S12.E05: String Theory

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The artists bring the four seasons to life for a dance choreographed by Travis Wall.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sneak peek:

[enoughcats]

I'd been wondering when we'd see the two flower heads they were using in the intro.  Now we know.  

[SnarkyTart]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Sneak peek:

I would be so excited about the reveal concept for this challenge if only there were a few contestants, or even one, who had impressed in the episodes leading up to it.  Still, I'll watch this one because Travis Wall choreography!  Professional dancers! 

[Reddust]

I just saw the adorable Megan in a commercial.

[katalizt]

On 7/13/2017 at 3:56 PM, SnarkyTart said:

 Still, I'll watch this one because Travis Wall choreography!  Professional dancers! 

Exactly my feelings!

I see they've evened out the teams yet again. It's been kind of hilarious to see the whole team concept backfire on the producers with Twisted (insert number here)'s utter failures...

[Frozendiva]

Well, it looks like the teams are dwindling in numbers. And that the contestants are now being individually assessed.

Two decent looks from each 'team' and two 'what are they' looks from each team. The top two looks deserved to win. The winner, though, had a bit more detail and deservedly won. Good for KC. I did like the rose head on the runner-up and thought the flower was well-crafted and executed. The winner had better eyelashes!

The starfish look made me raise my brow. It resembled a cheap doll that you can find at the dollar store. The snow yeti or dude wearing a winter toque/swimming type cap with what looked like two small Christmas tree horns reminded me of a white Grinch who hated winter a lot. So much potential to make a regal Snow King! The decent fall look probably was third place.

Decent choreography but the stage set-up is a bit small.

[mjc570]

A slightly better episode, mainly because most of the make-ups were pretty good.  The two exceptions (Joseph and Kirsten) were pretty awful, though.  I liked that Andrew tried to help Joseph with his concept, but it was hopeless.  I think that was probably the single worst look I've seen on this show, and that's saying something.  Kirsten was lucky, because hers was pretty bad, she is capable of much better.

I haven't been a fan of this season, the shop concept is a disaster and I just don't think the individual talent is there.  I don't dislike any of the contestants, except Faina (while she is talented, I find her a bit overbearing), but I don't really like any of them, either.  I'm still watching, but I think at this point it's just a matter of habit. 

I never heard of the guest judge, but he seemed ok and the choreography wasn't bad.  It seemed a bit gimmicky to me, I really hope the show is not starting to devolve.

And I just have to say it again because it is so irritating:  Show, you're not doing your advertisers any favors by delaying the winner announcement until after the commercial break.  That ABSOLUTELY guarantees that I will record and FF, bypassing all the commercials. 

I hope this means that they're jettisoning the whole team idea. 

[Chyromaniac]

I don't know you guys.  Sure, Snow Miser looked goofy - but those edges on Heat Miser were atrocious.

[Frozendiva]

21 minutes ago, mjc570 said:

And I just have to say it again because it is so irritating:  Show, you're not doing your advertisers any favors by delaying the winner announcement until after the commercial break.  That ABSOLUTELY guarantees that I will record and FF, bypassing all the commercials. 

 

I usually finish watching Days of Our Lives during the commercials!

[Maelstrom]

30 minutes ago, mjc570 said:

I never heard of the guest judge, but he seemed ok and the choreography wasn't bad.  It seemed a bit gimmicky to me, I really hope the show is not starting to devolve.. 

Actually they had a dance number way back in season 1. I remember because adorable Tate had designed a zombie makeup with entrails that would drag behind the model, and then had to scrap that idea when Mackenzie sprung the zombie dance number on the contestants.

Travis! Cool! I love watching him dance, and he's come up with some of the most beautiful, memorable dances on So You Think You Can Dance over the years. He even had some interesting comments tonight which added to the discussion, not something every guest judge is capable of.

