Yikes, that's some odd giant-sack-bow of a dress Cat's wearing. I just read that she's styling herself this season, so any credit or blame goes right to Ms. Deeley herself. Speaking of fashion, when the dancers come out for the intros, it looks like Asuka has borrowed a pair of Edyta Sliwinksa's leg warmers. Of course, Asuka is somewhat more covered up, so I'm not sure why.
On to the couples. The theme for the intro videos is telling "secrets" about each partner-- odd anecdotes that range from projectilve vomit stories to teddy bears and as many uninteresting and boring things in between as possible.
Randi & Evan: Jive, Louis van Amstel. Apparently, Jive is Louis' favorite Latin dance, awesome. They're going for the fun, dorky side of things. In fact, the show runs a "fun" counter for each mention of the word. The routine is great with lots of speed and high knees, good kicks. Lots of energy & expression.
Mary decides to nitpick his triple steps for some reason. The "fun" counter clicks up somewhere around, um, 213, I think. I stopped paying attention.
Melissa & Ade: Jazz, Sonya Tayeh. A typical "battle of the sexes" theme, looking for the rougher side of the ballerina. Um... it's okay. They dance it cleanly and skillfully, but I got none of the conflict/attraction in the performance. Strong, but just kind of there.
The judges love it. Okay.
Caitlin & Jason: Hip hop, Shane Sparks. It's the second meeting after a hook-up, I guess. Again, they do a pretty strong job, but it's definitely short on the strength and aggressive sharpness in the movements the choreography seems to want. Ehh.
Janette & Brandon: Disco, Doriana Sanchez. Oddly, she the salsa dancer is having it tough. It's a great, very strong routine and probably the best "disco" performance ever on the show. They keep the speed and energy up and are bright and snappy without being cheesy. Really well done.
Asuka & Vitolio: Waltz, Louis. In a very Louis move, the dance is inspired by Vitolio's life stroy and will be "lyrical, spiritual" and he wants Vitolio to "dance full of pain". And it's beautiful. They do a great job with great lines and excellent movement. The partnering is shaky, but the performance is awesome.
Hey, there in the audience: Marlee Maitlin.
Kayla & Max: Pop jazz, Brian Friedman. She's a princess, being romanced by a performer... okay. I get very little of that, since they're both very frantically moving everywhere. It's well-danced and clean, but they never get a chance in all the flailing to connect really.
Again, the judges much more impressed than me.
Karla & Jonathan: Contemporary, Stacey Tookey(-tooky!). An accidental romantic meeting is the theme, and wow, they do a fabulous job with it. She is so light and he is amazingly strong and centered and very expressive. It's amazing for a salsa dancer. Great expression, fantastic lifts.
Okay, we get one interesting "secret": Karla is a member of the BoogieBots, a very successful hip hop group that competed on America's Best Dance Crew. I actually remember them.
Jeanine & Phillip: Tango, Tony Meredith. A lot of lift issues in practice, what with him groping her bits and her kicking him in the nads. Nice attack in performance, lots of attitude. His frame is strong, but posture is compressed and footwork bad. She's solid, if not great, and they performed it well.
Ashley & Kupono: Hip hop, Shane Sparks. She dances as his shadow/mirror. They're having a tough time with the speed and intricacy. Performing, I see some great isolation and lots of sharp movement, and some good sync. When they get to the end with a little breakdown, I don't love it.
And the judges didn't like it overall, but liked the end. Weird.
RESULTS SHOW
Now Cat, that tailored white suit and loose hair is fabulous.
Group dance tonight is to "Higher Ground" by Stevie Wonder, choreographed by Mia Michaels. It is spectacular. The dancers are decked in slim black "suits" and adorned with Maori-style face tattoos. Everything about it is tightly wound, shaking-muscled tension. The movements are sharp and strong, and while it's solidly grounded, it's so restrained as opposed to Mia's usual expansive style. Love it.
Video package: "Lil' C's Dictionary of Dance". They clip together the highlights of Lil' C's comments from last night into a fun string of "flights of fancy" (as Nigel calls them). The best parts are the reactions of the choreographers, especially Shane Sparks' bewildered turn to the camera. C, for his part, is cracking up.
