S14.E08: Top 10 Perform Pt. 1

[Drogo]

The Top 10 are revealed and perform for the first time on the SYTYCD stage.

[awaken]

Mary's puffed sleeve 80's prom dress is hideous. 

Something was off about Kaylee/Impavido. She seemed upset and had an odd expression. As well as what looked like lipstick smeared on her face. 

So glad Fikshun chose Dassy!   I knew she had to be on the show from the first time I saw her. I was disappointed that Allison didn't choose Zachary, but glad to hear it was because he got a role! 

 I didn't care for many of the costumes. Several of them were just very loud and unattractive.  

[susannot]

So happy to see  Jasmine again.  She was my favorite dancer from her season.

[Laurie4H]

Why is Vanessa on this?  She brings absolutely nothing.

They tell Cyrus's partner to be more light on her feet yet they loved Melanie who was so clunky.

As soon as I heard it was a Travis Wall dance I knew before the dance even began that there would be a standing ovation and a complete fawning over Travis and the dancers as if it was the most "brilliant" dance in all 12 years. (Robert is so cute though).

I knew none of the dancers would pick same sex partners.

[spanana]

Oh look, it's still largely about the all-stars. I also hate that the judges spent so much time praising/critiquing the all-stars.  I wish they would do what they used to do where the all-star left the stage while the new talent got judged.  But obviously this is about the all-stars, so here we are.

[pally]

Vanessa is beyond annoying.

Surprise surprise...each All-Star chose the first person they selected for their team.  

Jenna should have picked Konkrete because Kiki is going home next week.

Kaylee wasn't done any favors by the costuming or the choreography.  They should have done more of a fusion that allowed both dancers to shine.  As it was it highlighting both their weaknesses.

Taylor surprised me with her strength and maturity.
Dassie is adorable and a perfect partner for Fik-shun

Koine was beautiful ..again another great partnership

Paul far outshone Sophia
I want to see Lex dance something other than tap..I want to see him in his actual specialty

Robert did a good job keeping up with Jasmine
Mark is fun to watch...his personality will keep him in it
Logan was not rememberable in his generic contemporary.  Could not remember fill in partner Audry.  I wonder if she was already on set working as an assistant.  She seems like such an off choice otherwise.
Glad to finally see some real dancing.  Hopefully next week we will see them dance with partners other than their all-Stars
 

Edited August 8, 2017 by pally

[helpmerhonda]

We all knew that Jenna was going to pick Kiki, so why make the other guy jump through all those hoops? Dumb and manipulative.

[suebee12]

1 hour ago, awaken said:

Something was off about Kaylee/Impavido. She seemed upset and had an odd expression. As well as what looked like lipstick smeared on her face. 

 

10 minutes ago, pally said:

Kaylee wasn't done any favors by the costuming or the choreography.

I actually found it hard to watch this dance. I'm trying not to be judgemental but the choice of costuming was really off. It definitely did not go with her hair(or style). It made her look chunky and the dance did not seem to flow with this dress. I would not be surprised to see them go first.

[slaterain]

of course still so much time/focus on the all-stars. ugh. just get to the pick and get going with the dancing sheesh. Hate the reveal on stage - if they are going to show the green mile deliberation then just announce it there - don't make them stand on stage awkwardly until they can start dancing. or why show the green mile if they are not showing the reactions when they are picked. UGH! 

Started getting annoyed by Vanessa Hudgens by the second dance - I like her in some movies but am not digging her as a judge - she may just need a few eps to get used to it like whatshisname did... will see. 

so what's the tally?
Contemporary - Lex, Kaylee, Taylor, Logan (Or are any of them Jazz/Broadway?)
Hip Hop - Dassy, Mark, Robert
Ballroom - Kiki, Koine, Sydney
kinda sad that there aren't any other styles like ballet or Indian or...

Don't like that there is voting this ep - let them have the top 10 at least once past the green mile! I like to see the behind the scenes working with the choreographer and how the dancers were. I hope Kiki gets cut but am a bit nervous for Dassy and Kaylee as their routines weren't as exciting. 

Dassy/Fikshun - glad that Dassy got picked - I would have been shocked if they went with the other guy. while it was fun it was only ok for me - the whole intro seemed almost like a play by play of an old Janet Jackson video (blanking on the song) - credit to have one of the originators of popping as the choreo but have to admit that just popping seems kinda boring to me. 

Logan/Allison (bummed it wasn't Zachary but happy to hear he is on broadway - Logan is just so young)  Audrey is an interesting allstar choice but she has matured - one of those rare Tyce routines that I really enjoyed. That was beautiful and intricate and thought they did a good job

Kiki looks so uninterested in this whole thing - still annoyed that he made it as far as he did. And then Jenna chose him. so Jenna/Producer driven. Just don't care. I so want them cut immediately. For as talented as Kiki supposedly is I thought it was boring and not that well choreographed or danced. granted all the audition shenanigans may be causing me to be a bit biased against them. 

Cyrus/Kaylee - Kaylee was good but Cyrus was just a prop. That will be a disservice to her as this competition goes on. It will just be hard to fully connect with an audience that way. Thought there were some beautiful moments but it really was only in the last half. I think a nappy tabs lyrical hip hop would have been better for them. Glad she got her dream to dance with Cyrus but she might not get much more which sucks as she is one of my favs. 

