SYTYCD Season 9: Top 20 Performances – Music and Instant Thoughts! (Round Two)
Blogger Note: The first time through I concentrate on getting the music up as quickly as possible… so my thoughts will pop up as I rewatch the routines. Please bear with me.
Dancers: Top 20
Choreographer: NappyTabs
Style: Hip Hop
Song: Marilyn Manson – Beautiful People
Dancers: Lindsay & Cole
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Song: Lady Gaga – Teeth
Thoughts: This was a rather cute routine. I believed Cole over Lindsay in characterizations however, I remember watching Cole’s facial expressions and thinking, “OMG that boy can act!” Together they were ok, but considering I was watching Cole more than Lindsay… it wasn’t a memorable routine for me as a whole, but then again being the first routine of the night doesn’t really help them much.
Dancers: Amelia & Will
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Olafur Arnalds – 3326
Thoughts: What is it with Sonya and contemporary routines lately? I mean seriously! Unlike last week, this week’s routine was memorable not only for the routine and who it came from, but the dancers that danced it as well. Amelia and Will seem to be rather well matched in this pairing and I am looking forward in seeing what they will bring to the plate come next week.
Dancers: Amber & Nick
Style: Argentine Tango
Choreographer: Miriam Larici & Leonardo Barrionuevo
Song: Sexteto Mayor – Tanguera (since the individual song is not available on iTunes here is the artist link )
Thoughts: Argentine Tango in general is a hit or miss for me, it can either wow the audience or leave them cold… unfortunately for me this left me cold. I didn’t feel that much of a connection between Amber and Nick despite the dance being well danced and choreographed. They danced the dance well, but eh… it could have been better.
Dancers: Audrey & Matthew
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Steed Lord – Hear Me Now [Dri, Lind and Likka Mix]
Thoughts: For all my griping of feeling that a lot of Sonya’s Jazz routine seem to be recycled in some capacity i was actually pretty impressed that Sonya did branch out a bit more in Jazz now. I mean, I can still tell that this is a Sonya routine, but at least she is working more out of the box. As for this couple I felt that this routine was the right amount of aggression without being too harsh.
Dancers: Janelle & Dareian
Style: Lyrical Hip Hop
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Song: The Temptations – My Girl
Thoughts: I really liked this routine, I thought the dance was well done. I agree though that Dareian characterized more than Janelle during the routine, however the most connected moment I felt was when Janelle saw the ring and looked at Dareian and they hugged/kissed. So Janelle is able to emote and characterize but she just needs to do it while dancing. A bit underwhelming, but like the first routine of the night, it was more cute for the moment than memorable for the long term.
Dancers: Janaya & Brandon
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Song: Linda Eder – Bring on the Men
Thoughts: Janaya i thought brought her personality into play more in this routine than she did last week. At the same time, like last week, I believed Brandon more. Janaya is a great dancer, that much is true, but when it comes to personality and character she tends to fall flat and I fear this might be too little too late for her. As for Brandon, he killed it, end of story.
Dancers: Eliana & Cyrus
Style: Jive
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin
Song: Jack White – I’m Shakin
Thoughts: Uh oh, you can tell that Cyrus was having trouble, but he did better in this ballroom piece than he did during Vegas Callbacks… so there is hope for him yet. However, what he lacks in technique and training he more than makes up in personality and charisma… how far that is going to last him, who knows. Eliana balances him out really well, not only matching him for personality and charisma, but helping him out as well. One thing that I did find interesting is that Cyrus actually was there as a partner as opposed to Eliana leading for him.
Dancers: Alexa & Daniel
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Dee Caspary
Song: Yanni – So Long My Friend
Thoughts: As opposed to last week, I really really loved this week’s routine. This is a much more memorable routine between the two done by this couple. This is an technically challenging as well (then again they are both incredibly technical dancers)… but I would have to agree with the judges… as beautiful as the routine it felt like I was watching a pretty moving picture in the bathtub. I love the routine, but without the emotional connection, somehow it falls flat. **sighs** Personally I felt more emotion coming from Daniel as opposed to Alexa he was focused on her and I was feeling him emote, whileas with Alexa it just felt cold and distant.
Dancers: Tiffany & George
Style: Foxtrot
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin
Song: Sinead O’Conner – I Want to Be Loved By You
Thoughts: I don’t know why I like this couple, I just do. This is a very good routine for them overall, they brought a good amount of joy to the dance and were well connected. They embodied the personality of the fun Foxtrot to a tee and did rather well with the footwork. If they keep this up… I see them lasting a bit down the road.
Dancers: Witney & Chehon
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: Aatish Kapadia – Tandav Music
Thoughts: YAY BOLLYWOOD! Can’t you see I like watching Bollywood routines? In any case, this routine did not disappoint. I have to admit though I was watching Chehon more than Witney throughout most of the piece, I was particularly impressed by how Chehon was able to hold some of the poses that he was able to. I have to rewatch the episode to really pay attention to Witney, but Chehon definitely impressed me this week as opposed to last week.
