S14.E12: Top 7 Perform

[Drogo]

The top seven dancers perform.

[mojoween]

Taylor does nothing for me.  I can appreciate that she is doing all of the steps correctly, but she inspires no emotion in me, either good or bad.  Just indifferent.

Vanessa said strongness.  I cannot with her.

I like Kiki without Jenna and Lex absolutely without Gaby.  Can't the two boys just pair up together?

I like Mark a lot and definitely did not want him to go (of that bottom three I was hoping to lose Kiki) but did not react to his leaving as if I had been shot, like the audience did.

I love Cyrus so very much but that routine was not contemporary.  

[displayname]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

I like Kiki without Jenna and Lex absolutely without Gaby.  Can't the two boys just pair up together?

 

I love both pairings, but I'd love to see them do ballroom!

 

 

Lex smashed that Hip-Hop.

Edited September 5, 2017 by fan94

[GeminiDancer]

I think Kaylee and Cyrus' routine was my favorite of the night. Tyce is so much better of a choreographer when he's not doing Broadway. Instinctively, that's the piece that I want to see again. What was up with Nigel saying that they had to go with last week's votes? Kaylee was prepared to say that she was cut. Why do that to the girl? Mark can go.

After the solo, I think I'm on the Lex train. That was amazing. Still can't dance tango for shit though #stillbitter.

The judges are trying to make Taylor happen. Stop trying to make her happen. She's just another basic competitive contemporary girl, and I forget about her ten seconds later.

Can TPTB stop with the "tribal" costuming with the African jazz routines? I mean, really. And Logan, WTF was that grunting all about before the judges' remarks? That wasn't even remotely funny.

Sean Cheesman should have done "Strange Fruit". Travis is on my shit list for doing it.

[Andie1]

25 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Taylor does nothing for me.  I can appreciate that she is doing all of the steps correctly, but she inspires no emotion in me, either good or bad.  Just indifferent.

I have to agree, that is what is missing from Taylor's dances,  I expect more maturity from her, particularly when her style demands emotion.  This girl should be in the bottom for the last few weeks, but teenagers like what they like.

Kaylee was fierce tonight, her solo was massive and her keeping up with Lex and Logan in the Dwight/Desmond piece was admirable. Unfortunately the duet was meh as always with Cyrus.

That cane routine for Kiki was pretty darn simple, but it's just a cane not a person, because in the group routine I was fearing he would drop one of the girls in the lifts.  He made it messy, otherwise I loved the I Will Rise concept.

Koine is my fave but I fear for her next week.  She danced the Jive well, but putting her in sneakers is more of a Swing thing.  Dmitry should have gave them more footwork, but it was almost all lifts, which takes away from Jive.  Marco is an amazing partner, Kiki could learn from him. 

Lex and Logan side by side was an interesting comparison, and I found myself looking more at Logan.  And in fact, I was not blown away by the Dwight/ Desmond choreo.  Having said that Lex's solos are great, he did well on the hip hop.  He is comfortable side by side, but partnering, not so much.

Mark going home wasn't that much of a surprise, it would have been either this week or next.  I loved his chemistry with Comfort.  I thought the Ninja Dance was okay.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Andie1

[spanana]

It seemed like Nigel was gunning for Kaylee tonight. I didn't watch the actual elimination so did Nigel say it was a unanimous decision? I thought for sure Kaylee was a goner. No way the judges would have gotten rid of Kiki since they are up his ass.  Don't get me wrong in Kiki has done well enough but the judges pretend he is better than he is. Though I was happy to see him finally have a duet with Jenna tonight where they were side by side and it wasn't all the Jenna show.  They did well enough with it but due to all the props the focus was on that and everybody ignored the fact that they were out of sync on several occasions.

Koine is my favorite. If it were up to me she would win. I can see Taylor is a good dancer, but I agree she does nothing for me.  However she's the kind of contemp dancer Nigel loves and pervs over, as opposed to someone like Kaylee.  Marko is also an EXCELLENT all-star partner and is fantastic at partnering.

So at this point the only two who have escaped B3 every week are Lex and Taylor.

I found myself watching Logan over Lex in the Desmond routine too.  Right now the Top 4 seems likely to be Lex, Logan, Taylor and if the judges have their way, Kiki.  Not the Top 4 I would choose but I'd be surprised to see any of Lex, Logan or Taylor not in the finals.

I'm actually enjoying Allison dancing this season (not during the Academy but her actual dancing).  She's such a great utility player and I'm enjoying her more now that the judges aren't fawning over her.  Though I could have done without the cultural appropriation and whatever happened afterwards in the African Jazz.

Edited September 5, 2017 by spanana

[displayname]

1 minute ago, Andie1 said:

I was not blown away by the Dwight/ Desmond choreo.

Agreed. I far preferred the trio they choreographed for Eliana, Daniel and Chehon, and that was with the two guys being terrible performers.

