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S15.E06: Academy 2 2018.07.16


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(edited)

Yeah, that's not what I thought we were getting. I thought we were supposed to go back to the "old way" just simply pairing up The Top 20 and working our way down to a Top 10 (where the All Stars would come out of the woodwork at that point).

The Here for Now Top 20:

Girls

Brianna Penrose (Tap)

Chelsea Hough (Jazz)

Dayna (Jazz)

Emily Carr (Contemporary)

Genessy Castillo (Jazz)

Hannahlei Cabanilla (Contemporary)

Jensen Arnold (Ballroom)

Magda Fialek (Ballroom)

Stephanie Sosa (Ballroom)

Sydney Moss (Contemporary)

Guys

Allen Genken (Ballroom)

Cole Mills (Ballroom)

Darius Hickman (Contemporary)

Dustin Payne (Hip Hop)

Evan DiBennedeto (Tap)

Jay Jay Dixonbey (Jazz)

Justin Pham (Contemporary)

Kyle Bennett Jr. (Animation/Tutting)

Peyton A. (Contemporary)

Slavik P. (Hip Hop)

 

Snap thoughts: Really really bummed that Gabriel the B-Boy got the axe after Mandy's round. I really felt like he was going to make the Top 20, Slightly surprised that Tessa didn't slide her way into the Top 20...it was kind of crazy how the judging panel almost instantly turned on her once the choreo rounds started. Who was Chin Chin? Not counting the Ukranian girl who ran into Visa/Work permit issues, was she possibly the only female hip hop dancer that got invited to the Academy?

More snap thoughts: If I had to guess, Justin, Slavik, and Peyton are totally there to make up numbers on the guys side when it goes from 10 to 5. Same goes for Dayna, Stephanie, and Sydney on the girls side.

Edited by PhD-Purgatory15
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1 hour ago, hula-la said:

Does anyone know the song that Travis used during his section? 

A really annoying one? :)

 

Ugh, I don't want a top 10 with all-stars. I want to get to know these new people especially since this year I wasn't particularly sad or particularly excited about anyone who either got cut or stayed, since I really  barely got to know them. I know more than I want to know though about psychobiology Tessa, the not-so-golden-but-instead-just-a-little-beige girl, and I-hope-he-doesn't-rip-his-shirt-off-like-that-in-bed Allen.

Clearly tap girl won't make it to top 10 since they've spent about 1.7 seconds on her. Blink and you might have missed them even telling her she got into the top 20.

I don't think either girl stood out, but I actually kind of preferred goth girl's contemporary to Emily Carr's contemporary. Emily looked pretty stiff/grounded at some points, the way I feel when I get out of bed in the morning.

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Was Mandy's big group round supposed to be an attempt at a replacement for the group rounds of yesteryear, where they got a song and stayed up all night to choreograph a number? And, by the way, the way Mandy kept hyping her routine as a massive group routine it really annoyed me when it was anything but that. There was a few eight-counts towards the end of all the dancers synchronized, but for the most part it was little groups of all the dancers of one style dancing together. That's not what a massive group routine is, Mandy. You know that. You do group routines on Dancing with the Stars all the time these days.

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(edited)

We started with 41 dancers at the beginning of this episode so only eight people were cut after Travis's contemporary routine. I think that's a record for fewest cuts after contemporary. On a shallow note, I hate that hair color on Travis.

33 made it to Mandy Moore's group routine. I was kind of laughing when she said that if dancers can't hang in the group routine, they're getting cut. How many times have we seen dancers who were weak in whatever the group number style was (often contemporary) being hidden in the back, posing on the side, or just offstage for part of the routine?

I still hate having the dancers choreograph anything (because this is NOT So You Think You Can Choreograph) but at least paring it down to giving each group and hour to add one eight-count isn't as bad as what we used to get. The tappers were so lucky - only two of them so relatively easy to put something together quickly without drama.

