S15.E09: Meet the Top Ten

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

After making it through the auditions, the cutthroat Academy rounds, and the final cuts, the finalists get to perform live for the first time on the SYTYCD stage.

Original airdate: 8/6/18

Edited August 9, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Mason]

And, finally, we get a 2 hour show!!

[Snow Fairy]

And Twitch as a judge

[displayname]

...Is anyone else already bored?

[Mason]

1 hour ago, displayname said:

...Is anyone else already bored?

No... there look to be only 6 competition episodes, so I have to perk up :-)

[luvthepros]

Talk about being bored.......watch WOD. That will do it do you.

[LexieLily]

I'm glad they went back to pairing the contestants with each other. The partnerships, and watching them flourish or burn, was the best part of the early years of the show, at least for me. I wasn't a big fan of either of them coming into the live shows but Slavik/Gennessey gave me Benji/Donyelle and/or Kathryn/Legacy vibes. 

Chelsea is the obvious boot on the women side but the men is harder. Maybe Cole? Even though I wasn't a fan of Chelsea I thought it was so rude of Nigel for his comment after their second routine to essentially be "Evan and the choreographer dumbed it down so much for you and you still couldn't keep up." She said in her package that she took a few tap classes but that is different than being cross-trained. There's a reason that tap was never a style in the hat. You can't pick it up in five and a half hours.

And I could live the rest of my life happily without ever having to watch Nigel try to do hip-hop moves. 

[yourpointis]

Could the judges be any more obvious with their faves? They're not even cleverly trying to hide it like they normally do. How big was Twitch's paycheck for him to become a parrot for TPTB? Gennesy's (sp) hip hop was not good nor great unless suburban dance recital is the measurement for good/great hip hop these days. It was lazy, had no natural rhythm/flow to it, and there were points she and Slavic were not in sync. Yet that garnered a standing ovation. Goodbye Chelsea. We hardly knew you. I'm beyond tired of Travis Wall already and the lives just started. 

[vdw84]

Why did they even put Chelsea through, since they seem to hate her so much. I believe that is why they chose her over Emily because they knew if emily made it through she was going to be a force and they want their favs to make it to the end. I felt bad for Chelsea, the comments were uncall for, so rude but NIgel has always been a rude ass.

[Kira53]

Did they set Chelsea up for failure or what?  What was that terrible color green dress with a grey belt and the unflattering length?  Evan was in a flattering blue.  Why did they have her clash with him?  We all can see.  The costuming made it clear that they didn't want anyone to think that they were a couple.  I thought that she and Evan were good in the Jazz number and I really liked their partnership.  But bye bye Chelsea we hardly knew you.

Slavik and Genesey "Growth".  That will be each of their arc until producers want to get rid of one of them.

And dancing last, Darrius and Magda.  Darrius for the win.

What male will go?  Starting first can be a liability.   Could JayJay be in danger?  

The opening number looked like they had been dancing together for a while.  Too bad two will be leaving.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Kira53

[jewel21]

I didn't like either Slavik or Gennessey in the auditions or the Academy round but I really loved them tonight. I watched their contemporary routine like 4 times before I finally deleted the show from my PVR. 

It was also really nice and surprising to see the top 10 dancing with one another. I thought for sure they were going to bring in the All-Stars to dance with them so this was a pleasant development. 

Cat looked stunning and Twitch is such a wonderful judge. I love having him on the panel. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

It wouldn't be SYTYCD without a sacrificial lamb (or two, or three) and Chelsea was clearly set up to be that. I mean, how hard would it have been to choreograph a Broadway routine with one tap section to be in Evan's wheelhouse instead of a full-on tap piece that no non-tap specialization dancer was ever going to be able to do at the level that the other dancers could reach out of their own styles in hip hop, contemporary or ballroom?

I wonder if it will submarine Evan too. I just can't get a great feel (outside of the judges slathering of praise to some) for how the show watching population will rank the dancers. Like Darius and Magda got Travis and the exaggerated praise that comes with any TW piece and a beautifully stylized piece of ballroom....but are Magda and Darius really all that popular? They sort of seem like archetypes for contestants who haven't done as great on SYTYCD (a more mature, Eastern European ballroom female and an almost haughty male contemporary dancer in the vibe of Danny Tidwell or Brandon Bryant for people who couldn't necessarily get into Danny or Brandon)...

