S14.E07: Academy Week #3

[Adusk81]

Is anyone else getting really tired of hearing Cyrus and Fikshun yelling "Let's go!" 

Where did that come from anyway? Is that what the kids are saying these days? 

[Tikichick]

On 8/1/2017 at 8:39 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Twitch got Magic Mike XXL and SYTYCD probably was the major factor in him getting that role, right?

How about the fact that he was in sequel(s) to Step Up -- where Channing got his start?  Much in dance is about having the right connections -- including getting a spot on SYTYCD much more than the audience is aware.  WOD is the same.

[Tikichick]

Had to push myself to watch the recording on Wednesday night.  Not a good sign.  I had time to watch it Monday, chose to rewatch GOT instead.  Very not good sign.  My hunch was correct, very little dance, too much ridiculously overacted and completely unearned overreactions from the All Stars.  Unlike quite a few posting here I enjoy most of these All Stars as a rule.  I would love to watch them all dance.  I tuned in to watch dance.  I was led to believe it was a dance show and there would be dance.  Who's confused, me or the producers?  I lay very little blame at the feet of the All Stars.  They've been hired for a gig, they've got to play out the choreography they're given.

I believe the way it's shaping up that all wind up in mixed gender pairings.

I'm completely thrown by the routines not being determined by the contestants' genre, but the All Stars'?  Aside from Cyrus and occasionally Fikshun, each of these All Stars is quite versatile.  But then again that's why I see such an issue with Cyrus in particular being an All Star in this kind of format.  I can totally buy it under a previous incarnation where the All Stars were called in as specialists for a routine with a competitor.  Although in all honesty I think Cyrus has to "infuse" even other styles of hip hop with his animation because he's simply not that versatile even across the genre.  Cyrus is fabulous, in his wheelhouse.  I thought that was a cheap excuse for Konkrete last night.  We've seen contestants make it to live comp before who cannot absorb choreo, it ain't pretty.  Who was the Mr. oh so Fabulouso B-Boy a few seasons back who was shown literally tantruming when working with the choreographers? 

I feel there's got to be a story to explain why this show has never brought back Dominic Sandoval or Hok to serve in these recent All Star seasons.  Maybe they're simply too busy, but either one of those would serve this format much better than Cyrus.  So sorry, Cyrus, it's not personal at all.

I love and don't love Jasmine's hair.  Her hair is gorgeous.  I like the shot of her they showed with it more pulled up than what it is when they're all in their chairs.  The way they've mostly shown her this season it obscures her face too much.  If I was that gorgeous, you damn well bet I'd make sure my face was seen!

As far as dancers being able to get a better fee with the show on their resume, for sure.  One of the biggest ways that's often overlooked is teaching masterclasses at dance studios around the country.  Many of them do this as an offshoot of other things, including the already mentioned traveling as part of dance convention faculties.  Back in the day my daughter took classes at her studio with Travis, Ivan Koumaev and Danny Tidwell, along with a non show circuit dancer/instructor.  That was slightly different than the more typical set up since it was an entire weekend bootcamp, but even the normal weeknight masterclasses with one dancer coming in to instruct while they're in town for convention anyway is VERY lucrative, particularly if you can command more via the "starpower" of appearing on the show.   

[cali1981]

15 hours ago, AlleC17 said:

I also hate this format a lot.  I would much prefer there be a top 20 that would have the 'random' pairings until top 10, when they are 'randomly' paired with an All Star...those were some good seasons.  I actually prefer the old school format and not have the All Stars, but that sure as hell wouldn't happen assuming the show gets another season.  I just hated how we hardly get to see any dancing on a damn dance show.  Maybe we will when we are finished with all the academy bs.

 

Truthfully, I'd even ditch the all-stars and return to the show's original format.  Think about the great contestant pairs that this show has seen, starting with, IMHO, the best of them all, Katee and Joshua.  There was Courtney and Gev, Twitch and Kherington, Melissa and Ade, Melanie and Marko, Nick and Melody (way back in S1), Jeannine and Jason, Pasha and Anya, Randi and Evan and so many more.  To me this was the heart and soul of the show.