I know the judges love hyperbole and every season it's "that was the BEST EVER!" but I am finding it increasingly hard to swallow these proclamations from the judges because it's so obvious to me that Tessa's solo was not the best ever and that this ballroom group is not the best ever and that the combination Travis taught was not the most difficult ever.

Anyway, they only cut six dancers after the group routine to get us down to 27 soloists. After they got down to the top 20, I was like thank goodness we FINALLY get to have the show start! Then they announced they were cutting half of them and I was like nooooooooooo! Honestly, I think talent wise they can afford to cut more people but I'm so tired of all the auditions and academy stuff. Can we just start the real show already?

Most of the people they cut deserved it (thank goodness Tessa is finally gone) but there were a few that perplexed me, like cutting Gaevin (the guy from Las Vegas) after Mandy's group routine. I watched the entire routine and he didn't screw up or anything so they just cut him for the sake of cutting him? Eddie the happy tap dancer, on the other hand, was obviously all over the place during the group routine so it made sense that they cut him.

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
Wrong name!
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Yay!  We're finally at 20 and ready to start the show for real!

Wait, what?  They are going to cut half of these people before the show starts for real?  Man, Fox is really done with this show, aren't they?  The budget must be really tight.  I hate that we aren't going to get to know half of the dancers and won't get to see them work in pairs, learning new types of routines.  That is the fun of the show-- finding that hidden diamond and watching him or her shine.  Pulling for the kids that come out of nowhere and show viewers what they can do.  I suppose we can still enjoy the 10 who do go on, but it's a shame that we'll never know what those 10 left behind could do.

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5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 

8 hours ago, hula-la said:

Does anyone know the song that Travis used during his section? 

 

6 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

A really annoying one? :)

Comes in Waves by Psychologist (and I found it annoying too).

 

Me three and if I can count my dog I’ll add her as number four. She eventually looked up at the tv with a sort of frustrated face as that song played for the thousandth time. Ugh. That annoying song plus a lot of uninspired flailing around made the contemporary round boring and stale for me.  

Like many of you I was ready for the show to begin! I know that often the top twenty includes some fodder but sometimes people rise unexpectedly as they shake themselves down to top ten and it’s interesting to see.

I think the only ones that really stuck with me were Jay Jay and Hannahlei, and at the moment I can’t recall why so it wasn’t a big impression. One of the ballroom girls was obviously a throw away in my opinion. I can’t recall her name but she had on the longer dress. 

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9 hours ago, hula-la said:

Does anyone know the song that Travis used during his section? 

My daughter instantly looked up to chime in -- that's a great song to try and keep count with.

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It's pretty sad when, once again, some of my favorite highlights involved saying goodbye to dancers.  Could not wait to usher Tessa out the door and never understood the overly lavish praise she got earlier on.  If goth girl has the opportunity to return I hope she drops the whole pretense, I think it's holding her dance back to affect some phony persona.

Despite doing their best to hide some of them from us I've got my eyes on Darius, Jay Jay, Emily Carr and Hannahlei.  It's obvious they are looking for reasons to keep Chelsea Hough over Dayna, think that's her name.  (Frustrating not to be feeling like we're familiar with more dancers by now.)  Seems as if they want to stuff Allen down our throats -- hope he tastes more like chicken than Kiki.

I was a bit surprised at pushing Mandy into the on camera bad cop role. 

PSA  Jay Jay, those shorts destroyed your lines during your solo.

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THank you @ElectricBoogaloo for the song name. I’m with everyone when  I’m tired of the auditions. My birthday is next week, and I clearly remember watching SYTYCD on my birthday, a few years ago, happily watching the Alvin Ailey dancers perform on of my favourite pieces “The Hunt”. I miss those days of the show. 

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36 minutes ago, WhineandCheez said:

Did not get to watch.  What happened with Laganda Estranga (drag dancer)

Let go -- with respect from Nigel and gratitude from Jay.  At least that's the narrative we were sold.