Slavik and Genessy's chemistry should be a slap in the face to the show runners and Fox producers.....this is what helped make SYTYCD great in the first place. They genuinely had a great vibe with each other and lifted each other up in their respective styles. Luther's hip hop piece was so, so good and really jumped off the screen. I wasn't familiar with their contemporary choreographer Talia....but that was a visually interesting piece that they each danced the heck out of.

I suppose if it's not Evan and Chelsea, then I'd be slightly worried for Cole and Hannahlei.

[Brookside]

Hannaleah was another victim of unfortunate underwear colour/fit.  And WTH was with the "stain" on Cole's crotch?  (Both from their first routine.)

[Mystery Author]

Quote

...Is anyone else already bored?

Not with the dancers. Definitely with the jidges,

That was the WORST rendition of "Singin' in the Rain" I've ever heard. The Voice jidges wouldn't have turned one chair!

[cali1981]

According to many out there Chelsea is the only non-tapper who has ever been asked to do a full tap routine on a live show. She may be getting a lot of votes due a sense of unfairness.

[calipiano81]

The immediate cut from 20 to 10 was disappointing, but I have to give lots of kudos to the show for doing so much right with the format these past few weeks.

Loved the way they did the final Academy duets by having everyone dance out of their style to show who really deserved to go to the live shows, and doing so with little fluff and filler.

And then tonight...they could have easily had each contestant dance once with an All-Star. Loved that they paired the guys with the girls and had each couple dance twice, giving each dancer twice the exposure. And LOVED that each dancer danced in AND out of their style on the first show. 

Having said all that, I actually didn't love or was wowed by any particular routine. But I appreciated so much the thoughtfulness of the program and an attempt to go back to the SYTYCD of old.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I feel like the guys are often at a disadvantage when they're given routines with a lot of lifts because the flashy parts go to their partners, so when I saw that Jay Jay and Jensen were doing a Jean-Marc salsa, I was pretty sure that it would be a showcase for her. The costuming and camera work did nothing to dissuade me of that: she was in a bright pink outfit and he was in a black costume and to make things even worse, the cameras often switched to angles so that she was directly in front of him. Despite all that, I thought he did a great job in the salsa. He was sharp where he needed to be and smooth where he needed to be. He seemed like a solid partner, both in the dancing as well as the lifts. The only bit that looked like it was off or a bit labored was the last trick they did before the final pose. I don't know if she got stuck while slithering down and around his body or what but it looked awkward. I thought that she didn't duck her head down low enough as she was sliding through his legs.

I hated Nigel's patronizing remark about how Jensen hadn't let her family down and she didn't need Lindsay anymore. On the one hand, I thought Jensen was just okay but not outstanding throughout the audition/academy/final cut process and I think that if she weren't Lindsay's sister, she would have been just another blonde ballroom dancer who didn't make it to the top 10. All that said, I thought the way Nigel phrased what he said was incredibly rude. WTF is "You don't need your sister now" supposed to mean? He made it sound like Lindsay came in and danced for her or something.

Jensen and Jay Jay's Mandy Moore jazz - oh good, another routine about a power struggle. Bonus: faux bondage outfit. I am not a Jensen fan, but Nigel's criticism about her being too overtly sexual just had me shaking my head. Should she have played this role as sweet and innocent? That seems unlikely in that costume doing that routine. Hee, I love that this week's getting to know the dancers question allowed us to see that Jensen has been cross training since she was tiny. That solo footage was definitely not ballroom!

Hannahlei and Cole's Tasty Oreo contemporary was one of those routines that looks deceptively simple but is so difficult in execution. As she said during rehearsal, this required a lot of trust because doing any number of those moves with trepidation or anything less than 100% commitment will result in injury. Even though Tasty Oreo's personality is just awful, I prefer his contemporary routines to his Broadway routines. Whenever he gives us an average Broadway routine, I remind myself of his S2 Why routine for Allison and Ivan which was really beautiful.

Hannalei and Cole's Jean-Marc paso was such a liftapalooza during the first half that it may as well have been a Doriana Sanchez disco number. I'm glad that Jean-Marc put all the lifts at the beginning to get them out of the way so that they could concentrate on the dancing or the second half of the routine. I rolled my eyes at Nigel's comment about how Jay/Laganja would have loved to wear Hannahlei's costume. STFU, Nigel.

