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SYTYCD Season 9: Top 14 Power Rankings

With two dancers eliminated, the below Power Rankings will just include the dance that have dancers that were not eliminated first (focusing more on the partner that was not eliminated) and any dances where both dancers were eliminated I would put in my thoughts after the Power Rankings. I have already posted my instant thoughts as well as polls for you guys to peruse.

At the end of post I will include the usual table ranking the individual dancers as well:
TOP TWO ROUTINES
1. Witney Carson & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp – Contemporary
Between the two contemporary routines (oddly enough with both couples including a ballroom female partner), this I felt was the stronger of the two. I really loved the chemistry between these two despite Witney being so young and she has so much trust in Chehon when she falls onto his foot and during the lifts throughout this routine. There were moments that I felt there could have been better timing for emphasis but at the same time that is only by tenths or hundredths of a second. During the moment where there is total silence I felt that there could have been a better build up but that might be a little of the choreography and a little of the dancers. All in all this routine took my breath away regardless.

1. Eliana Girard & Cyrus Spencer – Hip Hop
As I mentioned in my “Instant Thoughts” post prior, I believed that NappyTabs did a smart thing here in building a routine closer to Cyrus’ animator / robotics skill set and added Eliana into it for emphasis. Eliana was able to adapted well to this routine and Cyrus was able to grow and pick up the choreography for the most part. These two have something that most of the other couples have been sorely lacking that is connection and chemistry… even when they are struggling in a routine in any capacity they still manage to keep the fun and joy on their faces no matter what. Considering everything, I think this is a very good and well balanced pairing and I really hope that Cyrus starts picking up steam in the coming weeks because I don’t really know if anyone could match Eliana in performance value at this point in time.

MIDDLE THREE ROUTINES
3. Lindsay Arnold & Cole Horibe – Contemporary
The lighting, the routine, the dancers… this really came together rather well and I was glad. Last week they weren’t as strong together in the hip hop routine, to the point that Cole outshone Lindsay. In this routine I still felt that Cole outshone Lindsay as well, however I was able to appreciate Lindsay’s style in other dance styles a lot more this time around because of her hair being in her way. How sad is that? In any case, Lindsay has a bit of maturity to do while Cole just needs to keep doing what he’s doing because quite honestly as long as he keeps this up he’ll be fine.

4. Tiffany Maher & George Lawrence Jr – Hip Hop
To be honest, I didn’t want to love the routine, I really didn’t, but dammit it was fun and cute if not perfect or anywhere near it. Granted both George and Tiffany were forced out of their comfort zones with this dance number and they played their characters well. However there were a lot of moments where I felt that they disconnected in the steps and they just weren’t in sync… so they faltered a bit, but the characterization was still there for the most part.

5. Amelia Lowe & Will Thomas – Jazz
Once again Amelia and Will (both contemporary dancers) pulled a dance style that isn’t a far stretch from their own (they previously pulled a Pop-Jazz and Contemporary) and once again they did well… Well duh. What makes this routine different from the previous two was that I simply didn’t remember the routine in the slightest. I had to think about it and rewatch it in order to gain a sense of what I was thinking, and quite honestly there is nothing to latch on to in my opinion. This was a quirky routine for two quirky characters but really… I don’t remember much… do you?

BOTTOM TWO ROUTINES
6. Janelle Issis & Dareian Kujawa – ChaCha
I’ll admit that this couple has been struggling a bit the past few weeks but considering the styles they have pulled in the past three weeks (Afro-Jazz, Lyrical Hip Hop, ChaCha) all of which are out of their individual styles (Belly Dancing and Contemporary) I have to say of all the couples I am most impressed by this pairings tenacity. I do have to agree with the judges their chemistry and connection was definitely lacking and they really need to work on their feet and technique but I hope that they clear things up soon because personally I want to see them continue on. This routine is suppose to be fun and flirty and I thought there were elements of fun and they pulled off the tricks rather seamlessly. Janelle I felt flirted a bit but she was more to the audience than to her partner which I kind of blame on her dance style. However, in my opinion, they did a far better job than the other ballroom related routine of the evening in my opinion, but they still have a lot of work ahead of them.