Gaby/Lex - I would have been shocked if Lex hadn't been picked. WTF is that dress that they put Gaby in?!?!?! It was a bit too standard classical tap imo - granted I don't know much about tap. I just know that the tap routines that I have loved had a bit more edge or fun to them. The flip at the end was impressive. 

Comfort/Mark - he was my guess as I didn't think the producers would allow an uneven amount of guys vs girls - one of the stronger routines of the night. This was fun while still being advanced! (glad Mark knew who Rufio was but that was just an awkward moment!) 

Marco/Koine - gorgeous routine (love Stacey Tookey!) that was beautiful - some of the camera work was a bit annoying and almost pulled me out of it in the middle - but definitely one of the favorites of the night. Didn't have a preference on either girl so am happy with the choice based on this routine. And Koine was a ballroom dancer?!?

Paul/Sydney - another choice that I have no opinion on because I have no clue about them until learning from their green mile recap. Such a better ballroom than earlier - they actually used the stage and had some energy! 

Robert/Taylor - again not surprised they kept the opposite sex pairing and only thing I know about her is that she kicked the other girl in the head - my fav routine of the night! so gorgeous and intricate. There were a couple pauses that seemed a bit missed but overall just stunning. 

Jasmine/Robert (best reveal - already on stage ready to start the routine!) So much fun - great way to end the night - best hip hop - love Christopher Scott

Wade Robson - looked like an interesting routine but the camera work really frustrated me - why all the high birdseye shots?!?! the dance is meant to be seen from the audience point of view not overhead!!! and quit zooming in on one or two when there are 20 on stage! Glad to have wade back and hopefully he does more routines!!! 

 

(sorry so long - tried to break it into two posts but then the forum merged them. fail)

Edited August 8, 2017 by slaterain

[Gella]

For an accomplished ballroom dancer Kiki sure had a lot of missed connections with Jenna. She should've gone with Kevin/Konkrete. At least they would have stood out. 

I think Kristina was a better match for Paul but Sydney must be more versatile (she reminds me of Sansa/Sophie Turner for some reason).

Kaylee and Cyrus were just Ok. 

Gaby and Lex were smooth and gorgeous. 

I loved Robert and Taylor dance. He can do no wrong. 

All the hip hop dances were entertaining in  completely different ways. Yeay for a break from Nappy Tabs lyrical (although they probably would've done a good lyrical hip-hop for Kaylee). 

It will be interesting to see who goes home first. I feel like Nigel damned Kaylee and Cyrus with very faint praise. 

Logan was hurt by Alison's absence I think. 

Edited August 8, 2017 by Gella
Sydney not Sophia

[PhD-Purgatory15]

For the "things that make you go hmmm" files, only Cyrus and Jasmine of the All Stars were asked to dance out of their preferred styles tonight. And only Jasmine ended up picking a contestant out of her style in Robert.

I felt like Dassy and Fikshun crushed it right out of the gate, and that made me judge Comfort/Mark and Jasmine/Robert's similar-ish looking hip hop routines that much more harshly.

Watching Kaylee and Cyrus dance together makes me that much more certain that they overruled Cyrus on his decision. They just visually look so awkward together. She's not quite Brienne from GoT, but she just dwarfs Cyrus. I guess maybe they didn't want to give her a hardcore animation routine that she could be exposed in, so they gave them a routine where Cyrus could share some of the criticism somewhat equally.

Has Travis Wall ever had a single piece of choreography on this show that wasn't slurped to the high heavens? Really Mary, that was top 10 all time for Robert and Taylor (who while being some version of 'So, SYTYCD' is a total non-entity to me)? The only thing that was remarkable about that piece other than the absolute horrific and off-putting music was the overhead lift where it looked like Robert was trying to abduct her.

A little worried for Koine and Marko. They are beautifully matched and I (not much of a fan of contemporary routines) thought they executed what they were given quite well. I feel like they still might get lost in the shuffle some. The same for Audrey and Logan too.

Mark was in danger of pushing the over the top, wacky personality thing a little too hard there post-routine for week one. I think he could be a breakout star with Comfort, but he needs to find a better balance.

Paul should of picked the other ballroom girl, Kristina issues with her picking up choreo in other styles be damned. She was magnetic when she danced ballroom....Sydney, not so much.

Edited August 8, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Mertseger]

The prodigal Wade has returned. Squee!!!! Now, if only we could have a showdown episode featuring only new routines of his and Mia's. 

I may be the lone Kaylee fan, but I loved their routine. I do hope that she and and Cyrus get to do ballroom...with Kaylee as the lead.

That was another Emmy-worthy bit of lighting on Stacy's routine, and the final shot of Wade's routine.

The show is back. Certainly, it was the best first-performance episode in years.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

The stage: Yay! It's smaller!

The opening group number: Meh, whatever. The girls looked like genies. 

Dassy/Fik-shun: That was fun. They're adorable and it was a good way to start the show. 

Logan/Allison/Audrey(?): I don't really care about Logan (or care for Allison), but I did like Tasty Oreo's choreography. It even almost made me a little teary-eyed. I barely even remember Audrey though. Did she get very far?

