Vegas Week Thoughts
I loved the openning of the show with dancing mantages on the building of Vegas was really cool. With that said Vegas week is by far the toughest part of the SYTYCD audition process. There is a reason it is called hell week. Joining Nigel and Mary at the Judging table were Adam Shankman, Debbie Allen, Tyce Diorio, Robin Antin, and Jason Gilkinson (who filled in for Adam during a round). Also I was tweeting along with the show and sometimes miss some details…lol I’m the type that has to take notes so I don’t forget.
Round One Solos: The judges wasted no time getting to the point starting the first of two solo rounds. They cut 46 dancers from that round alone.
Round Two a NappyTabs hip hop: They challenged the dancers with an intricate and fast routine. Hiro, Patty Ann Miller, Kristin Dobson, Princess Lockeroo and the irish dancer Mary Kate Sheean…were among the dancers that got cut during the Hip Hop round. The first of many shocking eliminations.
Round Three Broadway with Tyce: Loved the routine and the song. I would love to see it on the live show. Tyce was great describing the character for the girls but I think he left the guys a little bit confused as for what there character was.
Round Four Ballroom with Jason: Jason chose to challege the dancers with the Jive. I was amused by all the girls getting really excited to take off their shoes. The Jive is no joke and I bet their feet and legs felt like they were gonna fall off.
Round Five Groups: I was quite impressed with the group round. There wasn’t much drama at all just one little break down with Arielle’s group. The Judges were impress too because they only cut 7.
Round Six Contemporary with Travis Wall: Joining Travis was Robert and Jamie. Looks like Mia has passed this round to Travis. Love seeing his work on the show. During this round the two favorites were lost Arielle Coker (who looked just as confused as I did) and Alexis Mason (who had to dance for her life).
Final Round: The final solo round for the dancers to prove that they are worthy of being in the top 20.
Looking forward to the Green Mile tomorrow night and we will finally know this seasons top 20
I didn’t get why they cut Arielle and kept some of the others. I also didn’t like the editing making it seem like the whole show was about the sisters. 31 dancers made it to the end and at least half have had <15 seconds of camera time.
True but this isn’t the first season they have done this. Many of our past favorites didnt get a lot of camera time like Jeanine and she ended up winning. For me not featuring everyone adds that element of surprise. The spent time in season five highlighting Evan and Ryan Kasperzak.
I am very, very mad about Arielle. And confused. And just… I just don’t get it. I get Alexis’ cut – she wasn’t QUITE bringing it and she really has to work on her face / anguish. I don’t know.
I’m just as shocked about Arielle. It didn’t really make any sense. I couldn’t help watching her during her performance with egotastic Jeremiah. It reminds me of Natalie Reid’s cut in season 5 (I think it was season 5). They didn’t really explain why she was cut and it was relatively early in Vegas Week.
I too get a bit annoyed when we go into commercial break covering the same 25 seconds of injury drama when I later have NO CLUE who a dancer is who gets through. But Amanda’s right that it’s also nice seeing that one who just sort of takes you by surprise.
I can totally see why Alexis Mason didn’t make it. She pauses and poses during her dances, instead of making a smooth movement. I think she’s got a great attitude and SYTYCD handled that as they should’ve. They gave her some screentime to tease their audience and out of respect to both Jeanine and Alexis. And then they cut her because she’s not good enough yet.
@Emilie, I agree with you about Alexis Mason, I’m looking forward to seeing her in like 2 years, I feel like there’s a world of difference between the ages of 18 and 20.
I’m so so happy to see the abundance of hip hop dancers (both male and female) this season. That was what was really missing in season 7 for me, no true hip hop dancers. Jose came the closest but even he was a b-boy and got outdanced in his hip hop numbers. I’m loving Wadi Jones and Marko.
what was frustrating for me about the Mallory sisters is all the comments about her weight and how she’s breaking barriers, what about Donyelle?! Granted, she was older during S2, but she did everything that everyone else did, and i LOVED her for it. Especially being partnered with someone like Benji who wasn’t the biggest guy that season. I thought Natalia did a really really wonderful job.