They whittle their way through the pack. Evan gets a surprise as we're shown a cute clip of his brother Ryan delivering an inspired a capella tap routine at Season 6 auditions earlier that week and getting a ticket to Vegas.
In the end, the bottom three couples are: Caitlin & Jason, Kayla & Max and Ashley & Kupono, a totally different lineup.
Our dance guest this week is another recycle from Superstars of Dance, traditionaly Indian dancer Amrapali Ambegaokar, she of the super-fast belled feet.
Now for solos. Caitlin's is well-danced, but doesn't engage until the end. Jason's shows great control and strength, but I don't feel it. Ashley's is nicely different and has some attitude. Kupono's is the expected quirky and light, very fun but not impressive. Kayla shows a lot of her skill and technique. Max is stuck with the usual Jive-y stuff, but does it well.
This week's musical guest is Kristinia DeBarge, performing her song "Goodbye". It's a display of throughly generic pop music, boring staging, dull costuming and bland dancing. It's about as cookie-cutter as possible, and for as little moving as she's doing, she still lip syncs.
The decisions for elimination are not unanimous, and the judges would have preferred to send home no one of these six.
Eliminated: Ashley Valerio and Max Kapitannikov.
Which leaves Kayla to dance with Kupono. Should be interesting. See you then.
...Read more
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
SYTYCD - S5 Top 20
Just to reiterate, I really didn't care for Cat Deeley when this show started, but she really has grown on me and I can't now imagine SYTYCD without her. Sure, you can almost rely on there being something puzzling or just downright awful about either her hair or her dress, you can also count on the genuine affection and support she shows to the contestants. "I have new babies!" she announces happily, in fact, as she introduces our top 20. And proving my ealier assertion wrong, both her 'do and dress are quite nice tonight. Did she always have the crystal/rhinestone-ringed microphone?
The top 20 do their little moments as they're introduced. Overall, while the girls are all obviously talented and skilled, it's the guys who really impress with their diversity and tricks. Brandon gets points and winces for that split. Only Asuka and Melissa stand out for the girls, being the "oddballs" in terms of dance style.
Joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel tonight is the hardest working man in showbiz, Adam Shankman, who is currently balancing his SYTYCD commitments (which sadly don't include choreographing on S5, understandably) with producing three feature films simultaneously. This includes Step Up 3D, which would be an almost instant-thumbs-down from me, but apparently features former SYTYCD'ers Twitch, Katee, Joshua, Ivan & Cedric.
On to the couples.
Jeanine & Phillip: hip hop, Napoleon & Tabitha, a theme of "don't go to bed angry". Another awesome lyrical hip hop from the duo? YES. The two of them absolutely nail the sharp edges and soft lines, she does a great job keeping up and holding her own, and he partners her well.
Mary is orange, people, and it's worse with the blonde highlights. Oh, and for those feeling like getting even closer to the resident shrieker, she joins a number of the other judges on Twitter: @HOTtamaleTrain
Asuka & Vitolio: Broadway, Wade Robson, a silent film theme. Lots of trouble locking for them, naturally. It's very cute and altogether sharp and nice and clean, but there's not enough pop of huge personality that needs to come through in an upbeat character number like this.
Karla & Jonathan: Cha Cha, Tony Meredith (sans Melanie LaPatin?). They want sexy, and alas, he's more sweaty (an affliction with which I sympathize). Good, solid, clean and fast. Karla is on my list, mugging for the camera at every moment like Lacey Schwimmer. Overall, not a good enough connection.
Randi & Evan: jazz, Tyce Diorio, an intimate romantic piece. She's married, and neither has had to act lovey before. In performance, you wouldn't know it. They're awesome, squeezing out every bit of emotion. The number is subtle and calm (a little un-Tyce). Beautiful and strong.
Paris & Tony: hip hop, Napoleon & Tabitha, hard-hitting. Tony, more of a character dancer, is having trouble being aggressive. On the floor, there are some okay stops and sharpness, but it lacks a lot of the attack and punch the music wants. The overdone too-many-pieces costumes don't help.
Caitlin & Jason: Bollywood, Nakul Dev Mahajan. Intense, fast and super-hard choreography that kills them to learn precisely. They do fantastic, keeping the energy going full-speed all through. He hits the moves a little harder, but she's a little sharper. He looks surprised by the kiss at the end.