7. Audrey Case & Matthew Kazmierczak – Salsa
I don’t even know where to begin. I can’t even say that it wasn’t a “bad” routine because it was. Salsa is suppose to be fun and flirty with a simmer of a fire in there for good measure and it was just cool and slow and they weren’t connected, there were times when they weren’t in sync and there were a missed steps here and there by both parties involved, the tricks didn’t work either. Individually they are really strong dancers and with the previous two routines (Jazz and Contemporary) they did exceptionally well. However, that’s the catch: Matthew is a Contemporary dancer while Audrey is a Jazz dancer so it would make sense that they would excel in a Contemporary and Jazz routine. So when they are given a routine that is out of both of their comfort zones, struggling comes pre-installed, however to struggle to the extent that they did… I think the first two routines would give them the votes to move on, but honestly I know I am in the minority when I say that I am just not impressed by this couple at all.

ELIMINATED ROUTINES
Amber Jackson & Brandon Mitchell – Jazz
As I mentioned in my “Instant Thoughts” post, this is a pairing that should have been together from the start. I mean come on! Brandon brought out more of Amber’s personality than Nick did and they really connected together far better than they did with their previous partners. I was looking at my previous “Power Rankings” post where I included my thoughts of the new pairing:

A contemporary dancer and a stepper, this is going to be an interesting pairing. Brandon is a very strong personality who has been characterizing and emoting well in his routines thus far while Amber hasn’t nor has she been able to connect with her partner. Depending on the dance style they will have next week will help gauge how this couple will do.

Well they connected and they had chemistry and this was a jazz routine which meant this was something that Amber could really have sunk her teeth into and Brandon did an amazing job considering he is a stepper… he didn’t seem to struggle at all and he was right there for her in this routine. I would agree with the judges that if they hadn’t been placed in the Bottom Six, then they would have had the votes to continue through.

ELIMINATION THOUGHTS
Going back to my Power Rankings last week:

[…] I don’t think Amber is going to last much longer than a week, perhaps two. She didn’t really connect well with Nick and as thus the audience is left feeling cold and the chance of them picking up the phone for her is not very high… still.. we’ll see how it will work out come next week.

Now I know there were quite a few people that disagreed with my perceptions of Amber, but honestly looking at who landed in the Bottom Six dancers I really wasn’t surprised in the least. As for the week before, I placed Brandon in the bottom three back then… but that was more due to his initial partner as opposed to his new partner. In fact I was going back to my thoughts from the Meet the Top 20 episode and realized that I was raving about Brandon back then but didn’t say a word about Amber. So for Amber I can’t say that this was a surprise, but honestly I would loved to have seen Brandon continue on, but looking at the Bottom Three guys I think the judges didn’t really have much of a choice when you looked at the solos performed.

At the same time when the judges mentioned who they wanted to perform solos I instinctively figured that they were planning to keep Lindsay and George… and honestly I think that was rather unfair of the judges to do that where the audience could kind of figured out who would be saved right off the bat like that, but I digress.

Below, just like the previous weeks is my ranking of the dancers, in no real particular order:

TOP TWO GIRLS
Witney Carson
Eliana Girard
TOP TWO GUYS
Cole Horibe
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
MIDDLE TWO GIRLS
Amelia Lowe
Tiffany Maher
MIDDLE TWO GUYS
Will Thomas
George Lawrence II
BOTTOM THREE GIRLS
Lindsay Arnold
Janelle Issis
Audrey Case
BOTTOM THREE GUYS
Matthew Kazmierczak
Dareian Kujawa
Cyrus Spencer
July 25, 2012 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 9: Top 16 Performances – Music and Instant Thoughts!

NOTE: Because I spend most of the dance updating the music list, I will post thoughts as I rewatch the dances / episode later tonight.

Group dance: Top 16
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Jun Miyake – “The Here and After” The Here and After - Pina Soundtrack (Wim Wenders Film)

Dancers: George & Tiffany
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: NappyTabs
Song: B.O.B. and Nicki Minaj – “Out of My Mind” Out of My Mind (feat. Nicki Minaj) - Strange Clouds
Thoughts: This was an interesting routine. I liked it enough but there were moments that there weren’t in sync particularly towards the end. It was a fun routine with a cute little story. I was impressed that they both were able to keep up with the choreography for the most part. I don’t know if this is going to be a memorable routine however considering this was at the beginning of the episode.

