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RSSDouble dose of Shane Sparks on 'So You Think You Can Dance'
Two Shane Sparks numbers, the return of Brian Freidman, and a brand new choreographer awaited us on "So You Think You Can Dance." The results were...mixed.
Oh Cat Deeley, my dear, what is that thing on your shoulder? That big bow-thing and those ruffles...it's all so very "Dynasty." If she wasn't so lovely, I'd mock her. Best Intros of the night go to Evan, Ade and Phillip. I rather like what Kupono and Jason did too.
Joining Mary Murphy and Nigel Lithgoe on the judges' panel is Lil' C who called last week's show "a very solid beginning to what's going to be a roller coaster of a season." Well said, C. Also well said was Nigel's tips on Dancing For Your Life, namely don't show us what you can't do, show what you're good at. He used Locking as an example. Darn tootin'. In the rehearsal package, each partner will mention something ("a secret") that America should know about them.
1. Randi & Evan
Style/Choreographer/Song: Jive/Louis Van Amstel/"Shake A Tail Feather" by Ray Charles & The Blues Brothers
Evan built his own car from scratch (marry me!) and Randi treats her dog like a child, even going so far as talking to it on speakerphone. Wow. That's...special. The number did indeed look fun. The choreography was good and they certainly shined personality-wise. The only problem is they seemed a little flat-footed - there wasn't a whole lot of bounce or at least it wasn't consistent. Lil' C advises that Evan should get in touch with his explosive side and be a bit less smooth. Mary felt it fell a little short but was still enjoyable. Nigel agrees that Evan was not as good as expected since he wasn't as sharp as needed but they're still great as a couple.
2. Melissa & Ade
Style/Choreographer/Song: Jazz/Sonya Tayeh/"24 Hours (The Aston Shuffle A-Bomb Remix) by Terry Poison
Oh! A Sonya routine! Yay! The theme is a guy who hates to lose chasing a girl who's hard to get. I'm not sure if I get exactly that story out of it but I love the choreography. Again, I have to say I'm impressed by how much gravity Melissa has to her movements and she is working those hot pink stretch pants. It's so hard for Ballerinas to be versatile. They really owned their characters. Thumbs up for sure. Nothing but love from the judges with Lil' C calling Ade "everybody's competition" and Nigel loved that Melissa equaled Ade's strength.
3. Caitlin & Jason
Style/Choreographer/Song: Hip Hop/Shane Sparks/"Missing You" by Trey Songz
Jason was all about Michael Jackson as a kid while Caitlin does a Velociraptor impression. Two very distinct and interesting traits. The story is two people who had an intense one-week relationship until she left, then he sees her again. Jason is totally owning this. Caitlin rocked that well but there's something a little off. She needs to work on her fluidity and connecting the movements. Lil' C was not picking up what they were putting down. At all. Mary said it wasn't in sync and likened it to watching Michael Jackson dance with Britney Spears in terms of contrast. Nigel thinks Shane created a number to suit them and that they looked good.
4. Janette & Brandon
Style/Choreographer/Song: Disco/Doriana Sanchez/"Loving Is Really My Game" by Brainstorm
Apparently Brandon has never worked out in life in a traditional sense. As he says, he bench presses girls. Oh ho! Ah, the first couple to pull the Disco Number...OF DOOOOOOM! This is the fastest Disco I can recall on the show. There were a few synchronization issues but they were only momentary and fixed quickly. That split lift towards the beginning was crazy. Heck, all those lifts were crazy. And they really got into their characters. Lil' C thought Brandon did a phenomenal job and gave kudos to Janette's recovery from a near fall. Mary said they embodied Disco and they blew her away. Nigel said if he could stand up and scream like Mary he would.
5. Asuka & Vitolio
Style/Choreographer/Song: Waltz/Louis Van Amstel/"Dreams Are More Precious" by Enya
Vitolio has a thing for motorcycles while Asuka can make spit bubbles. Louis is making it a lyrical, spiritual Waltz using Vitolio's background as inspiration. Three seconds in and it's already miles better than last week. I generally find Waltzes boring but there was something very enthralling about this piece. They seemed much more connected, both to each other and to the routine, and just danced wonderfully. Any technical deficiencies are completely forgivable. Mary almost started crying and called it "painfully beautifully." Lil' C said Vitolio's choppy steps were compensated by his emotional sincerity. Nigel believes anyone not touched by that routine has no soul.
