In brighter news, it’s Hollywood. And Cat Deeley, is dressed in a sparkly, three quarter length sleeve romper? Uh oh. Cat is dressed like a crazy person. I have a bad feeling about tonight. We did get a Boogie Nights reference out of it, though, so it’s not all bad.
Mary, Nigel and Shankdaddy on tonight’s judges panel. Eh,
you could do worse, except for Nigel is already full of shit spouting off about
how this is the first time that you are bringing folks who maybe can’t cut it
into the top 20 *cough*Cedric*cough*
Reveals and
Opening Performances
And away we go . . .
Fik Shun –
Obviously, he’s in. They never start with a boot. He’s still such a cutie in
his short sleeved striped hoodie. He looks like he’s 9. Woah. What is up with
Mia’s hair? And why is she on the top 20 panel when she wasn’t in Vegas at all?
That’s odd.
Mini-Chbeeb (Emilio?)
- In. I didn’t even know he had a name and now he’s gone. He’ll always be
Mini-Chbeeb to me. That’s two dancers lost to car accidents this season (if you
count Hampton/Exorcist). Not to dancers – learn how to take the bus.
Markus Shields –
I don’t even remember him from the first time he tried out. That doesn’t bode
well. Side note: Mary is way too blonde. Back on topic: And like I thought, he’s
cut. Again. That’s gotta be tough. Poor noodle.
Mariah Spears –
Utah Krumper. Dear show, we did not first meet Mariah in Austin. Liars. Some of
us remember how you should have put her in your top 20 last year. Thank you,
me. Y’all, she’s nuts. I am gonna pull for her like nobody’s business. And what
was Twitch on about? Um, Comfort, Donyelle and Sarah would beg to differ from
you, Twitch, on the fact that there haven’t been many successful female hip
hoppers on SYTYCD. Damn.
Fik Shun/ Mariah/Hip
Hop/Ball/TI – Luther Brown is the
choreographer. Thank heavens for no NappyTab. And they’ve got Fik Shun in as
hip hop even though earlier they’d been billing him as yet another animator.
OK. That means they’re definitely going to take both Jade and Blueprint. As for
the routine, OMG, I’ve watched it three times already. Sick. Let me tell ya
that Utah Krumper at nothing to fuck with. She’s so serious. These two brought
oceans of attitude and swag. I loved that put my make up on bounce with it move.
And the little booty pops into the “Where they at?” moves. And just the slow
walk and then down to the floor and then shooting baskets while dropping on the
knees. That was wild. I want to watch this routine a million times more and
learn this routine. And then do this routine. And then watch it again. What I’m
saying is that this routine was everything and, I swear, Mariah was fire. She’s
got the attitude and the swagger and all that. I agreed with Nigel here that
Mariah outdanced Fik Shun I watched her more than I was watching him. He’s good
but he needs to step more out of his shell. In addition to being way too
blonde, Mary looks like she got lost on the way to the Once Upon a Time set. It’s
so distracting. I agree with Adam that the routine wasn’t busy busy overstuffed
like so many hip hop numbers on this show are. I think that had a lot to do
with the fact that these two can actually dance hip hop so they didn’t need a
lot of distractions. But that meant a lot of the good stuff in the routine
rested on the style each dancer brought to it and Mariah was just giving it to
me more. Still, good start to the night and to hip hop this season. If I can
get it like that all season, I’ll be a happy camper.
Mackenzie – Don’t
remember her at all. She seems kinda generic and a little Gumby legged. Reminds
me of Ryan and that is not a good thing. But she seems to have been a favorite,
so I guess she’s in? Yep. OK, there are always a couple red shirts that pop up.
Jasmine Harper – Clearly
in. And no mention of Cyrus. Nice
Ryan Johnson –
Never saw him so he must be gone. And the hair is nothing nice. I’m sure that
didn’t help.
Lots of no name contempo girls. Won’t miss ‘em.
Tucker and Nico –
I was not a fan of Nico after we saw his very first audition. So frantic. Hope
he did better in Vegas. Tucker, I still love. The hair is killing me, though.
Killing me. He’s heaven as a dancer but the look is tragic. Seems like they’ll
take both and then set them up against each other throughout the season. They do
enjoy that.
