So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 Discussion Thread
Yes, it’s been a really busy week for me, but I’m still for all of you fans of SYTYCD. Well for the most part. The good thing is I take the late shift with the baby and that means I spend my time blogging while the baby sleeps (assuming this continues as is). Ok, enough about me. Here’s your space to rant, complain, moan, rejoice, blabber, rip, jump for joy, discuss and any other respectable things about the So You Think You Can Dance season 5 top 6.
My top4:
Ade
Brandon
Jeanine
Kayla
(that first Sonya routine was AWESOME.)
Also, if I may add… many of my previous fave routines have been in the top 6 show – so I have HUUUUGE expectations for tonight. BRING.IT.ON.
It also occurred to me that Evan has been getting a LOT of crap for his lacking in the height department – during the guys’ group performance I noticed Evan and Brandon are about the same height. Dang.
top four
Melissa
Jeanine
Ade
Brandon
What was the song that the supergirls danced to??
I love Soyna’s pieces! They were amazing!!! But…Brandon did the same solo from auditions. The top 4? Evan, Brandon Kayla and Melissa. Jeanines solo wasn’t that good. and Ade got left in the shadows due to Brandon’s solo. I want Ade to be in the finally :[ but Brandon went out with no clothes on! How do you compete with that?!
My thoughts
Brandon: best solo of the night
Jeanine: she was the girl that stood out for me tonight.
Ade: thought he could have done better in the samba
Kalya: great to see her pair with someone the matches her technique
Evan: brought it tonight…a nice surprise for me
Melissa: thought she was beautiful…I liked here solo.
In all it was a good show tonight. Sonya’s group routines were great. The boys all doing a standing back flip in sync…just wow. Also, I just want to add I love all the rehearsal footage…it helps show the dancers personality, they work hard, and they are having fun.
Will someone please post the voting numbers from tonight…i watched the show but my dvr didnt record it right and i cant go back and get the numbers to vote!!!
Can anyone tell me the song from Kayla and Brandon’s contemporary routine?
mwalker1 –
I don’t remember all of them, but I know Melissa was #3. And I think Kayla was #1. Pretty sure Evan was #6, too. Not that helpful, I guess. Just vote for Melissa since that’s the number I know for sure. π
I thought everyone did pretty well. I’m just done with Kayla. I won’t be surprised if she stays but I’d be happy if she went. Same with Evan. Sorry guys.
That being said, it wouldn’t shock me if Melissa and Ade went home, but I’d much rather see a top 4 of:
Melissa
Jeanine
Brandon
Ade.
I think Ade’s time is up. I like him, but he’s gotten a bit frantic lately, and it’s hard to appreciate what he does. I honestly forgot he’d even done a solo tonight (I still can’t remember what he did) until they said Evan was the last solo.
I’m worried for Jeanine. She had an okay night, but her solo wasn’t on the same level as usual. Having said that, I do think Melissa is the one to go. Evan stood out in both of their routines (and I really don’t think that’s my bias talking).
Brandon’s solo was wonderful. It reminded me a bit of Alex, the guy who was cut because he was on contract with a different company. I guess it’s a compliment to Kayla, then, that in both their routines my eye was drawn to her.
LOVED the guys’ routine. The only one that I thought didn’t dance it really, really well was probably Ade. But overall, good job Sonya. I don’t normally like her stuff.
Yay for Lil C. Still, he couldn’t save the tragedy that was the judging panel tonight. Seriously, it was awful tonight and really detracted from the dancing for me. I didn’t hear much judging of merit and I found myself willing for it to be over quickly.
As for the dancing, I actually have to say the HIPHOP was my favorite for the night. Finally, a hard-hitting hiphop where the dancers both had groove and power. I really liked the contmep for me but Nigel (his only pretty valid comment of the night) was that the chemistry was just a bit lacking.
Liked the girls solos tonight. The guys fell for me, and even Brandon I felt a little unimpressed because he did it during the audition (fickle, i know).
Oh, and I love Sonya. I have not been loving Wade this season, but Sonya’s been really bringing it.
I can’t believe they’d let Brandon do the solo he did to audition! It was the same music and everything, and didn’t Caitlyn and Jason also dance to it?
Anyways.