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2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

She's one of the only dancers about whom I can say (1) I remember her name (2) I remember what she looks like (3) I remember her for being a good dancer instead of having some sob story.

And it's mid July!  We've seen snippets of actual dance at this point.  If you added up real dance we've seen all these weeks in we might fill a 2-hour episode.  

I've dealt with that nonsense from WOD because that's been their day one formula.  SYTYCD was magical and set the bar for me because I got to watch dance on TV, week in, week out.  Even if several numbers weren't my cup of tea I could respect it as another variety of artistry. 

I fully feel it's Fox calling the shots for whatever reason.  (Purely speculation.)  

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I’m so bummed about the top-20-no-top-10 switch. I miss getting seeing the less-known dancers grow. At least it’s still on... at least it’s still on...

I muted the Travis music. It was awful.

i wish we’d seen the (tap?) performance that prompted Vanessa to say it made her like the song more.

I couldn’t believe Tessa made it past her last solo in the last ep. I thought she lost her balance a few times in it, and couldn’t believe the judges’ praise. I felt bad for her in this ep getting so much criticism, though. But I’d have been disappointed had she made top 20.

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It pains me to say I might be done with this show. I don't read spoilers or the media thread, so I really, really, really thought they had gone back to (semi) Original Recipe SYTYCD- 20 dancers, "randomly" paired and being whittled down to 10 when the all stars joined in. So, imagine my utter fury when they announced at the end of last nights show that the whole "Top 20" was a farce. What was the ever-loving point of all this if we're just going back to "So You Think You Can Outshine an Allstar"? 

I guess I shouldn't be too upset because I really have no clue who any of these dancers are or what they are capable of. It's clear who the fodder is because we haven't seen about 1/2 the "top 20" for more than 5 seconds. In fact, I don't think we've seen more than 60 seconds of dance from any single dancer, have we? Of the ones I do remember, I don't care for Arnold Jr. I really hope Alan NoShirt gets his silly tatted-up torso sent packing in spectacular fashion. I hope Jay Jay turns out to be as inspiring as Brandon was (that's who he reminds me of). I pray I will actually recognize some of the others  and learn their names..

Finally, why does this show tend to ignore the "loss" of some dancers between auditions and The Academy? If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't know that contortion-girl had visa issues or that Arcadian couldn't get out of his OB contract (or whatever). Why does this show highlight these folks and then never mention them again? Why spend so much time on these two when you have no plan to follow up on what happened to them? Ugh.  Breathe in, breathe out... it's only TV. But I miss my favorite show and despise what it has become. 

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(edited)

I think it's worse for the dancers.  The top 20 thought they made it and will get to be on the live shows.  Only to find out that only the top 10 will get an opportunity.  I'm sure it is Fox because they gave a certain amount of weeks.  It also feels rushed because we only get one hour a week.  We used to get two hours for the show and then another hour for results.  The results show is where we would see great guests like the Alvin Ailey dancers.

I prefer the guys over the girls.  I like Darius, Jay Jay, Cole, and Evan.  You can tell that Cole and Evan are cross-trained and not just ballroom or tap dancers respectively.  Jay Jay is the type of dancer that Nigel likes when it comes to males.  He's masculine.  He jumps really high.

I didn't think Genessy was that great and I thought she would get cut.   Even before the judges mentioned it, you can clearly see her messing up in the contemporary round.  Don't remember Dayna at all.  I only know Stephanie because she's from Utah so my daughters have danced with her.

Don't know why they cut one of the hip-hop guys from Mandy's round.  It looked like he did fine to me when they showed him dancing.  Don't know if it's his height since he needs to be paired with shorter girls.  Laganda Estranga shouldn't have made it this long.  His technique was not up to par with the other contemporary dancers. 

Edited by realdancemom
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Why didn't they just pair the 10 girls with the 10 boys for the next 2 weeks?  They could perform the duos outside their specialties and perform their specialty solo/ballroom partner routine.  Then The judges can decide the top 10 and pair them with the assigned AS.