[Tikichick]

8 minutes ago, cali1981 said:

Truthfully, I'd even ditch the all-stars and return to the show's original format.  Think about the great contestant pairs that this show has seen, starting with, IMHO, the best of them all, Katee and Joshua.  There was Courtney and Gev, Twitch and Kherington, Melissa and Ade, Melanie and Marko, Nick and Melody (way back in S1), Jeannine and Jason, Pasha and Anya, Randi and Evan and so many more.  To me this was the heart and soul of the show.

How about Philip and Janine, Mark and Chelsie, Benji and Dom?

[spanana]

17 hours ago, waving feather said:

I saw that missed connection too. Kiki impressed me so much during his audition that I still give him a pass and would choose him over the other guy. I don't know how well he would do with Jenna though. I don't think she's a great ballroom partner. She always make it about herself. 

The thing about Jenna is she's incredible from a technique standpoint, when you get past all the face pulling and over emoting, but she's also just a lot of dancer in that I tend to find she overpowers some of her male ballroom partners. That isn't even an insult directed at Jenna just so much as she needs a really strong male partner in ballroom or she'll sort of run all over them.  I'm not sure Kiki is a strong enough presence for her in that sense.  Which again, doesn't mean he's not good and skilled but some people just don't pair particularly well.  As much as they knew each other before this show and have ties, I'm not sure how much they have actually danced together.

[xander874]

About 15 minutes in, I wondered if this would be a 2-parter because we had only seen 2 sets of dancers. But then they barely gave us glimpses of the others. I didn't even get to say goodbye to the cute redhead boy, whose name I don't even know because he barely got screentime. I do realize this is status quo for this show and they always highlight favorites but it is glaringly obvious with this format.

So obvious they even gave Koncrete separate choreography because they know he can't handle the contemporary and ballroom stuff. They are making me hate him because of all the special treatment he is getting. I didn't know about Kiki's connections, but I'd rather watch him weekly than Koncrete. What are they going to do when he has to dance a Viennese Waltz? Maybe he'll surprise me, assuming he makes it to the top 10, which the editing seems to have made obvious.

If this show is renewed, they need to just go back to the old way. Toss in a twist of 2 if you must, but stick with the tried and true formula that made people come to this show. If they do this crap next season, I'm out.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, spanana said:

The thing about Jenna is she's incredible from a technique standpoint, when you get past all the face pulling and over emoting, but she's also just a lot of dancer in that I tend to find she overpowers some of her male ballroom partners. That isn't even an insult directed at Jenna just so much as she needs a really strong male partner in ballroom or she'll sort of run all over them.  I'm not sure Kiki is a strong enough presence for her in that sense.  Which again, doesn't mean he's not good and skilled but some people just don't pair particularly well.  As much as they knew each other before this show and have ties, I'm not sure how much they have actually danced together.

I'm starting to wonder if they throw some of the top dancers under the bus and Jenna caused him to miss that connection so they'd have a more plausible reason to cut him.  Not that they've ever really needed that.  But they also cut Chaz Wolcott, who I thought was head and shoulders above the rest of this group.  I also wonder if some of the actual pro dancers sign up with the stipulation that they not get past X date, because they have other obligations and are just doing this for a little extra publicity.  Like those two weird sisters from Europe who did an 'audition' and obviously were not going to go any further, and other extreme specialty acts like the stepper.

[Tikichick]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I'm starting to wonder if they throw some of the top dancers under the bus and Jenna caused him to miss that connection so they'd have a more plausible reason to cut him.  Not that they've ever really needed that.  But they also cut Chaz Wolcott, who I thought was head and shoulders above the rest of this group.  I also wonder if some of the actual pro dancers sign up with the stipulation that they not get past X date, because they have other obligations and are just doing this for a little extra publicity.  Like those two weird sisters from Europe who did an 'audition' and obviously were not going to go any further, and other extreme specialty acts like the stepper.

With the obvious manipulations I absolutely see your reasoning.  However, given that this is in a certain sense like a game show in that people are competing for prize money I believe there are some laws they must adhere to and once the competition reaches live shows, audience vote becomes a factor and there simply wouldn't legally be a way to make a blatant policy that X All Star's contestant is going to be eliminated by week X so the All Star can start broadway rehearsals or a dance company tour, etc.  In that case you slide in another comparable All Star to partner the departing All Star -- the same way they would if an All Star was injured and unable to dance.  Haven't seen DWTS since maybe season two, but I believe I had heard about a dancer being injured and replaced so the competitor could continue. 