Janette & Brandon: Foxtrot, Louis van Amstel (YAY!), evoking Fred & Ginger. They start learning easy, but then it gets challenging. They do well, with a nice feel for the music. Both light up as they leave closed hold. The lifts are solid and a little scary.
Cat wants a reaction: "Give us an eyebrow, Mary!"
Mary overshares: "I can't, not since the Botox."
Ashley & Kupono: jazz, Wade, old crash-test dummy meets new (?). High concept (Wade's specialty) is sometimes a tough sell, but they do such a great job of selling and embodying their characters through movement even in the ridiculous get-ups is awesome. Technique shines through. Very impressive.
Melissa & Ade: contemporary, Mandy Moore, theme of first love. She's the oldest competitor at 29. Yikes. They refer to one tangled-up floor move as "dirty Twister". Great chemistry between them, wonderfully connected. The lifts are terrific, and they are really feeling it. Awww.
Kayla & Max: Samba, Louis. Louis has known Max since he was 14, and speaks to him in ballroom-ese, so that Louis can concentrate on teaching Kayla and Max can help her more. Smart. It's an awesome result. She's fantastic, and the whole thing is fun and well-connected. He has great focus and good expression.
Nigel is wearing some headphones that were part of Tony's costume earlier, but Mary yanks them off to scream. In fact, she does so much she makes herself hoarse. Not permanently, alas.
RESULTS SHOW
The opening group number starts out like homeless zombies, then lets the girls get glam for some reason. It's a tight, sharp and poorly-shot (by the cameras) hip hop routine from returning favorite Shane Sparks. One of the homeless zombies holds a sign that reads "Save the dancers, save the world." Frankly, I'd actually watch Heroes if it was about super-powered dancers.
A video package talks about the four steps to a good partnership and illustrates with "amusing" clips of the dancers: 1) respect boundaries, 2) communicate, 3) respect your partner and 4) share interests.
The featured dance guests are Miriam Laricci & Leonardo Barrionuevo performing an Argentine Tango. The Wife spots them as having appeared on the disappointing Superstars of Dance last year.
They go through the couples, showing clips and doing the usual rigmarole until we learn...
Bottom three: Paris & Tony, Asuka & Vitolio, Karla & Jonathan.
Solos: Paris (good, but not particularly inspired); Tony (a retro thing that's just okay); Asuka (the usual not-great ballroom solo, but flirty); Vitolio (nice and strong, very good); Karla (very by-the-numbers bit); Jonathan (good gymnastics, not much dancing).
Nigel tweeted: "So hard to eliminate two dancers, but we are unanimous."
Eliminated are: Paris Torres & Tony Belissimo
See you next week!
...Read more
The top 20 do their little moments as they're introduced. Overall, while the girls are all obviously talented and skilled, it's the guys who really impress with their diversity and tricks. Brandon gets points and winces for that split. Only Asuka and Melissa stand out for the girls, being the "oddballs" in terms of dance style.
Joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel tonight is the hardest working man in showbiz, Adam Shankman, who is currently balancing his SYTYCD commitments (which sadly don't include choreographing on S5, understandably) with producing three feature films simultaneously. This includes Step Up 3D, which would be an almost instant-thumbs-down from me, but apparently features former SYTYCD'ers Twitch, Katee, Joshua, Ivan & Cedric.
On to the couples.
Jeanine & Phillip: hip hop, Napoleon & Tabitha, a theme of "don't go to bed angry". Another awesome lyrical hip hop from the duo? YES. The two of them absolutely nail the sharp edges and soft lines, she does a great job keeping up and holding her own, and he partners her well.
Mary is orange, people, and it's worse with the blonde highlights. Oh, and for those feeling like getting even closer to the resident shrieker, she joins a number of the other judges on Twitter: @HOTtamaleTrain
Asuka & Vitolio: Broadway, Wade Robson, a silent film theme. Lots of trouble locking for them, naturally. It's very cute and altogether sharp and nice and clean, but there's not enough pop of huge personality that needs to come through in an upbeat character number like this.