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The Contemporary reminded me of that line from the Spongebob Squarepants song - "then drop to the floor and flop like a fish."

I wanted to like Cole a whole lot more but he had to go and turn around to show his back scrawled all over with ink. It will not be a moment too soon when tattoos go back out of fashion.

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24 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

The Contemporary reminded me of that line from the Spongebob Squarepants song - "then drop to the floor and flop like a fish."

Ha, perfect description! I know Travis told them to make the choreography their own but most of the groups we saw were so out of sync that it just looked like a mess. And that was even before the fish flopping! 

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Quote

 It will not be a moment too soon when tattoos go back out of fashion.

You sound like you are old like me.  I feel the same way.  But it ain't happening.  Its since the 1980s and stronger than ever.  Expect lots of saggy old lady tramp stamps.....

 

I thought Tessa Dalke (spell?) was the Judges Pet?  She's the microbiologist or whatever, right? Did Not-So-Edgy Goth Girl get in?

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I have a tramp stamp (and 3 other tattoos) and I don’t care, plus I love all of them and they mean a lot to me. Luckily when I’m old and saggy, my concern won’t be how my tattoos look, of all things. I’m not going to be walking around flaunting my naked body. ???‍♀️

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23 hours ago, BensBritches said:

imagine my utter fury when they announced at the end of last nights show that the whole "Top 20" was a farce.

Man this got me heated. You work dancers like dogs for days holding this 'Top 20' carrot in front of them and just as they are about to reach that goal you bait and switch them... 'Ha ha you didn't really accomplish anything yet good luck making the top 10! We really hope half of you will come back for next year when maybe we'll keep stringing you along into a Top 4 finale show in which we might show some dancing.'

Fox really does ruin everything. I've taken years off and thought maybe this year would be the year to come check out a show I used to love, and then we get this bullshit. Not impressed.

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4 hours ago, WhineandCheez said:

I thought Tessa Dalke (spell?) was the Judges Pet?  She's the microbiologist or whatever, right? Did Not-So-Edgy Goth Girl get in?

Never understood the Tessa praise.  Don't ask me what it is (or her either for that matter) but she's a psychobiologist.

Inexplicably Goth was cut, with the recommendation to train hard, work hard and come back next year -- hopefully with sense enough to drop the whole goth pretense (at least that's my recommendation).  

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Just sitting in a corner all bitter-like because one of my favorite also-rans from previous years finally made it to the Top 20...but since this person was all but invisible these last several weeks, their Top 10 prospects are presumably nil.

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Respect to the drag queen death drop dancer. Although he'd had formal dance training, and it showed, hell, he got through all three days of the academy. Respect. He'll hopefully be back. He spent way too many years being a drag queen type dancer and forgot how demanding REAL dance was. He held his own though. I hope he comes back next year and shocks everyone with how GOOD he is.

What was that child's name who "just knew" she was gonna make it? Blonde chick with the "i knoooooow...." Smile? She annoyed me no end this whole process cause you can tell her whole life everyone's always told her how GREAT she was (in caps no less) and gets on here? They tell her how GREAT she is and waves the ticket in her face.

Then she gets here and realizes "damn, I'm just average. The hell?" It was gratifying to see her fail at something.

Hopefully it'll make her a better dancer, better person overall. Hope she learns from this and REALLY learns to dance.

I always hope that the rejects who almost made it take dance lessons in all styles for the next year and then come back loaded for bear. 

I don't know why, but I never expected there to be a top 20. It confused me when they stopped at 20. For real! I honestly didn't expect there to be a top 20, so when they announced the "twist?" I was all like "AHA!!! THAT'S WHY!"

Maybe I'm psychic?

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6 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

Just sitting in a corner all bitter-like because one of my favorite also-rans from previous years finally made it to the Top 20...but since this person was all but invisible these last several weeks, their Top 10 prospects are presumably nil.