Just occurred to me this show had an issue just last season with Joshua Allen's legal issues and had to pull in Marko to fill the slot.  Which I believe they had some awareness of during casting because the competitor selected for the mini me spot was a Marko, not a Josh lookalike.  (That overall production choice to cast predominantly mini mes made me a little nuts last year anyway.)  

[Guest]

But it's not the live shows yet.  They can eliminate whoever they want.  And if they want to throw them under the bus visually, they can.   It wouldn't be a blatant policy.  It would be a little secret between say Kiki and the higher-ups, with NDAs fully enforced.  

I wasn't talking about the All-Stars having prior commitments, just the contestants.

[Kira53]

On 8/2/2017 at 7:37 PM, waving feather said:

I saw that missed connection too. Kiki impressed me so much during his audition that I still give him a pass and would choose him over the other guy. I don't know how well he would do with Jenna though. I don't think she's a great ballroom partner. She always make it about herself. 

 A great audition is often the result of tremendous talent and tremendous effort in preparing that audition. Kiki is a renown ballroom dancer I understand and I'm sure he has put tremendous effort into the preparing for the performances but he doesn't seem to do as well in this format which has a very short preparation time to learn the dance and to perfect it. Don't ballroom dancer spend all year prefecting one short dance?  Perhaps he should not be chosen because of his inability to recall or execute the dances in a short period, which is the design of this show.  this format which has a very short preparation time to learn the dance and to perfect it. Perhaps he should not be chosen because of his inability to recall or execute the dances in the given framework.  Not everyone can do that.

[Kira53]

7 hours ago, xander874 said:

About 15 minutes in, I wondered if this would be a 2-parter because we had only seen 2 sets of dancers. But then they barely gave us glimpses of the others. I didn't even get to say goodbye to the cute redhead boy, whose name I don't even know because he barely got screentime. I do realize this is status quo for this show and they always highlight favorites but it is glaringly obvious with this format.

So obvious they even gave Koncrete separate choreography because they know he can't handle the contemporary and ballroom stuff. They are making me hate him because of all the special treatment he is getting. I didn't know about Kiki's connections, but I'd rather watch him weekly than Koncrete. What are they going to do when he has to dance a Viennese Waltz? Maybe he'll surprise me, assuming he makes it to the top 10, which the editing seems to have made obvious.

If this show is renewed, they need to just go back to the old way. Toss in a twist of 2 if you must, but stick with the tried and true formula that made people come to this show. If they do this crap next season, I'm out.

What if they had given Kiki the choreography that was created for Konkrete? They both got choreography designed for their style.  When Konkrete doesn't do well he will have to "dance for his life" and that benefits the show because those solos will be very entertaining for the average viewers.  

Edited August 4, 2017 by Kira53

[realdancemom]

9 hours ago, spanana said:

The thing about Jenna is she's incredible from a technique standpoint, when you get past all the face pulling and over emoting, but she's also just a lot of dancer in that I tend to find she overpowers some of her male ballroom partners. That isn't even an insult directed at Jenna just so much as she needs a really strong male partner in ballroom or she'll sort of run all over them.  I'm not sure Kiki is a strong enough presence for her in that sense.  Which again, doesn't mean he's not good and skilled but some people just don't pair particularly well.  As much as they knew each other before this show and have ties, I'm not sure how much they have actually danced together.

This is why I don't think that her partnership with Tucker worked in SYTYCD.  Tucker is a beautiful contemporary dancer but his dancing is more subdued and flowy.  Jenna is an in your face ballroom dancer.  Both of them are great on their own but they didn't work together.

I think Kiki is a strong enough ballroom partner for Jenna.  I just think that he needs more practice to get all the hand connections and other partner work than the one hour that they had.  I also think that if the show didn't want him, they had a great chance to get rid of him in the hip-hop round.

Edited August 4, 2017 by realdancemom

[calipiano81]

Paul doesn't have half the experience or training of Kiki, but I love watching him dance ballroom (especially since he didn't get to do very much of it during his own season). I wish we could have seen more of his dance with Sydney and Christina. 