[LexieLily]

So all I got from the video packages and commentary for Kiki/Jenna was the idea that Kiki was pushed into auditioning for SYTYCD by Jenna and/or Val and/or Nigel. It's a toss-up to see who's more impressed with Kiki: Nigel or Kiki. I'm hoping his being in the bottom three is a good sign and he doesn't survive the double elimination next week.

Why are they even doing a double elimination next week?

[Nessie]

I find myself surprisingly upset by Mark's elimination tonight.  Not because I'm especially fond of Mark, although I did enjoy him and his super-cute Mom, but because now we're left with 5 contemporary dancers and Kiki, which means next week, when ya'll get your wish and Kiki is finally eliminated, it will be an all-contemporary finale.  Which it would probably have been anyway, but I was hoping for a little variety.  Oh well.

I don't have a particular fondness for Taylor, either, but I'd like her in the finale because I enjoy watching Robert.  I hope Koine is in there, too, as she's my favorite, and Kiki, for the aforementioned variety.  I don't really care who the 4th person is.

My favorite part of the entire show was Cat's running around the stage in victory after Kiki and Jenna finished their routine without dropping any canes.  Speaking of Cat...not many women could get away with wearing a sparkly knitted mini dress and french-braided pigtails, but she not only made it work, she looked great, IMO.

[crowceilidh]

My god that Brian Friedman dance was effing amazing; as was the costuming AND the song.  My head instantly blew off and I watched it immediately again.  It was mesmerizing for me.

There were a lot of enjoyable dances tonight.  Koine's jive seemed a deliberate attempt to unseat her.  "Rock around the Clock" at a really slow speed?  Not impressive or memorable for anyone.

Okay.  Kiki was pretty good in the Broadway tonight.  But that's the FIRST time he's impressed me at all.

"I rise" was pretty damn intense.  I liked it WAY better than the Dwight and Desmond thing in which Logan over Lex EXCEPT for the little solo part, where Lex clearly whupped Logan.  I want Kaylee gone, I think.  She is just too clunky for my taste.

Ah yes - loved the punk essence of Cat's ensemble.  Doesn't Doc Martens make high heels?

[GeminiDancer]

34 minutes ago, crowceilidh said:

My god that Brian Friedman dance was effing amazing; as was the costuming AND the song.  My head instantly blew off and I watched it immediately again.  It was mesmerizing for me.

OMG! Yes! Loved it!

[Andie1]

I just noticed on the SYTYCD web page that for the tour there are 2 all stars joining - that would be Marko and Jasmine.   I don't know what that means, but I hope it's helpful to keep Koine into the top 4 as her all star partner would be able to do some of the routines from the show with her. 

[kb3]

Darn, I will miss Mark.  He's part of D-Trix/Dom's crew and they were supporting him. Unlike other years, where Cyrus's association with Dragon House crew, no mention of Dom was made ... or his crush on Cat.

[Mertseger]

Huh, I actually liked a Tasty Oreo routine for the first time in fourteen seasons. 

Sean's quartet was what Travis' Strange Fruit was aiming for but missed.

[Zuleikha]

Agreed about Sean's quartet. Very powerful, and they all danced it so well. I loved the creative mixing with the partnering as well. 

The trio was solid, but a bit disappointing to me that it wasn't ballet.

I didn't love the jive, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what Marko/Koine missed. Then I saw Kiki's solo, and it was like... oh, they just missed being capable of doing high-level jive. 

I don't watch intros... was there an explanation for Gaby/Lex's hideous costuming? 

I don't want anyone to leave. This time of the competition is so rough.

[Racj82]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

So all I got from the video packages and commentary for Kiki/Jenna was the idea that Kiki was pushed into auditioning for SYTYCD by Jenna and/or Val and/or Nigel. It's a toss-up to see who's more impressed with Kiki: Nigel or Kiki. I'm hoping his being in the bottom three is a good sign and he doesn't survive the double elimination next week.

Why are they even doing a double elimination next week?

But, they need to get off of tv to make room for season premieres in three weeks.

[PRGyro]

Best live show of the season so far:

1.) Opening Broadway

Would have liked it a lot better if the dancing didn't look so sloppy and if the choreo didn't look so aimless and arbitrary. Seriously, it felt as though about half of them had but a couple of hours to rehearse the number. I hated the costumes and the wigs completely threw me off; the whole time I was wondering why they were only featuring 8 All-Stars and two contestants before realizing the trickery. Thinking they did that on purpose--Kaylee's brown wig made her look unrecognizable which I guess is the point since TPTB want her out. Even without the flaws, it would have still paled in comparison to last week's vogue opener. After those twenty seconds of Robert slay at the beginning, I finally got affirmation that he wasn't straight--no straight man could look THAT sickening.