Kiki/Jenna: I forgot to watch Kiki. I still can't believe Kevin/Konkrete got that far. I still think it was pretty shitty that she picked him knowing she'd have to lose 2 of her original group members, but whatever. She needs to tone down the self-tanner.

Kaylee/Cyrus: I forgot to watch this all the way through. But it looked.... not cohesive. They also put the ugliest dress ever on Kaylee so that didn't help. 

Lex/Gaby: What the hell was she wearing? A swan (a la Björk)? The remains of a discarded down comforter? I had forgotten/didn't realize she actually won her season of SYTYCD. Whoops! But now I vaguely remember rooting for her. Seems like forever ago. Gaby, stop squeezing his jaw trying to make his smile bigger. /introvertrant

Mark/Comfort: I didn't care about this one. Meh. It made me wish I could watch OG Mark (Kanemura) again though! 

Koine/Marko: It wasn't a surprise to me that he picked her. Me during their routine: ooh the lights are pretty. That's about it. Tasty Oreo's choreo was more engaging to me than Stacey Tookey's. The music didn't help. 

Sydney/Paul: The costume department dug through last year's Christmas decorations for all that garland for Sydney's dress right? Christina looked like Michelle Trachtenberg's sister or cousin. Compared to the Kiki/Jenna ballroom, this one was lacking. Somehow Nigel's "I will never forget you darling" compliment seemed a little more swarmy than it probably should have. Mary that was not a fast or furious routine.

Taylor (I think I'll finally remember her name now!)/Robert: Shut up audience. There was a lot of technical work. This was my second favorite. It wasn't as smooth with the transitions but damn that was some challenging shit.

Robert/Jasmine: I didn't even remember Robert. Whoops. But this was a fun routine! Chris Scott, you are so pretty to look at. 

Group routine: I don't even know. I don't mean that in a good or bad way, I just don't know what to think about it. 

One more reason I don't like the format of this season: at least a couple of the all-stars, when trying to choose between their two finalists, talked about who would more benefit from dancing with them, improving them, etc. So basically the top 10 really isn't the "top" 10. I want to see the BEST of the dancers, not who could benefit the most from dancing with an all-star (and that also means KevinKonKrete would never have gotten as far as he did. Have I mentioned I really miss having top 20 new dancers?

Edited August 8, 2017 by MVFrostsMyPie

[Electruck]

Augh, judges, are we supposed to be caring about the contestant or the all-star? Focus on the conestant!

Jenna should have picked Koncrete, as he complements her. She did amazing choreography for him and they really sparkled. I loved Kiki's audition, but have found him lacking since. Dmitry did him no favors with that routine. He barely gave him anything to do. 

Paul's partner reminds me of Brooklyn from a few seasons ago. For her sake I hope that changes soon.

Really enjoyed Dassy, Robert, and Mark.

I agree with an earlier poster that costuming did Kaylee no favors. Wrapping people in tin foil is never a good idea. 

Very happy to see Dmitry, Val, and Wade.

[Magic]

Finally some dancing.

Same as always, the judges couldn't make it more obvious who they want  to leave.  

[SnarkyTart]

Finally, we get to see complete dances with a start, middle, and finish.  All that frantic editing and montaging of previous weeks is behind us at last.  What a relief!

Now I'm confused about this format.  I didn't watch last season's kiddie version, and I gather that this will use the same format?  They're only mentioning the individual contestant's name as the person we're supposed to vote for, so that looks like only the contestants are competing, right?  Not the All-Stars, or the partnerships?   If that's correct, going forward do the contestants dance each week only with their All-Star, not with each other?  Either way, it's still confusing, at least to me. If we're only judging the contestant, why do the judges spend as much or more time giving feedback about the All-Star's performance?  If we're only supposed to judge the contestant, why would an All-Star mug for the camera throughtout their routine, and mostly use their partner as a prop (I'm looking at YOU, Jenna!)?   Or, why would an All-Star pick their own genre for their contestant's first impression, first live show, rather than showcase their contestant's unique talents (I'm looking at YOU, Gabby!)?

If it's only supposed to be about the contestants, then I award extra humility points to Cyrus for choosing a genre out of his limited wheelhouse, showcasing his contestant, and not bringing attention to himself.  If it's supposed to be about the partnerships, and these same couples will be dancing together every week, then the points for the best-matched duos with the most chemistry go to: 1) Robert and Taylor 2) Marco and Koine  3) Comfort and Mark

The best dancer, by far, is Lex, which I conclude based solely on audition rounds.  If he's only dancing with Gabby every week, we're never going to see what he's capable of, and that's tragic.  Gabby's an excellent tap dancer (Lex not so much).  I would be quite disappointed not to get to see Lex do another double leg swipe.   

Welcome back to SYTYCD, Wade Robson!  Though I mostly enjoyed it, I think it shows when you take a back seat to your wife's choreography.  It would be so awesome to see you do one by yourself again. 

[Mystery Author]

Quote

Why is Vanessa on this?  She brings absolutely nothing.

I think she's supposed to bring young viewers. Methinks it ain't gonna work. And her attempt to critique was absurd.

I muted Mary.

Which is too bad because sometimes she's actually astute. But she scares my dog with her screeching, and I like my dog better than Mary.