Dancers: SYTYCD Alumni for Step Up Revolution
Song: Timbaland & NeYo – Hands in the Air
So…been a while since I contributed to the site. Just watched it here on the East Coast and my thoughts are varied. I’ll go through each dance 😀
1. Beautiful People – AWESOME! They tried to use this song a few years back but the dancers were not very good and just didn’t have the aggression. This group number not nearly as good as last week’s but Cyrus is definitely great on stage.
2. Lindsay & Cole – Great job by Cole! I couldn’t tell if this was Hip Hop or not, the dancing was interesting but Lindsay definitely didn’t bring the heat. I kept thinking she was going to fall. Cole is definitely going to be a dark horse this season as I’m not sure exactly what he’s going to be amazing in. Fun routine though, not my favorite.
3. Amelia & Will – I love Amelia. Been rooting for her since her audition and she’s still bringing it. Loved her in last week’s group number and she really blew me away with the “character hop” last week. This week is a completely new beast and she’s still phenomenal. I predict she’ll go far, she’s my Kathryn of this season. Will’s face bugs me but his dancing is solid. He hasn’t really “brought it” yet for me though.
4. Amber & Nick – I dunno what it is about Amber but she doesn’t really do it for me. She’s a great dancer but I just don’t side with her when she dances – I don’t believe her. Nick is very flamboyant and doesn’t bring a lot of masculinity to his roles, the dancing is very flighty. I also don’t believe him when he dances, and since he was chosen for the Top 20 I’ve been hoping he’ll go home.
5. Audrey & Matthew – Matthew reminds me a lot of Jakob, but in Audrey’s favor she does nothing to remind me of Ashleigh. Audrey is a great dancer and when they started letting in all these cute brunettes with long wavy hair I was not sure who would be standing out – so far Audrey is. This number was as sick and twisted as last week’s ‘Titanic’ was emotional and breathtaking. This is the couple to beat in my opinion.
6. Janelle & Dareian – Dareian is a monster. He’s such a strong, solid dancer and I enjoy everything he does. He was excellent in this, danced beautifully and I totally got invested in his character (much as I did with the African Jazz last week) but I think his partner is dragging him down. Janelle is just not that special. She’s cute and it must have been a feel good for the producers to bring a bellydancer on the show but I think she’s a whiner and I will be happy to see her go.
7. Janaya & Brandon – Personally I don’t really “dig” a lot of Sean Cheeseman’s routines. I don’t think he choreographs for television, I find many of them exclude the audience. This one though simply blew me away, and it blew away my expectations of a broadway number. Janaya was a beast and Brandon continually surprises me with his abilities.
8. Eliana & Cyrus – Um. Was it just me or did this seem to be an incredibly lazy looking routine? Sometimes I think the judges just claim a routine is hard so the audience doesn’t really take it out too much on the dancers when something just comes across as lazy or sloppy. I adore Cyrus and as the Phillip of this season, he’s doing a great job bringing a LOT of energy and personality to the performances. But this was just…I dunno. I didn’t like it at all. Love Eliana too, so I hope this doesn’t bring them down too much next week, they both need a chance to really shine. And Eliana didn’t smile all HUGE this week, big bonus!
9. Alexa & Daniel – A bathtub, though, Dee? Wow, I really did not like this number. It seemed almost self indulgent for two dancers who do dance beautifully to immerse themselves in how beautifully they dance. The bathtub was a terrible prop and when they were both in it I kept thinking how utterly and inappropriately sexual it seemed (sex has it’s place on this show but I think the effect was unintentional and unsettling). Alexa just brings nothing for me, same with Daniel. This was a failure.
10. Tiffany & George – George is another dancer who lacks masculinity when he dances. I do enjoy him more than Nick as a dancer although I believe that’s simply because I enjoy contemporary more than ballroom. So that made this number a double mark down for George. It was OK, but I loved Tiffany in it. She’s also proven herself to me, but I don’t foresee her making it into the top 10 (unless she really does something to make herself shine more than Audrey)
11. Witney & Chehon – Meh. I do enjoy me some bollywood, and with this one I kept thinking “Caitlin & Jason” simply from an aesthetic point of view, but then when I did I realized I truly enjoyed Caitlin & Jason’s bollywood, where as this one I just kind of liked. Chehon just doesn’t bring a lot of light to the stage, although I do enjoy Witney.
Elimintations – With the girls, two that I supported were up to leave, Janaya & Witney. Based on TONIGHT, I thought Witney should have gone. Based on overall, it’s a toss. I was sad to see Janaya go since she did such a great job with that Broadway number. With the guys, all 3 were good candidates to leave. Nick leaving was a blessing, and I think Daniel won’t be missed either. Chehon was the “lesser evil” of the three, but since his partnership was unaffected, I wonder if he’ll be dancing just as lackluster next week.
Our remix of “The Beautiful People” can be purchased from http://district78.legitmix.com
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[…] We have already lost four dancers at the end of today’s episode… knowing that, what I am going to do is this… I will still rank the routines if they are missing one of the dance partners but focusing more on the partner that is still in the competition. Any routines where both dancers are eliminated I will also mention at the end of the rankings. I have already posted various polls on the dancers that remain as well as posted the music with my instant thoughts. […]