While I am all for seeing more jazz on this show (as opposed to contemporary being called jazz), I didn't love Chelsea and Evan's Ray Leeper jazz. The choreography seemed a little dated and kind of dance recital.

Chelsea had the biggest challenge this week being assigned tap, That is not a style you can learn in a week or fake. I was not a fan of the easy listening version of Singin' in the Rain. Part of me feels like it SUCKS that she was asked to do this if the other eight finalists aren't going to be asked to tap too. The routine did a disservice to both of them because it wasn't up to Evan's level of talent and it was clearly a challenge for Chelsea so neither one of them really benefited from this routine. I wish Anthony had choreographed more of a Fred Astaire or Broadway type routine, something old school and classy that I think would have looked better for Evan and Chelsea as a pair and also would have allowed Chelsea to tap without looking like she was struggling.

Genessy and Slavik's Luther Brown hip hop was fine, but a standing ovation? I thought it was good but not great.

I'm all for the show bringing in new blood so I was looking forward to Genessy and Slavik's Talia Favia contemporary. I liked the routine. There were lots of clean lines and it wasn't totally flaily. ANOTHER standing ovation? Seriously, judges?

I was already dreading Magda and Darius's Travis Wall contemporary routine when Travis described it as a nonstop battle between them. I'm so tired of contemporary routines with pushing, dragging, and kicking each other to demonstrate trying to control each other. Another standing ovation? Careful, judges. If you keep getting this excited about this many routines in the first episode, how will we be able to take your hyperbole seriously when you start declaring everything "the best routine this season/ever"? And can we stop pimping Travis as a genius every damn week?

Magda and Darius's cha cha was a bit slow to start (which is on Val, not them) but it was fun.

[radiochik]

5 hours ago, cali1981 said:

According to many out there Chelsea is the only non-tapper who has ever been asked to do a full tap routine on a live show. She may be getting a lot of votes due a sense of unfairness.

That's what I did.  I wouldn't have voted for her otherwise because she wasn't one of my faves but the deck was stacked against her to begin with.  Basically, any of the women would have been thrown under the bus being paired with Evan and having to tap.  They obviously want Chelsea to go.  And she will.  I just don't think it should be because she had to do a tap routine.  

Did anyone catch when Vanessa said "You did not fail to disappoint" in one of her critques/gushes last night? I wish they hadn't brought her back as a judge.

Edited August 7, 2018 by radiochik

[Haleth]

I only got to see the first hour (will watch the rest tonight) but I thought the first 5 routines were delightful.  I was a little doubtful about some of the dancers but everyone really stepped up.  No pun intended.

[displayname]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

And can we stop pimping Travis as a genius every damn week?

If you gotta ask...

[Keekski]

God, my dislike for Jensen runs deep. I just can't get behind her and her constant ballroom face. Magda is worlds ahead of her in other styles (and ballroom). But you have to have your token peppy blonde. *rolleyes*

[fireice13]

I do wonder if Chelsea will be saved because it was sooo obvious she was set up to fail. Maybe I heard him wrong but it sounded like tWitch compared Chelsea learning tap to a hip hopper learning contemporary. If that is what he said, then no that's not true at all. Tap is it's own thing that you can't just pick up and learn and do to the level they obviously expect on this show.

[crossover]

So happy that they paired the dancers off.  I thought everyone was good.  Of course, Chelsea was the designee for the girls.  Guess they haven't quite narrowed it down for the guys or else they would've assigned a waltz or some really technical ballroom routine to him.  But I hope Evan is the guy.  I liked their routines least of all and I didn't see the chemistry.

Genessy & Slavik's - They have the best natural chemistry.  Maybe it's because they've admitted to one another that they aren't the best this season.  So they've band together to bring out the best in one another.  Kinda remind me of how Donyelle and Benji band together because they felt TPTB had them pegged as early exits.  As far as dancing coupling, I get Dominic/Sabra vibes.  Enjoyed both of their routines--albeit not as much as the judges did the hip hop.  Think Nigel'em are just trying to drum up enough support to keep them in a while.  Kind of like they did Kiki last season.  So neither of them is my pick either.