How far did Cyrus go in his season? I wasn't impressed with his partnering.

Loved Dassy and Fik!

If I was offered a spot on a "team", I'd sure as fuck pick an all-star GUY (if I was a guy, I'd pick an all-star girl). No way was an all-star picking the same gender!!! 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Performances from this week:

Spoiler

Top 10 & all stars (Wade Robson, Amanda Robson, Tony Testa)

 

All stars (Mandy Moore)

Gaby & Lex - tap (Anthony Morigerato)

 

Cyrus & Kaylee - contemporary (Tessandra Chavez)

Robert & Taylor - contemporary (Travis)

Paul & Sydney - cha cha (Val Chmerkovskiy)

 

Jenna & Kiki - cha cha (Dmitry)

Fik-Shun & Dassy - hip hop (Popin' Pete)

Audrey (sub for Allison) & Logan - contemporary (Tasty Oreo)

Comfort & Mark - hip hop (Luther Brown)

Marko & Koine - contemporary (Stacey Tookey)

Jasmine & Robert - hip hop (Chris Scott)

 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Bummer that it's the first week of actual dancing and we already have one injured dancer. Please be careful, you guys!

I really enjoyed Gaby and Lex's tap routine. I don't mind the sassy tap she did last season with her little tapper, but I also like the old school sophisticated tap routines like this one. One thing I noticed while they were dancing side by side is that Gaby sometimes has flaily tap arms (yes, that's a technical term) which is very common and not necessarily a bad thing, but Lex always has his arms perfectly placed which I think is a sign that his training roots are outside of tap. Gaby places her arms when there's a specific position but in spots where it's clear she wasn't told to put her arms a certain way, she gets flaily. Again, not saying this is a bad thing, but it made Lex look a little bit cleaner when they were side by side.

I watched all the routines on youtube which did not list the choreographers, but I was able to immediately tell that Robert and Taylor's routine was choreographed by Travis. I think Travis is overrated but that dancers enjoy doing his choreography because of the movement and transitions. Since it's Travis, there's no way that Taylor will be in danger next week.

On a shallow note, I loved Sydney's sparkly cha cha costume. Paul is a great partner but I think Sydney needs a little more oomph.

I didn't love Cyrus and Kaylee's routine because they just seem so ill matched. I always have a soft spot for Tessandra Chavez routines because she choreographed for my high school dance team.

Ha, I'm shocked that they had Dmitry choreograph Jenna and Kiki's cha cha routine instead of letting her do Val's routine so they could keep it all in the fam. Kiki is supposed to be this great ballroom dancer but I keep seeing missed connections.

Fik-Shun and Dassy's breaking routine was one of my favorites of the night. I know everyone else was losing their freaking minds about Wade Robson but I was like POPIN' PETE? YOU GUYS GOT POPIN' PETE?! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! It can be really difficult to synchronize in a routine like that because if you hit even a millisecond ahead or behind, you look off sync. But Dassy and Fik-Shun did a great job and they were obviously having fun. I would love to see Popin' Pete return but I don't think any of the other pairs could do his choreography justice.

I know a lot of people dislike Allison as an all star, but I still remember how amazing she was as a contestant in S2. When I watched Audrey and Logan's routine, (1) I immediately knew it was choreographed by Tasty Oreo and (2) I wished I could have seen S2 Allison perform this routine. I understand the criticism of current Allison and I am not a fan of Tyce (his personality or most of his routines - I was so glad when they started bringing in different Broadway choreographers), but every once in a while he does a beautiful contemporary piece. "Why" is still one of my all time favorite SYTYCD routines:

Marko and Koine danced beautifully but I thought the choreography wasn't as interesting as the Logan/Audrey/Allison routine.

One thing I liked about Comfort and Mark's performance is that he didn't spend the whole time playing to the audience. He made sure to look at Comfort and connect with her. I hated that weird apron looking part of his costume though.

I wish I could tell you more about Jasmine and Robert's barbershop routine, but I spent most of it trying to understand why you would cut the front of your jeans so that they looked like jean shorts with little denim ankle straps and then leave the back of the jeans alone. I guess I'm officially too old to understand fashion anymore.

On 8/7/2017 at 10:25 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Logan/Allison/Audrey(?): I don't really care about Logan (or care for Allison), but I did like Tasty Oreo's choreography. It even almost made me a little teary-eyed. I barely even remember Audrey though. Did she get very far?

She was top 10 during S9. She was eliminated after Amelia, Janelle, Amber, Alexa, and Jenaya (all contemporary dancers except Janelle, who was a belly dancer). She finished behind Lindsay, Witney, Tiffany, and Eliana.

On 8/8/2017 at 1:16 AM, Mystery Author said:

How far did Cyrus go in his season? I wasn't impressed with his partnering.

Cyrus finished second (he was in the same season as Audrey). Chehon won that year.

Edited August 9, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo
I still can't keep the names of the top ten dancers straight!

[crossover]

Enjoyed last night's routines.  I wish they would let Mary decide when she wants to do the "Hot Tamale Train".  First Nigel was telling her when and now Cat???  I THINK they feel people missed Mary because of her screaming.  I missed Mary because she's knowledgeable and articulate on ballroom, if they let her.  And, she's a knowledgeable "fangirl" of the other genres.