Jasmine/Mackenzie/Tucker/Nico/Contemporary/Goes On and On – Stacey is very hit
or miss for me and of these four I only am really in love with Tucker so far,
so let’s see if they can bring it like it should be brought. So the first 16
counts or so of this dance really were not grabbing me. It felt kind of slumpy,
grabby muddled contemporary and then all of a sudden with Jasmine’s first lift
these fools all started turning it out. And then it was amazing. They were really
well synchronized for the amount of time I know they have to work on their
routines. Nico is still frantic for me. Throwing his energy everywhere. In one
of the lifts, Jasmine had a weird foot thing where I wasn’t sure if she was
supposed to be flexed or not and if it’s intentional, I should know. But
overall, they all had lovely technique. Good turns, good centers. Nice grounded
plies. Solid partnering from all four. As Mary said, there were beautiful
transitions in this routine. I didn’t disagree with Shankdaddy’s critiques and
I’m so glad he gave some. Even great performers can get better. I loved his
admonition to Nico to dance more from his back. I think it’s partly because he
throws his moves away. More control would be nice. They all made impressions. I
already love Tucker a little bit more now that he’s had a haircut. And no
mention of Cyrus again with Jasmine. Well done, show.
Wow. I feel like we are two for two on routines so far. That
bodes well.
Alexis – I enjoyed
this tap girl. She was the one with weird upper body stiffness during her
initial audition, but I remember seeing a teensy snippet of her in Vegas and
she seemed to be coping quite well. Twitch is a terrible psych out
practitioner.
Curtis – Such a
cutie pie and he had the emotional break through with Stacey so he’s in. For
real for real. Ah. I could just eat him up.
Aaron – He is
also adorable. Wish we’d seen more of him. I love that he wants to be an All Star.
Dream big, baby. You gotta make the show first, though. Ouch. Ouch. It’s gotta
sting to get cut like that twice in a row.
And now he’s back. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Joy throughout the land! Mini-Chbeeb’folly
is Aaron’s fortune. Well, now I’m smiling even before the routine starts.
Aaron/Alexis/Curtis/Tap/You Really Did It/Jason Mraz - Anthony
Marjorato(?) is the choreographer. Don’t know him but as long as it’s not Nigel,
I’m good. So, wow. I really liked that. I know next to nothing about tap
technique, but it was loads of fun. And Alexis had beautiful turns and she was
doing triples in tap shoes so props to that. In fact, I found her to be drawing
my eye the most in both the fluid and the more staccato moments. Loved whatever
the gliding stuff was that they did on those little wooden mats on the floor.
That was super cool. Aaron’s solo reminded me of Gregory Hines. And Curtis
remains adorable, although to me his work looked the most unfinished and
juvenile of the group. On the whole, I was wildly entertained. Three for three. I’m getting excited. Ha! The
choreographer was the Pugsley looking dude sitting between Stacey and Christopher
Scott. Never would have guessed. The judges were totally useless here except
Nigel. I know you don’t know much about the style, Mary, but “Tap on”? Really?
Jade and Blueprint –
I just don’t think that someone who has been shown to struggle in other styles
as much as Jade seemed to in Vegas should go through. And I’m on record as
saying that Blueprint just is missing a little bit of that spark for me.
Aaaaaannnddd, there’s the Cyrus reference. Blech. See? The judges see what I
see. There’s some performance quality missing in Blueprint. He’s very talented,
but there’s a quality I want to see that I’m not seeing yet. And wow, Jade is a
teeny man. I was not knowing. Much better fake out effort from Twitch this time
around. Quick learner.
Blueprint/Jade/Hip
Hop/Trigger/Kezwik -. Christopher
Scott. Yes! Still no NappyTab. Awesome. So, I really got into the routine. As
Mary mentioned, the hat thing was amazeballs. I really think Blueprint is a lot
better animator than is Jade. I don’t want to sound height-ist, but the
movement just sits better on his longer limbs. Jade looked a little bit
frenetic in his one solo section before he tossed back to Blueprint. I think
both of them have severe limitations. Despite what Mia says, Jade’s height will
be an issue when it comes to partnering. They’re going to have to choreograph
around him and that’s never fun. I think he may be the shortest contestant that
they’ve ever had. Even teenier than Evan. And Blueprint continues to be dead in
the face which suits his style of hip hop where you are trying to be robotic
and kind of like a mannequin or a statue come to life. It’s not going to be
fine in a contemporary or a Broadway piece, for example, which are very much
about inhabiting the emotions of the dance. Or a ballroom piece where pulling
faces is de riguer. Or really any piece which is not animator style hip hop.
Huh. We’ll see. Just on its own as a piece of dance, though, I enjoyed the routine
and we are now four for four on the night with Mia up to bat next. Awww, sookie
sookie now.
Carlos Garlan – I
don’t remember this kid. He looks like a busted Cheon. And busted Cheon is in.
He seemed good in the two seconds I saw of him, but his personality is wearing
me out already. Don’t offer up a massage and a scratch. That’s just weird.
David Lorenzo – Don’t
know you, squeaky voice. Bye bye.
Haley Erbert –
The girl they tried to sell as overly sexy who was actually just good during
the city auditions. Ah, yes. I recall. They didn’t show her at all in Vegas.