6. Kayla & Max
Style/Choreographer/Song: Pop Jazz/Brian Freidman/"Hot Like Wow" by Nadia Oh
It's really good to see Brian on the show again after so long. His story for the number is a prince wooing a princess with the ulterior motive of wanting to steal her throne. I dug this number. They both really nailed their characters and the choreography was interesting. Max still looked like he was doing Ballroom at times but that sort of upright carriage is exactly what Brian wanted so no harm no foul. I thought he did very well. Good feedback from the judges, though they all said Kayla was perfect and that Max was very good. Nigel likened Max to a young Kevin Spacey.
7. Karla & Jonathan
Style/Choreographer/Song: Contemporary/Stacey Tookey/"Falling Slowly" by The Frames
Holy cow, Karla's a member of Boogie Bots! That's awesome. I like her so much more now. WolfPack's secret is that he sings a lot but kind of sucks. Whatever. This is Stacey's first time on the show (brought from "SYTYCD Canada") and is choreographing a story about two strangers meeting and dealing with temptation. I didn't really feel anything from Jonathan at the beginning until he started interacting with Karla. She, on the other hand, was fab from the giddy up and I think he totally benefited from her presence. Though, to give WolfPack some credit, he is leaps and bounds better than last week. Sunshine and roses during the critique with Mary says he did this style better than his own. I 100% agree with that.
8. Jeanine & Phillip
Style/Choreographer/Song: Tango/Tony Meredith/"Violento (Up Mix)" by Bailango!
The rehearsal package was super rough but the performance went much smoother than you'd expect. Jeanine's technique was definitely better than Phillip's but he was still better than I thought he'd be. The only Locking was a bit choreographed in the end. Jeanine was hot and Phillip was appropriately cool character-wise. She totally distracted from Phil. It's a mixed bag from the judges - Jeanine got positive notes and Phillip...got a lot of tips, the two most important were Lil' C telling him to be exude confidence especially in dances he's not comfortable with and Nigel stating he needs to control his facial expressions more (specifically referencing how he telegraphed the lift before it happened).
9. Ashley & Kupono
Style/Choreographer/Song: Hip Hop/Shane Sparks/"Imma Be" by The Black Eyed Peas
Kupono is super OCD about organization. Super duper. Like organizing shoes by sole shape OCD. Hooray for more Shane Sparks! The concept is that Ashley is Kupono's shadow. They didn't always match (mainly because the way they weren't doing the movements just wasn't the same) but they both had "tear it up" moments. They were giving me attitude and hitting the moves hard, even the smooth ones. I have to say that Ashley impressed me, I didn't think she'd be as good as she was. The ending lacked a bit of impact but I'm going to blame that on the camera work. Kupono was cut off on one shot and another was at a totally bad angle. I dug the choreography. Mary thought it was just ah-ight. Lil' C believed Kupono struggled through the whole thing which made it hard for Ashley to sync with him. Nigel felt it stopped just when he was really getting into it and was underwhelmed, adding he didn't think the four dancers doing Shane's numbers didn't do him justice. UPDATE: I've watched this number like ten times and I think the judges are crazy.
Favorite Numbers: Melissa & Ade's Jazz, Asuka & Vitolio's Waltz, Kayla & Max's Pop Jazz, and Ashley & Kupono's Hip Hop despite the judges not digging it. I also have to give major props to Janette & Brandon.
Stand-out Individuals: Phillip for successfully removing all traces of Locking from his Tango, except when he was supposed to. Jeanine for being hot enough to mostly distract from Phillip's technical issues. Karla really shone tonight. Jonathan for not sucking like I was expecting him too.
Disappointments: Caitlin and slightly Evan. They both had the spirits of their dances down but didn't quite grasp the technique as much as I was expecting.
Did you think Shane was done an injustice in both routines or did Kupono & Ashley hold it down? Favorite/least favorite number tonight? Have a front runner now or has your favorite changed? Any other thoughts?
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In my opinion, Ashley and Kupono were fantastic up until the very end of the dance when the music changed and they took off their jackets. The music lost its hard-hitting edge and the choreography slowed as well. I think that was on Shane, and Ashley and Kupono did the best they could with what they were given.
i'm still not sold on kayla, she's growing on me though. karla on the other hand was just superb. i thought jonathan and karla were the best of the night. there was so much interweaving in their choreography that they just hit all the right spots in the song.
Ashley was much better than Kap. Overall,I wasn't that impressed by Shane's routines. I think it was a little b/c of the dances and also b/c of him. Although I did like when Caitlin bent all the way backward and Ashley flipped herself over Kap.
I agree about the camera-work for Ashley and Kupono. It really distracted from the number. I hate it most when the pan the dancers from behind, and I also dislike when the camera focuses on one of the dancers when both are dancing.