I had predicted Lex would win or at least end up F2.  I had also picked Kiki to be top 5.  Can't overlook their connections.  However, neither of their routines was a favorite of mine last night but I'm going to stay with them.  I noticed Gabby more than Lex until he did the flips.  I also noticed Jenna more than Kiki.  Dmitry really didn't give him much to go on.  I had predicted Cyrus/Kaylee would be the first out because Cyrus would be out of his comfort zone.  After last night, I'll stick with that.  It wasn't a bad routine (choreography).  I liked it.  But it wasn't performed as professional-looking with the transistions as the others.  The routine (choreography, music, performance etc) I liked least was Travis'?  I'll rewatch later because it did get a SO.  Sydney's routine looked too generic and the SYTYCD voters don't really support ballroom.  So I don't think the SYTYCD viewers will support it.  Dassy was my favorite.  Rounding out my Top 5 are Koine, Mark, Logan, Robert.  The opening group routine was good but I was looking for spectacular because it opened the season.  I was also a little disappointed in Wade's routine.  I probably had unrealistic expectations for him.

I hope the ratings improve.  How long can the network stay with the show without an increased viewership?

Edited August 8, 2017 by crossover

[luvthepros]

9 hours ago, suebee12 said:

 

I actually found it hard to watch this dance. I'm trying not to be judgemental but the choice of costuming was really off. It definitely did not go with her hair(or style). It made her look chunky and the dance did not seem to flow with this dress. I would not be surprised to see them go first.

Halee IS chunky........more chunky than Melanie ever was on this show. (BTW.......Melanie has lost quite a bit of weight lately and now looks very slender.)

[Haleth]

Way too much focus on the All Stars, even though I'll love Fikshun, Jasmine, and Robert till my dying day.  For the ending group number I kept yelling at the tv that the contestants should have been front and center, not the Stars.  We barely got to see the newbies dance at all.

I am reeeeeally skeptical that the Stars picked their own partners without a little help from the producers.  Just the fact that everyone has an opposite sex partner and the show kept the boy/girl ratio even makes me ponder.  If Kiki ends up winning I will call shenanigans.

Loved, loved Fikshun and Dassy.  So adorable together.  Loved, loved Gaby and Lex.  I may know nothing about dance but tap always makes me smile.  I wanted to love, love Robert and Taylor but she was too heavy for him to toss around like that and it looked like he was close to dropping her and he himself fell out of the pose a few times.  I think they'll do better when she's not draped on his shoulders.  I enjoyed most of the routines, the only newbie I really had a problem with was Kaylee.  She just kind of lumbered around the stage without any grace.  Bad choice to not let her show what she can do in her own genre.

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I wish I could tell you more about Jasmine and Robert's barbershop routine, but I spend most of it trying to understand why you would cut the front of your jeans so that they looked like jean shorts with little denim ankle straps and then leave the back of the jeans alone. I guess I'm officially too old to understand fashion anymore.

No kidding!  If I had legs like that I'd never cover them up!

[luvthepros]

9 hours ago, slaterain said:

 

Gaby/Lex - I would have been shocked if Lex hadn't been picked. WTF is that dress that they put Gaby in?!?!?! It was a bit too standard classical tap imo - granted I don't know much about tap. I just know that the tap routines that I have loved had a bit more edge or fun to them. The flip at the end was impressive. 

 

Yes it was classical tap......I'm surprised Morigerato choreographed a tap routine which harkened Fred and Ginger (see my avatar). I'm old so I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that type of tap. I much prefer it to the edgy tap routines of today. Gaby embodied Ginger with her gorgeous dress. And.......Lex was sooooo good in this. I'm really impressed with him for keeping up with Gaby. He must have considerable tap training to pull that routine off. Lex looks to be an awesome contemporary and jazz dancer so to give this performance in tap......he will be tough to beat. I LOVED their routine.

[sharifa70]

5 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

If it's only supposed to be about the contestants, then I award extra humility points to Cyrus for choosing a genre out of his limited wheelhouse, showcasing his contestant, and not bringing attention to himself.

I agree. Through their entire performance I gave him points for picking someone with a different dance style, and while I agree with people who hated Kaylee's costume, I didn't think their performance was that bad. To be fair, I hate the flaily, rolling-on-the-ground-and-reaching-into-the-air contemporary pieces. At least I still remember this one a day later.

I'm was thrilled to see Wade! This show and I have missed him - I hope we'll get more!

[Quickbeam]

22 hours ago, slaterain said:

WTF is that dress that they put Gaby in?!?!?

Yeah, that was all kinds of ugly and did not flatter her at all. It was the way the skirt formed a shelf that did not flow with the rest of the dress. Came back to edit since I thought about this all day #nolife

Edited August 9, 2017 by Quickbeam
More to add, explain

[Tikichick]

Can I just say how happy I am to have seen DANCING on the show!!!!  

So worried about Robert last night.  The routine was beautiful.  Taylor is a beautiful and capable dancer -- except her partnering in lifts is a bit of a weak spot.  That routine really highlighted it and I saw Robert really struggling at a few points.  The fact that she's quite tall probably exacerbates the issue.  