I have yet to see a top 4 list without Jeanine in it, so she seems to be a gimmee even though she didn’t necessarily stand out to me tonight. I wasn’t a fan of Kayla’s “acting’ in Tookey’s piece, particularly that silly expression at the beginning. I just don’t know what to think about her, she seems to be coming out of her shell but she just doesn’t really click for me. And the disco was sloppy. Watch it again and you’ll see how much she fumbles and doubts her moves and her partner. To me, when she dances it is just choreography, like in her head she is thinking “And 1, step, 3 kick kick”, etc.
It’s so passed the “who’s a better dancer” part. No one can deny that they are all great. So I’ve decided to focus on the other major part of the show-adaptability. They are looking for not only a good dancer, but a well-rounded and adaptable one. And the two people I feel who aren’t as adaptable (and also my picks to go home) are Evan and Melissa. I feel that Evan has picked some styles that aren’t his own but that he should have nailed (ahem, jive), and he just didn’t. Even his broadways have been dissapointing. I simply adore his solos but he just can’t translate that charisma to his partner routines. On the other hand, Melissa has been given styles that aren’t her own but the choreographers are stunting her adaptability factor because they keep putting ballet in their broadway routines! I have never seen those moves she did 2 weeks ago and tonight in any broadway show, and I am a broadway choreographer! So the judges and her fans can go on and on about how she’s nailed styles she’s never done before but that’s in name only. And I still think they are only putting one name/style in the hat at one time. They always look surprised but one girl has to know who her partner is.
Guess I’m going on and on like Lil C! Don’t forget to see with your ears, and remember the stage is your bowl so eat up!
And I simply HATED Kayla’s solo (from a choreography standpoint, settle down John). Her head was at the same level for 90% of the dance , and it was basically improv.
My top 4:
Brandon, Ade, Kayla and Melissa.
I couldn’t decide between Melissa and Jeanine until this week and now I feel that Melissa out-danced her.
Oh Mandy…Just playing. I actually have never been a huge fan of Kayla’s solo. However, did you see her snap her leg back and almost touch her head in the girl’s number? Compare that to Melissa on the other side and she just made Melissa look bad.
Also, I’m so in the camp with all those that said that Brandon reused his solo. Completely ridiculous to reuse a solo. I hate when they do it on America’s Got Talent and I hate it on SYTYCD. If we name Brandon America’s Favorite Dancer after he reuses a solo I’ll be really upset. I hate rewatching movies, I hate rereading books and I hate seeing the same solos. It’s called original content. Blah!!
I agree with the praise of Lil’ C and the complaints about the rest of the judging panel. I think Mary has just plain run out of things to say. She’s a shill and not worth listening to. She can’t even fake/act like she’s being genuine any more. I’ll be starting the “Can Mary Murphy” petition at the end of the season.
For the person looking for the music from tonight’s show, you can find it: https://puresytycd.com/tag/so-you-think-you-can-dance-music/
Nice show tonight. Some good choreography and great dancing. Still not sure a true Star will ever come out of this season.
Interesting comments so far. The one episode I missed this season was the one with Brandon’s audition, so personally I’m glad he re-used the solo so Igot to see it. Wow.
Brandon’s definitely the best guy for me, and I’m ambivalent whether Evan or Ade makes it to the final. I would be fine with either.
for the girls, there is something I really don’t like about Jeanine. MAybe it’s that she’s always wearing tops that she’s falling out of on stage. I know that’s a double standard after Brandon danced in his underwear, but there it is.
As for th ejudges, that’s why I start watching an hour into the show on DVR. In addition to skippin gthe 4-minute commercial breaks, I can listen to Lil C, completely skip the crazy lady, and listen to some of Nigel’s comments.
Aww I didn’t see Brandon’s audition originally, so I didn’t know that was a reused solo! That sort of bums me out a little bit.
Thinking abotu it some more, I’m still not sure why a reused solo would upset people. Have Kayla and Jeanine’s solos changed week to week? It’s certainly hard to tell.