Karla & Jonathan: Cha Cha, Tony Meredith (sans Melanie LaPatin?). They want sexy, and alas, he's more sweaty (an affliction with which I sympathize). Good, solid, clean and fast. Karla is on my list, mugging for the camera at every moment like Lacey Schwimmer. Overall, not a good enough connection.
Randi & Evan: jazz, Tyce Diorio, an intimate romantic piece. She's married, and neither has had to act lovey before. In performance, you wouldn't know it. They're awesome, squeezing out every bit of emotion. The number is subtle and calm (a little un-Tyce). Beautiful and strong.
Paris & Tony: hip hop, Napoleon & Tabitha, hard-hitting. Tony, more of a character dancer, is having trouble being aggressive. On the floor, there are some okay stops and sharpness, but it lacks a lot of the attack and punch the music wants. The overdone too-many-pieces costumes don't help.
Caitlin & Jason: Bollywood, Nakul Dev Mahajan. Intense, fast and super-hard choreography that kills them to learn precisely. They do fantastic, keeping the energy going full-speed all through. He hits the moves a little harder, but she's a little sharper. He looks surprised by the kiss at the end.
Janette & Brandon: Foxtrot, Louis van Amstel (YAY!), evoking Fred & Ginger. They start learning easy, but then it gets challenging. They do well, with a nice feel for the music. Both light up as they leave closed hold. The lifts are solid and a little scary.
Cat wants a reaction: "Give us an eyebrow, Mary!"
Mary overshares: "I can't, not since the Botox."
Ashley & Kupono: jazz, Wade, old crash-test dummy meets new (?). High concept (Wade's specialty) is sometimes a tough sell, but they do such a great job of selling and embodying their characters through movement even in the ridiculous get-ups is awesome. Technique shines through. Very impressive.
Melissa & Ade: contemporary, Mandy Moore, theme of first love. She's the oldest competitor at 29. Yikes. They refer to one tangled-up floor move as "dirty Twister". Great chemistry between them, wonderfully connected. The lifts are terrific, and they are really feeling it. Awww.
Kayla & Max: Samba, Louis. Louis has known Max since he was 14, and speaks to him in ballroom-ese, so that Louis can concentrate on teaching Kayla and Max can help her more. Smart. It's an awesome result. She's fantastic, and the whole thing is fun and well-connected. He has great focus and good expression.
Nigel is wearing some headphones that were part of Tony's costume earlier, but Mary yanks them off to scream. In fact, she does so much she makes herself hoarse. Not permanently, alas.
RESULTS SHOW
The opening group number starts out like homeless zombies, then lets the girls get glam for some reason. It's a tight, sharp and poorly-shot (by the cameras) hip hop routine from returning favorite Shane Sparks. One of the homeless zombies holds a sign that reads "Save the dancers, save the world." Frankly, I'd actually watch Heroes if it was about super-powered dancers.
A video package talks about the four steps to a good partnership and illustrates with "amusing" clips of the dancers: 1) respect boundaries, 2) communicate, 3) respect your partner and 4) share interests.
The featured dance guests are Miriam Laricci & Leonardo Barrionuevo performing an Argentine Tango. The Wife spots them as having appeared on the disappointing Superstars of Dance last year.
They go through the couples, showing clips and doing the usual rigmarole until we learn...
Bottom three: Paris & Tony, Asuka & Vitolio, Karla & Jonathan.
Solos: Paris (good, but not particularly inspired); Tony (a retro thing that's just okay); Asuka (the usual not-great ballroom solo, but flirty); Vitolio (nice and strong, very good); Karla (very by-the-numbers bit); Jonathan (good gymnastics, not much dancing).
Nigel tweeted: "So hard to eliminate two dancers, but we are unanimous."
Eliminated are: Paris Torres & Tony Belissimo
See you next week!
...Read more
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
SYTYCD - S5 Las Vegas week
This review would have been to you sooner, if not for a less-than-completely-tightened cap on a bottle of Coke Zero being somewhere near the papers where I jotted down my notes for last week's Las Vegas week episodes.
SYTYCD has taken over the big theater at the Planet Hollywood Resort/Casino, which I remember quite fondly as the new Aladdin. I'm really curious about how they've re-themed and re-decorated the place, and the show doesn't give us much in the way of peeks. Oh, well.