Edited August 4, 2017 by calipiano81

[SnarkyTart]

11 hours ago, cali1981 said:

Truthfully, I'd even ditch the all-stars and return to the show's original format.  Think about the great contestant pairs that this show has seen, starting with, IMHO, the best of them all, Katee and Joshua.  There was Courtney and Gev, Twitch and Kherington, Melissa and Ade, Melanie and Marko, Nick and Melody (way back in S1), Jeannine and Jason, Pasha and Anya, Randi and Evan and so many more.  To me this was the heart and soul of the show.

Mark Kanemura and Chelsie Hightower, S4.  *sigh*

[Cuatro1234]

But remember Molleeeee and Nathan, a pairing that completely didn't work?

What's up with the names?  Auditions, it's Kevin; Academy 1 and 2, it's Kevin; but now, it's suddenly Konkrete.  Whereas Kaylee introduced herself at auditions as something like "Impavido," but she's been Kaylee the whole time. 

[Cuatro1234]

Also, I too think Jasmine is beautiful, but her hair makes me think of Hey Arnold! Cartoon guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hey_Arnold!_characters?wprov=sfsi1

[waving feather]

Jenna may have good technique but she's not an appealing ballroom dancer to me. She's like a soloist when she dances ballroom. It's all about her faces and her fake chemistry. It's not authentic. I prefer ballroom dancers who partners well, like Pasha, Anya, Dmitry. Lacey, who is also a high-key ballroom type, is a better partner than Jenna. I think Ki Ki was wonderful with his partner that he auditioned with. I still give him a pass because they had 1 hour to nail partner choreography. In the actual competition, they will have at least 2 full days to do so.

She should not choose Koncrete because his lack of flexibility will make all their routines to be watered down. Hip hop dancers who excelled on SYTYCD like Fikshun usually have training in other genres as well. 

[Tikichick]

9 hours ago, calipiano81 said:

Paul doesn't have half the experience or training of Kiki, but I love watching him dance ballroom (especially since he didn't get to do very much of it during his own season). I wish we could have seen more of his dance with Sydney and Christina. 

Wasn't Paul actually SYTYCD champ somewhere in Europe?

1 hour ago, waving feather said:

Jenna may have good technique but she's not an appealing ballroom dancer to me. She's like a soloist when she dances ballroom. It's all about her faces and her fake chemistry. It's not authentic. I prefer ballroom dancers who partners well, like Pasha, Anya, Dmitry. Lacey, who is also a high-key ballroom type, is a better partner than Jenna. I think Ki Ki was wonderful with his partner that he auditioned with. I still give him a pass because they had 1 hour to nail partner choreography. In the actual competition, they will have at least 2 full days to do so.

She should not choose Koncrete because his lack of flexibility will make all their routines to be watered down. Hip hop dancers who excelled on SYTYCD like Fikshun usually have training in other genres as well. 

Pasha, love him!

I do think Jenna is a fantastic dancer who requires a very strong and committed partner.  Mark Kanemura was a great match for her in her season when he came in as All Star/choreographer.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Tikichick

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Cuatro1234 said:

But remember Molleeeee and Nathan, a pairing that completely didn't work?

What's up with the names?  Auditions, it's Kevin; Academy 1 and 2, it's Kevin; but now, it's suddenly Konkrete.  Whereas Kaylee introduced herself at auditions as something like "Impavido," but she's been Kaylee the whole time. 

Thanks.  I was wondering why I'd completely forgotten this guy named Konkrete.   Though I don't remember him as Kevin, either.  

[Tikichick]

15 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

But it's not the live shows yet.  They can eliminate whoever they want.  And if they want to throw them under the bus visually, they can.   It wouldn't be a blatant policy.  It would be a little secret between say Kiki and the higher-ups, with NDAs fully enforced.  

I wasn't talking about the All-Stars having prior commitments, just the contestants.

Ah, I got confused misreading the actual pro dancers as All Stars.  I agree, they can cast whoever they want, and do.  Once it comes to the live shows different rules come into play.  Production still has the means to pull strings with the audience, and does it all the time -- flattering/non flattering rehearsal package, highlighting or ignoring an injury onscreen, sympathetic bio details appearing on air, highlighted or simply part of a montage in auditions or academy episodes, judges' critiques, genre assignments, All Star pairing, choreographer assignments, costuming, lighting. 