Jensen & Jay Jay - This is a good coupling as well.  I get Brandon/Janette vibes from them.  I enjoyed the jazz more than the samba.  Really don't know what Nigel was seeing??  Would've enjoyed the samba more if it hadn't been for the snake move.  Did she get stuck or what?  Jensen's probably one of the show's favorites and Jay Jay is just a dancer.  That's why I'm glad they don't have that much time to learn routines.  Dancers like Jay Jay will always look better.  With the time limit, it kind of evens out.  But I don't think either of them will win. 

Hannahlei & Cole - I love watching Cole dance.  He doesn't even look like a ballroom dancer.  And, Hannahlei is a joy to watch but I found myself looking at Cole more which is not good.  I was trying to think of a coupling they remind me of.  The only one I could think of was S1 Artem/Melissa and they weren't permanent partners.  Cole is just so much better at contemporary than the other sytycd male ballroom dancers.  I think all of their routines will be good--kinda like Rudy/Tanisha?.  But I'd be surprised if either of them win.

Magda & Darius - For me, they were the best in both routines.  Just hope Magda doesn't overdo the "I love my partner" routine.  During the critique portion, she did look fake but they have dance chemistry.  They remind me of Chehon/Witney.  I hope one of them wins.

[cinsbythesea]

I didn't watch the auditions this time around so I'm coming in pretty late to the game with regard to knowing the dancers and their strengths.  That being said- I really thought Slavic was a great dancer - my eyes were riveted to him.  I also liked Darius and Magda - that cha cha dance they did was pretty awesome.   Chelsea seemed to be the weakest of the ten - but like others have said - why in the heck would they make a non-tap dancer learn tap in one short week?  Seems unfair to her.  Evan was fabulous to watch tapping but the version of Singing in the Rain that they played has to be one of the worst I've heard....

[vdw84]

Genessy and Slavick have great chemistry and I agree they do remind me of sabra and dominic and maybe even mark and comfort from last season who got robbed. All three of these couples had amazing chemistry on and off the dancefloor, however Genessy doesnt hit hard enough for me in hiphop. She did good for it not to be her main genre and showed the personality and connection to her parnter but I just wanted her to match his energy which was very evident in the dance but overall the dance was one of my fav on the night. 

Darius and Magda had my favorite dances of the night. Both their dances were brilliant and that Travis Wall piece they had needs to go for emmy, so unique and executed perfectly. I still dont really care for Magda but I can stand her more than Jensen.

Chelsea and Evan, ok the tap dance was so out her wheelhouse but have always felt tap is something that is more of gift to have instead of learned that is just me and u certainly cannot learn it in a week to look as good someone like Evan who is trained tap dancer. Chelsea had great attitude about it and I think she is very sweet woman, she reminds me of Jasmine Harper, has such easy going personality as to why I do want her to do well and enjoy the experience because lets face it, she has been getting alot of flack because everyone wanted Emily over her and I was one of them but I don't think the verbal abuse she is getting from judges is necessary and for that I want her to stick around and prove everyone wrong esp. those rude ass judges.

[LadyMustang65]

Hannahlei was our early favorite coming out of the Academy, and after tonight she remains our favorite for the women.  We really love the way she moves.  We are not fans of Jensen - for us she is not the dancer her sister is, and we are huge fans of Lindsey.  And I honestly thought she did better with the second dance than she did in her ballroom specialty dance.  Chelsea clearly struggled with the tap, but we honestly thought that, given her lack of training, she did a decent job with it.  As others have pointed out, you don't pick up tap in a week, so we weren't expecting a whole lot from her anyway.  Magda and Genessy were good.    

On the male side, we really loved Cole, Evan and Slavick.  Darius was good as well.  The jury is still out for us on Jay Jay.  

We enjoyed the show last night, although the judges still talk too much.  But 11 dances in all?  Yes, thank you!  Also really glad they paired up the contestants.  That's always fun.  Not really ready to see anyone go, but if it were up to us, we'd send Jensen and Jay Jay home.  

[Terrafamilia]

4 hours ago, radiochik said:

Did anyone catch when Vanessa said "You did not fail to disappoint" in one of her critques/gushes last night?

I did a double-take and thought, "Uh, Vanessa, I don't think that came out quite as you intended."

The dreaded swirly-cam was out in force after being thankfully subdued during Academy Week/Top 20 Male & Female cut weeks. Grrrr!