Yay for KC winning! It would a beautiful makeup and taking inspiration from Van Gogh's sunflowers was very clever. Andrew's rose lady was beautiful too, especially considering he's a monster makeup guy. Raina's fall dancer (what is that model's name? She's been on long enough I feel like I should know it) was beautiful, but her attitude is starting to irk me a little this week, too.

The less said about Joseph's winter not-wonderland, the better. Yikes. Kiersten's was weird, but at least looked like a finished(ish) makeup compared to his.

Too bad they didn't drop the winning/losing team thing weeks ago - Twisted's whimsical Forest Family should've won over those damn woodchucks. Not that I hold petty, trivial grudges or anything. Ahem.

 

ETA - Frozendiva, you are a brave soul indeed ;)

Edited July 19, 2017 by Maelstrom

[enoughcats]

30 minutes ago, Chyromaniac said:

 but those edges on Heat Miser were atrocious.

Was Heat Miser the handsome black dude who was in garish yellow?  I really wondered if whoever did that design was going to forget to match face paint to cowl paint?

[Quilt Fairy]

So from now on, maybe they can just say "It's a tie" every week, and they'll be judged on individual merits rather than the stupid teams?  A girl can hope.

[Maelstrom]

Quilt Fairy, maybe if enough of us hope for that our wish can come true. *sigh*

[Brynnjk]

As a long time So You Think You Can Dance fan -( I started in S2 when Travis was still competing and hadn't even begun choreographing, Mia Michael's The Bench dance still shines) - I loved seeing him as a judge.  And I was surprised that his comments were good, insightful and not hurtful when he critiqued.  Bravo Travis.  I loved the top 2 looks.  Gorgeous.  I liked Joseph but it was clear he was doomed.  Kiersten's was bad but she had actually had a great look recently.  

I agreed with Travis on Kiersten's model's look ruining the dance.  All you could see when you looked at her was her ugly costume and weird hair during the dance.  RE the dance, it was nothing special.  Travis probably threw it together in 30 minutes.  But the ending pose was nice and I liked the way each season danced together.  For the first time this season I actually enjoyed the entire episode instead of forcing myself to sit through it.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Although I think Travis Wall is overrated (both as a dancer and a choreographer), I was excited about this week's challenge. Even though it was several different elements (the four seasons + dancing), I was excited to see some beauty makeup with a very specific theme and I was excited that the makeup had to last through the dancing. To be fair, after seeing the actual routine, this was not overly strenuous choreography that should have affected any of the makeup.

I agree with the judges not picking a winning or losing team this week because the two strongest looks (Faina's autumn lady and Andrew's spring rose) were on different teams and the weakest looks (Phil's autumn Heat Miser, Joseph's weird winter guy, and Kierstins starfish) were spread among the two teams. But this is exactly why the winner and loser shouldn't be selected based on which team wins or loses. Just pick the best and worst look regardless of which team did best pr worst overall!

Suzanne's green fern summer guy was a miss for me. I appreciate all the effort to create that fern texture, but it didn't read well. From a distance it wasn't clear what it was and up close it looked detailed but not obviously a fern. Glenn thought it was lizardy from far away and like an insect up close, neither of which are the fern she intended.

Faina's autumn woman was gorgeous. The leaf crown wasn't the most innovative thing I've ever seen but it was executed well (which is more than you can say about the other team's autumn leaves headdress) and the beauty makeup was so pretty. Faina chose the perfect shades of orange and brown without letting the colors get too muddy, and she kept enough highlights on the face to let her model remain feminine looking.

Nelson's winter guy was a miss for me. The crystal ice crown/headpiece looked very fake because the crystals were clumped together and didn't separate all the way down to the skull.

Kierstin's summer starfish headpiece was well executed and well painted with some lovely colors, but everything else sucked. The crazy hair was too wild and I didn't get the beauty makeup she attempted. She painted her model's face a very pale/washed out whitish color, added yellowish orange around the eyes, and then drew dark purple lines from the outside of the eyes to the nose. WTF?