Absolutely noticed the reason in the choreo for Allison's sling.  It was nice however to see Audrey again.  For some reason I thought she finished much closer to the top than listed above.  Definitely remember her lighting up the stage like a disco ball during an overhead lift in a disco routine with Brandon.   Taystee -- avoid including moves where one dancer yanks another's arm backwards in a way that requires that dancer's shoulder to be the point from which the momentum for a change of direction comes from.  

Shocked that they had Lex start out with tap -- and then costumed them like that when the audience still doesn't really know the dancers and it's potentially a crap shoot who could wind up at the bottom of audience vote.  I simply think it was for the sake of featuring tap and not having it look like an endless sea of contemporary/lyrical routines.  If I had to guess the vote will place him low, the judges will comment and tell him it's not his dance skills, so he's gotta work on his personality.

Kaylee definitely seemed way off and unhappy.  Perhaps she sees the writing on the wall with Cyrus' versatility and technique?   Cannot believe Gaby's dress has gotten most complaints here.  Kaylee's takes that crown in my book, far and away.

Mark, dial it down, please and thank you.  You have talent.  You have likability -- provided you don't make literally every moment with camera and mic a LOOK AT ME!   p.s. I believe the fire marshal and surgeon general request you not be in the same room with Jenna due to the toxic effects of LAM! syndrome overload on the audience.  Come on out, dance and put your personality forth to us at level 2, not 22.

I like Jasmine's partner.  I rather suspect he won't stay around long because I have serious doubts about his range.  Jasmine is even more beautiful, which I cannot believe was possible. 

I wonder who else they have waiting in the wings to sub for an injured All Star?  I hate to say I suspect we may see more of them. 

[Mason]

11 hours ago, suebee12 said:

 

I would not be surprised to see them go first.

Cyrus doing contemporary. Our worst fears manifested. 

11 hours ago, slaterain said:

Gaby/Lex - I would have been shocked if Lex hadn't been picked. WTF is that dress that they put Gaby in?!?!?!

This is the routine Nigel referred to in his critique. You can see the similarities in dress.

[Tikichick]

3 minutes ago, Mason said:

Cyrus doing contemporary. Our worst fears manifested. 

Contemporary can be muted by choreo that effectively uses him as a forklift.  What we really don't want to see is ballroom.  Cha cha and waltz are not very effective if the choreo is stomped around the stage.

[NYCNJbear06]

Glad we actually have some dancing and looks like it could be a promising season.   Just two nitpicks :-)  Kaylee and Mark. 

I wanted a better showcase for her talent.  The vibe was off visually.  Her outfit/costume did her no favors and in fact I think detracted from her performance.  Kaylee has a masculine demeanor (not that it is a bad thing) but combined with an ugly dress all on its own and her hair color it made a visual statement that was hard to get beyond to see the dancing, at least for me.  Cyrus didn't bring anything out in her. 

Mark. Ughhhh, he represents everything I hate about millennials - the attention hogging, camera mugging. If he is gonna be like this every week he will annoy me even more.  The best thing about his performance was Comfort.  I couldn't keep my eyes off of her.  In hip hop she is amazing. Able to be both feminine and hard at that same time and flow between the two seamlessly.  She overshadowed him so much but he is cute and the voting public will love him.  I would need to see what he can do in other styles.  He won't leave soon but when he does I will be happy 

[lovett1979]

So I think 3 all-stars chose partners out of their "official" style-Cyrus, Gabby, and Jasmine, right? Cyrus and Jasmine danced their partners' styles last night, which makes sense because the first performance show is usually about introducing the contestants to us IN THEIR OWN STYLES. I thought it was extremely unfair to make Lex dance tap with Gabby. Obviously, he can do it very well and must have had tap training, but it is not HIS style and he deserves to dance his way. Yes, Gabby is a great tapper, but she is also great at other styles (which is why she won her season) and would probably fair better in contemporary than poor Cyrus did, but at least HE DID IT. I know Nigel loves tap, so maybe that was part of the decision, but it seemed really unfair of the show to do that.

P.S. I hate the all-stars/team format

[khyber]

2 hours ago, luvthepros said:

Yes it was classical tap......I'm surprised Morigerato choreographed a tap routine which harkened Fred and Ginger (see my avatar). I'm old so I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that type of tap. I much prefer it to the edgy tap routines of today. Gaby embodied Ginger with her gorgeous dress. And.......Lex was sooooo good in this. I'm really impressed with him for keeping up with Gaby. He must have considerable tap training to pull that routine off. Lex looks to be an awesome contemporary and jazz dancer so to give this performance in tap......he will be tough to beat. I LOVED their routine.

I was distracted by her shoes. In the old movies they never would have had black tap shoes with that dress.

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

Halee IS chunky........more chunky than Melanie ever was on this show

NO she's not chunky.  She is solidly built and not a little blonde wraith. The dress, combined with her hairstyle unfortunately made her look like she was in drag. She is great though, she really stood out in the auditions (although I do think there was never a bigger disconnect between a person's name and physicality than she. She has this little girl cutesypoo name.)

 

Quote

I hate the the flaily, rolling-on-the-ground-and-reaching-into-the-air contemporary pieces.

The bent foot at the ankle, as they are picked up by their partner is like nails on a chalkboard to me!