2.) Lex

New SYTYCD drinking game for this season: take a shot every time Vanessa speaks good and every time the judges give a mediocre routine a S/O. I'm not saying Lex looked BAD in it--though he still didn't look innate, he sure as hell gave the best "real" hip-hop of any non-hip-hopper this season, and certainly danced circles around Gaby. The thing is, we KNOW Lex is good at every style he attempts (excluding Argentinian Tango), but a Luther Brown snoozefest will remain a Luther Brown snoozefest any way you slice it unless your name is Fik-Shun. The uncomplicated, uninspired choreography here didn't challenge Lex in the way that I, at least, think he should be challenged. As strange as it sounds, his perfection is starting to get boring, especially after weeks of not seeing him at his full potential or dancing second fiddle to Gaby. Hopefully, he can take his performance during the Top 8 show, which saw him in his comfort zone and absolutely wallowing in it and apply it to a more diverse set of styles. Hopefully, this show can get fresh hip-hop choreographers for next season, if there is a next season.

As for his solo, awesome stuff as usual, but it physically pained me to hear Nigel lie through his teeth saying he had "never seen a triple tour en l'air ever before." You mean the one move almost every male ballet dancer has to master before becoming professional? Like, you've really *never* seen one before??

3.) Logan

I have no idea why every African Jazz routine on this show has to be "tribal" or "animalistic" or "savage" in some way and feature costumes designed by Culturally-Appropriative Ashley from Florida State. Though it wasn't my favorite of the night, Logan and Allison danced this tough, intricate routine incredibly well. Not only did they actually look normal *together*--a rare occurrence, mind you--but it was also a better African Jazz outing than Mark/Koine's bug thing from a few weeks back. From what I remember, theirs was more difficult, but nevertheless, Logan/Allison looked better prepared and their choreo wasn't that much easier. Still, choreographers, if you're going to use a prop, commit to it for more than three seconds or don't use it at all--the skateboards looked very out-of-place. Focusing on Logan, he truly looks like a work of art whenever he has to do some penché or turn, and I was very happy to see some of that included here. He could have gotten a little more into the floor for my tastes, and that spinning lift at the end looked really unstable. Regardless, Logan... was one of my favorites to win. After that awkward, racist shit he and Allison pulled during their Cat Deeley small talk, I'm having second thoughts.

I find Logan's solos better-performed and more mature than Lex's, sorry. I also LOVE his taste in music.

4.) Kaylee

Unlike Kiki, who the producers want us to believe is the "dark horse" when he really just sucks, Kaylee is the actual dark horse of this season if only before TPTB rig the eliminations against her. Despite weeks of mostly meh choreography, incredibly subpar dancing and partnering from Cyrus, and placement in the background of every group routine, Kaylee has proven that she won't go down without a fight. Ever since stealing the spotlight in last week's fire Cha Cha, Kaylee has been realizing that the only way to go is up--from here on out, any unexciting performance is most surely a plane ticket home. To see her and Cyrus deliver one of the best performances of the season, then, was an exhilarating experience. Tasty Oreo choreographed a seamless Hip-Hop/Contemporary fusion that played to both their strengths--certainly more effectively than their hip-hop from a few weeks ago that was marketed as such--and Kaylee showed up with conviction and a brazen quality in movement and emotion in a way that we've rarely seen on this season. I could seriously watch her perform this number all day.. forget this show, Kaylee would be right at home in Martha Graham Dance Company. The fact that the judges didn't stand up for this is an insult and they should be ashamed of themselves, even more so since their praise was so unflinchingly lukewarm in tone.

Love how she and Logan change up their solos every week. Hers are always some of the best of the bunch.

5.) Kiki

I have to commend the producers for the ways in which they're giving Kiki, the most overrated contestant in the history of this show, an "improvement" arc: since he can't really do anything with proficiency outside of his comfort zone, the easy choreography he performs week after week is gradually becoming slightly less easy, gaslighting the audience into thinking that he doesn't look consistently mediocre, with plenty of assistance from the judges' turgid praise. This week is no exception, as the dreaded "throwing shit around = actual choreography" number comes back center stage after a much more successful run with last week's Dassy/Mark hip-hop. Though I have attended plenty of performing-arts high school musicals with more interesting and detailed choreography than what Warren Carlyle gave us here, I actually... thought Kiki looked fine in this. Don't get me wrong, Jenna absolutely stole the show here--I truly loved her in this--but regardless Kiki has an expressive face with plenty of collagen, and that alone took him nearly to Jenna's level, although you can't really say the same for the rest of his body. There was something about his dancing where his rhythm didn't feel quite right, almost as if he wasn't plié-ing enough. In any case, I'm not going to get into why the judges gave him a full-on S/O for this above-average routine nor why they shifted around the elimination procedures in his favor because we already know why. I just hope no one votes him into first place.

"Daddy Kiki" makes me want to unplug the TV every time I hear it. His solo was impressive, as usual, and could have benefitted without that tacky rose.

