'So You Think You Can Dance': Karen Hauer and Victor Smalley pack their bags
It's official, folks -- we've got our "So You Think You Can Dance" season six top ten! And I honestly really like almost all of them. We had a close call in the elimination round, though -- the first of many to come, I suspect.
Nigel reminds us that this is the judges' last week in control, and although this would normally fill me with trepidation, I've been pretty pleased with America's choices so far. Keep it up, boys and girls. (Spoiler alert: America doesn't keep it up.)
Group Number:
Hip Hop/Tabitha & Napoleon/"What's A Girl Gotta Do?" by Basement Jaxx feat. Paloma Faith: We've got an Alice in Wonderland-inspired group number this week, and it's pretty wild. I'm not sure whether I mean that in a good way. It just didn't quite come together 100% for me, honestly. Sorry, NappyTabs!
Karen and Victor are the first couple to land in the bottom three -- not surprising, since it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. And yeah, Victor especially might as well pack his bags now. Mollee and Nathan join Karen and Victor in the bottom, but I don't anticipate trouble for either of them since the judges clearly love them both (deserved or not ... Mollee).
And holy curse word, you guys -- Ellenore and Ryan are the third couple in the bottom!!! I take back everything nice I've ever said about you, America. I don't care how safe you thought they would be! They were clearly one of the two best couples last night, and I don't see how anyone could argue otherwise. Weeeeeak. And also bad news for Karen, since I think Noelle's potential presence in the bottom was her only shot at staying in the competition.
Before the solos, ballerina Paloma Herrera from the American Ballet Theatre performs a lovely piece from "Don Quixote" that makes my toes and ankles throb just watching it.
1. Karen
Song - "She Wants To Move" by N.E.R.D.: Well, I have lots of sympathy for ballroom dancers trying to dance solo, but I think Karen's taken the "I'll just be super sexy while throwing in a few salsa moves here and there and hope it gets me through" thing a bit too far. A couple of those moves seemed like all they were missing was the pole, though with Nigel judging ...
2. Victor
Song - "Village Attack" from "Blood Diamond" (original soundtrack): It's ... quite dramatic. A little too dramatic, if you ask me, though I suppose that's a matter of taste. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I just can't help but compare this type of solo to Brandon's outstanding one last season, and Victor keeps coming up short.
3. Mollee
Song - "Bulletproof" by La Roux: Wow, Mollee's really not taking it easy on that ankle, is she? She pulls out some impressive acrobatics again, and I like her energy. Having suffered through an ankle injury before, I know her pain and shakiness and just have to give her major props for powering through. I also thought this was a nice compromise between dancing like an adult without dancing like, um, Karen.
4. Nathan
Song - "Going, Going, Gone (live)" by Stars: We already know Nathan can give good solo, and he doesn't disappoint. Why can't he dance with this much maturity the rest of the time? The judges may be right about a more mature partner helping him (and Mollee) out.
5. Ellenore
Song - "Bottom" by Zap Mama: If I didn't love her already, choosing a Zap Mama song would've put Ellenore over the top. The solo's still got a lot of her quirky-jerky style, but it has more power than her last one. Though she probably could've somersaulted across the stage and the judges still would've put her in the top ten (and rightfully so).
6. Ryan
Song - "Baila Baila Conmigo" by Missiego: See, Ryan can actually pull off the crazy open shirt/vest thing, unlike Russell last night. He's got all kinds of energy, and though I can't say I was in love with the chest/pelvic thrust stuff, the leg work was awesome.
While the judges deliberate, Shakira and her army of backup dancers/singers teach us a lesson in booty shaking, pelvic thrusting, and lip synching.
The judges are unanimous in their decision on the girls' side. Nigel tells Mollee she truly fought for her place in the top ten with her solo. The judges apparently discussed what Ellenore could do to improve and get the audience to pick up the phone, and came up empty (save perhaps staying on this planet a bit more) -- she's already terrific. Nigel felt as though Karen's solo was a white flag, and that she didn't put her heart and soul into it. And indeed, she's headed home.