Dancers: Brandon & Amber
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Ray Leeper
Song: Aretha Franklin – “Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)” Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business) - Aretha Franklin: 30 Greatest Hits
Thoughts: My goodness, why weren’t these two partnered up from the beginning? I mean come on! These were like fire and ice on the dance floor and putting fire and ice together and the whole place melts. Even for being early in the episode this is a very memorable routine for me, the chemistry, the connection was all there. I really loved Brandon’s characterization in this routing and Amber just blossomed with Brandon as opposed to with Nick previously.

Dancers: Janelle & Dareian
Style: Cha Cha
Choreographer: Pasha Kovalev
Song: Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe” Call Me Maybe - Call Me Maybe - Single
Thoughts: This seemed to be a rather calm ChaCha… with an atypical song. The ChaCha is supposed to be a very fun and flirty routine, but instead it seemed rather cool. I was really hoping for a little more fireworks but what kind of pulled my focus was a lot of the hand placements going on. Granted their tricks was rather good… but overall it seemed rather off.

Dancers: Lindsey & Cole
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Charlotte Martin – “Wild Horses” Wild Horses - On Your Shore
Thoughts: Somehow I managed I get the song down to watch this particular routine, but OMG I love the lighting for this piece. I got chills watching this routine… seriously I got chills… this was very beautiful. Granted, Lindsay’s hair was a bit of a distraction (I was going to say something snarky and evil but I will refrain), but her movement was just breathtaking and it complements Cole really really well.

Dancers: Amelia & Will
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: The Creatures – “You!” You! - Boomerang
Thoughts: Ok, this is really beginning to annoy me… Amelia and Will has had a pop-jazzy routine their first week, followed by contemporary and now jazz… Really? I mean really? Anyway, not that I got that out of my system, I enjoyed this routine, quite a bit: it was fun, quirky and hit all the right notes in my opinion.

Dancers: Audrey & Matthew
Style: Salsa
Choreographer: Liz Lira
Song: Sverre Indris Joner / HSC / Kork – “Cinco Salsa” Cinco Salsa - First movement of the 5. symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven - Clasicos a Lo Cubano
Thoughts: This was a strange routine, like the ChaCha the Salsa should be a bit fun and flirty. It seemed so slow that I found myself getting bored. They weren’t in sync a few times and it looked like they were missing steps here and there. I might go so far to say that they were overwhelmed by the song.

Dancers: Witney Carson & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Whitney Houston – “I Will Always Love You” I Will Always Love You - Whitney - The Greatest Hits
Thoughts: Ok… the chills from earlier in the show? Definitely have them now. What is going on with the two ballroom girls this evening? I mean seriously! I really loved the connections in this piece, their chemistry was believable and moreso than that of Lindsay and Cole in my opinion.

Dancers: Eliana Girard & Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: NappyTabs
Song: District 78 & Cheesa – “Toxic”
Thoughts: What NappyTabs did was pretty smart, they took the animator moves and the balletic skills and created a routine out of it. Giving it a robotic edge to help Cyrus along, they highlighted a lot of their individual strengths and applied them to the routine. What I really liked about this routine is that Eliana was allowed to stretch more here than in previous routines.

BOTTOM SIX DANCERS
Amber Jackson
Song: Lana Del Rey – “This is What Makes Us Girls” This Is What Makes Us Girls - Born to Die

Lindsay Arnold

Eliana Girard
Song: Ólafur Arnalds – “Near Light” Near Light - Single - Ólafur Arnalds

George Lawrence Jr

Brandon Mitchell
Song: Tye Tribbett – “I Want it All Back” I Want It All Back - Victory Live!