I'll bite. Who is it?

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59 minutes ago, Anothermi said:

I'll bite. Who is it?

I'll put it under a spoiler because even without the invisible edit, I'm 95% sure this person doesn't advance:

Spoiler

Peyton Albrecht. We've seen glimpses of him the last few seasons and I believe he's made it to Green Mile before, possibly more than once. I mean, maybe he biffs it during the next round and genuinely earns the cut, but...ugh. It did seem like when Nigel made his announcement, Peyton had one of the more eyeroll-y, "AGAIN with this shit" reactions.

So yeah, annoyed with this "twist." Which I'm assuming is the result of Fox continually chopping the show down; when Nigel said he wanted to return to a Top 20, I would imagine he meant it in the traditional sense. Unless I'm giving him too much credit.

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I feel so cheated! The contestant pairings are my favorite part, that's where the real magic used to happen - Katee & Joshua, Chelsie & Mark, Jamie & Hok, etc. All-star pairings are too "safe" for my liking because the all-stars have done it all before, there's no "will they be able to pull that off?" suspense.

Also, I'm with everyone who wants to see full dances already.

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What I don't understand about Fox's choices here is that the ratings decline began with messing up the traditional formula. But they've never--in all the stunts--thought to try reverting back to what had been working! Give us a top 20 with stable contestant parings up to top 10.

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18 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

Just sitting in a corner all bitter-like because one of my favorite also-rans from previous years finally made it to the Top 20...but since this person was all but invisible these last several weeks, their Top 10 prospects are presumably nil.

Don't lose hope, they've been "hiding" a lot of folks from us.  If I'm not mistaken some of top 20 came in via montage in auditions.  

I tell myself they're planning to surprise me with genius.  I will indeed be a Bitter Betty if the emperor has no clothes.  

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Like many of you, I'm disappointed that the top 20 is in actuality a top 10 and the All Stars will be returning at the very advance of the live shows. I thought this was the year I finally got my favorite summer show back , but it should have been evident that wouldn't be the case from the editing of the auditions because I don't know who many of these people even are. 

I'm super annoyed that Jensen made it into the top 20 (don't really care for Magda either), so I'm hoping she's just more fodder before the final cut. Really glad to see Jay Jay, Darius and Hannaleigh all make it though.

FOX must have really wreaked havoc with the operating budget for us to only get one hour a week and only five males and five females. Why do the executives insist on tinkering with a winning format? Viewer drop-off for an aging show is only natural but I'm sick of these lame gimmicks and twists. The original concept was far to superior anything they've presented in recent seasons (ie. stage vs. street, prepubscents, etc.)

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I'm gonna admit I have never been a big fan of contemporary dance but it's to the point where I can choreograph a Travis Wall routine:

Bow head, slump shoulders.

Flail flail flail.

Clutch face.

Slump to floor.

Writhe writhe writhe.

Mash cheek to floor and make boo boo cry pout face.

Hump floor hump floor hump floor.

Kneel and reach for spotlight while looking constipated.

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17 minutes ago, CleverUserName975 said:

I'm gonna admit I have never been a big fan of contemporary dance but it's to the point where I can choreograph a Travis Wall routine:

Bow head, slump shoulders.

Flail flail flail.

Clutch face.

Slump to floor.

Writhe writhe writhe.

Mash cheek to floor and make boo boo cry pout face.

Hump floor hump floor hump floor.

Kneel and reach for spotlight while looking constipated.

Now that you feel you have the movement down, pick the one you think did the best or the one you enjoyed the best.  Kind of like when you choose who performed the cha cha cha best.

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I can't believe I'm going to say this but I almost think SYTYCD needs to go the way of American Idol. It should end after this season and then in 2-3 years it can return with a real budget, the two hour live show and one hour results show, and it's original format. It would be great if everyone involved came back too (except Vanessa) but I'd take a new judge and some new choreographers if it means we actually get to know the dancers and see them dance together again.