6.) Taylor

Just as I get annoyed when I see kids on national Little League teams in part because their parents were able to afford a $15,000 backyard batting cage and $200-a-day fielding lessons, I get annoyed when I see dancers like Taylor on SYTYCD, dancers whose entire training has been cultivated in part based on what this show tends to promote. I guess I should rephrase that--I get annoyed when it's so obvious, as in Taylor's case. For instance, SYTYCD contemporary routines tend to prefer certain methods of emotional expression over others; extroverted over reserved, arms that reach into the distance, rolling around on the floor, etc. This shouldn't be the case and choreographers should make art whichever way they see fit, yet one must understand that this emotional contrivance is the SYTYCD brand--a brand that has proven itself popular enough to stay on the air over fourteen seasons. Where else can one find this same brand of emotional manipulation? SYTYCD-sponsored dance conventions, of course, the same ones where Taylor Sieve has become a household name. As a result, emotional manipulation has become engrained in her training, and that's all I feel from Taylor when I watch her perform. She has beautiful technique and long lines, of course, and the judges/TPTB rightfully adore her for those, but watching people who have gone through relatively little hardship attempt to convey joy or sorrow is the exact reason why so many bland white girls were in Season 11, and why so many of them disappeared almost immediately--or, in the case of Jacque LeWarne, far outstayed their welcome. Despite all of this, Robert is the magic dust that turns Taylor into a completely different person, and their gorgeous Mandy Moore routine was tied with Kaylee/Cyrus for the best of the night. Still, I've never felt such indifference watching a dancer's solos week after week or watching a dancer's performances in group routines, even when said dancer's placement is partial to them. I have a strong feeling she'll make the finale, but I'm hoping she doesn't win it all.

Part 2 tomorrow

Edited September 6, 2017 by PRGyro

[Haleth]

That's it.  The judges are going to keep Kiki until the end, come hell or high water.  And since I was sure Nigel wouldn't send another woman packin' after Dassy left, the ax was going to fall on Mark.  Sorry, Mark.  

I enjoyed all the routines last night, although I didn't get to see Robert and Taylor because a huge limb fell on our house and I had to see if we still had a roof.  (Yes.)  Lex and Logan are still the best for me, both are so strong and fluid, but Kaylee won me over with her duet with Cyrus.  Koine is lovely but she doesn't stand a chance of winning.  TPTB really want it to come down to Taylor and Kiki, neither of whom are deserving.

[displayname]

5 hours ago, PRGyro said:

never seen a triple tour en l'air ever before.

Haven't watched the judges' comments, but I hope he meant "on this show".

[luvthepros]

I'm thinking Nigel wants Lex to win. Nigel went overboard with praise for Lex last night, especially commenting on his solo. From what I can recall, no judge has ever commented on a solo. Or.....have I missed it? I have to admit, I'm on board for Lex to take it all. I just wish Lex had more animated personality to reel in the kids. I read another forum which is comprised mostly of youngins and they routinely rank Lex near the bottom of the competitors. They can not appreciate the guy's talent and training. Sigh.

4 minutes ago, fan94 said:

Haven't watched the judges' comments, but I hope he meant "on this show".

I was thinking the same thing. Although....... did Danny or Chehon ever do a triple tour on this show? Anyone remember?

Edited September 5, 2017 by luvthepros

[LadyMustang65]

We absolutely loved the Lex/Gaby, Jenna/Kiki and Robert/Taylor duets last night.  They were all wonderful.  The Koine/Marko jive was off.   The music was too slow, for one thing, but maybe it was just me, but I swear they were off beat for a lot of it.  Their movements just didn't seem to sync with the music.  Which is a shame, because that should have been a fantastic jive.  :(  We also loved both the group routines using just the contestants.  Overall, we thought Lex/Logan/Kaylee did a better job with their dance, and it was fascinating to see Lex/Logan side by side like that. Kaylee kind of disappeared in that number at times.  Logan has not been a favorite of ours, but we find that we enjoy him much more dancing with someone other than Allison.  The Kiki/Mark/Taylor/Koine group seemed kind of sloppy at times, but overall still a great routine.  I have to admit that Mark has not been a favorite of ours at all, but his solo last night was out of this world.  Wow!  Just wow!  For that alone we were sorry to see him leave last night. 

Just to chime in on the Logan/Lex ballroom debate, I agree that Lex's AT was not good and that Logan's jive was, but a couple of things I take into consideration - one is that they are very different styles - jive is fast and fun and AT is supposed to be sexy, and the other is that Lex performed the AT early in the show while he was still getting his footing.  He seems much more relaxed now than he did at the beginning, and I wonder if that was part of the problem.  Before I decide that Logan is better at ballroom than Lex, I'd like to see either Lex do a jive or Logan try an AT.  I suspect we might find that neither one of them is very good at the AT while both are quite good at the jive.  So maybe they both need to do a waltz or a cha cha or something. 

6 minutes ago, fan94 said:

Haven't watched the judges' comments, but I hope he meant "on this show".

FWIW, that's what I thought he meant.  Then again, who knows what Nigel ever means?