 

My fav was Comfort and Mark (?).  Jasmine's partner looks a little old for the show.  He has some skinny little Krazee legs!  Kiki and Jenna may go first.  First, Jenna no one likes, although she is great.  She is like kids and broccoli.  2nd Kiki had no real charm or sex appeal, which a ballroom guy needs.  3rd Jenna was 7/8 naked, how was anyone supposed to be looking at Kiki?

[MVFrostsMyPie]

1 hour ago, Tikichick said:

Can I just say how happy I am to have seen DANCING on the show!!!!  

So worried about Robert last night.  The routine was beautiful.  Taylor is a beautiful and capable dancer -- except her partnering in lifts is a bit of a weak spot.  That routine really highlighted it and I saw Robert really struggling at a few points.  The fact that she's quite tall probably exacerbates the issue.  

Is 5'7" considered tall? I only know she's 5'7" because they only mentioned it 20 times. Robert looked like a slouchy 6".

[luvthepros]

11 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

.........Paul should of picked the other ballroom girl, Kristina issues with her picking up choreo in other styles be damned. She was magnetic when she danced ballroom....Sydney, not so much.

Agree totally. I was very disappointed when Paul selected Sydney but I had a feeling he would pick the younger girl. Sydney seemed stiff, not energetic and she bored the hell out of me. Kristina, OTOH, has a fire in her that would have steamed up the stage. Kristina is just gorgeous too.

9 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

The stage: Yay! It's smaller!

 

There are stairs too. Sooooo awesome. Finally, Nigel and Co. listened to the fans. Love the smaller more intimate stage.

[luvthepros]

8 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

...........  Gabby's an excellent tap dancer (Lex not so much).

I thought Lex did an awesome job with the tap number. He is so light on his feet and moves effortlessly. I was so impressed with Lex, knowing he is trained in tap but it is not his specialty. I agree, Lex is the best dancer of this field; better than a couple of the all stars too. I would love to see Lex win this.

[Tikichick]

7 minutes ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Is 5'7" considered tall? I only know she's 5'7" because they only mentioned it 20 times. Robert looked like a slouchy 6".

5'7" is tall when you consider that kind of partner work.  That routine would not be possible with Travis, Paul or Marko.  A shorter male that comes to mind that might be able to partner her in that routine would be Brandon, although I'm not 100-percent even he could pull it off with both the height issue and the fact that Taylor needs some serious work and experience in being able to uphold her end of the lifts.   Frankly I wonder how the lifts were going with Allison and her partner, versus him dancing with Audrey? 

I think Taylor did a commendable job.  I think with more training, experience and the time to clean that routine it would make jaws drop audibly.  Robert deserves huge kudos for making those lifts work and still have the performance look as good as it did.  Guarantee you Travis knows that -- and knew he could put this piece on a dancer of Robert's caliber.  I would love to see Travis' reaction if you told him he needed to perform this piece with Maddie last year.  As it is he only made it through the routine they did because she was smaller.   The lifts in this piece would have destroyed them.   

[CleverUserName975]

Full disclosure: I rarely watch the audition episodes and I half-ass watch the academy episodes. I feel like they could put that into one two-hour special and get on with the darned dancing bits.

That said, I don't get Kiki . . . at this point I'm convinced he could take a big stinky poop on stage and it would be praised to the high heavens.

Every time I see a Travis piece I channel my inner Jed Clampett and say "well, that was some right fine flailin' and writhin' on the floor!" (I'm old and Jed Clampett was a polite hillbilly who often tried to find something nice to say about the silly situations in which he found himself.)

I'm glad Mary is back as she gives good critique. I'm rooting for Sydney, she seems like a hard worker and looks like she's having fun.

[Terrafamilia]

Gaby & Lex - Loved it but, yes, the black shoes detracted.

Cyrus & Kaylee - Love her but, yes, the costuming didn't do her any favors. The color particularly didn't play well with her hair color. The contrast between those set against her creamy complexion is just too jarring.

Comfort & Mark and Jasmine & Robert - I can't stop looking at Mark and seeing Bruno Mars' little brother. And even though Mark and Robert were pretty good I'd rather see Comfort and Jasmine as a duo. :-)

Audrey (for Allison) & Logan - I think Logan is a fine dancer and hope he gets loads of work out of this but the choreo had to go and turn me off. It started out great but ended on an abusive note that was so unnecessary.

[Andie1]

My favorites of the night were  Koine and Marko  they just floated,  Taylor and Robert (although Robert screwed up some of the lifts and transitions)  and Mark and Comfort.   Loved the fresh straight on choreo  from Luther Brown with no stupid props like the hairspray cans that Christopher Scott made Jasmine and Robert  do in their rather hum drum routine. 

Edited August 8, 2017 by Andie1

[Andie1]

Hated the ballroom routines, they lacked creativity and the contestants are terrible.  Jenna had an opportunity to stand out in a good way, not in a hog the camera way that she always does if she picked Kevin.  Damn would have loved to see some krumping in a Cha Cha 

Edited August 8, 2017 by Andie1

[luvthepros]

11 hours ago, Mason said:

This is the routine Nigel referred to in his critique. You can see the similarities in dress.

