Top 20 to Top 18: Thoughts
First things first…I’d like to wish Nigel a happy birthday, even if he was a bit harsh on some of the choreographers.
I really like Misty Copeland a guest judge. She is giving the dancers praise and constructive criticism.
Anyone else get excited about what choreographers are in the audience? The dancer in me was geeking out and they created great numbers.
Most of the new couples seem to be working out okay. Also I wasn’t thrilled with the bottom six. No solos? I do agree with what Nigel said at the top of the show. They are all winners in away. The first cut is always the hardest but based on tonight’s performances the judges made the right decision.
What are your thoughts on the show tonight?
After last week’s great show I was actually somewhat disappointed with last night’s show. I do agree with Nick and Malene going home. I had also ranked them in my bottom three. I’m glad that next week Stanley will be teamed up with Jessica as I did not like him with Malene. My favorite routine was Carly and Serge. I also liked them last week.
I hated the version of Respect that they had Nick and Jessica dance to. The whole first part of the routine seemed “off-kilter” and not what I associate with a Benji routine. (but I LOVE Benji)
I usually like Spencer Liff’s routines however last night the phone routine did not work for me. I totally agreed with Mary that they didn’t touch each other and dance enough because they were so concerned about the prop. I really like Stanley and hope this dance doesn’t get him voted off.
I was worried about my favorite guy, Ricky a contemporary, being hooked up with a tapper however Valerie showed me a lot last night. I think they will be a power pair.
Don’t have any idea who will be in the bottom next week but fear it could be Jourdan and Marcquet.
My top three for this week……Carly & Serge, Ricky & Bridget and Casey & Brooklyn.
Who did you like?
I thought the music for the Benji routine was terrible. The dance and the music didn’t feel like they went together at all. It was like two different worlds.
Quite a few disappointing routines tonight. Although, the thing that bothers me most is that the judges always seem to agree with each other. It’s so rare that one person loves a routine and another one hates it. It’s subjective and they seem to always follow each other as opposed to really expressing their opinions.
@Renee Zack and Jacque were my favorites last night. I don’t have one set favorite just yet but I’m excited to see more.
@John You are so right it was the song that kind of killed Benji’s dance…not sure why that didn’t come to me last night. I don’t like they critique the choreography like the dancers had so sort of say in it.
Power rankings will be up on Friday.
I wish Jourdan had gone home instead of Malene, but Malene’s turn was coming quickly enough either way.
I think the dancers can only perform what the choreographers give them to do. I don’t know who gets to pick the music but have to think it’s not the dancers. Yes they certainly have to put their own emotions into the dance to “make it their own” but the actual routine is created by the choreographer. I think sytycd has some of the industries most wonderful choreographers but even the best seems to have an off night. Last night had a few but there’s next week to look forward to.
Loved Misty Copeland as a guest judge. She gave thoughtful, instructive criticism instead of just saying inane things like “gee, your legs are so long!” like some guest judges. And ABT make her a principal dancers already!
It was inevitable that Malene was going to be one of the first sent home but I thought Nigel was an ass to her with his comments.
Honestly I can’t remember any of the comtemporarys except Serge&Carly’s. I hope the voters realize what a gem he is and keeps him out of the bottom three. He dances with his whole heart and soul. It’s wonderful to see.
Loved Zack and Jacque as well. Was not expecting that from either of them. They were the right mix of intensity and fun.
I’m not fond of Jourdan’s dancing. For a ballet dancer she dances very heavy and wooden. Ballet dancers are constantly taught to pull up, from the legs to the core. It’s what gives them the illusion of lightness. I don’t see that at all with Jourdain.
Quite a downer from last week. Here are my picks for the night:-
Girls:
1. Brooklyn Fullmer – nice recovery from last week and she was damn good here.
2. Jacque LeWarne – loved this routine and she killed it
3. Valerie Rockey – out of her genre and she did contemporary justice
4. Carly Blaney – solid routine, though Serge stole the show
5. Tanisha Belnap – did well outside her genre
6. Bridget Whitman – she gave it her all but was a bit lost during transitions
7. Emily James – good effort but completely outshone by Teddy
8. Jourdan Epstein – not liking her dancing, great improvement over last week though.
9. Jessica Richens – maybe the injury but she looked very very tentative
10. Malene Ostergaard – she was more focused on catching that phone than dancing.
GUYS:
1. Serge Onik – credit where credit is due, did an awesome job in contemporary
2. Zack Everhart Jr. – lot closer to his genre than Serge was but was just as good
3. Ricky Ubeda – an early favourite for the finals by the looks of it
4. Casey Askew – why was he in the bottom? He was solid here.
5. Marcquet Hill – he was solid too and not in his genre
6. Teddy Coffrey – solid but in his genre and better energy than Emilio.
7. Emilio Dosal – nothing particularly brilliant, he just looked like this was way too easy for him. Needs to be challenged.
8. Rudy Abreu – his moves are not very clean, it is way too raw. Talented but waiting to see if he grows in the competition.
9. Nick Garcia – this routine was bad for both people involved. Way too complicated.
10. Stanley Glover – this routine was also bad and Stanley was bad in it. He was just showing off tricks and had zilch chemistry or rhythm.
Bottom 6: Stanley Glover, Emilio Dosal, Teddy Coffrey, Jessica Richens, Jourdan Epstein and Emily James. I don’t see Rudy being in the bottom for a while…
@Ansh I think you just did my power rankings for me…lol. It helps a lot to read what others thought of the show.
@Amanda: I can do it every week (at least the ones I remember). I like your power rankings but I tend to rate the performances in my head too to see if I can guess the bottom 6.
From all the reality shows that I have seen, sytycd gets props for being the only show to not get excessively carried away by shirtless “hot” guys and people with brilliant personalities too much. It is what makes guessing the bottom and top performers every week a good thing because you at least are not thrown off too much by non-dance factors.
@Ansh That’s basically how I do my power rankings. I try to keep them subjective and I like hear what others think.
All comments should be as subjective as we can make them however sometimes that flies out the window if we are blown away by a great routine or dislike one as much as I disliked the phone routine last week. What I really look forward to is the top 10 and getting the all-stars back. Along with Jenna who’s already announced, does anyone know who we will get to see again this season…
I would love to see Joshua, Eliana, Cheon and Cyrus again. They are some of my favs from the past.
I haven’t heard anything else about all stars. If I do I’ll post something about it.
Looks like another Schwimmer is choreographing next week. Lacey has tweeted about it.
I got 5/6 correct on my bottom 6 predictions. Only one I got wrong was Jessica Richens and according to my list, if not her, then it would be Bridget Whitman (spot on). Got to love the voting on sytycd, you are rarely disappointed.
So this week was so much better than last week. No surprise who went home. My favorite routines this week are Serge/Carly (boo Nigel), Ricky/Valerie (no surprise here) and Teddy/Emily. I also enjoyed Tanisha and Rudy although Rudy is not one of my favorites.
I would pick Marcquet, Emilio,and Zack as my bottom three guys and Bridget, and Brooklyn as two of the bottom girls…can’t decide who the third girl would be.