[crossover]

19 minutes ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Just to chime in on the Logan/Lex ballroom debate, I agree that Lex's AT was not good and that Logan's jive was, but a couple of things I take into consideration - one is that they are very different styles - jive is fast and fun and AT is supposed to be sexy, and the other is that Lex performed the AT early in the show while he was still getting his footing.  He seems much more relaxed now than he did at the beginning, and I wonder if that was part of the problem.  Before I decide that Logan is better at ballroom than Lex, I'd like to see either Lex do a jive or Logan try an AT.  I suspect we might find that neither one of them is very good at the AT while both are quite good at the jive.  So maybe they both need to do a waltz or a cha cha or something. 

 

I guess Lex is your favorite?  There's no need to make excuses for Lex.  He was the chosen as early as auditions.  It doesn't matter if Logan is better at ballroom. 

[Andie1]

I thought Lex and Gaby's hip hop looked good, except I just didn't get the horrible outfits or Gaby's strange hair.  That would be enough for any serious hip hop artist to pan it.

Cheeseman using garage rollers for the African Jazz was stupid and ineffective, but he redeemed himself with I Rise. Great dance, should be nominated for an Emmy, if they can do an encore and submit a clean version of the dance.

Taylor and Robert were boring and had the emotional impact of a door. The final pose had to be a mistake or just bad camera work. In any case it did nothing for the boring dance except make me not want to care about Taylor and Robert.

I had to giggle when Kiki went to bottom for doing a Salsa.  I guess the all star retweeting of Kiki's craptastic cane dance that was out of sync in the dancing more than the cane tossing  is to somehow make Kiki happen.  Kiki also eff'd up the  I Rise Dance.  I kept thinking how much better it would be if they put Marko in there.  There must be a reason why there are so many DWTS employees on the show this year. It makes me think they are doing this to keep SYTYCD viable in the future by hooking their wagon to a show with a larger audience. Maybe ABC is also throwing some salary money at SYTYCD, which would be a huge reason why the all-stars want Kiki to happen.

 

 

 

 

.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Andie1

[Andie1]

28 minutes ago, crossover said:

I guess Lex is your favorite?  There's no need to make excuses for Lex.  He was the chosen as early as auditions.  It doesn't matter if Logan is better at ballroom. 

This. Lex is the chosen, whereas Logan is Lex Light.  It sucks because not only did Logan do the best jive that a male contemporary dancer has done on this show, he killed all his solos.  Lex, not so much.

[displayname]

I thought Kaylee looked like Melanie in her duet, but Melanie could never have pulled off the hip-hoppy movement of the piece.

[Sd601]

I loved Lex/Gabby hip hop, but as usual, Lex was much better. I think both of these dancers are better in big ensembles. In the group routines, my eyes go straight to either of them. Yet they fizzle when they dance together.

I'm sad to see mark leave--I've voted for him before. Losing a versatile bboy means less dancing diversity on the show. Plus comfort. 

I liked Kiki and Jenna's dance, surprisingly. He seemed sharp and joyful. 

I loved the trio of lex, Logan, and Kaylee, but Kaylee didn't add much. Logan and lex were gorgeous. I like lex's awkward sweet personality better, but logan's technique is just fantastic to watch. I paused several times to compare their side-by-side poses, and Logan was better. I don't like Logan's solos as much, however. He's like too bendy--like a too-stretched-out gumby, all arms and legs. 

Taylor is meh. I agree she's better with Robert. Koine/Marko have had some of my favorite routines, but the jive was snooze. She just had salsa last week, though. Why ballroom again? Why didn't Mark or the now departed Dassy have to do ballroom? 

Last cheeseman piece was beautiful and powerful. 

What if Koine was with lex and Logan in the contemporary trio? Oooh, that would have been amazing. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Sd601

[displayname]

55 minutes ago, Sd601 said:

I loved the trio of lex, Logan, and Kaylee, but Kaylee didn't add much. Logan and lex were gorgeous. I like lex's awkward sweet personality better, but logan's technique is just fantastic to watch. I paused several times to compare their side-by-side poses, and Logan was better. I don't like Logan's solos as much, however. He's like too bendy--like a too-stretched-out gumby, all arms and legs. 

 

I don't think Logan has better technique (but he has good technique), but I do think that the movement of the piece might have suited Logan's body more.

 

There was something about the way Logan danced his African Jazz that was intriguing to me. From the core, very grounded. Very earthy and powerful.

Edited September 5, 2017 by fan94

[realdancemom]

3 hours ago, luvthepros said:

I'm thinking Nigel wants Lex to win. Nigel went overboard with praise for Lex last night, especially commenting on his solo. From what I can recall, no judge has ever commented on a solo. Or.....have I missed it? I have to admit, I'm on board for Lex to take it all. I just wish Lex had more animated personality to reel in the kids. I read another forum which is comprised mostly of youngins and they routinely rank Lex near the bottom of the competitors. They can not appreciate the guy's talent and training. Sigh.

I was thinking the same thing. Although....... did Danny or Chehon ever do a triple tour on this show? Anyone remember?