The action starts with all 178 contestants performing a solo. As usual, the show helpfully singles a few out for us, ensuring that we'll have seen maybe half of the top 20 dance by the time they're chosen. However, they pick a couple of doozys: Alex Wong, of the Miami Ballet Company, shows off his stronger side with an awesome martial arts-flavored routine; Tony Belissimo (who to me, looks like the younger brother of Sam Witwer, who plays "Doomsday" on Smallville) is a hip-hopper with a great prop-driven solo to "Somebody's Watchin' Me", complete with multiple Nigel Lythgoe pictures spying on him.
Contestants were told there "might" be a cut (well duh...) and of course, there is one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "you're not as good as we thought in your original cities" speech Nigel gives-- does he do that every season? Anyway, to stay through this cut, a dancer only needed one "yes". After the smoke clears, 45 dancers are sent packing, including the awesome Travis Prokop.
Time for choreography! First up to bat are Napoleon & Tabitha, with hip-hop to the Black Eyed Peas' new "Boom Boom Pow", a song that actually uses auto-tuner as a stylistic element, and not to cover up a lack of talent. Routines, we see, must be learned in one hour before being performed-- yikes.
Mia Michaels gives great quote: "I love cutting. Because I like to see people who are not good at what they do go home." DAMN. The judges make good on that ruthlessness, paring down another 37 dancers. (For those scoring at home, we're down to 96.)
The next day, Jean-Marc & France have ballroom duty, giving them a Waltz. J-M is not having any of their milling around and talking-- he's barking like a drill sergeant. Phillip Chbeeb can't stop popping even as he Waltzes well. His gal-pal Arielle is eliminated after this round, while Japanese popper Nobuya passes and cries over it.
Next routine is Jazz, done by Sonya. She's pushing them hard. Natalie and Brandon, that dynamic duo of almost-was'es are in their element, and even are made to demonstrate for everyone. However at crunch time, something in her doesn't connect like it did in practice and one of the definite front-runners from the start of the season is eliminated. Brandon makes it through. Gabi Rojas is made to "dance for her life" not five minutes after performing, and makes the cut. Our total remaining is now 73 (the show started counting down instead of keep track of cuts).
7:30 PM on that day, and the dancers are put into their groups and given their random music selections to work on throughout the night. This is probably my favorite part of Vegas week, because it puts stress not only on them as dancers, but as people and personalities. The show is, after all, looking for America's favorite dancer.
The next morning, we get video clips on a few of the groups. The first few routines pretty much suck. Nigel and the judges do most of their yelling about people giving up to rest and sleep when they weren't confident in their routines or teammates. A not-that-bad one comes up, and suddenly things get good. Or at least, that's how it was edited.
Silky Moore, a tapper, DFYL's and fails to make the cut.
Judgement Day! It's Mia's contemporary routine. What a surprise, it's intense, tough and very complicated. In an unusual move, Tony B. is asked not to DFYL, but to repeat the routine with the last group. Caitlin Kinney does DFYL and passes by 3-to-3. The Kasparczak brothers pass, as does Tony by votes. We're left with 54.
The last routines will be a bit different. Tyce Diorio comes in to do a girls' routine and a boys' routine, both inspired by West Side Story. The girls dance first, a skirt-waving high-stepper to "America", and there will be no voting until the judges have seen them all. Cut are Gabi, Megan Kinney and a less-than-graciously accepting tapper. And we're down to 16 girls.
The guys get "Cool", and are trying to emulate the pop and power of that routine, working really hard. And they're down to 16. All of those 32 will dance a solo, which for some reason or other isn't televised, and then the judges will form their top 20.
It's the elimination, and Cat Deeley has gone with a plaid flannel shirt. Okay. Again, the dancers are made to walk past video monitors of their dancing so far.
Pass: Jeanette (the Salsa jump-flip-split girl), Vitolio (the African headdress guy), Kayla (?), Kupono (formerly long-haired contemp guy), Paris (?), Janine (?), Ade (?), Karla (?), Jonathan (?)
