S07.E09: Battle of the Blondes

[OnceSane]

Quote

Abby auditions a new dancer to be a part of the Great 8 team heading to Nationals; Brynn, Lilly and Maesi all go head-to-head with solos; the mothers are hopeful that a new dancer will complete the team, but Ashlee thinks otherwise.

[KaveDweller]

What did Ashley expect new mom to say when Abby asked if her daughter could do a better job than Brynn? If she said no, Abby would have made them go home. Any mother would have said their daughter could do better than whoever Abby was criticizing at the moment. It's not like the mom brought Brynn up.

Lilly's dance reminded me of something Mackenzie used to do. She's a good dancer though, and very cute. I never noticed before that she never talks.

I'm surprised Abby didn't admire Maesi for coming in and dancing while sick. That seems like the type of thing she would normally encourage. 

[tessat]

I agree Lilly's dance was a Mac dance. She did well but I liked the dance last week better and Abby is limiting her to acrobatics. I thought Maesi did well with her hip hop. Jane is a beautiful girl and during the group dance rehearsals my eyes were drawn to her rather than Kalani or Brynn who I usually watch.

I think that Ashley's outrage had to be scripted as Jill helping her off with her boots was weird where in the past - they all sided with Jess when she went on her rampages about Brynn. Glad Yolanda was quiet throughout this episode!

[Tikichick]

21 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

What did Ashley expect new mom to say when Abby asked if her daughter could do a better job than Brynn? If she said no, Abby would have made them go home. Any mother would have said their daughter could do better than whoever Abby was criticizing at the moment. It's not like the mom brought Brynn up.

Lilly's dance reminded me of something Mackenzie used to do. She's a good dancer though, and very cute. I never noticed before that she never talks.

I'm surprised Abby didn't admire Maesi for coming in and dancing while sick. That seems like the type of thing she would normally encourage. 

Didn't Kalani wind up second from the bottom of the pyramid for missing a day because she was in the ER?

[Moxie Cat]

New mom could have said, "her facial expressions are good," and avoided agreeing to any comparison. But that's not what makes THE DRAH-MA!

A better question is, how did Abby announce the dance was called Blush and Bashful and not one of the moms exclaim, "Oh, like Steel Magnolias!" I am 41 and every girl I knew in college could quote the hell out of that movie, so I know at least one of these moms had to be thinking it. A bride who was dying (maybe in the different shade of pink) would have been a better concept than the polygamy nonsense. What's the point of calling a dance Blush and Bashful if you're not going to evoke Steel Magnolias? Why not just call it Sister Wives or Big Love?

The dance was lovely but is it standard to expect the competition to clean up props like those petals? This competition reeked of setup anyway with those "top-three" finishers.

[Misslindsey]

I have to admit I agreed with the moms about Abby just picking a team already. I am so sick of new girls that are there one week and gone the next.

18 hours ago, tessat said:

Jane is a beautiful girl and during the group dance rehearsals my eyes were drawn to her rather than Kalani or Brynn who I usually watch.

I was the same way. I would like to see more of Jane dancing.

I do like all the girls, but I do think that Brynn does not act at all when dancing. She is a beautiful dancer, but she does nothing with her face. I keep thinking she is like Kendall, but can actually dance well.

[WildFlower87]

That's one thing I'm not liking this season. Too many girls and mother coming back in and off the team every other week. Just stick with a team already.

New girl Jane was forgettable and I didn't even notice her in the group either.

I also don't get the point of bringing Jane in when they could have just kept Daviana. They just got rid of her for no reason. 

Maesi doesn't need to be on the show, she doesn't fit in all. The girls do contemporary, lyrical and stuff like that. I do not think that is her forte at all. She forgets a lot and can't pick up choreography quickly. Her solo felt more for a talent show then a dance competition. 

I thought Brynn's solo was amazing. Such a graceful and elegant dancer. She was robbed of 1st place.