Andrew's spring rose was stunning. When he was sculpting it, I thought the concept was good but the execution wasn't looking great. I should have had more faith because it turned out so beautifully. The application was so great - I couldn't see any seams or edges, and I loved the green leaves creeping up her neck.

I liked KC's summer look. The sculpted eyebrows going into the forehead were very beautiful and the vibrant greens and yellows were very striking. She was so smart to cut the edges to match her sculpt. That's the kind of thinking you need when things don't go your way.

The leaves on Phil's autumn guy looked too thick and simple. They looked like something a kid would make in a beginning pottery class. But even worse than that were the edges. They were just terrible.

Joseph's winter look was not good. I'm okay with asymmetry but his look was just weird. I didn't like the icicle horns coming out of one side of the head, the ears were way too high, and just the overall look.

In theory, I thought that what Travis said to Joseph was supportive and positive, but remembering how his season of So You Think You Can Dance ended, it sounded like sour grapes (he came in second to Benji Schwimmer). I didn't mind him as a judge though. He had some good comments for the contestants which I always appreciate.

[Rammchick]

The problem with this theme is that there's no escaping some very obvious cliches.  And sadly, those who tried to go outside the box couldn't pull it off.  Personally, I thought the two Springs looked like they were wearing salads on their heads.  Neither winter was good, especially Joseph's Christmas yeti hair, or whatever it was Glenn called it.  And that model/dancer clearly knew he looked stupid.  We won't even go into Kiersten's Phyllis Diller  attacked by sea creatures ensemble.  I know that previous facetestents would've fared better with this challenge, proving once again that this bunch just isn't as talented as other people we've seen on this show.

[Mabinogia]

I did like the winning look. I thought the eye lashes were great, even if they made the poor model blink incessantly. I am so over Faina. She thinks she is way better than she really is. Her look was predictable. I just watched it this morning and can barely remember most of the looks. That pretty much sums up this season. Forgettable.

I remember hating both the winter looks. I think there was one other one I liked, but I can't remember it now. I am definitely watching out of habit at this point.

Nice to see they realized the team BS was, well, BS and just called it a tie. lol. At this point Team Loser is made up of half the winning team. How was this a good idea? I did like the girl with the shaved sides of the heads reaction when they said they had to punish the winning team again by taking away another team member. Seriously. This was such a stupid idea.

I always kind of found Travis overrated so his dance did nothing for me. But kudos to the models for dancing with those giant head pieces on.

[Maelstrom]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Suzanne's green fern summer guy was a miss for me. I appreciate all the effort to create that fern texture, but it didn't read well. From a distance it wasn't clear what it was and up close it looked detailed but not obviously a fern. Glenn thought it was lizardy from far away and like an insect up close, neither of which are the fern she intended.

I forgot to post this last night, but her finished look reminded me strongly of Cabbage Head from Kids in the Hall. Which is *not* a good thing for a supposed beauty makeup. ("I have a cabbage for a head!")

[RedheadZombie]

8 hours ago, Brynnjk said:

As a long time So You Think You Can Dance fan -( I started in S2 when Travis was still competing and hadn't even begun choreographing, Mia Michael's The Bench dance still shines) - I loved seeing him as a judge.  And I was surprised that his comments were good, insightful and not hurtful when he critiqued.  Bravo Travis.  I loved the top 2 looks.  Gorgeous.  I liked Joseph but it was clear he was doomed.  Kiersten's was bad but she had actually had a great look recently.  

I agreed with Travis on Kiersten's model's look ruining the dance.  All you could see when you looked at her was her ugly costume and weird hair during the dance.  RE the dance, it was nothing special.  Travis probably threw it together in 30 minutes.  But the ending pose was nice and I liked the way each season danced together.  For the first time this season I actually enjoyed the entire episode instead of forcing myself to sit through it.  