Pass: Brandon. I single this one out because there is a damn near catfight amongst the judges over him. Mia, who has been saying all Vegas long that she has yet to see the great talent the other judges have told her about, and that she doesn't like his seemingly smug attitude. Lil'C has also remained unimpressed. Debbie Allen praises him greatly and Mary Murphy gets really close to calling out Mia, saying she (Mary) "can't stand hearing people tear [Brandon] down like this". He passes 4 to 2. Brandon promises to make Mia and Lil'C into believers, and the choreographers for their part, look like they'd relish the chance to torture him.
Pass: Tony (hip hop Doomsday), Maxim (ballroomer), Caitlin (replaced hip), Melissa (the "naughty ballerina"), Jason (?), Ashley (?), Randi (a girl who wears unitards almost exclusively and is sporting a giant diamond ring and diamond wedding band).
Cut: Randy Sun (Asuka's partner)
Pass: Phillip (popper), Asuka (Go Asians! ballroomer).
Cut: Alex Wong. Nigel makes it clear that they wanted Alex in the top 20. However, Alex is under contract with the Miami Ballet Company and despite Nigel making a personal phone call to the company's artistic director, there will be no temporarily letting him out of the contract, making Alex ineligible to compete at this time. It SUCKS.
This being reality TV of a sort, the very last elimination comes down to the Kasparczak brothers. The judges say that essentially, they could only have one of them, due to the similarity of their styles. As it turns out, the stellar choreography of the older brother helps push the younger into the top 20.
Cut: Ryan Kasparczak
Pass: Evan (classic Gene Kelly guy).
Live shows begin this Wednesday.
...Read more
SYTYCD has taken over the big theater at the Planet Hollywood Resort/Casino, which I remember quite fondly as the new Aladdin. I'm really curious about how they've re-themed and re-decorated the place, and the show doesn't give us much in the way of peeks. Oh, well.
The action starts with all 178 contestants performing a solo. As usual, the show helpfully singles a few out for us, ensuring that we'll have seen maybe half of the top 20 dance by the time they're chosen. However, they pick a couple of doozys: Alex Wong, of the Miami Ballet Company, shows off his stronger side with an awesome martial arts-flavored routine; Tony Belissimo (who to me, looks like the younger brother of Sam Witwer, who plays "Doomsday" on Smallville) is a hip-hopper with a great prop-driven solo to "Somebody's Watchin' Me", complete with multiple Nigel Lythgoe pictures spying on him.
Contestants were told there "might" be a cut (well duh...) and of course, there is one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "you're not as good as we thought in your original cities" speech Nigel gives-- does he do that every season? Anyway, to stay through this cut, a dancer only needed one "yes". After the smoke clears, 45 dancers are sent packing, including the awesome Travis Prokop.
Time for choreography! First up to bat are Napoleon & Tabitha, with hip-hop to the Black Eyed Peas' new "Boom Boom Pow", a song that actually uses auto-tuner as a stylistic element, and not to cover up a lack of talent. Routines, we see, must be learned in one hour before being performed-- yikes.
Mia Michaels gives great quote: "I love cutting. Because I like to see people who are not good at what they do go home." DAMN. The judges make good on that ruthlessness, paring down another 37 dancers. (For those scoring at home, we're down to 96.)
The next day, Jean-Marc & France have ballroom duty, giving them a Waltz. J-M is not having any of their milling around and talking-- he's barking like a drill sergeant. Phillip Chbeeb can't stop popping even as he Waltzes well. His gal-pal Arielle is eliminated after this round, while Japanese popper Nobuya passes and cries over it.
Next routine is Jazz, done by Sonya. She's pushing them hard. Natalie and Brandon, that dynamic duo of almost-was'es are in their element, and even are made to demonstrate for everyone. However at crunch time, something in her doesn't connect like it did in practice and one of the definite front-runners from the start of the season is eliminated. Brandon makes it through. Gabi Rojas is made to "dance for her life" not five minutes after performing, and makes the cut. Our total remaining is now 73 (the show started counting down instead of keep track of cuts).
7:30 PM on that day, and the dancers are put into their groups and given their random music selections to work on throughout the night. This is probably my favorite part of Vegas week, because it puts stress not only on them as dancers, but as people and personalities. The show is, after all, looking for America's favorite dancer.
The next morning, we get video clips on a few of the groups. The first few routines pretty much suck. Nigel and the judges do most of their yelling about people giving up to rest and sleep when they weren't confident in their routines or teammates. A not-that-bad one comes up, and suddenly things get good. Or at least, that's how it was edited.
