SYTYCD S7 E5 Meet the Top 11 Thoughts
I *reallllllly* need to talk about this one! 🙂
-First of all, can we all agree here and now that Ade is Ade from S5 and the S7 contestant’s name is Adechike or Chike? Cause this is going to get very confusing very fast, unless we set some ground rules. Lol
-I loved that little dance routine that some of the contestants did with their luggage in the opening montage.
-Wade and Amanda *seriously* need an Emmy for the opening All-Star/Top 11 “Fame” group routine. Like, now. I loved the “Alice in Wonderland”-funked up flavor to it. I love Wade’s choreography – how it can be both elegant and dirty at the same time. It’s like crack for us SYTYCD fans. Loooooved the “partner exchange” near the end and all of their poses at the end and Alex’s face. 🙂 Clearly, he loved being part of that routine.
-Cat rocks. “Thank you for coming to my tea party.” Cat, I’ll go to your tea party anytime. Just don’t ever leave SYTYCD, please. 🙂
-Wonderful to meet the new director, Nikki Parsons, and see her in the control booth. That was a nice, personal touch. Kinda like how SYTYCD AU showed us a lot of footage with the costumers.
-Everyone went mad when Mia was welcomed back. I’m mad for Mia, so I get it.
-11 seconds to say what we have to know about the contestants? Pretty cute. Especially Kent’s, “uh, I’m single.” 🙂 Not for long…
-Travis, Travis, Travis!! “Paris is Burning” is a gooooorgeous routine. Oh my goodness!! I love the idea of basing a routine on celebrating the fall of an empire. How not standard is that? Um, I mean unique. Creative. As cool as the whole routine was, and kudos to chipper LoFro for holding her own in a mental piece like this, the highlight for me was seeing Kathryn and Mark dance together. So…
-Season 8 should be a fall season that is JUST SYTYCD alumni dancing routines together, showcasing the dancers associated with the show. Kinda like the “pro dance” routine in the middle of the results show? But a season full of that. Why not? Then, back to regularly scheduled programming in the summer with Season 9. 🙂
-Cat’s right when she said, “Kent, you look quite mad.” And when she asked him who was his ideal woman and he said, “someone like my mom,” and then blurted, “Beyonce!” Toooo funny.
-Got a bit teary when Travis said, “Four years ago, I was on that stage and now I’m sitting next to these guys.” Wonderful!
-And speaking of “sitting next to these guys,” I love that they’re having the choreographers on the judges’ panel for their routines! Can we keep this for the whole season?!?! Why shouldn’t they chime in on what they thought about the routine? Sure, it’ll mostly be positive platitudes, probably, but every once in a while, we might get a disappointed reaction, etc.
-Tyce’s routine from Sweet Charity and the 4 girls, Alexie, Melinda, Allison and Lauren was killer! Loooved it! I agreed that I couldn’t really tell the difference between the All-Stars and the contestants. This was the one routine where I think that was really true.
-I loooved their dresses!! Especially Melinda’s!
-Cat was so cute when she said, “I wanna be in your gang, girls! Please, let me be in your gang!”
-Then, Cat pointed out that Tyce worked with J.Lo and Tom Cruise *this week* and I loved that he said there was no difference between that and working with the contestants/All-Stars.
-I thought Nappytabs routine with Jose, Twitch, Comfort and Dominic was really smart and creative. It was clearly predicting his journey from contestant, to alumni pro dancer and All-Star. 🙂 Clearly, Jose was loving Cat’s attention afterward. I wonder if Dom’s got some competition? And how he’ll react, if so? Lol.
-Speaking of that… I thought the Cat/Dom interplay was definitely scripted and cheesy, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t think it was funny/cute. 🙂 I did. Cat can pull off cheesy. And they kinda acknowledged that it was a “bit,” when Cat said, “we need to go somewhere with this.” Loooved when Dom said, “I can’t see you” and craned up at her. 🙂
-I loooved that Nappytabs confirmed my read on the routine and said it was about initiating Jose into the SYTYCD family. 🙂 Nice to have such supportive choreographers and fellow dancers.
-Yay, Jason Gilkison!! I liked the “Work” routine, but it kinda reminded me of the DiLillo Couple/Karen Hauer routine from Season 6’s “Meet the Top 20” showcase episode, which Jason also choreographed. And, as much as I like Cristina (and, I do!!), everybody was overshadowed by Pasha in that routine. Pasha!!! Do I really need to say more? I think he could’ve handled another dance partner. Also, Pasha needs to be a pro dancer on Dancing with the Stars. Anybody agree? Also, did anybody else notice that Cristina was the only dancer to get called out for something technical? She was told she has kinda “lazy feet.” I don’t think any of the other dancers got anything but positive feedback.