OK, so I watched the show twice this time around–DVRed it and rewatched it this morning. I’ve been trying to see if it is my bias whispering in my ear, or what…so here are my thoughts (I’m sure, John, that you’ll be shocked, lol):
I thought that the hip hop routine stole the show for me. Best routine of the night. But overall, it was a pretty blah top 6 show–and I really think it was the choreography. For instance, I was very disappointed in the disco choreography. I felt it was cookie-cutter in a lot of ways, and I felt they danced it sloppily. This was the one that I had to rewatch the most, and I felt that the lifts looked laborious (compared to how easily Ade would lift someone, or even how Brandon lifted Janette), and out of the three discos done this season, it was the worst. Which is a bummer because it’s top 6.
I liked the contemporary, but I wasn’t as into that choreographer as much. Maybe it’s my bias toward Mandy and Mia? It wasn’t as touching to me as some of the others have been. I dunno. I actually really thought the samba was fun–I thought Jeanine killed it and I thought Ade was good. Then again, I’m no latin expert or anything. I rewatched it and STILL couldn’t figure out what everyone hated so much about it. Hmm.
The broadway. Hmm. To respond to Mandy’s criticism about the “ballet” in it, I didn’t think there was much “ballet” per se, just regular ol’ technique. Reminded me of some parts of West Side Story and the old school broadway numbers I used to rent and watch with my mom. And I felt that Melissa did really well. I didn’t think that Evan wowed me, though. I agreed with Lil’ C about that–he wanted the wow factor, and it didn’t come through. But then again, I’ve felt that way about Evan all season long.
Evan’s solo, though? Really good. And I was bummed that Brandon repeated his as well. Really irritating (though phenomenally good, of course). It wasn’t Jeanine’s best solo of the season, nor was it Kayla’s. I liked last week’s solos better for all three girls, really.
And finally–the quickstep. I hate this dance. Hate hate HATE it. Always have. I love almost every other ballroom dance, but this one? Grr. Not my era, I guess. lol. Thus, I was really irritated by the luck of my girl’s draw. π But ’tis life. I felt they did pretty good, but I thought Nigel’s comment was most appropriate–it was really good, but lacked some pizzazz in the middle of the routine.
By the way, I noticed in the credits that it says “Dances and pairings are randomly selected.” Just FYI. (For some reality shows, they mention in the credits that the producers have a say in the outcomes–like project runway, for instance–so this stood out to me as more evidence that it is random…despite the conspiracy theorists. lol)
So, two top 4’s…my “hope” and my “reality”:
Hope:
Jeanine, Melissa, Ade and Brandon
Reality:
Jeanine, Kayla, Brandon and Evan
I hope my hopes come true. π
Last night was pretty much a BIG disappointment at this stage of the game. I agreed with the “Can Mary” campaign. There just really isn’t one person that stands out at all….like all their personalities are lacking or something. Jeanine nor Kayla do nothing for me, at least Melissa seems sincere. And Nigel’s comments about Jeanine’s Super girl outfit were just inappropriate. I find that in most seasons Nigel just some times really focusing a little to much on what the girls look like… As for the guys, it just doesn’t really matter….there will never be a match up like we have had in other seasons – Benji/travis, Danny/Neil and my all time favourite – Joshua/Twitch.
I think Kayla has been “flat” all season. She has not “grown” at all and doesn’t connect with the audience!! Melissa is a beautiful ballerina and seems to have a great personality, but not as versatile as I would have liked. Jeanine is by far my favorite to take it all!!!! She is beautiful, talented, and connects with the audience. She has had a bum rap for most of the season with a “limited partner”. There was only one time this season that Jeanine got to dance in her “genre”!!! Why is that? How many times did Kayla get a contemporary???
As for the boys…….Evan is adorable, but he HAS TO GO!!! Ade is extremely talented, but doesn’t seem to connect to the audience that well. As for Brandon, he too is very talented, but a bit too cocky for my liking!!! I think the final four will be Jeanine, Kayla, Brandon, and Evan. I am betting on Jeanine taking it all !!!!! A well deserved win for her!!!
the two dances that stood out for me the most were the hip hop and the contemporary. i actually really really loved the contemporary. i think a part of it though is i always adore the routine when there’s a good song with it. all the other dances were just kinda there for me. i really want melissa and evan to go. evan clearly isn’t as versatile as ade or brandon. and melissa is obviously a talented dancer i just appreciate kayla and jeanine’s technique more.
my top four would be: ade, brandon, jeanine, kayla
@ Kevin – you’re not paying attention if you think Jeanine’s solos don’t change. These do not look the same to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__arUhCur6E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJMJdlaWdjE
and you talk like her popping out of her top is a bad thing? Ok. You watch Brandon. I’ll watch Jeanine.