I still tear up at Travis's choreography - How it Ends (Kent was robbed!), and Turn to Stone (Set Melanie and Marko up as top two, IMO).

***If anyone is interested in watching the dances I mentioned, just type the dance names into YouTube and they pop up. 

ETA:  And it seemed very clear there was a "tie" because the winner and who they wanted to eliminate were on the same team. 

Edited July 19, 2017 by RedheadZombie
To keep on topic

[seacliffsal]

This episode really summarized the ridiculousness of the season's concept of having a team competition.  Had the teams originally been more balanced in terms of talent, it may have turned out differently.  However, from the start one team seemed to have much stronger contestants.  I really liked the top looks and agree that any one of the bottom looks could have been sent home.  However, the faun/elf/winter scene really was bad; when Glenn pointed out how the warm toned face make-up totally clashed with the cool colors of the rest of the outfit/make-up I knew Joseph was toast.

Hopefully next week with 7 artists left, they will abandon the team concept.

[sourpickles]

If I were a cynical, untrusting sort, I'd've said this season worked out great so there were four on each team for each of the seasons.  I'm not, howevah ;), so I will say this.   I LOVED this episode.  I loved the concept, Vivaldi's Four Seasons is one of my favorites, I LOVED all of the designs, even the bad ones.  I thought that it worked out great.  THIS was the Face Off I'd been waiting for.  Some of the sculpting/painting/etc. was reminiscent of earlier seasons (no pun intended).  I will say that they got it right with the guy who went home, Gherkin was watching again and picked up on the bad edges/painting right away.  I get nervous when the person who did so well the week before plonks into the bottom next time, that kind of stagger progress makes me wonder.  The Spring that won, I'm a bit on the fence, well done but I think I keep thinking of the rose in the Disney Alice In Wonderland.  But overall I was very happy, considering what has come before, and I really think there is a (very) gradual improvement.  I do understand and give full credit to all of you all with both positive and bummed out critiques,  I always like to hear what everyone has to say!  But if I had to have a somewhat subpar FO or none at all..........now let's all pray next week is cool, too.

[Kaoteek]

I didn't really get all the praise for the winning look, which I found messy and very plasticy (mostly due to the paint-job on the cowl appliance). I would have given the win to the Rose or the Autumn. As far as the worst look was concerned... yeah, no surprise there. Still, funny how the show ends up more enjoyable when there no team bs involved, and when each contestant produces a distinct piece.... who'd have thunk it ?

[Lugal]

So Twisted 6-2+1-2+1-1 (I think I got that right) actually managed to tie this week, but still lost a man.  Joseph has been struggling for a few weeks now, but I'm sorry to see him go.  There was something likeable about the guy, but Glenn was right, it did look like his attempt this week could have come out of a Rankin Bass Christmas special.  Kiersten's summer made me think of the Nox from Stargate SG1.

I liked the top looks and was happy with KC winning, although Andrew's Rose was damn close as well.  Faina was the only one that turned in anything good from Ethereal.  The fern design for spring did not come out as well as I would have thought.  I also liked Travis's insight as well, as to how the makeups are to dance in and how they work with the choreography.

I still think Twisted 6-2+1-2+1-1 might still win the team challenge, simply by absorbing all of Ethereal.

[sourpickles]

I was really impressed with KC.  If we can keep going the individual route, she will shine, I think.  And..........1 +2+1+1 is.............NOT SIX! We can hope, right?  Love the reference, listening to the soundtrack in my car right now!

[Richness]

Please don't disparage the Heat and Snow Misers by comparing those horrible creations to them. The Misers deserve more respect than that. ;) I was referring to Joseph's blob as the abominable snow cone. If anything it made me think more of the mushy snowman look that Iceman originally had before his current, more well-known ice armor form. The tree horns were just awful as well. It's amazing that Joseph sunk so low after having won the first challenge while on Ethereal Effects. Unfortunately, the Twisted Numbers curse stuck again. I'd use the math formula, but it's getting too long to keep tract of. Or if they're doing particularly bad, I'll refer to them as Twisted Mess or Twisted Failure.