-Cat’s “These girls danced their dresses off! That’s called shaking it!” Lol.
-Mia’s contemporary “This Bitter Earth” was PHE-NOM-ENAL!!! She’s baaaaaack! I love her creative choreography. The idea of a routine about “time, the journey of life,” is just incredible. I wonder if she got first pick of dancers? 🙂 Billy, Alex and Ade all stood out to me, but I especially loved Ade’s full committment to the “old man” end of the spectrum. More than any of the other routines, I felt like these 3 guys got to represent themselves, got significant “solos” within the routine, which was not just due to Mia’s choreography, but also to the camera work. It was beautiful. I especially loved the point where they were spread across the stage and swayed in unison with each other. And when they walked off the stage together.
-Mia’s comments after the routine, “It was an honor,” with her hand on her heart and to Ade, “Welcome home.” And calling Billy a freak and Alex a beast. 🙂 Cat saying, “Let’s hear it for the freak and the beast.” Looool. 🙂
-I didn’t like that Adechike called himself the underdog. Maybe he feels that way, but it seemed a little too forced to me. I dunno.
-Sonya is amazing. Adechike, Ashley, Robert, Neil and Courtney were all really good in “Freak.” Only thing is that I think Courtney and Ashley were too easy to mistake for each other because they have the same coloring, height and hair color. The guys were all vastly different and because there was an extra one, they kinda got little solos in the routines, so they stood out. Course, I wasn’t complaining when Neil got his moment to show off his spins and jumps. Yaaaaaay, Neil’s back!!!
-Robert did an impression of Sonya!! Awesome!!!! I laughed so hard. And I loved that Sonya called Adechike on calling himself an underdog – though, she did it in a positive way. 🙂
-At the end, Mia leaned over and whispered in Nigel’s ear. Wonder what she was saying? It almost looked like she was kissing him. Lol.
-It’s weird that the judges/Cat didn’t address Kathryn and Mark at all, but then they did address the rest of the All-Stars. It’s like the new director, Nikki Parsons, called down from the control booth and said, “Guys, it feels/looks weird when you completely ignore the All-Stars. Talk to them, let them talk.” And it was a good thing when they did.
-I would’ve loved to have seen how the contestants/All-Stars were chosen for which choreographers/routines. I would’ve much rathered seen that or rehearsal footage than have the judges/choreographers say a single word about the routines. Why say anything when they’re not judging?
-Seriously, we need an entire season of just showcases like this one. It’s like Survivor’s “Fan vs. Favorites,” but eeeeeeven better because it’s about dancers. And it’d give SYTYCD dancers an even larger platform, a longer life on t.v. What do y’all say?
I can’t believe I’m going to attempt this, but I’m gonna do a Meet the Top 11 routine ranking (1 is the best, 7 is the “worst” in my personal opinion):
Meet the Top 11/All-Star Routine Ranking
7. The Nappytabs’ Jose-Twitch-Comfort-Dom routine was probably my least favorite, mostly because of the genre of hip-hop, more than anything else.
6. Despite Pasha’s hard work, Jason’s “Work,” was not as good to me as many of the others.
5. Tyce’s “Sweet Charity” with Alexie, Melinda, Allison and Lauren. So well danced!
4. Loved Sonya’s “Freak,” but it had soooo much competition for my favorite.
3. Travis’s “Paris Is Burning” had so many things to love. It’s a hard call, was almost #2 or even #1. Tomorrow, it may be.
2. Mia’s “Bitter Earth” routine with Ade, Alex and Billy gave me chills.
1. Sorry, but it has to be Wade and Amanda’s full-out group routine “Fame.” Stunning!!!
Alright, a lot of you are probably going to disagree with me. Ready? Set? Go!
Emilie yeah I loved Mark and Kathryn together too but did you catch where Cat said Mark was from season five. Glad to know I wasnt the only one having a hard time telling Ashley and Courtney apart and yes YAY Neil’s back. Loved Robert’s impression to but I laughed the hardest at the Dominic and Cat thing. It was a great perfomance show cant wait to see more.
This season is gonna be….(in the words of Adam Shankman)…SICK!
so excited to see my faves dancing up there. the S7 contestants blend right in with them. amazing dancers this year.
Kathryn, Allison, And Neil make my life. and Twitch, and Pasha, and Lauren…..ok basically all the all-stars.
I looved the Wade & Amanda routine. Team Robson never cease to amaze me.
I like your season 8 all-stars only idea. i second that. could you imagine how awesome that would be? i can’t. too much awesome-ness.