I don't think Shane was done an injustice - I think he did an injustice to his dancers. I felt that part of the problem for Caitlin/Jason and Ashley/Kupono was the routines weren't that great. (This is coming from someone with absolutely no training, so I really don't know what I'm talking about.) I enjoyed Ashley and Kupono more than Caitlin and Jason, and like last week, I thought that Jason was better than Caitlin.
My bottom three couples for the night were Jason and Caitlin, Phillip and Jeanine, and Asuka and Vitolio. I didn't see the story in Asuka and Vitolio's waltz. If Louis hadn't said in the package that it was supposed to be about Vitolio's life, I just wouldn't have seen it. I, personally, found it kind of boring. Don't get me wrong - I love Vitolio, but I did not love his waltz.
That being said, I think the actual bottom three will be Jason and Caitlin, Ashley and Kupono, and Max and Kayla. (I'm unsure about Max and Kayla - I could replace them with either Phillip and Jeanine or Evan and Randi, but I think Phillip and Evan will both have large followings to pull them through - I hope that's the case with Evan and Randi because I just love them. Perhaps his retractions weren't the best [I really have no idea], but I loved watching them because it was a "fun" number!) I thought Max and Kayla were one of the better routines of the night (and she's a fantastic dancer), but I don't know if they'll have a large enough following. Asuka and Vitolio, who should be in the bottom three, won't be there because it was an "emotional piece", and the emotional pieces never end up in the bottom three. If Jason/Caitlin, Ashley/Kupono, and Max/Kayla are the bottom three couples, I think Ashley and Kupono are going home (although I think it should be Caitlin instead of Ashley). I kind of hope Asuka and Vitolio are in the bottom because I want Asuka out!
Favourite routines of the night were Brandon and Janette, Jonathan and Karla (wow, they were great - so glad we got to see Jonathan dance well, and so glad that Stacey Tookey is choreographing for the American show [as she was my favourite chroreographer on SYTYCD Canada]), and Evan and Randi.
Can't wait for tonight's show!
(Also, did anyone else notice that Nigel gave Louis two shout-outs last night? I guess someone brought it to his attention that Louis got no love the first week.)
I'm also quite amused and impressed by Kayla being part of Boogie Bots!! I forget, did only the guys perform on ABDC?
I don't understand all the love being thrown at Kayla. She's got very long legs and she's an OK dancer, but I don't get any sense of personality from her. . . at all.
That being said, I thought the whole show was rather. . . meh! Nobody really awful; nobody really great. I just don't think anybody's safe from the Bottom Three tonight. So I'll just watch and be surprised.
Catty Comment: Didn't Mary's dress belong in a Bulgarian Bordello? It was ugly with a capital UG!
I think only the guys performed on ABDC. A lot of the crews have members that are not on the show. I can't remember was it the Boogie Bots or So Real Cru who had a horrible attitude on the sa****ay airing flipped JC off at one of comments.
I'm afraid I'll have to agree with other commenters above ... the problem with the hip hop numbers was the choreography. Then again, I've never thought Shane Sparks' routines were all that great - reasonably OK, sometimes even good, but never as great as some people make them out to be.
Not a Brian Freidman fan, either. If I were going to pick a haven't-seen-in-awhile choreographer to bring back on the show, it wouldn't have been him. Nevertheless, I was interested to see what he'd do; unfortunately, that number was just stupid. Not awful or cringe-worthy, just kind of lame.
I actually liked the waltz, surprisingly. In the past, I've only liked the waltzes choreographed by that Hunter guy. Also really liked Melissa & Ade, Jonathan & Karla (huge surprise there -- could NOT stand him last week), and Janette & Brandon. The others were just okay.
Of the non-hip-hop numbers, the tango and the Brian Freidman routine were by far the weakest (the Ivan/Allison tango from a few seasons back is still my gold standard for tango on this show, and Philip & Jeanine just did not measure up).
Not much of an Asuka fan, but I'm not sure they deserve bottom 3. Did not like either hip hop routine, but really like Kupono and Jason (Jason in particular impresses me more and more each week), so I'm really torn about who should be bottom 3.
Based on performance, I'd have to go the Philip & Jeanine, Caitlin & Jason, Ashley & Kupono. Maybe Kayla & Max in place of one of the latter two couples. I don't know ... it's a lot harder this year, esp when the dancers I haven't really liked as much generally did better (sometimes a LOT better) this week than the dancers I have been favoring.
http://mel31602.blogspot.com/2009/06/so-you-think-you-can-dance-recap-top-18.html
Check out my thoughts on last night's show here. Faves were Brandon/Janette, Asuka/Vitolio, and Max/Kayla. Bottom three were two Shane numbers plus the tango though I don't think Phillip and Jeanine will be in the bottom since he's so popular.
Loved Karla & Johnathan's routine!!!! Hope they stay!!!!