If I had to guess why Brandon re-performed his audition solo, it would be because he was told to. At this stage in the game, the judges and producers have ONLY so much control. Notice how the panel seemed really edited? These are long-winded judges, but some of those performances only got a couple of comments from each. The performance show is pre-taped and then edited. I believe comments were edited out. Similarly, I believe Brandon was told to dance his solo over again as an effort to get him into the finale. As for Evan, they have been trying to force him out for weeks. If he isn’t out by now, I doubt he will be.
Jeanine is by far the star of Season 5. She is versatile, gorgeous, in-the-moment, humble, and obviously dedicated to her craft. Thank goodness she auditioned on a whim! Janette was my choice to win, but with her gone, Jeanine is it.
I don’t think Melissa or Ade will last this week. Although I thought Melissa’s solo was the strongest. She really involved a lot in her solo and it went with the music really well. Jeanine’s solo was cute and sexy but it didn’t use the stage well. Kayla’s was fast and frantic, like she was a little desperate. It didn’t suit the music at all.
@beth, two things:
1. This week had a lot less “ballet” in it. Some of her routines, I’m left thinking, “You can call that [insert style], but I call that ballet.”
2. I don’t blame Melissa for the choreography. I said it was the choreographers fault for not making her push herself fully outside of her comfort zone.
And the biggest reason I was upset that Brandon reused his solo was because the judges had the nerve to say that it was the best solo in SYTYCD history!
Ben,
I considered that, but he still has to bear the burden of not standing up to them and saying no. It wouldn’t have been that hard of an argument to say no I don’t think. Just say that no one else is doing a repeat. I’d have been fine with a repeat in the finale after the voting was done since that whole show is kind of a highlight of the best performances of the year. Just bad taste to do it last night. We’ll see if his fans pull him through.
Also, you described Kayla’s solo perfectly “Kaylaβs was fast and frantic, like she was a little desperate.” My mom and I both agreed.
Tonight should be interesting.
I agree with beth, the disco piece was my least favourite. I found it too frenetic. I thought the dancers rushed their moves getting ready for their next setup.
I’m liking Stacey Toukey’s choreography a lot.
The all-boys and all-girls pieces, I thought, really showed the dancers’ strengths. IIRC, Sonya stated somewhere that she thinks about the individual dancers when she choreographs.
Final four for me: Ade, Melissa, Jeanine, Evan
However, I fear Melissa will be gone.
John,
Don’t you find it a bit odd, though, that none of the judges were *surprised* by his audition solo being used? They just stood up and clapped like it was something new they hadn’t seen before. And if you were competing for a show and were told “Do your solo again, people will vote for it”, would you say no?
No, I think the judges knew that he was doing it again. So, anything they say is tainted. Too bad Lil’ C or someone didn’t have the buccness required to call it out as a repeat.
I would say no, because I know better;-) However, I can appreciate that Brandon didn’t know better and the producers put a lot of pressure on him to do it. Plus, I’m sure he loves that solo and so he was probably excited to do it again. However, at the end of the day, he’ll be held accountable for his decision pressure or not.
SOO i have never been on the Evan train this season. HOWEVER….I am kind of leaning towards him now to be in the finale instead of Ade…….I just don’t really like Ade’s personality. He’s a great dancer….but he doesn’t seem to really connect with his partners. Evan….Evan…..Evan…..he makes me nervous to be in the finale, because I feel he can really bring a partner down.
I enjoyed the partnerships tonight. I was really excited to see Kayla and Brandon together!! They had the best routines of the night, along with the nappytabs hip hop. And I actually liked the broadway number. I thought Evan really shined.
The group numbers were awesome. Sonja is such an interesting and captivating choreographer. The girls’ superhero number was awesome.
My top 4:
Kayla
Jeanine
Brandon
????(i havent decided yet) i guess ill go w/ whatever America picks
stray observations:
-Nigel was extra pervy during his ‘critique’ of the girls group routine
-Cat = best host ever
-After saying that…..did anyone notice when she kind of made fun of Jeanine(?) after she said her voting #…..and then tried to roll with it/cover it up???