Ashley Galvan is the Ade of this season. she made the show and the whole time i was like….WHO are you again? have we seen you before? she was never really highlighted except when she was waiting to hear if she made it or not and they showed footage of her. BUT that being said – I liked what I saw in that footage. i am excited to see more of her. And I was having a hard time distinguishing her from Courtney as well.
YAY SEASON 7!!
Hahah I loved it too and didnt get all the negativity the show seemed to be getting.
I seriously loved Mia’s piece, it was my absolute favourite for the night. It was the most thought provoking and evocative while relying mainly on less flashy movements. She was also right about the contestants, the way Billy moves cannot be taught, you have to be born a certain way to do some of the things he does. Ade was also amazing, I take back all the nasty things I’ve said about him in past seasons and Alex, his control and the structure of his movements were a perfect representation for his role, I thought his characterisation was a little 2d but Mia probably wanted it that way.
Wades was my second favourite, standouts of the newbies were Robert, Lauren and Billy. I actually didn’t like Alex in this he was a little stiff and his movements didn’t really match wades vision so I understand why Wade sent him to the back.
Travis’ was visually entertaining, nothing more. Wade light imo. Mark >>> Kent
I don’t get the appreciation of sonyas routine though, I watched it once and hated it then watched it again to see if I was missing something and I still found it a bit of a mish mash of moves with a natural flow.
🙁 Hip-hop routines get ALL the hate. When I watched it I was like “Wow, that was… ahem (sorry, but I HAVE to quote what went through my head) AMAZEBALLS!!!” 🙂 Well, on this show contemporary routines are REALLY popular, but I actually don’t get all the hype. If your flexible, you can to contemporary. And you have to be able to dance without wobbling. I honestly was impressed WAY more with the hip-hop, but I think that’s because I LOOOOVVVEEE it when things are high-energy. 🙂 I feel great when things are fast. It makes me feel young and energetic (which I already am… which is wierd.) Contemporary routines… are too slow for my liking. I don’t know why! Because it’s slower, the choreography is simpler, whereas in hip-hop… fast and really hard. Believe, me, I’ve had the experience. Its hard to memorize all the stuff. But you have to enjoy the challenge. Mia’s routine… good, but not for my taste. She’s an amazing choreographer, and all, but since she’s always and only doing contemporary, I feel as if the novelty is wearing off. I understand that they are “beautiful” and “evocotive” and all, with elegant movements, but it still doesn’t really impress me. Annnndd the props distracted me. I’m not just saying this because Dom is my favorite, either. For others, hip-hop is just a buch of flashy moves, but it’s ENJOYABLE. My friend is flexible and never really danced, but she was also watching (she has DVR) so she went back and learned some moves from the contemporary and she says she was able to do them easily. But she told me when she got to the hip-hop… she made herself look stupid. She sent me a video, and she failed miserably. Why hate on hip-hop?
P.S. If you watch this video on YouTube called “Quest Crew Compilation Week 1-8” you’d understand WHY I enjoy hip-hop so much. (Ignore Dominic’s and Hok’s attemps to be funny by doing wierd stuff. I have to admit, they’re pretty stupid 😛
P.S.S. Emilie, would you mind telling me WHY you hate hip-hop so much? 🙁
Emilie, I definitely agree with a lot of what you said. I really liked Wade and Amanda’s piece, but with all the costumes and props and such it all became a bit distracting. I watched it a second time, really trying to focus on the choreography, and I totally dug it.
I really wanted to see rehearsal footage, and I think seeing it for Travis’s piece might have been the most fun. He’s such a present choreographer, and in the footage we’ve seen of him he’s very there, watching them, and emotionally involved, I would have loved to have seen that because this piece was so original.
I wanted to like Tyce’s piece, I really did, but I just didn’t. I LOVE the dancers, really didn’t like the dance. As I wrote before, it reminded me of the season 4 finale dance he did with Katee and Courtney, “The Trolley Song”. It just didn’t do much for me. And people are saying it was jazz, but everywhere I’ve read it’s listed as broadway (plus it’s to a broadway song), so I’ll go with the majority and say it’s broadway.
Oh Christina, bless her heart she tried, but to put a girl who isn’t a ballroom dancer on stage with arguably the two best ballroom dancers SYTYCD has ever had is just cruel. Christina is a SALSA dancer, NOT A BALLROOM DANCER! She did her best, but the chemistry between Pasha and Anya was just in super strength on the show.
I’m really interested in reading comments on Mia’s piece. Personally, I loved it. Mia’s pieces are never just pieces, they always have intention, whether they’re silly (the Butt Dance) or serious (“Addiction” or “The Bench”). I found it very powerful, every move had a purpose, it told a story. My dad happened to walk into the room at this point, watched the dance, and asked me what the hell he just watched. It’s definitely to each his own. I was especially struck by Billy and Ade as their props became extensions of their bodies. Billy moved as the fire truck moved; Ade’s emotions came out in the cane. Well done.