I was half-expecting a plumber-crack style wardrobe slippage with Cole in their first number. There were questionable wardrobe decisions peppered all through the episode, I mean, high-water pants and saddle shoes?

Does anyone know if we'll be getting the same pairings next week (minus those booted) or if they'll change it up every week?

[Tikichick]

4 hours ago, Keekski said:

God, my dislike for Jensen runs deep. I just can't get behind her and her constant ballroom face. Magda is worlds ahead of her in other styles (and ballroom). But you have to have your token peppy blonde. *rolleyes*

I think the costume department agrees with you and are Team Magda.  She sizzled in her red, while Jensen clearly was being punished with her second costume.  The blue of the shorts would have been amazing on the top half and made her eyes pop, but they gave her all cold colors around her face.  Jensen better figure out in a hurry that mugging for/only having eyes for the camera isn't the way to endear the audience and bring them in.  Jay Jay has plenty of sparkle, if she gave even a slight bit of attention his way it would read well.  Unfortunately costuming factored in for them as well in the actual dancing.  Cat's comment about fishnets puzzled me until I saw Jay Jay's torn shirt.  No doubt that was some of the drag on fluidity in the lifts. 

Gennessy was gorgeous in the shade of red they put on her.  If only makeup got on the ball and matched the shade exactly with her lip color.   She and Slavic absolutely exuded the it factor that made them top 10.

Poor Chelsea got stuck in the awful jazz costumes and then they poured salt in her gaping tap wound with that frumpy green monstrosity.  I''ve no doubt the frump length was to hide bad form in her knees for the tap.  Got to give it to her for carrying that shade of green that would have been lethal on nearly everyone else.  Incredibly disrespectful of Chelsea's physical wellbeing to give her a tap number in tap shoes under these conditions.  It's not like there isn't a Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly partnering playbook to draw from and put her in soft leather or ballet flats.  The only thing more egregious would be putting Alex Wong's, Cheon's or Ade's partners in pointe shoes -- and go!

Did an intern do Mary Murphy's makeup last night?  IMO Mary is beautiful, but that makeup was tragic.  She would have been better off with my very sad efforts. 

IMO last night belonged to Cole/Hannahlei and Slavic/Gennessy.     

[LexieLily]

30 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

Does anyone know if we'll be getting the same pairings next week (minus those booted) or if they'll change it up every week?

I hope they stay with the same partnerships the whole way through. It's a nice throwback to the glory years of the show and one of the reasons the show worked so well. Who can forget Dmitry losing his partners three weeks in a row?

[BeeBop88]

I really liked Slavic, to me he proves he is versatile in dance. Love, love Hannahlei, such a gifted dancer. I am really leaning into wanting her to win the whole thing. Jensen is okay, but unfortunately for her, her sister Lindsey is better and it shows.  Magda is good, but to me she comes across as too cocky. Don't like that attitude. Chelsea did not do the tap dancing that well, and I would not be surprised if she goes next week.  Darius is my favorite male dancer. Very strong performances. In the end,  I hope it comes down to a Hannahlei and Darius showdown. While I lean to a Hannahlei win, I could live with Darius taking it all too.

Edited August 7, 2018 by BeeBop88

[Keekski]

14 minutes ago, Tikichick said:

  The only thing more egregious would be putting Alex Wong's, Cheon's or Ade's partners in pointe shoes -- and go!

 

So true!!! I never even really thought of it that way. But I also don't think they have have ever done what they did last night having them dance in each other's styles. 

 

Is it one or two eliminations next week? If it's one, will an all-star replace the contestant? Because, goodbye Chelsea and would DIE for an Aaron/Evan tap routine. 

[RachelKM]

What the actual fuck was with Nigel's comment to Jensen about her over "sexiness"? Fuck off, creepster.  There was nothing about her performance in the jazz that seemed overtly sexual in a way that was not part of the actual choreography.  Honestly, I thought her persona countered some of the sexiness.  And worse was dragging Magda into it.  Darius and Magda looked PISSED when that happened (Cat looked briefly uncomfortable too).  My friend and I paused right after he referenced Magda's appropriate sexy and this image says everything:

Edited August 7, 2018 by RachelKM

[cali1981]

Nigel is still a misogynistic putz at times.  He just can't help himself. His "too sexy" to Jensen was inappropriate and yes, so was dragging Magda into it.  Magda did look incredible in her red dress. Jensen is only 20 and Magda is 27 and her maturity let's her wear damn near anything and look good in it.  Vanessa actually made a technical critique last night.  At the same time it was reported that pigs were flying and hell had frozen over.

