sat out the allstar dance that had the set of moveable bars in it?  5 guys, 4 girls.  

I really didn't like the first Allstar dance much, but I have to say that somehow I didn't spot that it was Travis who choreographed it.  I was waiting for a name I didn't know.

I believe Sasha wasn't in the All Star number with the bars.

I agree it would have been better to swap them through the All Stars sooner -- but it also would have defeated the producers' mini me concept.  The kids were better than I expected, but I agree, I'm not real thrilled to have child competitors.  I have adored every single season of this show and it has pained me to watch it dying by inches, thrashing around with all these changes when it was practically perfect out of the gate -- and really started cooking with gas in season two.

ETA:  I didn't guess Travis for opener, and it was just meh.  Overall, especially as the weeks have gone on, it seems Travis is more focused on styling, lighting, etc. for his pieces.  It's like he's auditioning very generally to show range or he's very specifically auditioning for something, trying to put together a portfolio to show that he can put more avant garde looks out there.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Tikichick
Forgot a bit.

[realdancemom]

1 hour ago, EVS said:

Aren't JT and Emma almost the same age?  I think JT has lower expectations because he looks much younger.  The choreographers really play up the "cute little kid" role for him in most of his dances. I think he is a good dancer, but I am more impressed by Emma because she has held her own without the benefit of that role. She wasn't my favorite when the season started, but I have really been impressed with her as the season has progressed.

I wondered if JT and Emma were close to age and JT just looks younger because he's so tiny.  I really don't want him to win but I'm resigned to the fact that he might because of the cuteness factor. 

Edited September 6, 2016 by realdancemom

[realdancemom]

1 hour ago, Kira53 said:

JT isn't nearly as accomplished or skilled as the other kids so dancing with an All Star works better for him since no one expects him be a match the skill of the All Star but he looks pretty bad when compared to another kid.  He always "plays" a little kid when dancing with an All Star so the much lower skill level is consistent with playing the "kid".  The "kid" dances like a "kid".  The other finalists match their All Stars steps and are close to equally skilled. They do it very well sometimes better (especially Tate and many times Kida).  JT gets thrown around and it's "great".  He doesn't have to match is All Star or even match his child competetor.  That's why he looks to bad dancing with another child - he is not as accomplished and his technique is no where as good as the other children and it is glaring when they danced together.  I think they cut out child dancing because of his poor performances with his peers.  I'm going to hate it if he wins on cute.  He is cute but the others are cute and dance at a spectacular level.  The other three are child All Stars.  JT is a child dancer - better than many his age but not up to dancing with a child All Star.  But he can be the little buddy to an adult All Star and be "great" because of the lowered expectations.  The choregraphers really helped him to get to the finals by not asking too much of him and keeping him in the role of a little kid. - And his partner Robert, who was overlooked in his season, has always been a great All Star and he did the rest on the dance floor and in the rehearsal footage.

I agree with you.  But there have been plenty of seasons where I've been disappointed with the winner.

[Koffee Kup]

2 hours ago, EVS said:

Aren't JT and Emma almost the same age?  I think JT has lower expectations because he looks much younger.  The choreographers really play up the "cute little kid" role for him in most of his dances. I think he is a good dancer, but I am more impressed by Emma because she has held her own without the benefit of that role. She wasn't my favorite when the season started, but I have really been impressed with her as the season has progressed.

JT is 10, Emma is 11 so a year older.   I want Emma to win.

[realdancemom]

15 hours ago, Koffee Kup said:

JT is 10, Emma is 11 so a year older.   I want Emma to win.

I was rooting for Tate, Emma, and Ruby.  At least, two of them are in the finals.

[Cuatro1234]

On September 6, 2016 at 0:23 PM, crowceilidh said:

I really didn't like the first Allstar dance much, but I have to say that somehow I didn't spot that it was Travis who choreographed it.  I was waiting for a name I didn't know.

LOL my friend who watches with me (because my husband refuses) said "this is Travis all the way.  Any time they do the crazy 'camera in the face' thing, it's Travis!"

[Cuatro1234]

Also, my friend's 8-year-old daughter ADORES JT.  So it's not just the grown ups who are smitten with the cuteness.  

The AS dance with the moving bars/walls--I think it would have looked better with more contemporary or futuristic costumes.  The costumes made it look like an Amish barn raising gone wrong, but it was a really interesting dance.  

I loved the Nappy Tabs crash test dummy one. What a fun and kid-centered routine.  I re-watched several times.   Anybody else think JT looks a bit like their son?

Edited September 8, 2016 by Cuatro1234
Spelling

[crowceilidh]

Quote

Any time they do the crazy 'camera in the face' thing, it's Travis!"