Dareian Kujawa
Song: John Legend – “Ordinary People” Ordinary People - Get Lifted / Once Again

Guest dancers: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Song: Les Tambours Du Bronx – “Jungle Jam” (Jungle Jam does not exist on iTunes, so I went with Jungle Jazz instead Jungle jazz - Les tambours du Bronx: Live (Live))

Elimination Thoughts: Last week I put in my own thoughts as to whom would be the bottom six:
Last week: Lindsay Arnold, Amber Jackson, Tiffany Maher, George Lawrence II, Cyrus Spencer, Matthew Kazmierczak
For the girls I was off by one girl and the guys I was off by much more. I will admit that I am not entirely surprised to see Eliana in the bottom six dancers… but personally I loved her. As for the guys Dareian I thought did a much better job in his routine with Janelle and should not have been in the bottom six and the same goes for Brandon Mitchell when compared to Janaya.

I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 8 Revisited: Outstanding Choreographer Nominations

With the Emmy nominations out… I decided to scour the internet to find the routines from Season 8 that the choreographers created that earned them the Emmy nominations. Based on the the routines you see below… there is a poll at the bottom where you can choose the choreographer that you’d like to see win the Emmys this year. Keep in mind that Smash also earned an Emmy nomination but since it is not SYTYCD related… I did not include them in this list.

Interesting enough we have representation for:
– Contemporary (Travis Wall / Stacey Tookey)
– Hip Hop (Christopher Scott)
– Broadway (Spencer Liff / NBC’s Smash)

No love for ballroom? Awww… =( But I digress…

First I am going to start with the homegrown SYTYCD alumni:
TRAVIS WALL: Dancing with the Stars
Episode: Season 14 – Top 8 Results Show (24 April 2012)
Style: Contemporary
Other Choreographer: Teddy Forance

Thoughts: Travis has yet to create a “mediocre” routine, then again what can be considered as a “mediocre” routine for Travis would be strong routine for other choreographers. He has really grown into his own with developing his skill set and moving outside of the box, going from choreographing partners on SYTYCD and smaller groups to the larger scale routines as show on DWTS last season. Adding in the fly system so that one of the dancers is floating on air just adds more to the routine as opposed to being a gimmick.

Also, it is always nice to sift through the dancers and play “are they from So You Think You Can Dance”? For example I saw Nick Lazzarini, Jaimie Goodwin, Melanie Moore, Ryan Ramirez… the list goes on. If he keeps this up I will be very interested to see what he brings onto the plate in the Off-Broadway production of Bare that he is tapped as choreographer. Not to mention the reality based television series on cable that is rumored to revolve around his new dance company.
Read more..

July 19, 2012 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

64th Primetime Emmy Nominations!

The nominations for the 64th Annual Primetime Emmys were announced today, the following are the nominations that So You Think You Can Dance has received:

OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Voice

OUTSTANDING HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race: Phil Keoghan
American Idol: Ryan Seacrest
Betty White’s Off Their Rockers: Betty White
Dancing With The Stars: Tom Bergeron
So You Think You Can Dance: Cat Deeley

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY
Dancing With The Stars • Routine: Without You
Travis Wall, Choreographer
Teddy Forance, Choreographer

Smash • Routines: National Pastime / Let’s Be Bad / Never Met A Wolf
Joshua Bergasse, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: In This Shirt / Turning Tables / Heart Asks For Pleasure First
Stacey Tookey, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: Misty Blue / Velocity
Christopher Scott, Choreographer

So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: Whatever Lola Wants / Please Mr. Jailor / Where Do I Begin
Spencer Liff, Choreographer

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN/LIGHTING DIRECTION FOR A VARIETY SERIES
American Idol • Finale
Dancing With The Stars • Episode 1307
Saturday Night Live • Host: Jimmy Fallon
So You Think You Can Dance • Season 8 Finale
The Voice • Live Shows (Part 1)

I am so glad to see Cat Deeley nominated for her hosting duties on the show. The only program I have is that she is up against Tom Bergeron (arguably the hardest working man in La La Land) and Betty White (the hardest working elder in La La Land). I say the hosting category is pretty tight.

As for Outstanding Choreography, four of the nominations are So You Think You Can Dance related. Unfortunately they tend to lean more towards the Hip Hop / Broadway / Contemporary genres. **sighs** Ah well, what can you do? I am really pleased to see Travis Wall being commended for his work in general, if anything I would say that anyone related to the SYTYCD family has a pretty strong chance in nabbing that Outstanding Choreography Emmy.