Oh, little mouse. Timid will not cut it on this show. Embrace the fierce. At
least, she’s gorgeous. Wow.
Malece Miller –
Oh, please. She was in the minute she stepped on the stage the very first time.
Yuck. What is she wearing? I dislike her so, so much. Stop crying, you pixie
fool. You’re going down early like many a Chosen One before you.
Hayley/Carlos/Malece/Contemporary/Stay/Rihanna – Mia Michaels. Well, I’m
kind of over this song and the Mad Men style costumes and I’m already annoyed
with two of these three dancers so these kids have a lot to overcome if they
are going to win me over. Let’s see what they got. Oh for pity’s sake! I could
not have hated that routine more. I can’t even comment on the dancing, such as
it was, because it was mainly a lot of flail-y over emoting and messing about
on living room furniture. I just…eww. No. I don’t understand what they were
doing. I saw Carlos do a few accro tricks on the Twister style rug and pick
both girls up a few times. Hayley seems like she has good toe point? Yeah, I
got nothing. I’d have to watch it again to tell if there was any detectable
dancing in that dancing and I don’t wanna watch it again. And clearly, Nigel is
trying to de-pimp Malece after the ridiculous fluffing she’s gotten thus far.
Won’t work though because she’s not good enough. Shankdaddy hates all of them.
Ha! I guess every season needs its sacrificial lambs. Now I’m gonna drop some
math on ya. Prop Mia < prop Mandy. Stick with what you know, Mia. And cut
your hair. It looks like a bad weave.
Britney and Serge –
Did we see them in LA? I don’t think so. Serge has auditioned before, no? She’s
in, he’s out. Huh. I would’ve guessed the flip. She seems like a Jenna clone
and Jenna is better.
Jenna Johnson –
Firecracker. Gotta be in. So crazy that there were three sisters. If she makes
the finale, they could do a trio.
Paul Kamyria – He
was the winner of some other SYTYCD, no? What if he just goes around the world
entering local versions of SYTYCD? Watch out, SYTYCD Canada. You’re next.
Gene and Alan Bersten
– Ugh, the brother vs. brother Even and Gene Kasparzak situation again? Give
it a rest. Cat is seriously the best in the business. So sweet with those boys.
I would do a lot for a hug from her. Awww, both of these kids were really good.
I’d take either one over Jade. And they take what appears to be the younger
one. Gene has auditioned a couple times already and now he’s married with a
kid. I wonder if he’ll come back.
Alan/Britney/Jenna/Paul/Samba/Wings/Little Mix - Louis Van Amstel.
Well, the show is really pulling out the big choreographer guns tonight. Samba
rolls, beeyotches. I thought the choreo here was really tough. Louis did not
hold back. Alan was a stronger presence than Paul. He looked more masculine. He
was a more commanding lead. It was odd because for the girls, even though I
prefer Jenna, I felt like she was a step behind the beat pretty much the whole
routine which threw a lot of the side by side partner work off because it wasn’t
perfectly synchronized, but I don’t know, maybe Paul and Britney were just
fast? Either way, somebody was like a half step off. That said, they all had
great hip action, good, fast feet. The ladies had nice legs and nice extension.
Very supple backs on all four in the samba rolls. I enjoyed it. None of them
blew me away, but it served to wipe the bad taste out of my mouth after that
Mia routine.
Six girls and two spots left. Really? That was cruel. Yikes.
Amy Yakima – I love
her. In, in, in. All the way live, this one.
Marisa/Tessa/Gabby –
Don’t know you. Don’t care. Bye, now.
Meghan Branch vs.
Jasmine Mason for the final slot – Hmmm. Curly haired girl they’ve been
teasing all audition season and who was featured in the most loved group
routine from Vegas week or no name, blonde contempo girl. Who will get in? Who
will get in? This isn’t even worth my typing time.
Amy/Jasmine/Contemporary/Enjoy/Bjork – Sonya. And these two
get a duet. Oh you fancy, huh? Alright, bring it ladies. Fierce as hell! I love
me some dance warrior princesses. (Why Mary gotta copy me?)From the first little
walk forward into the plies I was in. And then the arm motions, the little kick
back and then the leg extension? So lovely. Everything was sharp as a knife. I
adored turning stag leap down to the floor. I thought Jasmine brought more
attack to the piece but Amy had that icy control which felt more . . . right.