I’ll be very interested to see who they put in top 20, especially b/c of the abundance of hip hop dancers.
Both Arielle and Alexis have more talent, and looks in their right pinkies than the Mallory sisters combined.
I understand it is good for the “bigger” girls to get a chance, but really?! You don’t need a crystal ball to tell it’s never going to work! What happens when one of the guys has to lift her in the show and they don’t have a plethora of dancers to try and “match” her.
It’s unfair on the poor girl. She knows she’s too big, and yet they keep pushing her through at the expense of other more talented dancers. I was raging at the screen when Arielle was cut.
When they cut Arielle, I thought it must be a joke- and I kept waiting for them to take it back. I don’t understand. I can’t believe Natalia is better than Arielle. And what was the lame reason they gave? There is insecurity about what she would bring as a performer? WHY?
I’ve been pondering on why the heck Arielle got canned so early when she did better in the round than others that got through. Nothing but subterfuge comes to mind.
*cranks up the conspiracy-thinking*
Is it possible that she might be too popular? She might have been an audience favorite, and if she really is as strong as she seemed to be, the judges might not be able to touch her once she’s on the show, and thus she might oust their favorites?
They might not want a super-strong crowd-pleasing contemporary dancer again since that’s what won last year?
I just don’t get it.
Another thought: maybe they wanted her to fight for it. So, when Debbie Allen said they had questions about what she’d bring to the show, if she could have come right back with *BLAM!* “Here’s what I bring!” she might have convinced them–especially in light of the speech Natalia gave.
I cannot understand why the largest of the Mallory sisters is still in the contest, she just hasn’t anywhere near the talent of dancers that have been let go,her sister is a little better but should not be in the top 20.
Just want to agree with CAB, I kept waiting for Debbie Allen to say “Just kidding, you’re through to the next round”, especially after asking if she was stunned by the decision. It seemed almost taunting, to send Arielle home that way. Hope she got a better explanation than the one shown last night.
ARIELLE – Unfortunate. To be cut again . . .on the same round?? and WHY??? unbelivable . . if this was a production strategy . . ugh . . . imagine how that would traumatize her. . but yeah, she’ll come back.
ALEXIS Mason – i get the angst Nigel was talking about and yeah . . let’s hope she’ll come back.
WHY is MIA not on the judging panel??
Will ROBIN be a guest judge on the performance shows?? her lips are to die for . .
I just hope to see these guys in the top 20 today
MELANIE MOORE – the sweet tooth face but fierce on dance floor
MARKO GERMAR – the guy with the bullet
RYAN RAMIREZ – please, this time!
JORDAN CASANOVA – the naughty girl
WADI
@ NC: yeah, maybe. Maybe they wanted her to argue, but then they also seem to want the dancers to accept whatever they say without questions or arguments, so that’s surely unfair. With Natalia, they said: tell us! With Arielle, there was no such invitation.
I have a feeling there’s more to this, something we don’t know about.
And I feel awful for her.
On the show itself: it was sloppily put together.
I know they’re trying to compact what used to be two shows (or more?) into one. So, there is no excuse for repeating the same teaser-montages more than THREE TIMES. I mean, how many times did we see Natalia being taken off in an ambulance and Sasha fretting about it? Or the same set of bloody feet? Or “I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to go home…”? Yes, they were some good moments, but to show them again and again at the expense of content is ridiculous.
I felt robbed of some great dancing. The claim was that the group round was one of the best yet. Really? It would have been nice to have actually SEEN a bit more of the best-yet group round. I felt we got short-shrifted.
Can’t wait for the performance shows!
Does anyone know the name of the song that was played in snippets during yesterdays (6/8/11) episode? I’m dying to know the name!!
Out of curiosity, whatever happened to last year’s Nicole Knudson (aka Marge Simpson)? Did not hear any mention of her during yesterday’s show. 🙁