The Primetime Emmys will air on September 23rd at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel is tapped as host. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards Ceremony will be held on September 15th.

I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 9: Top 16 Power Rankings

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.

At the end I will do what I did last week and rank the individual dancers as well…

TOP THREE ROUTINES
1. Witney Carson & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp – Bollywood
Very rarely has a Bollywood routine disappointed me, and this did not break the trend. Granted I was watching Chehon much more than Witney, but that could be because a lot of the poses that he held were just something to see and a testament to his ballet background. But one thing that Chehon did this time around that he did not do last week was enjoying the dance. He not only enjoyed the dance, he showed that he enjoyed the dance and that makes all the difference in the world. Witney has been a fireball of energy since the beginning, however for me it is getting to the point that it is overwhelming. This is still a very good partnership, and I hope they continue to balance one another out.

2. Tiffany Maher & George Lawrence Jr – Foxtrot
As I said before, this was a very fun, smooth routine, this is a very strong couple and they seem to mesh well together. Considering one is a Jazz dancer and the other a Contemporary dancers they did remarkable well in a genre that neither is related to… Then again that could also be because the choreographer manage to work the routine around the skill sets of whom they have. These two also had strong chemistry together which the audience can sense and will react well to. If they keep this up with two strong routines under their belt then I don’t see them falling to the bottom three anytime soon.

3. Amelia Lowe & Will Thomas – Contemporary
What is there to say? I really liked their routine last week and I still like them this week. They were blessed with two strong routines that seem to cater to their strengths. Then again they did a Jazz and a Contemporary routine which aren’t far stretches from their genres (both are contemporary), so naturally they are going to be strong in these routines. The real test will begin the moment they get a chance to work on something outside of their styles. With similar personalities they mesh well and seemed to be rather in sync with one another in this routine staying in time, which is considered difficult since Will is a considerably larger person over Amelia… but you would never really have guessed.

MIDDLE THREE ROUTINES
4. Audrey Case & Matthew Kazmierczak – Jazz
They were lucky to have another strong routine this week and with a Sonya Jazz piece that seems to be stretching beyond her “norm” that we have seen over the seasons. They danced this routine really well, but that is to be expected considering that Audrey is a Jazz dancer while Matthew is Contemporary so they didn’t really moved all that far from their genre in the past two weeks. Knowing that, I am seriously hoping that their next routine would be different from either genres so we could really see what they can do. At the moment they are a strong pairing and seem to connect with one another rather well.

5. Janaya French & Brandon Mitchell – Broadway
It is too bad that Janaya is gone because I felt that she really did redeem herself considerably in this routine. There was chemistry between her and her partner, she emoted and characterized well, you can tell that they were both having fun with the routine. Brandon (being a stepper) reminds me a little of Twitch and Joshua from Season 4, his movements closer to that of Joshua for some reason… especially when he is rising up from his toes at a point. I loved Brandon in last week’s routine and I still like him in this week’s routine. It will be interesting to see how he fares with Amber Jackson as his partner.

6. Lindsay Arnold & Cole Horibe – Hip Hop
Being the first routine of the night they are at an instant disadvantage of being forgotten as the episode goes on, and quite honestly to me Lindsay was forgettable in this routine while Cole knocked it right out of the ballpark. He was quirky and funny in this routine and he really characterized the geek really really well, whileas with Lindsay I didn’t quite believe her in this number, it was definitely too cute to be a seductress and the connection – though there at times – didn’t wow. After riding a high from last week, I would consider this to be a small baby step backwards. I don’t think Cole would be in danger, but Lindsay is another story entirely. However, they work well together so who knows?