-When Nigel got up and screamed like Mary…..I almost spit out the pop i was drinking due to laughter.
-Thank God Lil’C was there to give some REAL critiques.
-Was anyone else hoping for a Mia routine with Brandon/Kayla….maybe next week???
-The quickstep was actually enjoyable
-NappyTabs……I’m still waiting for my season 5 Bleeding Love routine from you!!!!! (not that your routines this season havent been great)
-I wish I had a DVR π
Nice writeup Kayla.
“-I wish I had a DVR ”
This is why God created YouTube.
haha. you speak much truth John.
ALSO…….
What was up with the divorce lawyer comment from Nigel?? I mean….I could feel the awkward through my computer screen. yikes. did you see their faces?? haha….NappyTans & Cat were visibly uncomfortable with that comment
Kayla, get a DVR, you need it for SYTYCD seasons, my mother and I got one just in time for last season because the season before I missed the Humming Bird and the flower episode and got so mad!!!!! So thats what reallly pushed us to get one, They save the day! And on YouTube, you cannot always get all the videos, but if you are lucky and know how to you can download them. :]
So for various personal reasons I didn’t have a chance to watch much of the show but I will say that I loved the girls routine, and that in it I couldn’t take my eyes off of Kayla. She was just beautiful and I thought she showed more personality in the intro clip. Jeanine also looked really nice. IMHO Melissa could have been completely removed from the dance and I wouldn’t have noticed. She did not stand out at all in that dance.
I’ll be sorry if Brandon isn’t in the finale. I’ve always thought he was the strongest guy on the show and I don’t find Ade to be stunning, although he’s certainly good. If there’s only room for one contemporary dancer in the finale I hope it’s Brandon.
As for the girls obviously I really think Melissa should be going home. I’ll be especially upset if Kayla goes instead though. I’ve jumped on the Kayla train these past couple of weeks and really think she should be the winner.
Kayla,
I thought it was funny, but Mary’s face made it pretty awkward for me.
Kelsey,
Oh ye of little faith. The internet always has it if you’re a nice little computer nerd;-) Although, a DVR does have its benefits.
Chelsea,
I hope all is well with you. It must have been pretty major for you to have missed SYTYCD. Luckily, my son was good and came early so I could see it.
http://www.keepvid.com is a good site to download youtube videos. it converts them into mp4 files. You can put it on your ipod and itunes. or convert that into a quicktime or whatever, if you should please.
you just copy and paste the youtube video’s URL and download.
it comes in handy if you want to keep videos, and then if it gets taken down or something from YT…you have it!
Thanks John. Sad but true, only the big stuff gets between me and my television shows π
Oddly enough I’m actually enjoying Mary this season. I think those botox injections came with a sense of humour, I’ve been finding her very funny this year.
While I watched the solos last night I speculated that none of the contestants this season will be invited back to choreograph. I know it’s rare anyways, but besides Jeanine and Brandon’s solos (I appreciate the artistry of it but hate the repeat) they all look like glorified improv to me.
I also have a feeling that Evan’s brother won’t get as far as Evan did, because America has had it’s Broadway fix. And he’s a tapper, which is less translatable than Evan’s style. But I like the brother’s personality better, he seems more sure of himself than Evan, who always seems to me like he doesn’t believe he’s a good dancer. Except in his solos.
I actually enjoyed watching Brandon’s solo again. I knew it was a repeat, but that knowledge pleased me instead of bothered me. It kind of felt “full circle” to me. I admit it would have been even better if he’d saved it for the finale, but maybe he honestly thought that he wouldn’t make it. I can’t imagine why he’d think that, but he’s already admitted to some self-esteem issues. If he really really believed this was it, maybe he just wanted that final cap to his performance before moving on. Whatever the reason, I thoroughly enjoyed it – and I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the GOOD solos again, like Kayla’s audition piece, or Jeanine’s first two solos, or Melissa’s solo from last week. So many of the solos are just plain crappy, it’s nice to see a good one now and then.
That said, Brandon’s audition was better than his solo, simply because it was longer and he could play with the choreography a bit more. Come on, SYTYCD….MAKE THESE SOLOS LONGER!!!!!