[mojoween]

I don’t really know anything about ballroom so perhaps I'm way off or perhaps my loathing of Jensen is coloring all of this but I thought the samba was terrible and they were going to get some honest critique from Mary about their missed transitions and that awful lift at the end but nope!  They just got great jobs across the board.

And then I thought Chelsea was fire in her jazz but as soon as I heard Vanessa start the judging with technical critique I realized they are not the judges pets.

It sucks, because I love Chelsea and just want to follow her around and make her smile just so I can see her beam, because her smile is stupendous.

It’s too bad.  I did think that the number in the rehearsal moved a lot faster than in the live show which was kinda odd.

I’m only up to Slavik and Genessy’s first number which I so do not think was worth a standing O and Genessy was making really annoying faces and if she can’t stop touching her hair she should cut it.

[realdancemom]

Darius was my favorite going into the competition with Hannahlei as my favorite female.  That hasn't changed.  My favorite routines were both of Darius/Magda's routines and Cole/Hannahlei's contemporary.  I agree with ElectricBoogaloo that I don't like Tasty Oreo's Broadway but I do like his contemporary.  The one that comes to mind is Silence with Will and Jessica.  I also liked Slavik in the hip-hop.  

I think the show definitely bussed both Evan and Chelsea.  They were the only ones to receive any criticism in the first round.  While their jazz was just o.k., it's not like they couldn't have given constructive criticism to others.  Jay Jay/Jensen definitely botched up the ending.  Jay Jay needed to work a little bit more on technique but he was good for a non-ballroom dancer.   since Jay Jay is not ballroom, there were awkward parts from Jensen too.  

I could say the same thing about Genessy.  She was good in the hip-hop but it's hard not to be compared to Slavik when they're dancing side by side.   From what the show has showed us, I don't think any of the other females would have done better though.  Still wouldn't have given them a standing O.  Also, I think part of the jazz criticism should have gone to Ray Leeper's choreography but the show is not going to do that. 

Giving Evan and Chelsea tap was just ridiculous.  As somebody else posted above, it didn't do either one of them any favors.  The routine had to be dumbed down so Evan couldn't show off his tap.  It was too much to ask of Chelsea when she hasn't taken that many tap lessons and it was years ago.  I give them both kudos for having to smile during the judging segment which was just BS. 

Don't know what Nigel was talking about with Jensen being too overtly sexy.  She could have received other constructive criticism liked cutting her movements short, being too precise that her movements didn't flow, or something along those lines.  It's ironic because I remember Lindsay receiving opposite critique.  She and Alex Wong did a Sonya jazz and she was too smiley in it.   I could say the same thing for her dentist hip-hope routine but I didn't like Christopher Scott's routine.

Talia is good at creating contemporary routines for non-contemporary dancers.  Her routines don't have a lot of Classical technique in them.  She relies on emotion and letting go.  My favorite piece from her is with Edson and Megz during the Stage vs. Street season.  Megz was a street dancer.  While she had some training, it wasn't a lot.  Talia also did a routine for Mark and Comfort which took advantage of their chemistry and also didn't require difficult traditional technique.  That's why I think she was used for Slavik and Genessy's routine.  It was o.k. but not my favorite from hers.

[mojoween]

I’ve never been much of a fan of Magda, but I loved her in the second number.  I could not take my eyes off of her and she seemed like a really good partner to Darius too.

Oh also I liked Jay Jay and Jensen’s second number and have no idea WHAT Nigel was blathering about.

I will admit he made me laugh when he blamed budget cuts for Darius’s terrible trousers.

The music for Cole and Hannahlei’s paso was perfect, I thought, and I loved him in it.  It amuses me that his shirt had an open back.  Hey, if you are going to spend that much time and money on a full back tat, you are going to show it as much as possible.

[Jsage]

Quote

Jensen better figure out in a hurry that mugging for/only having eyes for the camera isn't the way to endear the audience and bring them in.