Good point.  I feel stupid for missing this "tell".

[dcalley]

What are these children doing about school?

[brokefromdance]

On September 6, 2016 at 3:00 PM, Kira53 said:

JT isn't nearly as accomplished or skilled as the other kids so dancing with an All Star works better for him since no one expects him be a match the skill of the All Star but he looks pretty bad when compared to another kid.  He always "plays" a little kid when dancing with an All Star so the much lower skill level is consistent with playing the "kid".  The "kid" dances like a "kid".  The other finalists match their All Stars steps and are close to equally skilled. They do it very well sometimes better (especially Tate and many times Kida).  JT gets thrown around and it's "great".  He doesn't have to match is All Star or even match his child competetor.  That's why he looks to bad dancing with another child - he is not as accomplished and his technique is no where as good as the other children and it is glaring when they danced together.  I think they cut out child dancing because of his poor performances with his peers.  I'm going to hate it if he wins on cute.  He is cute but the others are cute and dance at a spectacular level.  The other three are child All Stars.  JT is a child dancer - better than many his age but not up to dancing with a child All Star.  But he can be the little buddy to an adult All Star and be "great" because of the lowered expectations.  The choregraphers really helped him to get to the finals by not asking too much of him and keeping him in the role of a little kid. - And his partner Robert, who was overlooked in his season, has always been a great All Star and he did the rest on the dance floor and in the rehearsal footage.

This!!! How a kid that needed to be reminded so many times to point his toes, or Dance 101 as we call it in my house, is beyond me! There are others that deserve to be in the top 4 before him but winning this show isn't about talent as much as it's a popularity contest. I agree if he wins it's on cute not skill. If it was skill it should be Tate or Kida. I have a gut feeling though that JT is going to take it and that's disappointing if it happens. However in the past a lot of the ones who didn't win have gone on to better things than the winners so I'll console myself with that if it happens! 

[Anothermi]

On 2016-09-06 at 0:23 PM, crowceilidh said:

I really didn't like the first Allstar dance much, but I have to say that somehow I didn't spot that it was Travis who choreographed it.  I was waiting for a name I didn't know.

 

On 2016-09-07 at 9:26 PM, Cuatro1234 said:

LOL my friend who watches with me (because my husband refuses) said "this is Travis all the way.  Any time they do the crazy 'camera in the face' thing, it's Travis!"

When I saw the first Allstar dance I thought they were continuing with the 250th show tribute <sarcasm>. It was very "inspired by" Mia Michael's work - and The Dance in particular. Robert played the role of Mark Kanemura's incomparable Ring Master as well as reprising Comfort's face-in-the-camera section. It, unfortunately, didn't measure up.

The tribute theme seemed to continue (for me at least) when NappyTabs chose crash test dummies for their piece.  Wade Robson used this concept for Kupono and Ashley in Felt Mountain back in Season 5.  The oldest of these contestants would have been only been 4 or 5 years old when these were on the show, but all of them could easily have seen them before on youtube, so might have been familiar with how "crash test dummies" move in dance. Wade's choreo was completely appropriate for children (IMHO), just to illustrate that early SYTYCD choreo wasn't all boy/girl falling in love, breaking up oriented.

Ignore me. I feeling a bit old and jaded.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Anothermi
clarify

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hated the opening Travis group number. The extreme closeups did not help.

Ha, when I saw the crash test dummies, I was hoping that the top four would be dancing to "Mmm Mmm Mmm." I hated that the first 30 seconds of the routine was just posing and lying on the ground. Only one of the top four is a hip hop dancer, and it showed. But high five to Napoleo and Tabitha for using a song from The Wiz. I had a different song from The Wiz stuck in my head last week so it seemed apropos.

Mixing up the kids' all star pairings so late in the game made me think that the producers just decided fuck it, people are going to vote for their favorites regardless of what they actually do in this episode so let's do something different now that there's only one episode left. I wish they would have challenged them more by having them perform outside of their genre throughout the season, not just sporadically. I also wish that the kids had been paired with other partners all season. One of the good things that came out of the original all star concept is that the contestants do much better at styles outside their genres when they dance with someone who specializes in that style and I think that would have helped the kids this season a lot more than having them dance in their specialty week after week (for the record, I much prefer the S1 format where there were new partnerships every week instead of having the same pairs for the majority of the season).

I am so glad that we weren't subjected to the parents waxing poetic about how perfect their little darlings are all season (which was something I feared after the auditions). But the interesting thing about seeing the parents again is that now I notice how much the kids resemble their parents. Emma and JT look so much like their moms!