 

Agree Lex was dressed like Astaire in this clip; however Gaby's costume resembles Rogers' feather gown from one of the Astaire and Rogers movies, IMHO. I don't know how to post the photo of the gown but it is the gown that created a rif between Astaire and Rogers because her gown kept molting during the filming of the dance.

BTW.... "Begin the Beguine" must be the absolute best tap number on film, to this day. Eleanor Powell was a powerhouse tapper and Astaire kept up with her!

Edited August 9, 2017 by luvthepros

[AlleC17]

My favorites are Lex and Dassy, but my favorite routine was Koine and Marko...I thought they were very well matched and danced the piece beautifully.  I want to like Mark...and I think he is very talented...but his personality is OTT, so I hope he dials it back.  He is my coworkers nephew, so I do hope he does well though. 

I did not care for Lex's routine, as I am not a tap fan, so I really hope we can see him shine in upcoming dances.   Poor Kaylee looks to be in jeopardy.  That dance did her no favors...nor did Cyrus.  I want to like them as a pairing, but can't really as I don't think they mesh well together at all.  I really hope Kiki is the first to go, because I don't care for Jenna, as well as not thinking he did that much, although part of that was the choreo.  I usually love ballroom, but can't muster up much enthusiasm for them, especially when Paul is around. 

What I would really prefer...like sooooo many others...is a top 20 of newbies.  If they must have the all stars, then bring them in at top 10, and let them take the back seat.

 

Ohh....wonderful to have Wade back.  I did like that dance, but the camera work was off. 

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

BTW.... "Begin the Beguine" must be the absolute best tap number on film, to this day. Eleanor Powell was a powerhouse tapper and Astaire kept up with her!

Back in Medieval Times, when I was a teen, they had this series of movies called "That's Entertainment."  They showed excerpts from MGM-type musicals.  The above was always my favorite tap number. I especially love the "pause" that occurs at 1:00 though, right when the orchestra swells, and they hesitate for a second. If you can get these movies thru Netflix, watch them! (That's Entertainment 1 & 2, made videos but don't know about DVDs)

Edited August 8, 2017 by WhineandCheez

[Andie1]

Taylor wasn't initally on my radar, but she's tall for a contemporary dancer so I give kudos for the extra effort.  She reminds me of Lorde.

[crossover]

25 minutes ago, AlleC17 said:

 If they must have the all stars, then bring them in at top 10, and let them take the back seat.

That's really what they kind of did.  The competition just started with the top 10.  I just wonder if the flow of the show will be more like S7 or the kiddie version.

[AlleC17]

39 minutes ago, crossover said:

That's really what they kind of did.  The competition just started with the top 10.  I just wonder if the flow of the show will be more like S7 or the kiddie version.

What I meant was after having a top 20 of newbies do their thing and when its then down to the top 20, bring in the AS.  We had the 'Academy' instead of a top 20 of newbies, which sucked in comparison as the Academy 1. didn't really let us get to 'know' the dancers, and 2. didn't show much dancing at all.  Now we have a top 10 with AS and instead of just thanking and dismissing them as they did previously, they are getting almost more comments then the newbies do from the judges. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

So basically when the winner is crowned, we won't really ever know if it was all because of them as a dancer or because the AS they got paired with was a fan favorite that people wanted to continue to see week after week....

and then won't the judges also take some time away from the winner's moment to praise the AS too? So it's not even like a *I* won this, it's *we* won this. Bleh.

[Tikichick]

I just don't see that the contestants are going to only dance with their All Star every week, rotating genres.  If so Cyrus is a major liability, Fik Shun will present some struggles too. 

[spanana]

2 minutes ago, Tikichick said:

I just don't see that the contestants are going to only dance with their All Star every week, rotating genres.  If so Cyrus is a major liability, Fik Shun will present some struggles too. 

I don't think the all-stars are only going to dance with their contestants every week.  Like with the kids last season, sometimes they will dance with the other newbies and maybe towards the end they will mix up the all-stars.  Some weeks the contestants did two dances.  One with their all-star/mentor and then another with a fellow newbie. So I don't think the contestants will totally be dragged down their all-stars shortcomings.  They will however be raised up or dragged down by their all-stars popularity/fanbase and how much the judges are up that particular all-stars ass.  Also the newbies will likely always be positioned as being mentored by X all-star and so a win for a contestant will likely be treated as a win for X all-star, no matter whether they danced with them that week or not.  It's all very shades of DWTS.

[crossover]

3 hours ago, AlleC17 said:

What I meant was after having a top 20 of newbies do their thing and when its then down to the top 20, bring in the AS.  We had the 'Academy' instead of a top 20 of newbies, which sucked in comparison as the Academy 1. didn't really let us get to 'know' the dancers, and 2. didn't show much dancing at all.  Now we have a top 10 with AS and instead of just thanking and dismissing them as they did previously, they are getting almost more comments then the newbies do from the judges. 

OK.  I've said I wish they could take the best parts of the first 5 seasons.  For instance, I really don't get into the audition period anymore.  But in S1, it was so entertaining.  I guess Nigel and company are doing all they can to keep bringing it back.  They're trying various combinations to see if they can bring the viewership up.  It seems like it doesn't matter what they do, they'll just have the core people.  Well at least they tried to bring the ambiance of the old stage back.  I think they deserve kudos for that.  It is so much better.