@Lola: Good question. I’m not sure what it is. I generally find it kinda of boring and one dimensional. As a writer, I suppose I like the story and character that other pieces, particularly contemporary, carry with them. Which is probably why I usually like Nappytabs routines. And I did like the story, the concept, best of this routine. But, I just find it too repetitive and boring. It’s like…when I work out, my mind has to be engaged as well as my body, so I prefer team sports, etc. Hip-hop just doesn’t engage me as consistently. Don’t worry, there are plenty of our readers who agree with you and disagree with me. I get flak for my “hip-hop hate” all the time. Lol. 🙂
@Margaret: Yeah, there was so much going on in Team Robson’s routine that I could probably watch it a hundred times and still see something new. I like that about it, though it was frustrating when I was trying to catch everything.
Ah, boy….Mia’s piece….I cringe to say this because she gave us such gems as Mark & Chelsie’s ‘Tim Burton’s Wedding’ dance and so many others…but I hated it. Probably because I seem to be the only person who cringes at everything Billy Bell, the darling of Season 7, does. Watching Billy Bell play with a firetruck for 2 minutes of my life was agonizing. I really wanted to cry. I’m unbelievably happy Mia is back, but that routine just wasn’t my cup of tea. I could have done away with the trucks and hobbling old man act and just watched Alex dance as a virile 20-40-something in the prime of life. His part was beautiful…the other two were just kind of silly.
While I liked the opening number, using David Bowie…made me vomit in my mouth. Such lovely choreography – really fantastic, though. I loved the concept!
Travis Wall is quickly becoming one of my favorite choreographers – LOVED “Paris is Burning” even though the costumes/concept felt a little familiar to me. It featured my two favorites for this season – Kent and Lauren and Mark Kanemura who can almost do no wrong, to me. I said “ALMOST”! The choreography was just brilliant…Wow.
The hip-hop piece was interesting, but I just didn’t think it was danced as well as it could have been…and there were a few weird moves, but cool “initiation” concept…Loved how they hooked the sweatshirt on the feet and whoooosh…Hey, he’s one of them, now.
Sonya’s piece…Mehhhhh, HATED that stupid song. Only big highlight for me was Neill. WOW. That jump he did…I really missed him. I would love to see Sonya branch out a little more on concepts. Leather and freak themes. Yes, we know she’s a freak, but is there anything else or is this pony not carrying anymore tricks. I still can’t forget “The Garden”…but I’d love to see her take on new ideas.
Tyce – Sweet charity was sweet. Little too saccharine, but Melinda really OWNED that dance. Or was it because her dress seemed to call attention to her more than anyone else? In any case, I am LOVING Tyce, this season. My husband and I were laughing and wondering what drugs he’s on. Seriously – do we ever remembering Tyce being quite so hyper and crazy and smiling all the time? I LOVE it! Every time he’s on, he’s cracking me up. I don’t know what he did with the old, serious Tyce (gave that persona to Sonya?)…I love it! (Ah yes, my husband told me to add that he thinks Tyce is on Enzyte!)
Work – Not crazy about this formulation. The whole 2 girls, one guy, trying to partner both. I realize they had to do this, but I could have done without the 2 women competing for one man stuff. We’ve already seen this with Ashleigh, Ryan, and…who was it? Was it Kathryn? I can’t remember. Just felt like I was watching the same dance, different people.
I can’t wait to see the next performance shows. I’ve never been a huge fan of these very small group routines. At this point, I think I’m just impatient and can’t wait for the real competition to begin. Now I think I’m going to go rewind that bit with Nigel being scared to death by the train. And he thought Mary’s hot tamale train was scary…. LOL
The audience SCREAMING really takes away from the dance and the music. I don’t remember this being so annoyingly loud the other seasons. I love the show but this is ruining it for me. Please stop.
@Joyce: I hear ya. The audience is just whipped up into a frenzy – probably by having their All-Stars back. It’s kinda like going to a tour show, but not. 🙂 Maybe they’ll calm down.
[…] fan base (and the good word of the judges), so I think she’ll be fine. [For those of you who know how bland hip-hop generally is to me, you might be surprised to see me say all this, but there you […]
am i the only one who misses Mary? Mia”s holier than thou attitude and obvious favortisim gets on my nerves…BRING BACK MARY…i miss her whoops and her hot tamale train
I’m really surprised that John hasn’t spoken up about how much he misses Mary…