BOTTOM THREE ROUTINES
7. Janelle Issis & Dareian Kujawa – Lyrical Hip Hop
To be honest, I really enjoyed this routine despite it being “cute” and the connection between Janelle and Dareian wasn’t there for a fair chunk of it until the very end when Janelle sees the ring and the kiss. OMG the kiss… if she had connected with Dareian with as much intensity as that kiss then I think this routine would have been a lot better and would have shined a lot brighter. I would agree to an extent that neither dancer was shown to the best of their ability, but with a character driven routine how could you expect it? Then again the closest comparison would the contemporary routine of Kent and Lauren’s prom night… Janelle definitely seemed to be enjoying herself while dancing, but due to her belly dancing background I could see how she would have a tendency to look out to the audience more than her partner, but that is something that she needs to work on if she wants to have a chance in continuing in this competition. Dareian was just dreamy despite moments where I cringed at his feet, he did emote more but it seemed to have stalled since Janelle wasn’t connecting with him. This is two weeks of good routines but not strong… here’s hoping that next week brings something new to the table.

8. Eliana Girard & Cyrus Spencer – Jive
I love this pairing, I truly do… so it kills me to have to put them at the bottom of the barrel like this, but what choice do I have? What carried them in this routine was not just Eliana’s technical prowess but also their combined personality and charisma. That is what makes America love them, their personalities just shine no matter what they do and they just seem to be having the time of their lives in their routines. They get along well, which is also a plus, so that chemistry can be felt from the audience perspective as well. In some ways Cyrus reminds me of Cedric Gardner from Season 3 who was amazing in what he did but faltered a lot when it came to adapting to other choreographers’ routines. Here is hoping that in the coming weeks Cyrus shows improvement because I really love him as a person and dancer and Eliana needs to be shown off as much as possible as opposed to over compensating for Cyrus.

9. Amber Jackson & Nick Bloxsom-Carter – Argentine Tango
Argentine Tangos… as I have said in a previous post… I would consider to be either a hit or a miss. You either got all hot and bothered or cold and this felt cold to me. It was danced well, don’t get me wrong… but as has been the case for most of the night, the chemistry in this piece simply was not there. Then again, I don’t believe that Amber and Nick really had strong chemistry to begin with. I feel bad for Nick because that is two weeks in a row that he is drawn dance styles that are closely connected to his genre but what can you do? With Nick gone it will be interesting to see how Amber and Brandon are going to fare together since Nick isn’t really a strong personality while Brandon is.

ELIMINATED COUPLE
Alexa Anderson & Daniel Baker – Contemporary
ARGH! I would consider this routine one of my favorites of the night despite Alexa not being able to emote nearly as much as Daniel did (or I felt he did). This was not only a well danced routine but an incredibly technically challenging routine. It is such a shame that Daniel was also eliminated because I felt that he did far better in the characterization department both last week and this week over Alexa. I agree with Alexa being eliminated because the emotional / mental growth that she appeared to have shown during Vegas Callbacks all disappeared when the lights are on and she’s in the spotlight. If Daniel was paired with a more charismatic person I wonder how that would have worked for him? But then I guess we’ll never know.

NEW PAIRING: Amber Jackson & Brandon Mitchell
A contemporary dancer and a stepper, this is going to be an interesting pairing. Brandon is a very strong personality who has been characterizing and emoting well in his routines thus far while Amber hasn’t nor has she been able to connect with her partner. Depending on the dance style they will have next week will help gauge how this couple will do, but I don’t think Amber is going to last much longer than a week, perhaps two. She didn’t really connect well with Nick and as thus the audience is left feeling cold and the chance of them picking up the phone for her is not very high… still… we’ll see how it will work out come next week.

ELIMINATION THOUGHTS
Alexa Anderson: this is one elimination I totally agreed with, she just wasn’t growing in the way that everyone is hoping that she would

Janaya French: we can see that she is a gifted dancer, and I believed redeemed herself this week with the Broadway routine with Brandon, but due to her lack of chemistry last week… her personality just comes across as flat.

Nick Bloxsom-Carter: he was someone that I really liked on the show, he reminded me a little bit of Benji Schwimmer from Season 2, except a bit more mellow. His lack of a connection and chemistry with his original partner may have done him in but dammit I wished we didn’t lose a ballroom boy this early

Daniel Baker: I was very disappointed with this elimination, though in comparison to the boy left standing I wasn’t terribly surprised. Much like with Nick, I believe in Daniel’s case his lack of a connection with Alexa may have left the audience cold and unwilling to pick up the phone for him, which is disappointing because I have seen him in videos posted by his friend Alex Wong from Season 7 and it was just so much fun to watch him dance in other styles. This is a loss in my opinion but what other option was there?