[spanana]

12 hours ago, calipiano81 said:

Paul doesn't have half the experience or training of Kiki, but I love watching him dance ballroom (especially since he didn't get to do very much of it during his own season). I wish we could have seen more of his dance with Sydney and Christina. 

I don't know how much pedigree Paul has in terms of ballroom, but I tend to agree.  I am drawn to ballroom, but my faves usually have to have some mix of technical and performance/watchability.  Paul is just very charming and fun to watch IMO.  He and Ruby were one of the highlights of the kids season.

I also think one thing that is hard for ballroomers sometimes, at least when first making the leap from competition to television performance, is that these are two very different ways of performing.  All the "look at me" and overexaggerating and faces that are probably necessary in real life ballroom competition in order to stand out on a floor full of competitors tends to read obnoxious on television where cameras are right up in your face.  It takes some adjustment. 

Kiki strikes me as someone who has is probably a very good competition dancer, but I'm not sold on if he has the it factor for television as yet.  Despite the fact that he has a few seasons of DWTS troupe under his belt.

[cali1981]

11 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

Mark Kanemura and Chelsie Hightower, S4.  *sigh*

And Lauren Gottlieb with anyone.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, spanana said:

It takes some adjustment. 

I think she should've adjusted by now, or made some attempt.  Mark Ballas did on DWTS, after a season or two.  Well, he toned it done.  With Jenna is just seems that "LOOK AT ME" thing is hard wired in her genes or something.  

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

 Pasha and Anya,

Squeeeee and Squee!

Quote

Hip hop dancers who excelled on SYTYCD like Fikshun usually have training in other genres as well. 

Buuut they told us Fikshun was an untrained street dancer!  They probably also told us he was living on the street too.  They like their narratives....

 

I don't listen well, but I never heard Konkrete, I only heard Kevin.  When did they start calling him Konkrete???

[crossover]

4 hours ago, cali1981 said:

And Lauren Gottlieb with anyone.

She's the one who was paired with Neil, right?  Didn't she and Neil hit the bottom at least a  couple of times?  It seems like Neil even made a comment about how his partnership would've been had he been paired with Lacey??  So their partnership wasn't a favorite of most people.  I THINK she was one of the choreographers favorite, especially Tyce's.  I remember Nigel saving her one time but he let her know she'd have to do better in her solos.  I guess he knew she shouldn't have been saved based on that solo but of course they had already made up their minds.

[realdancemom]

4 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think she should've adjusted by now, or made some attempt.  Mark Ballas did on DWTS, after a season or two.  Well, he toned it done.  With Jenna is just seems that "LOOK AT ME" thing is hard wired in her genes or something.  

Besides her dance with Mark on SYTYCD, here's another dance that I was pleasantly surprised at with Jenna and James on DWTS.  She was a sub since Sharna was injured.  I was originally afraid for James because of Jenna's dance personality.  But this turned out great:    Maybe, Jenna needs to play characters that are not sexy.  

[spanana]

4 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think she should've adjusted by now, or made some attempt.  Mark Ballas did on DWTS, after a season or two.  Well, he toned it done.  With Jenna is just seems that "LOOK AT ME" thing is hard wired in her genes or something.  

I wasn't necessarily talking about Jenna, but yes, she's got at least 3-4 years of dancing on television under her belt.  I think with Jenna when she's given choreography that forces her into something besides her automatic go-to sexy and in your face overdramatized mode, she's fine.  It's just that when left to her own devices, that is where she goes.  Also very rarely is she ever going to be given ballroom choreography that doesn't give her room to go there.  Maybe she was pressured by TPTB at DWTS, but the one time she was a pro she even found a way to sexify the "Go Diego Go" theme song.

It also took Karina Smirnoff a few seasons to adjust as well, and she's obviously the best of the best.

Anyway, here is to more dancing next week and hopefully less all-stars.

[calipiano81]

9 hours ago, Tikichick said:

Wasn't Paul actually SYTYCD champ somewhere in Europe?

Paul was a winner of the Armenian version of SYTYCD.

6 hours ago, spanana said:

I don't know how much pedigree Paul has in terms of ballroom...

He actually only started ballroom training when he was 17 (I believe he is 25-26 now?), so I think he's done pretty well for himself so far.