I'm sure Nigel meant the show.  I'm not sure if any of the ballet boys did a triple tour en l'air in the show.  However, I'm positive Danny, Chehon, Alex, and Jim can do them.  Nigel wants Lex to win.  I think he will and the judges are making sure that he does.

I was disappointed in the Desmond piece.  I guess my expectations were too high.  For this piece, Logan was better until Lex did his little solo.  Lex's solo with the triple tour also showed why he won YAGP.  He was great in the hip-hop but I don't think the piece itself deserved a SO.  I actually preferred Cyrus and Kaylee's piece but the judges weren't going to give them a SO.  Out of the two mini groups, I preferred Sean's piece but it needs to be cleaner.  

I still haven't seen where Lex is good with partner chemistry.  However, the pieces that he did yesterday didn't really need to highlight that.  I will miss Mark's and Comfort's chemistry in their dances.  They could pull off intense and sexy but I also saw some fun numbers where they played off each other.  I think Logan and Allison have better chemistry than Lex & Gaby even though Allison looks 10 years older than Logan.

Out of the girls, I like Koine the best because I think she's the most versatile.  However, I also think Kaylee is more interesting than Taylor.  Taylor has beautiful lines and is flexible.  She can can do pretty contemporary.  Teen girls like that.  Koine also has nice lines but it's not as noticeable because she's not as tall and doesn't have as long legs as Taylor.

Edited September 5, 2017 by realdancemom

[cali1981]

Loved the show last night.  I really liked the opener, especially since I'm a huge Sondheim fan.  My feeling is that Lex wins but that second place will be dogfight.  I can see Koine or Taylor taking second (Taylor would be cute standing there with Lex since they are a couple) but Logan has Allison at the top of her game as a partner so he could sneak in. I like Kiki a great deal as well but just can't see him acing out the others. Of course with a double elimination next week, who knows?  The only one I reasonably sure about is Kaylee.  I have to give Tice props for his choreography last night.  He came up with something that Kaylee could handle and that Cyrus did well.  I been a bit impressed with Cyrus.  Is he a good all around dancer?  No but he moves much than he did previously

[helpmerhonda]

Nope. Still don't like Kiki.

[LadyMustang65]

3 hours ago, crossover said:

I guess Lex is your favorite?  There's no need to make excuses for Lex.  He was the chosen as early as auditions.  It doesn't matter if Logan is better at ballroom. 

Not too many of the non-ballroom boys have done well with the AT over the years.  And comparing AT to jive is meaningless, as they're totally different dances.  I have no problem saying that Logan's jive was better than Lex's AT, as that is clearly a true statement.  But I do have a problem then extrapolating that to somehow mean that Logan is better at all ballroom than Lex.  That may be true, but we have nothing really to go on to say that at this point.  Not imho anyway. 

[RomanKat]

4 hours ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Just to chime in on the Logan/Lex ballroom debate, I agree that Lex's AT was not good and that Logan's jive was, but a couple of things I take into consideration - one is that they are very different styles - jive is fast and fun and AT is supposed to be sexy, and the other is that Lex performed the AT early in the show while he was still getting his footing.

One more thing I might add is that Logan revealed some tap training in the opening last night that may translate into learning jive technique.

10 minutes ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Not too many of the non-ballroom boys have done well with the AT over the years.  And comparing AT to jive is meaningless, as they're totally different dances.  I have no problem saying that Logan's jive was better than Lex's AT, as that is clearly a true statement.  But I do have a problem then extrapolating that to somehow mean that Logan is better at all ballroom than Lex.  That may be true, but we have nothing really to go on to say that at this point.  Not imho anyway. 

I have the same problem with extrapolating from one performance to proficiency with an entire dance genre.  Especially when that genre is ballroom which literally comprises multiple styles and techniques.

[crossover]

1 hour ago, LadyMustang65 said:

Not too many of the non-ballroom boys have done well with the AT over the years.  And comparing AT to jive is meaningless, as they're totally different dances.  I have no problem saying that Logan's jive was better than Lex's AT, as that is clearly a true statement.  But I do have a problem then extrapolating that to somehow mean that Logan is better at all ballroom than Lex.  That may be true, but we have nothing really to go on to say that at this point.  Not imho anyway. 

I would have a problem saying Logan is better at all ballroom than Lex as well.  But we just need to see the performances during the competition.  The sytycd-game gives us a chance to see who performed ballroom the best.  One may have a better choreographed routine but you can still see who grasped their ballroom technique the best.  Just like you can see who (during the competition) grasped contemporary, jazz, hip hop etc technique the best.  On the flip-side, you get to see who you enjoy most--favorite. 

Non-ballroom boys have trouble with ballroom period.  That's why I was always amazed by S5 Brandon.  But non-ballroom dancers (like Blake, Danny, Joshua, Mark etc) perform fairly well with the AT. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by crossover

[treeofdreams]

So it is obvious once again that this TV show is one long commercial for the tour.  From the pre-picked final four, and the over the top gushing and praising by the judges rather than critique...