Silky Moore, a tapper, DFYL's and fails to make the cut.
Judgement Day! It's Mia's contemporary routine. What a surprise, it's intense, tough and very complicated. In an unusual move, Tony B. is asked not to DFYL, but to repeat the routine with the last group. Caitlin Kinney does DFYL and passes by 3-to-3. The Kasparczak brothers pass, as does Tony by votes. We're left with 54.
The last routines will be a bit different. Tyce Diorio comes in to do a girls' routine and a boys' routine, both inspired by West Side Story. The girls dance first, a skirt-waving high-stepper to "America", and there will be no voting until the judges have seen them all. Cut are Gabi, Megan Kinney and a less-than-graciously accepting tapper. And we're down to 16 girls.
The guys get "Cool", and are trying to emulate the pop and power of that routine, working really hard. And they're down to 16. All of those 32 will dance a solo, which for some reason or other isn't televised, and then the judges will form their top 20.
It's the elimination, and Cat Deeley has gone with a plaid flannel shirt. Okay. Again, the dancers are made to walk past video monitors of their dancing so far.
Pass: Jeanette (the Salsa jump-flip-split girl), Vitolio (the African headdress guy), Kayla (?), Kupono (formerly long-haired contemp guy), Paris (?), Janine (?), Ade (?), Karla (?), Jonathan (?)
Pass: Brandon. I single this one out because there is a damn near catfight amongst the judges over him. Mia, who has been saying all Vegas long that she has yet to see the great talent the other judges have told her about, and that she doesn't like his seemingly smug attitude. Lil'C has also remained unimpressed. Debbie Allen praises him greatly and Mary Murphy gets really close to calling out Mia, saying she (Mary) "can't stand hearing people tear [Brandon] down like this". He passes 4 to 2. Brandon promises to make Mia and Lil'C into believers, and the choreographers for their part, look like they'd relish the chance to torture him.
Pass: Tony (hip hop Doomsday), Maxim (ballroomer), Caitlin (replaced hip), Melissa (the "naughty ballerina"), Jason (?), Ashley (?), Randi (a girl who wears unitards almost exclusively and is sporting a giant diamond ring and diamond wedding band).
Cut: Randy Sun (Asuka's partner)
Pass: Phillip (popper), Asuka (Go Asians! ballroomer).
Cut: Alex Wong. Nigel makes it clear that they wanted Alex in the top 20. However, Alex is under contract with the Miami Ballet Company and despite Nigel making a personal phone call to the company's artistic director, there will be no temporarily letting him out of the contract, making Alex ineligible to compete at this time. It SUCKS.
This being reality TV of a sort, the very last elimination comes down to the Kasparczak brothers. The judges say that essentially, they could only have one of them, due to the similarity of their styles. As it turns out, the stellar choreography of the older brother helps push the younger into the top 20.
Cut: Ryan Kasparczak
Pass: Evan (classic Gene Kelly guy).
Live shows begin this Wednesday.
...Read more
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Interim
Have yet to see last night's episode of SYTYCD, but I'll be checking it out tonight. In the meantime, I've referred to the Dancing With the Stars reviews I've done before, but here's a convenient link to them:
Eric's DWTS Reviews on LiveJournal
If you aren't following some of the SYTYCD folks on Twitter, you should.
@dizzyfeet is Nigel Lythgoe, who's the best way to keep up with show news and to get a good judges'-eyes view of things.
@kingofkrump is Lil'C, who is as interesting and intelligent in 140 characters as he is on the show.
@adammshankman is, of course, Adam Shankman, who is awesome... and, it's sad to say, going through some rough personal time. Lots of good wishes to him.
Eric's DWTS Reviews on LiveJournal
If you aren't following some of the SYTYCD folks on Twitter, you should.
@dizzyfeet is Nigel Lythgoe, who's the best way to keep up with show news and to get a good judges'-eyes view of things.
@kingofkrump is Lil'C, who is as interesting and intelligent in 140 characters as he is on the show.
@adammshankman is, of course, Adam Shankman, who is awesome... and, it's sad to say, going through some rough personal time. Lots of good wishes to him.
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