[calipiano81]

1 hour ago, WhineandCheez said:

I don't listen well, but I never heard Konkrete, I only heard Kevin.  When did they start calling him Konkrete???

They only started calling him Konkrete near the end of this last episode.

[waving feather]

The over-exagerrated facials are not only ballroom dancers' issue. I think Allison has one too when she does angsty numbers. I don't remember her having that when she was on as a contestant but she tends to be melodramatic as an All Star. Her dancing is brilliant as always, though..

I think they should have brought back Lacey instead of Jenna. She's a better all-around dancer. 

Edited August 4, 2017 by waving feather

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 minutes ago, waving feather said:

The over-exagerrated facials are not only ballroom dancers' issue. I think Allison has one too when she does angsty numbers. I don't remember her having that when she was on as a contestant but she tends to be melodramatic as an All Star. Her dancing is brilliant as always, though..

During S2 she usually had a pleasant but neutral smiling face during her dances. I don't recall any of the judges ever commenting on it but that's probably because they tended to focus on Ivan during critiques. 

I agree that competition ballroom dancers who are used to making those aggressive "LOOK AT ME!!" faces usually need some time to unlearn that. It's been engrained in them for so long that most of them don't consciously do it anymore. It's just their instinct. On a related note, I was once told during a (non-competition) dance critique that I was smiling too much. I wasn't smiling on purpose but I just felt happy. It would have taken a very conscious effort to make different faces. It's similar to when stage actors do th shows or movies. They're used to using their voices and bodies in a certain way for a live audience and it takes a while for them to adjust their habits/training for a medium that includes a lot of closeups. I remember at some point James Marsters said that he didn't realize how his theater acting translated to the tv screen when he started doing Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I beyond disapprove of this format. I don't care about the all-stars. Any all-star I actually care about isn't on this show. Probably because they're doing other things. I feel no connection to any of the remaining 20 dancers and I can barely remember any of their names. I feel like I've barely seen them dance. The only one I remember is the tall brunette chick on Robert's team (and I can't even remember her name) and that's only because she reminds me of some other chick from an old season of ANTM. If I've barely connected with them, am I supposed to even care about who gets cut? 

Have I mentioned I hate this new format? 

[luvthepros]

With all this negativity towards the new format, has Nigel been bombarded with these same negative comments on social media? I'm not on social media except for the occasional discussion forum such as this one so I don't know if TPTB (Nigel and Co.) know how unhappy the viewers are with this format.

I, along with many others who have commented, would love to see the original format back......such as season 2. Season 2 was the first season I began watching. My favorite won!!! I have not missed an episode since and I can see how this show has evolved to a completely different animal.

I haven't said this in a long while but......I want the original stage back. The stairs and the intimacy of the the smaller stage made everything about the show so much more enjoyable. Nigel.....are you listening?

Edited August 5, 2017 by luvthepros

[luvthepros]

On 8/4/2017 at 0:36 AM, Cuatro1234 said:

.........What's up with the names?  Auditions, it's Kevin; Academy 1 and 2, it's Kevin; but now, it's suddenly Konkrete....... 

Aren't Kevin and Konkrete two different people? I'm not sure; that's why I'm asking.

[spanana]

1 hour ago, luvthepros said:

With all this negativity towards the new format, has Nigel been bombarded with these same negative comments on social media? I'm not on social media except for the occasional discussion forum such as this one so I don't know if TPTB (Nigel and Co.) know how unhappy the viewers are with this format.

I don't know if anybody has complained about the overabundance of the all-stars, but I have read that Nigel did want a Top 20 and prefers that format, but this was a result of Fox negotiations. Fox wanted a Top 10. I do think Nigel is up his own ass much of the time, but I also think he's negotiating his heart out season to season just to keep the show on the air and he probably doesn't have a lot of leverage since ratings suck no matter what.  So if the options are Fox wants a Top 10 or no show, of course he's going to go with the former.  I think that info about him wanting the Top 20 came from Krysten Burtt, perhaps from an interview she did with him.  I can't imagine Fox is telling him how much power to give the all-starts though, or even what all-stars to bring back though.