OK, so there is one moment of this routine that absolutely slayed me. Just
after the girls did some assisted jumps and fun stuff, Amy did a cartwheel over
Jasmine’s back and then they are both standing, looking off stage right. They
pick one foot up, twist it around, plant that foot, hips swing around, torso
swings around and they look stage left, hands on hips, deep contraction,
shoulders raised. Kittens, just that little move was everything. I died. Ran it
back and watched it like seventeen times. I am living for that move. I agree
that when they went into the turn and jump sequence right after that Amy’s
technique was stronger than Jasmine’s, but they were both great. I don’t know
if the final moves in plié in second downstage were supposed to be synchronized
but I kinda liked that they were not and they seemed like they were each doing
variations on a theme. And the ending pose in that strong fourth position? Yup.
That’s good stuff. Love both of them.
Group Routines
Boys Top 10 Group
Routine/LXD Style/Christopher Scott/Sand/Nathan
Lanier – Good choice of choreographer given the composition of this particular
boys top 10. OK, so I loved, loved that routine. It was really creative and
there was just a gorgeous flow to the whole thing. Christopher Scott only has
one thing and it’s the LXD style thing but it’s a great thing so who’s
complaining? Balanchine only had one thing, too, and look how well that worked
out. Special shout outs to Nico and Tucker for turning it out in that contempo
trio break out section (and totally outshining Carlos – sorry, booboo); to Gene
for hanging in with those hip hop kids on some choreography that I imagine has
got to feel completely outside his wheelhouse. He blended in a very good way
but stood out enough for me to notice him. Hard to do. Props also to Aaron. In
the Vegas snippets, he seemed to be handling himself in the hip hop choreo
round, so I wasn’t surprised, but it was nice to see him work in this piece.
Surprisingly, the three hip hop kids, Fik Shun, Jade and Blueprint, made the
least impression on me during this performance. (Well, Paul and Curtis actually
made the least impression on me. Were they even dancing? I feel like I didn’t
see them at all) which leads me to believe that some of my worries about each
of their limitations are more than well founded. I’m quite sure the show
brought in Christopher Scott for this opening group number just to accommodate
them and make sure that at least at first, they were shown to their best
advantage and they didn’t deliver strong outings here. I did like the piece,
although it’s not my favorite Christopher Scott piece ever on the show. Ha!
They made Shankdaddy stand in between cut aways to the panel. He knows it wasn’t
the best ever, either.
Girls Top 10 Group
Routine/Jazz/Ray Leeper/Let’s Have a Kiki/Fanny
Pack and District 78 - Oh, god. I guess they felt they needed someone new
to ape Fosse since Tasty’s not choreographing tonight? Give me a break. Mmmph.
I’m sorry. That looked like a Dance Team routine from some UDA National Dance
Team Championships. Are we at the Milk House at Disneyworld in beautiful Orlando,
FL? You’ve got a lot of good girls here and they can flat out work and this is
what you do with them? Give them a lot of snapping and jazzy walks with hips
jutted forward and awkward stripper moves? There was maybe one turn sequence
towards the end which they pulled off rather well I must say (and Jasmine, other
Jasmine, not Jasmine Mason, was ruling that center) but other than that, there
was nothing especially challenging about that routine. Way too much posing and
booty shaking. And the song was ridonk. It was like something Ru would make the
queens lip synch to on Drag Race. Ugh. No. Ray Leeper, go sit over in the corner
with Mia and think about what you’ve done.
Top 20 Group
Routine/Jazz/Sonya/Ghost of Sky/Steed
Lord – Oh, my. There was a lot of Cedric-ing in that routine, including
entire eight counts where many dancers just flat out left the stage while
others stayed and put in work. Gotta say, I’m not a fan of that strategy. Were
Jade, Blueprint and Fik Shun even in the routine besides the beginning where
they were all standing on stage practicing their The Matrix poses engulfed in smoke? (And WTF with all the smoke?
When watching dance, you really need to be able to see people’s feet and legs. It’s
kind of essential) And I could ask the same question about Paul and Curtis – I saw
Aaron and Alan out there more than the others as they seem to have had some
cross training. Most of the girls had moments in the actual choreographed
pieces of the dance but girls tend to cross train more in a variety of styles
anyway. I wasn’t feeling Sonya’s plan to basically choreograph a jazz piece for
the “trained” dancers and sideline anyone who didn’t yet have the technique to
keep up. Boo. Other choreographers have found a way to craft much more
inclusive top 20 routines. But, you know, bravo ladies and contempo boys. Way
to work.
I’m OK with this top 20, but there are definitely people I
could happily lose.
Boys I’m excited
about
Tucker
Fik Shun
Alan
Boys I could do
without
Jade
Blueprint
Paul
Messy Middle
Aaron
Carlos
Nico
Curtis
Girls I’m excited
About
Jasmine M.
Amy
Jenna
Mariah
Girls I could do
without
Britney
Haley
Malece
Messy Middle
Other Jasmine
Alexis
Mackenzie
That seemed like a long two hours and I don’t usually say
that about this show. Still, I’m excited for next week.
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