Kida and Sasha's Sean Cheesman African jazz got a standing ovation? Seriously? It wasn't horrible or anything but it wasn't standing O worthy in my eyes. Sean gets a huge high five for using Din Daa Daa (best song from the Breakin' 2 soundtrack!).

Tate and Jonathan's salsa was a mixed bag for me. The partner tricks and lifts were great (in no small part due to Jonathan's very skill - and he was right when he said that she had to learn to trust him in order to do the partner work) but the weak part was the actual salsa dancing. Tate knew the choreography but she threw herself into it enthusiastically, but she didn't have the salsa style. But seeing how much she enjoyed learning a new style made me wish that they hadn't babied these contestants all season by letting them stay within their own genre almost every week.

Watching JT work on his solo drove home his immature style and his flawed technique. I feel bad saying things like that because he's just a kid who loves to dance, but I think he would have been better suited to this show in a few years after he has more time to grow and improve. As it stands now, he sticks out like a sore thumb from the other contestants because he still dances like a kid. When Robert said that JT's solo was ver mature and not just tricks, I was skeptical but hoping that it was true. Unfortunately, it was not. I mean, bravo for JT doing a dance without his usual smiley face. That's a nice change.

I keep forgetting that Emma is from San Diego so it was nice to see her dancing in front of familiar locations. Emma and Jenna's contemporary was good but I don't think it was entirely convincing on an emotional level from Emma. What I appreciated the most about this pairing (and I'm surprised that Nigel didn't bring this up at all) is that Jenna competed as a ballroom dancer during her season (and she was a ballroom all star this season) but she was performing a contemporary routine. I don't think that Jenna was necessarily the Bestest Contestant Evah, but I do think that she is a versatile dancer. I hated all of her ballroom mugging during her original season, but she pulled it back for this routine and did a nice job.

Someone needs to talk to the idiots who put the chyrons and other stuff on the screen. Yes, please put a giant pink block on the bottom of the screen that cover up the dancers doing their solos while they're on the ground. Great idea!

I am so tired of JT being coddled and given tongue baths. He was not "superb" in that Bollywood number. Marko was precise and made the choreography look so easy but seeing JT next to him showed that it wasn't as easy as it looks.

I don't mind recycled concepts, mostly because there are very few instances of a completely fresh new idea that has never been done before. Just to use one of the above examples, Wade wasn't the first person to ever use the idea of crash test dummies for a dance so I don't think that Tabitha and Napoleon were borrowing the concept specifically from him. I realize that it's a lot more obvious that there are similarities when it's been done before on SYTYCD, but if you watch enough dance then you see the same concepts/choreography/tricks/costumes/songs used over and over. Sometimes it's blatant copying, sometimes it's a tribute, and sometimes it's just the old "great minds think alike" coincidence. For a show like SYTYCD that's had 13 seasons with hundreds of dances, it's silly to forbid the current choreographers from ever doing anything similar to previous dances. I mean, if Travis, Mia, Sonya, and Nappy Tabs can basically do the same choreography year after year with different songs, then other choreographers should be allowed to use songs/costumes/concepts that have been used on the show before too!

Why is it that in earlier weeks, the kids had to learn two new dances plus a group dance plus a solo but in the last performance show before America decides who will win this season, they only had to learn a one new dance, a group dance, a solo, and then a recycled dance?

Edited September 13, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Tikichick]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Mixing up the kids' all star pairings so late in the game made me think that the producers just decided fuck it, people are going to vote for their favorites regardless of what they actually do in this episode so let's do something different now that there's only one episode left. I wish they would have challenged them more by having them perform outside of their genre throughout the season, not just sporadically. I also wish that the kids had been paired with other partners all season. One of the good things that came out of the original all star concept is that the contestants do much better at styles outside their genres when they dance with someone who specializes in that style and I think that would have helped the kids this season a lot more than having them dance in their specialty week after week (for the record, I much prefer the S1 format where there were new partnerships every week instead of having the same pairs for the majority of the season).

Unless you cast only kids who had the extensive experience and maturity of Tate, the continuous mixing and pairing of kid contestants wasn't going to work.  As it is they had the kids doing an awful lot of routines right out of the gate, more than in the early seasons of the show simply because you only put out a slate of ten and had to fill the show.  Then you factor in things like JT being so small and it seemed you either ran with the size disparity and paired him with an adult or you flat out limited the styles and choreography that was possible in his pairings.  There's a reason they didn't put him out there partnering Tate in that cha cha or having him pull hip hop out of the hat and attempt to perform it with Kida.  Kida's limitations would have also shown tremendously if he had to switch styles and partner up continuously with other kids.  Pairing with the All Stars masked a lot of the difficulties the kids had -- and left the audience with better impressions of them.