On the gents' end, the judges were surprisingly not unanimous. Wow. I would've though this one was an easy call. Nigel somehow finds a way to compare Victor to Kelly Osbourne on "Dancing With the Stars," which, okaaaay. (And why does he keep bringing up the competition?) He thought the solo was terrific, and really appreciates Victor's growth. Nigel recognizes the difficulty of a ballroom solo, but gives Ryan credit for his outstanding partnering (while suggesting that he work on his solos a bit).
However, Nigel feels that Nathan has remained a brilliant dancer, but hasn't grown. Apparently, he even voted for Nathan to go home! Seriously? Over Victor? I mean, at least Nathan has a fighting chance of shining with another partner. Victor's had three, and still fails to impress. I certainly don't think his solo was good enough to make up for that. However, Nigel got outvoted and Victor is rightfully headed home along with his partner.
Okay, America...Explain yourself! How did Ellenore and Ryan end up in the bottom?! How do you feel about our top ten?
Related:
'SYTYCD' judges dish on last week's elimination
They are all great dancers. It was just a tough choice. I hope Nathan will really pick up the maturity with a new partner. I hope he will get Ashley. I also want to see Rusell shine a bit more because before the top 20 he was my favourite one but since then he was just hiding in the box for me.
Nigel didn't need to dis Nathan AGAIN!!! Although it might help if the kid got his hair out of his eyes.
I knew Victor and Karen were toast after their hip-hop last night. Victor's been bottom-feeding for too long now and Karen got caught up in his bottom-ness. Too bad! She got stuck with some dud partners, but I never thought she was Hot Tamale Train material, any way.
karen and victor didn't deserve to go before nathan and mollee. they had a bad choreographed dance. nathan was a good dancer stuck with a bad dancer mollee. yes, she was a bad dancer. i don't care what her solos were like.
i actually could have cut russell or nathan, but not victor.
I have a feeling that Nathan and Mollee will be the next two cut. Only thing that can save them is if they get two kick-*** routines and partners that can carry them through. I think that means Ryan or Jakob for Mollee, not really sure who can help Nathan out--none of the girls really shine on their own to me thus far, but work really, really well as couples. Still think that Legacy and Kathryn is the couple I'm going to miss the most. And as much as Ashlee bothers me (I think it's the horse-smile) her dancing has come a long way thanks to a great partnership. Don't know if it's enough to help out her future pairing, though.
(Ha! Love the auto-censoring! Didn't type *** in my previous comment . . . .)
@Kelly- Agreed, the next partners are probably more key for Mollee and Nathan than for anyone. I'd love to see Nathan with Ashleigh (as Daisy mentioned), since she's so good at partnering.
And that's really funny, I didn't know the commenting system did that - I just thought people were being especially careful lately with the asterisks!
the problem with being satisfied with mollee and nathan being the next to go is that unlike last year, nygel did not announce that the tour would include the top 12, not the top 10. karen and victor do deserve to be in the tour.
Nigel was just being a tool about Nathan. I don't know why the judges are overly flattering to Mollee she's the problem in that team. I think Nathan will do great with any other partner and she'll be the same tedious toddler/tiara reject.
Ryan and Ellenore were 3rd best last night and America chose to save Russ/Noelle. Lucky Noelle since she was a 50/50 to go if she'd been bottom 3. Russ was probably the worst male last night but given the options Victor was the clear casualty.
Oddly, while Shakira's lip sync was really obvious somehow I found her really charming. That's got me confused.
Next week will suck because I like all the boys. I hope Mollee goes, but Noelle won't break my heart. Kathryn is my fave for the girls she's really stunning pretty much all the time.
I hope editing starts making an effort to give more even PR to the top 10. We've gotten a lot of legacy and Ellenore (and molleeeee is burned in my retinas) but I'm interested to learn more about Jakob and Kathryn. Good grief parents learn to spell.
I think Ryan and Ellenore were amazing and I am floored they missed the votes needed to pull them out of the bottom three........Perhaps becasue oldies like me, don't vote, saving our money, and the youngsters are betting on youth and charm rather than actual talent?????
Come on America, let's get real about performance and not style and charm...I plan to put out some cash this next week.....I've seen enough of crazy stuff.
It was actually no surprise to see Nathan and Mollee in the bottom. They did the best they could with what they got, but what they got was pretty silly. They should never bring the Can Can back to this show. Never.