While the judges may seem to favor one contestant over another, I get the impression that they really don't care who goes or who stays or who wins, because they will all be on the tour and that is all that matters.

[crossover]

3 minutes ago, treeofdreams said:

So it is obvious once again that this TV show is one long commercial for the tour.  From the pre-picked final four, and the over the top gushing and praising by the judges rather than critique...

While the judges may seem to favor one contestant over another, I get the impression that they really don't care who goes or who stays or who wins, because they will all be on the tour and that is all that matters.

For some reason, they've always cared about who wins. 

[luvthepros]

5 hours ago, Andie1 said:

............not only did Logan do the best jive that a male contemporary dancer has done on this show, ..........

I'm not sure about that. What do you think of the Jive Billy Bell performed with Anya? I always thought Billy did an awesome job with that and Billy is as bendy as they come. Billy actually looks like he likes girls in this performance. Good acting! Choreo by Louis Van Amstel and it doesn't get any better than that......

Billy Bell and Anya Jive

Edited September 5, 2017 by luvthepros

[luvthepros]

3 hours ago, Sd601 said:

 .........I paused several times to compare their side-by-side poses, and Logan was better. ..................

I guess I'm not the only one who does that. LOL. I also watch in slo-mo to compare. Can't live without a DVR.

[luvthepros]

3 hours ago, LadyMustang65 said:

............. I have no problem saying that Logan's jive was better than Lex's AT, as that is clearly a true statement.  But I do have a problem then extrapolating that to somehow mean that Logan is better at all ballroom than Lex.  .........

Totally agree with this assessment. Thank you LadyMustang!

4 hours ago, fan94 said:

I don't think Logan has better technique (but he has good technique), but I do think that the movement of the piece might have suited Logan's body more.

 

There was something about the way Logan danced his African Jazz that was intriguing to me. From the core, very grounded. Very earthy and powerful.

Logan doesn't have a well developed upper body but what struck me was how muscular his legs looked in his African Jazz costume. That alone added to my enjoyment of the piece. Logan looked powerful, even though he is slight above the waist.

[displayname]

I love that Lex even took the time to prepare for the tour en l'air in his solo. It was just seamless.

 

 

He just might be my favourite male dancer ever, purely based on style. Lauren F. has remained unbeaten since season 7 on the girls' side.

Edited September 5, 2017 by fan94

[SnarkyTart]

This was an extremely enjoyable episode.  My favorite was the All Stars routine, Derniere Danse, by Brian Friedman.  Holy smokes, that was awesome.  I also loved Tyce's choreography for Kaylee and Cyrus.  I don't often enjoy Tyce's work, and Cyrus is a weak contemporary dancer, so it was a nice surprise.  Kaylee was terrific in this.   Sean Cheesman's choreography for the spoken piece, "Still I Rise" was potent, and worthy of an Emmy nom, imo.  That's a good thing, because his African jazz fusion choreo was a hot mess, although Logan did some of his best dancing of the season in it, I thought.  Best solo of the night, for me for you, was Mark.  He killed that, and I'm glad he got to go out on a high note.  My preference for Final 4 (in this order): Lex, Logan, Kaylee, Taylor.  I don't see that happening, though.  TPTB are determined for Kiki to be in the Top 3, and they've never liked Kaylee. 

Other notes of weirdness from last night - I can't go without mentioning Vanessa...again.  First was her telling Kaylee that her routine showed her "strongness".  LOL.  The second was her appropriation of Mary's trademark hot tamale train, which was blasphemous enough, but the way she said it was, "I haven't came up with my own tagline yet, so..."  Please, Show, if you get renewed for a season 15, save us from Vanessa, m'kay?

[Snow Fairy]

Well, I guessed last week that Mark is the next to go. I think Kaylee could be next, and probably one guy. I don't think they'll have 3-1 in the finale, speaking of the gender.

I like Koine and Lex. Lex is probably safe, but I'm afraid for Koine. And I actually liked Kiki this week. And I liked more or less all the routines

My hope for the top 4 is Lex, Logan, Koine and Taylor

[Cuatro1234]

14 hours ago, PRGyro said:

a Luther Brown snoozefest will remain a Luther Brown snoozefest any way you slice it unless your name is Fik-Shun. The uncomplicated, uninspired choreography here

This.  TPTB were aiming for "Outta My Mind" with tWitch/Alex Wong, but missed.  Was danced well, just kinda boring.

 

47 minutes ago, SnarkyTart said:

My preference for Final 4 (in this order): Lex, Logan, Kaylee, Taylor. 

Almost for me.  I'd substitute Koine for Taylor.

On a shallow note:  Dwight Rhoden is aging very nicely.  VERY nicely ;)   And I couldn't abide Cat's hair.  Bugged me all night.

And once again, please, camera people, show us the WHOLE DANCE in the group dances.  Every time the camera just pans from one person to the next, I feel like we're losing a lot of the impact of the group.  Go ahead and zoom in when there are little solos, but otherwise, just show us the whole thing, please!