 

Not that the other bottom dweller did stellar this week. I was shocked that Phil got a safe pass for that those chunky leaves. As much as  I find him adorable, I think he should have been on the bottom again. Other than the horrible hair, I thought Kierstin's had a decent, solid safe look, and shouldn't have been on the bottom.

 

I thought Faina's Autumn looked gorgeous, and should have won, especially on a beauty challenge. Yes, Andrew's rose was very well done, and beautiful, but I could have swore I saw a shot of KC running over to help him with the make-up toward the end. She certainly promised that she and the others would help him while they were sketching their designs at the Gardens. Speaking of KC, while her's was nice, I don't think it should have won. I guess I should be happy though that an original Twisted Numbers person finally won something.

 

While I still despise the shop team format, I was thankful that everyone had to do their own design again. I'm going to get spoiled if it happens for three episodes in a row next week. I also wasn't overly impressed by the dance routine or the guest judge. We've seen bigger and better on here before. I'm just not a fan of dance (or singing) competition shows.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Richness

[LittleIggy]

On 7/18/2017 at 9:26 AM, Reddust said:

I just saw the adorable Megan in a commercial.

What was the commercial for? I love Megan!

[Reddust]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

What was the commercial for? I love Megan!

It was for floral bouquets.  She looked gorgeous too.

[LadyMustang65]

Finally!!!!  After how many weeks, we finally got not one, not two, but three looks that I actually liked!  Yay!!!  Usually I'm left wondering what the heck the judges are praising because to me everything up to now has pretty much just looked awful!  Hope this keeps up!  But I call BS on their not awarding the win to Twisted Six.  Of the top 3 looks they were seriously considering to win, 2 of them came from TS and 1 from EE.  After all these weeks of not winning a challenge, they could have had a frickin' heart and given them this one.  Boo.

[sourpickles]

I'm walking the plank here, but at the risk of sounding like a total moron, why is this episode titled String Theory?  I'm gonna guess I missed something.........

[SnarkyTart]

25 minutes ago, sourpickles said:

I'm walking the plank here, but at the risk of sounding like a total moron, why is this episode titled String Theory?  I'm gonna guess I missed something.........

I'm guessing it's because Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" consists of violin concerti (strings).  If not that, then I don't know.

[Mabinogia]

54 minutes ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Of the top 3 looks they were seriously considering to win, 2 of them came from TS and 1 from EE.  After all these weeks of not winning a challenge, they could have had a frickin' heart and given them this one.  Boo.

I seriously can't remember who's on which team but was one of those top looks the guy who was just moved from EE? Because if so, then TS still didn't win, only by default. If that big guy who just switched teams wasn't one of the top, then I agree. But I hate the team idea so I'm glad it is completely falling apart and makes absolutely no sense.

[sourpickles]

3 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

I'm guessing it's because Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" consists of violin concerti (strings).  If not that, then I don't know.

Oh, well then ok!  I could NOT figure it out, but that'll work for me.  Either the titles are slightly more obscure now or I'm out of it.  I'm going for the latter since I just got home on one Monday and will be getting home again on another, so generally I have no idea who I am, where I is, or what I be watching.

[Portia]

My favorite moment was Glenn saying that he half expected Burl Ives to come out in a snowman costume and start singing. 

[LittleIggy]

The "wonky eared Christmas yeti" (thanks, Glenn) was indeed ridiculous. Nothing would have made it not ridiculous, but why on earth was his face left "flesh-toned"?

[call me ishmael]

On 7/19/2017 at 9:33 PM, Richness said:

I thought Faina's Autumn looked gorgeous, and should have won, especially on a beauty challenge. Yes, Andrew's rose was very well done, and beautiful, but I could have swore I saw a shot of KC running over to help him with the make-up toward the end. She certainly promised that she and the others would help him while they were sketching their designs at the Gardens. Speaking of KC, while her's was nice, I don't think it should have won. I guess I should be happy though that an original Twisted Numbers person finally won something.