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22 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

So yeah, annoyed with this "twist." Which I'm assuming is the result of Fox continually chopping the show down; when Nigel said he wanted to return to a Top 20, I would imagine he meant it in the traditional sense. Unless I'm giving him too much credit.

I'm pretty positive Nigel wants to return to a top 20. I'm also sure he really wants to keep the show on the air, so he keeps bowing to Fox's demands. They are foolish demands, because the tricks don't work, but it's the only way to bring the show back, so what else can he do. I do love the dancing and there really isn't anything else like it that I know of, so I cope with the loss of the contestants dancing together.

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(edited)

I'm fairly new to this show and following/appreciating dance, so I don't have much to compare the structure to.  I do find the All Stars annoying and so a show less devoted to them sounds great.  But were undeserving people ever eliminated due to their partner being awful?  

As for the contestants, I think I like Emily but feel like we didn't get to see enough of her to decide whether she is as transcendent as the judges proclaim.  I also like Darius but he has gotten no play in comparison to some of the other male contemporary dancers.  I'm disappointed that there aren't any female hip-hoppers/animators, has this every happened before?

I started watching in the season that should not be named (the kids one).  However, I honestly think that Tate and Kida (sic) were better at their own styles than some of these adults.  

Edited by prunieprune
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On 7/18/2018 at 1:25 PM, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I have a tramp stamp (and 3 other tattoos) and I don’t care, plus I love all of them and they mean a lot to me. Luckily when I’m old and saggy, my concern won’t be how my tattoos look, of all things. I’m not going to be walking around flaunting my naked body. ???‍♀️

(Stops to count) ... I have 12 and mine all have meaning to me too!  Most are on my forearms so during the six days of summer we get a year in Syracuse they are on full display.  I was actually hoping Cole would dance facing the back curtain so I could see that entire piece because it looked fascinating.

I love Emily and feel like she’s getting the judges pet edit which normally drives me bonkers but not this time.  

Jensen is definitely getting the judges fave edit but I feel like she won’t resonate with the voters.

That one girl, Gennessy?  I cannot believe she got put through after that terrible contemporary.

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45 minutes ago, mojoween said:

(Stops to count) ... I have 12 and mine all have meaning to me too!  Most are on my forearms so during the six days of summer we get a year in Syracuse they are on full display.  I was actually hoping Cole would dance facing the back curtain so I could see that entire piece because it looked fascinating.

Yeah I'd love to see what he's got on his back. He was a ballroom guy, right? 

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Well fuck, just when I thought we were in for an OG top 20 season where the dancers pair up with each other until the top 10, they throw in the TWIST. I guess I can be happy that at least they aren't going to pair each dancer with one all-star for the duration this year ...or are they?!  I hope it means we also will see a more varied array of all-stars.  

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I don't find Jensen's dancing to be as strong as either Witney or Lindsey's and I think she's a bit of dope (which both J&W appeared to be when they were on SYTYCD too).  I'm sorry she's through and hope she isn't in the final 10.

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3 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Yeah I'd love to see what he's got on his back. He was a ballroom guy, right? 

He was.  He was the superior one to the two who were left, IMO.

That jive solo by the other guy...oof.

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(edited)
8 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

I don't find Jensen's dancing to be as strong as either Witney or Lindsey's and I think she's a bit of dope (which both J&W appeared to be when they were on SYTYCD too).

DWTS makes fun of their (lack of) intelligence too. "Fleetwood Mac? Yeah, I know him, he's a rapper, right?" Sometimes they'll devote an entire segment to it.
But still, they're bombshells dancers and good choreographers. Witney was always a fave of mine and I knew she'd go far.

 

8 hours ago, mojoween said:

He was.  He was the superior one to the two who were left, IMO.

That jive solo by the other guy...oof.

 

Oof is right! Mary's stone-faced "I don't ever want to see that solo again." made me LOL.

Edited by marriedaniac
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