[Andie1]

2 hours ago, luvthepros said:

I'm not sure about that. What do you think of the Jive Billy Bell performed with Anya? I always thought Billy did an awesome job with that and Billy is as bendy as they come. Billy actually looks like he likes girls in this performance. Good acting! Choreo by Louis Van Amstel and it doesn't get any better than that......

Billy Bell and Anya Jive

Thanks for that link. I thought Billy was great his season. I thought Nigel was always a complete ass to him, maybe he was difficult behind the scenes, who knows?  On this jive tho' even though he probably surprised a lot of people by being able to keep up with Anya, and not look juvenile, I didn't really like the music or the choreo,   I thought it looked like a competition piece that didn't quite hit it.  I didn't think the technique was there in terms of his posture being really taut it was fluid and he was more floaty than grounded.   I still preferred Logan's dance because I felt his fundamentals were just cleaner dancing on the balls of his feet and yet upper body taut and leaning towards his partner instead of upright, so it was more grounded, and the choreography suited him like a glove.  And, his acting ability was front and centre like a young Ray Bolger, this piece could easily be inserted into a broadway show, 

[luvthepros]

Andie....I agree with you about Billy's posture and lack of groundedness (is that a word???) but I do love the choreography. Louis choreographed, as he said in the package, "a classic competition Jive". I know he added in some Contemporary moves and I am actually opposed to that but.....for me there was more classic Jive content in this dance than there was in Logan's Jive.

Now back to top 7 of this season...................
 

[displayname]

How do you think Koine measures up to past Contemporary girls who have excelled in Ballroom? :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E81hcQQRm5s

Edited September 5, 2017 by fan94

[displayname]

OK, Nigel's saying he really hasn't seen anyone do a triple tour (around 1:40):  

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by fan94

[luvthepros]

4 hours ago, Andie1 said:

...........  And, his acting ability was front and centre like a young Ray Bolger, this piece could easily be inserted into a broadway show, 

Now that you mention Ray Bolger......yes, I do see Bolger in Logan. I wonder how many young folks know who Ray Bolger was?

[PRGyro]

An actually abridged part 2:

7.) Mark

Only going to say a couple of things since he was eliminated. Although I absolutely wasn't expecting his elimination, going so far at the beginning of this episode to imagine him in the finale, his performances with Comfort have gotten more complacent as the weeks go by, with this week's hip-hop decidedly "meh." Mark looked unsteady, which is wild since he always looks at least prepared in styles out of his comfort zone.. except that this week was his style. I thought he's had better solos, too. But when it came to his performance in the Sean Cheesman group number, all I can say is WOW. He knocked it out of the park in that.

It goes without saying that the "America's Vote" thing was total nepotism BS and that Kiki should have gone home instead of either Mark or Kaylee, since he is a far worse dancer, but when DWTS stans keep your failing show on life support, you do what you must, I guess.

8.) Koine

Skipped over Koine by accident. I thought her Jive with Marko was very cute and they continue to be a seamless partnership, though Marko did look a little too stiff for my liking. I realize that was the character, but still. Was the music a little off to anyone else? In any case, I thought her performance was far more remarkable in the Sean Cheesman group number--both she and Mark totally stole the spotlight. Really hope she stays through to the finale, though she's not my top favorite to win.

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

There were a lot of enjoyable dances tonight.  Koine's jive seemed a deliberate attempt to unseat her.  "Rock around the Clock" at a really slow speed?  Not impressive or memorable for anyone.

Except the judges, who gave it a standing O--I have no idea why?

 

1. " Let's (Not) Have a Kiki"-- Oh the shocked gasps when he was in the bottom 3, where he has deserved to be since week 2.  Also now its "So You Think You Can Use Props"  Not a lot of dancing on Kiki's part in that piece.

2.  Mark's solo was eye bustingly great.  He saw the writing on the wall--the first letter was L, the 3rd was X and let's guess the vowel in the middle

3. Speaking of the winner, in the threesome, Lex made me gasp when all of a sudden it looked like he had put on ice skates and was doing a Triple Lutz, or whatever.  I rewound and I NEVER  rewind.

4.  Allison and Logan were dancing on and under a jungle coffee table, then got down to prepare for an oil change that didn't happen.  I did not like this piece!!! Too disjointed. Logan's face is both homely and beautiful at the same time.  He's like a young colt.  I just love him.

5. The "Trump is Racist" dance was good but I liked the threesome better. Can anyone tell me if Kaylee is a good technical dancer, or does she just emphatically throw herself into her numbers and that makes up for it?

6.  The makeup artists this year are incredible. They have done wonders with Kaylee and Gaby, both which aren't natural beauties.

Edited September 6, 2017 by WhineandCheez

[joylove]

9 hours ago, crossover said:

Non-ballroom boys have trouble with ballroom period.  That's why I was always amazed by S5 Brandon.

Yes! He would be the perfect All-Star for this format. If they're back next year with the same format, he should be the first alum Nigel calls.