 

I agree with this.  I thought Faina's was the best personally.  I think that they may have given it to Casey because she has been incredibly helpful to other people over several weeks and had the added version of being shop foreperson.

I also was wondering if this wasn't a tie because they knew they were going to send Joseph home and couldn't if 6666666666=0 won.  Or have they sent home people from the winning team this year?  Can't remember.

[Percysowner]

11 minutes ago, call me ishmael said:

I agree with this.  I thought Faina's was the best personally.  I think that they may have given it to Casey because she has been incredibly helpful to other people over several weeks and had the added version of being shop foreperson.

I also was wondering if this wasn't a tie because they knew they were going to send Joseph home and couldn't if 6666666666=0 won.  Or have they sent home people from the winning team this year?  Can't remember.

The winning team got immunity, so there was never a chance for any of them to go home. Generally I think the right one went home, but IIRC, once or twice I thought that it was close between the worst on the losing team and the worse on the winning team.

[call me ishmael]

Thanks.  That is what i thought.  I think if they had wanted to send Kiersten home then 6=O would have been declared the winner.

[LadyMustang65]

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 5:51 PM, Mabinogia said:

I seriously can't remember who's on which team but was one of those top looks the guy who was just moved from EE? Because if so, then TS still didn't win, only by default. If that big guy who just switched teams wasn't one of the top, then I agree. But I hate the team idea so I'm glad it is completely falling apart and makes absolutely no sense.

I'm with you in that I hate the team idea.  But since the teams were assigned to the contestants, as far as I'm concerned, once they move someone from one team to the other, that person is on that team.  So, yes, the big guy was switched from EE to TS, but once that happened, he was a member of TS.  Period.  But I suspect Call Me Ishmael above got it right - they knew they wanted to send Joseph home, and they couldn't do that if they declared TS the winner since the winning team gets immunity.  Which is just another reason to hate this whole team concept.  You could have 3 great looks from one team and the worst piece of garbage from the 4th person and get all decent but not outstanding looks from the other team, and you could lose someone who produced a decent look rather than the person who produced garbage simply because their team won the challenge.  Honestly, if they wanted to do a team challenge, in my humble opinion as a viewer, I would have preferred to see them not eliminate a person each week.  That really makes no sense to have teams but pick an individual winner.  Just keep the teams intact through the entire competition and award each team points based on what they produced.  So it wouldn't have to be a win or lose - each team would earn points based on what they created.  Say each creature could earn 1-3 points - 1 point if it was a bottom look, 2 points if it was safe, and 3 points if it was a top look.  Go through all 10 weeks or however long it is and then declare a winning team with the prize split between them.  Or award a team score for each look plus individual points based on their contributions, and the top individual scorer on the winning team is the winner.  I don't know exactly, but what they're doing just makes no frickin' sense. 

[sourpickles]

Re: all above about teams.  My formula is much simpler, and I think bore out by previous needed equal contestant epis (be it FO, Top Chef, Project Runway Ink Master, etc.).  Four seasons.  Four contestants on each team.  It was fortunate(?) that it ended up being more or less right in the eliminations, but still.  These challenges are planned so far in advance.......  I DO agree with what is being said though, by many others.  Manufactured.

[enoughcats]

One of the interviews with Glenn that was linked (? previous episode) he talked about in his studio the need for everybody to have every skill because things moved much faster than they used to.

How latex molds were becoming common because of the speed factor.

I wonder if this team thing was supposed to go that way with everybody pitching in to produce a mass of faces?  

[sourpickles]

Fast is now the key word.  On many, many shows, artistry and quality have taken a back seat to "fast".  And it shows.  Budgets are cut, fans suffer.  Some of us still watch out of devotion, but in the end, nothing else matters.  We lost talent.