Now this is an appropriate critique for Jensen. What Nigel said about her sexuality is not!

[crowceilidh]

Glad they listened to us about Twitch -- now if they'd just can Vanessa who drives me bonkers with her stumbling over what she wants to say and her tryign to be cutesy...

All the couples were physically really well matched.  Cole would look great with Chelsea too.

Despite my constant annoyance at TW and his non-stinking excrement, to be fair, we replayed that opening number to enjoy it before we knew it was his and I thought his other piece was all kinds of amazing and it moved Magda to number 2 in our household, despite the fact that we are otherwise left kinda cold by her.  That red dress was so gorgeous - seemed to me like it might be one of her own and it really suited the period of the dance in a couple of ways (sleeve, tie top, bias cut figure hugging skirt).  I didn't hate Darius clothes in the second one but those pants should have had a cuff.

The consensus around here is that we don't hate Jensen anymore.  I put that down to Jay Jay's ballroom dancing ability. That first number was great.

Slavik ftw at the moment.  No votes for Hannalei or Evan from this household.  She's a solidly good dancer and has lovely lines and feet, but she herself does nothing for me and I suspect she makes Cole seem blander than he is.

[crowceilidh]

Dividing along gender lines here is the way we'd line them up:

Slavik  Cole  Jay Jay  Darius  Evan 

Magda  Genessy/Jensen  Chelsea Hannahlei

From first to last with no gender division:

Slavik Magda Cole Jay Jay Genessy/Jensen Chelsea Darius Hannahlei Evan

I think Slavik and Genessy are smart to play the romance card -- I wonder if they'll keep doing it.

A lot of the costuming was pretty messy and dire.  I hated the paso doble costumes and Jensen and Jay Jay's second routine costumes were distracting.

[AlleC17]

I too, thought Nigel was incredibly rude as he tossed Chelsea under the bus when talking about how simplified the routine was.  No kidding!  As if choreographers never dumbed down a routine before for dancers out of their genre!  The one that pops into mind was Twitch and Katie's Door routine...he did a LOT of standing in the routine!  But got a standing O...now he did really sell it which Chelsea did not, but as mentioned above in many posts, tap is not something anyone could pick up in a week.    Stupid Nigel needs to stfu sometimes...okay a lot.

Edited August 8, 2018 by AlleC17

[Kira53]

13 hours ago, radiochik said:

That's what I did.  I wouldn't have voted for her otherwise because she wasn't one of my faves but the deck was stacked against her to begin with.  Basically, any of the women would have been thrown under the bus being paired with Evan and having to tap.  They obviously want Chelsea to go.  And she will.  I just don't think it should be because she had to do a tap routine.  

Did anyone catch when Vanessa said "You did not fail to disappoint" in one of her critques/gushes last night? I wish they hadn't brought her back as a judge.

20 votes went to Chelsea for the same reason.

[Kira53]

9 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

I did a double-take and thought, "Uh, Vanessa, I don't think that came out quite as you intended."

The dreaded swirly-cam was out in force after being thankfully subdued during Academy Week/Top 20 Male & Female cut weeks. Grrrr!

I was half-expecting a plumber-crack style wardrobe slippage with Cole in their first number. There were questionable wardrobe decisions peppered all through the episode, I mean, high-water pants and saddle shoes?

Does anyone know if we'll be getting the same pairings next week (minus those booted) or if they'll change it up every week?

I believe that they'll be with all-stars next week.  If they don't do that, then It's going to be a bit of a mess because most likely two couples will lose their partner and the other ones that are still together will be able to develop more chemistry giving them a great advantage.  Interesting that they didn't tell us what the format would be.  They wouldn't continue to be giving each of the dancers one dance of their own style would they?  If they use all stars they would be able to fill two hours again.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

35 minutes ago, Kira53 said:

It's going to be a bit of a mess because most likely two couples will lose their partner and the other ones that are still together will be able to develop more chemistry giving them a great advantage.

That's what happened in S2-S6 when they were paired with the same partners for the first half or so of the season. Some unlucky dancers had a new partner every week while everyone else got to stay with their original partners. That's why I would prefer if they go back to the S1 format where all of the partners are reassigned every week. It's more fair for everyone to get a new partner every week.