I really didn't like Lilly's solo. I thought the choreography was too pose-y. There was no fluidity between the movements, and the choreo didn't go with the music. Don't know how that got first overall...Lilly is capable of much more than these rehashed Mackenzie acro solos with the pigtails. She has amazing technique.

The group dances just don't impress me anymore. The same six steps over and over again.

Edited January 27, 2017 by NickDisnCart

[realdancemom]

Jane was fine in the group number.  I noticed her but mostly because I was looking for her to see how she danced.  If I was going to appear on the show, I would at least want to do a duet or solo.  Otherwise, you really don't stand out.  I think they brought her to the show because the group dance is about polygamy and she's from Utah.  This is dumb.  Even though, Utahns know what polygamy is, it's not like most of the people practice it.  I think it's a minority of the people that do.  I agree with the moms that Abby should just have a set team by now since Nationals are coming up soon.

I honestly don't think that Maesi should have won anything for her solo.  She is a good hip-hop dancer.  But to me, it looked like she was freestyling it and then Abby just added a few gymnastic tricks.  I don't see her doing any dances with the other girls.  It seems like she can't learn quickly enough and she forgets dances.  This only works if you're doing a solo.

I preferred Brynn's dance to Lilly's.  However, the judges could have given Lilly extra bonus points because she is really good for her age.

A lot of dancers dance through illness and injuries.  That's just how it is.  Lilly's mom needs to get used to it. 

[Misslindsey]

Quote

I really didn't like Lilly's solo. I thought the choreography was too pose-y. There was no fluidity between the movements, and the choreo didn't go with the music. Don't know how that got first overall...Lilly is capable of much more than these rehashed Mackenzie acro solos with the pigtails. She has amazing technique.

I did not like Lilly's solo either. I feel like she is capable of more than these cutesy, acro routines. I hate the pigtails too. I would like to see her do something different than her last two solos. 

1 hour ago, realdancemom said:

A lot of dancers dance through illness and injuries.  That's just how it is.  Lilly's mom needs to get used to it. 

This. So much of this. Lilly's mom was so overdramatic. I am sure it would have been fine if Lilly was the one that was sick and wanted to dance.

[Hiacios]

My thoughts:

Maesi is a good dancer but Abby is excessively mean to her for some reason. I get that Abby hates her mom but come on man.

Kalani finally got called out on her expressionless face. lol.

Chole coming back to compete again was a shocker. I'm assuming that she will be competing against the ALDC at nationals?

[leighroda]

 

She's not actually dancing in the finale, she's basically brought in to deliver the last line or something like that as a final fu to Abby... I'll link it if I can find the article I read that in... allegedly a producer said that in an interview.

Edited February 6, 2017 by OnceSane
Added spoiler tags

[KaveDweller]

On 1/28/2017 at 4:34 PM, leighroda said:

 

She's not actually dancing in the finale, she's basically brought in to deliver the last line or something like that as a final fu to Abby... I'll link it if I can find the article I read that in... allegedly a producer said that in an interview.

 

I'm guessing that line in the promo where Abby is asking to be fired is after Chloe shows up. She thinks the producers are going to make her work with Chloe again....

Edited February 6, 2017 by OnceSane
Added spoiler tags

[Katy M]

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 10:33 PM, KaveDweller said:

What did Ashley expect new mom to say when Abby asked if her daughter could do a better job than Brynn? If she said no, Abby would have made them go home. Any mother would have said their daughter could do better than whoever Abby was criticizing at the moment. It's not like the mom brought Brynn up.

I would never be on a reality show, but if a real life dance teacher asked me that about my kid, I would say that I wasn't going to compare the kids.  That's her job.  But, on this show.  Yeah, obviously, you have to say your kid is the best.  I'm kind of reminded of how everyone was mad at Payton for saying she was the best in the group dance, back in season 2, I think.  I remember watching that and thinking Abby pushed her into saying that.  Yeah, she fell in the trap, but I kind of felt bad for her.