[TVbitch]

Just got around to watching this one, cuz I knew it would be disappointing. But holy crap, I way underestimated just how disappointing it would be. And now they are going to subject us to a "green mile" episode next week?! Like we are capable of caring about anybody?! I don't know any of these dancers, don't feel like I've seen anyone really dance enough to where I am rooting for them, and have only grown to dislike many of the all-stars and their participation in this "fake" academy round. I feel bad for all of these dancers. I know they have to play polite and thankful, but it is downright insulting the way are being treated. 

[calipiano81]

I am OK with this season's format. Right now, it seems like a lot of filler, but when they get to the live competition shows, everyone will have to dance. 

I don't mind the All-Stars. They are kind of like the pro lineup on Dancing with the Stars; some people just love having their favorites back, while some people want to tune in for the new contestants.

This show has evolved a lot over the years, but all I ask for, as I do each season, is that the dancers be required to demonstrate true versatility across the styles (INCLUDING ballroom), which was the original premise of the show. I don't care how the show wants to arrange it, but I want to see the contestants challenged and not just be praised for dancing in their style, close to their style, or watered-down-versions-of-other-styles to fit their style each week. 

"Aren't Kevin and Konkrete two different people? I'm not sure; that's why I'm asking."

luvthepros....They are the same person (the krumper on Jenna's team). He was called Kevin the whole time until near the end of this last Academy episode, when Jenna then called him Konkrete.

[luvthepros]

52 minutes ago, calipiano81 said:

luvthepros....They are the same person (the krumper on Jenna's team). He was called Kevin the whole time until near the end of this last Academy episode, when Jenna then called him Konkrete.

Thanks for the clarification.

[RomanKat]

On 8/3/2017 at 9:01 PM, realdancemom said:

I think Kiki is a strong enough ballroom partner for Jenna.  I just think that he needs more practice to get all the hand connections and other partner work than the one hour that they had.  I also think that if the show didn't want him, they had a great chance to get rid of him in the hip-hop round.

My guess is that the producers were the ones who convinced Kiki to audition.  It's usually high ranking competitive ballroom dancers who have their records called out on the show.  Iveta was the prime example, with Nigel taking particular pride in extolling her as the World Professional Ten Dance Champion who wanted to be on SYTYCD.  With other dancers, it's typically the companies or crews they've danced with that get attention, even when the dancers have competition titles to their credit.  For the producers, which credentials they selectively highlight is probably to give the show credibility as a magnet for talent.

In that vein, Kiki and Magda are currently among the top U.S. amateur couples, and competitively more accomplished than most ballroom dancers who audition for SYTYCD.  For Kiki to partner Jenna, it wouldn't just be him having to figure out how to lead her.  It would also be her having to figure out how to follow his lead.

 

On 8/3/2017 at 9:19 PM, calipiano81 said:

Paul doesn't have half the experience or training of Kiki, but I love watching him dance ballroom (especially since he didn't get to do very much of it during his own season). I wish we could have seen more of his dance with Sydney and Christina. 

Paul is a natural "show" dancer.  Not all dancers in TV or stage shows have great competition records or company resumes, but they all have the right mix of characteristics and abilities to be successful in their respective shows.

 

On 8/4/2017 at 9:45 AM, spanana said:

I don't know how much pedigree Paul has in terms of ballroom, but I tend to agree.  I am drawn to ballroom, but my faves usually have to have some mix of technical and performance/watchability.  Paul is just very charming and fun to watch IMO.  He and Ruby were one of the highlights of the kids season.

Agreed.  As for pedigree, I've updated this summary of Dancesport records to reflect recent dance show Ballroom / Latin dancers, for anyone who's interested.

Edited August 7, 2017 by RomanKat

[waving feather]

Is Paul really a ballroom dancer? Because I never liked his ballroom on the show but I love his jazz and contemporary. Go figure. He's a beautiful dancer nonetheless. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

Just got around to watching this last night as I wait until my daughter & son-in-law come over for dinner and we watch it together. I really hate how they are trying to make Kevin/Konkrete happen. I mean, he's a good dancer in his style, but I don't enjoy watching him nearly as much as I do Kiki, and I have a very strong feeling that Jenna will choose him over Kiki as her partner. I don't know to just what extent the show is scripted, but I'd have jettisoned Konkrete the moment he got huffy about having to learn a style he didn't feel flexible enough for, then went on to say he "didn't care" about it. That's against the very premise of the show, really. 