[crowceilidh]

Quote

 I believe that they'll be with all-stars next week.  If they don't do that, then It's going to be a bit of a mess because most likely two couples will lose their partner and the other ones that are still together will be able to develop more chemistry giving them a great advantage.

That's exactly how it used to happen and I liked it like that.  I'll be happy if it continues the way it used to, although I still wish they'd had a top 20 and done more eliminations to fill the shows they have.

Just read yr post ElectricBoogalo - I did like the switch ups between couples in s1, but I also enjoyed the perma couples.

Edited August 8, 2018 by crowceilidh

[Carrots4]

Was there really all that much Paso in Cole and Hannahlei’s pasodoble? It seemed like a lot of lifts and posing. It was cool watching Jean Marc demonstrating the lifts with Hannahlei, though. 

In the rehearsal package for the contemporary Cole spoke a lot about a trust fall lift that was proving very difficult. I missed it the first time I watched the routine, it was buried in the middle of the dance. Given the amount of time spent talking about it I was expecting it to be more of a standout moment.

Does Mary really not know how to say Val Chmerkovsky’s last name? I was sure he’d choreographed a few times before. Does she not know of him through the ballroom world?

Nigel telling Evan he was looking forward to seeing him dance with Gabby during the critique of their tap routine was really nasty. Yes, other people could have danced it better, no need to rub it in. Focus the critique on the dance you just watched, please. Nigel never fails to disappoint...

[Rahul]

I knew really soon into the opening number it was another writhe-y, roll-y Travis Wall routine. Left me cold as usual and the amount of ass kissing and smoke that gets blown up this guy's ass really irks me. I feel like it's kind of The Emporer's New Clothes with him. Either no one gets his choreography or everyone is afraid to speak up and say it's tortured and insipid, and the Emmy voters go along with it. Sickening.

I was surprised at how biased the judges' comments were tonight--I expect that on World of Dance, but sadly this show is following suit. Not one person pointed out how Jay Jay flubbed the ending in his ballroom number with Jensen, and the other labored lifts were ignored as well. Meanwhile, Chelsea got unfairly hammered for a tap routine when they've never previously put someone else through the paces like that. That would be like asking someone to perform an intermediate Kathak routine in a few days. Just the basics alone take several years to master.

I was also taken aback by the amount of standing O's for performances that were not truly worthy. 

On the plus side, I was impressed by Cole and Slavik. Genessy held her own in her routines, although Slavik really did outshine her in that hip hop number.

Did anyone else notice how ruddy/discolored Evan's nose was at the end of his jazz number with Chelsea? Then when the same thing happened to Magda after her chacha with Darius I realized it was due to their partner's significantly darker shade of makeup rubbing off on their honkers during the routine. Hopefully the makeup department can address this going forward.

All in all there were a few good numbers but I was not really wowed.  

[crowceilidh]

Thanks for explaining the nose mystery, Rahul.  I hadn't been able to figure out the cause and I knew it couldn't really be a contouring accident of that proportion.

[Mertseger]

2 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

Glad they listened to us about Twitch -- now if they'd just can Vanessa who drives me bonkers with her stumbling over what she wants to say and her tryign to be cutesy...

Hey , as she said herself said about one of the couples, she did not fail to disappoint. 

How frigging strong is Hannahlei esp. her core? I spoke an involuntary "Shit!" when she raised her torso off the floor from supine.

Edited August 8, 2018 by Mertseger

[calipiano81]

17 hours ago, crossover said:

Cole is just so much better at contemporary than the other sytycd male ballroom dancers.

As a big Paul Karmiryan fan, when Nigel made his comments about ballroom boys and contemporary, I screamed out...WHAT ABOUT PAUL??!!! He spent Season 10 primarily dancing contemporary and jazz and went pretty far and got a lot of praise.

Edited August 8, 2018 by calipiano81

[mojoween]

4 hours ago, Mertseger said:

How frigging strong is Hannahlei esp. her core? I spoke an involuntary "Shit!" when she raised her torso off the floor from supine.

When Cole stood over her and appeared to make her levitate like a magician?  I thought that was awesome and could not figure out how she was doing it.

In Vanessa’s first critique, I think? of Jensen?  she called her both a tiger and a lioness.

Also I was a bit uncomfortable with Nigel calling Hannahlei a warrior because of how he did it and who he compared her to.

Edited August 8, 2018 by mojoween