I also felt that they seemed to be talking up the weaker, in my eyes, of the two options the all-stars had in a few cases. Maybe that's more to keep it "unpredictable"...or maybe I just have a very weak eye for/knowledge of dance, which I will admit - but in the first pairing, I thought Koine was far superior to the other girl, and likewise thought Lex blew the other tapper out of the water just in the way his body moves. I'll be very upset if we lose Logan, likewise...I think there were a couple more, but can't recall offhand. Might have to watch it again. And might have to watch this week's episode ahead of getting to see it with my daughter because I'm really stressed over knowing who the final picks will be! LOL. 

[MV007]

I have absolutely no issue with them having all stars.  I just wish it was possible to mix it up a bit more and not have the same people over and over unless they are on the level of Twitch and Travis.  And those are really the only two I would put on that level.

As for this episode, I've been lukewarm towards Jenna throughout her history.  I've thought she was good but never really cared one way or the other.  But man, I thought she was fantastic in those two routines and brought out the best in both guys.  I have a hard time seeing Konkrete succeed long term though with her as his partner 

[realdancemom]

3 hours ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

Just got around to watching this last night as I wait until my daughter & son-in-law come over for dinner and we watch it together. I really hate how they are trying to make Kevin/Konkrete happen. I mean, he's a good dancer in his style, but I don't enjoy watching him nearly as much as I do Kiki, and I have a very strong feeling that Jenna will choose him over Kiki as her partner. I don't know to just what extent the show is scripted, but I'd have jettisoned Konkrete the moment he got huffy about having to learn a style he didn't feel flexible enough for, then went on to say he "didn't care" about it. That's against the very premise of the show, really. 

I also felt that they seemed to be talking up the weaker, in my eyes, of the two options the all-stars had in a few cases. Maybe that's more to keep it "unpredictable"...or maybe I just have a very weak eye for/knowledge of dance, which I will admit - but in the first pairing, I thought Koine was far superior to the other girl, and likewise thought Lex blew the other tapper out of the water just in the way his body moves. I'll be very upset if we lose Logan, likewise...I think there were a couple more, but can't recall offhand. Might have to watch it again. And might have to watch this week's episode ahead of getting to see it with my daughter because I'm really stressed over knowing who the final picks will be! LOL. 

I agree with you.  I thought Kevin/Konkrete was disrespectful to Sonja.  Other dancers would love a chance to work with her.  If you can't do something, don't complain just try your best.

Koine had a lot more chemistry with Marko and she danced better.  Physically, they match better too since the other girl was a little taller and bigger.  Agree about Lex being the better tapper although I did think the other guy was really good in the jazz round.  Of course, Lex was too.  I don't think we have to worry about Lex since he's featured a lot.  I also love Logan and think he would be great with Allison.

[Magic]

Quote

The ratings for the this season so far in the key 19-49 demographic group have not been good and the viewership numbers have slipped every week.  You have to wonder how many more chances is FOX going to give the show beyond this season.

This format seems so amateurish it is embarrassing to watch at the times it isn't boring.  It reminds me of some show like the Bachelor or something with a lot of inane comments like:  "Will you pick me????" uggggggggg.

The main reason I started watching this show is to see the dancing.  I cannot STAND how this show keeps cutting away from the small amount of dancing they are even showing,  to show the ASs reactions (or the judges during that section).  For a show that is supposed to focus on dancing, they seem to be doing everything they can to show as little dancing as possible.  

I couldn't care about any contestant, much less any AS at this point with the disjointed, boring, snippets of this or that they have shown so far.  It would be a lot more interesting if at this point they at least let the top two dance for each team and let the public vote the top one through.

But having the same partner for all the rest of weeks also seems like a loser format given the chemistry, dance style etc. combos possible if they ASs moved around.    

I liked the early season SYTYCD format a LOT better.  It is amazing the when ratings are dropping they can come up with such a poor production format that makes it look like they want to drive viewers away.  Don't they realize that fans are set up to want to watch good dancing, growth of the contestants, and the variety of different partners that adds to the drama (which they can still control via editing)?

And given some of the injuries of the contestants in the past, who kept dancing, it seemed weird that the few stitches needed near her eyebrow for the one dancer would be enough to make her drop from the competition.  It did sure make it seem like she knew she wasn't going to get picked so used the injury to avoid that situation.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Magic
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