TOP TWO GIRLS
Amelia Lowe
Eliana Girard
TOP TWO GUYS
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
Cole Horibe
MIDDLE THREE GIRLS
Audrey Case
Witney Carson
Janelle Issis
MIDDLE THREE GUYS
Will Thomas
Brandon Mitchell
Dareian Kujawa
BOTTOM THREE GIRLS
Lindsay Arnold
Amber Jackson
Tiffany Maher
BOTTOM THREE GUYS
George Lawrence II
Cyrus Spencer
Matthew Kazmierczak
July 18, 2012 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 9: Top 20 (Now 16) Routines (Polls) Round 2

I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 9: Top 20 Power Rankings

Wow… just wow. I just wrote a few quick thoughts on all the routines of the night and tossed a few polls asking for your opinions on which routines you enjoyed, and which dancers you’d love to see move on based on what we saw tonight. What I am going to do is rank all the routines we saw tonight from what I really enjoyed to what was forgettable. Then I will rank all the guys and all the girls w/ no real commentary. Let’s see how this goes.

TOP THREE ROUTINES:
1. Lindsay Arnold & Cole Horibe – Paso Doble
I mean come on! That was almost too good to be true. Such power, such strength, such passion and fire. I knew that Cole had some prior dancing training in addition to martial arts, but I would like to think that it is because of the martial arts that he is so clearly able to bring forth the necessary power and fire that the man needs in a proper paso doble. Lindsay at first came across as a bit of a wholesome, sweet kind of girl and then she comes out all guns blazing and I feel like I am getting a bit of the case of the whiplash because I didn’t see that coming a mile away! At first I thought that of the two Ballroom Barbies, Witney would win out, but man right now? I don’t know, I think Lindsay is making a very good case for herself here… and personally I think this is going to be a very strong partnership down the road.

2. Audrey Case & Matthew Kazmierczak – Contemporary
It’s a Travis Wall routine, so what is not to love? In all honesty though, I really did enjoy this routine a lot… these two just seem to work together so effortlessly. Audrey just seems to float in the air as opposed to jumping up there. Prior to today’s routine, Audrey didn’t really seem to stick out much for me. She hasn’t much more since except when she’s dancing with Matthew and Matthew I really really liked. Granted between the two Jazz girls I see myself drawn more to Audrey over Tiffany, but that again could be because I liked this routine just slightly more than the previous one. Perhaps it is the fact that Audrey just seems to emote that much more than Tiffany did… who knows. In the end this was a very strong routine and definitely one of the more memorable ones.

3. Amelia Lowe & Will Thomas – Pop-fusion/Hip Hop
Can’t help it, I’m drawn to this dance. They looked like they were having just so much fun in this routine. I would say that they are playing a bit of a “cat and mouse” game here, except I think they are suppose to be both cats, in which case… MEOW! I didn’t know much about Will Thomas prior to the Meet the Top 20 episode and honestly, he really caught my attention right away. In this routine the craziness between Will and Amelia was just fun to watch. I am so sure that Will was having so much fun playing with Amelia. I watched the routine over and over again because I found myself just smiling as I am watching them dance.

MIDDLE FOUR ROUTINES (this is probably the most difficult four to put together)
4. Eliana Girard & Cyrus Spencer – Broadway
I’ll agree that this didn’t really show off the dancing strengths for Eliana, but dammit it was fun to watch and really that’s all that matters at the end of the day. Cyrus picked up the choreography rather well for the first time out of the gate. The thing I really like about Broadway routines is that they require a hell of a whole lot of personality, unfortunately that is also at the sacrifice of dance at times, which is what seems to be the case here. What Cyrus lacks in training, he more than makes up for it in personality, charisma and entertainment value. Eliana with her dance/performing background has charisma and entertainment value for days, so I see this as a very good match. Here’s hoping that they could do just as well in the upcoming week.

5. Janelle Issis & Dareian Kujawa – African Jazz
I might be in the minority when it comes to this routine, but I really really liked these two together. I didn’t know what to expect but the intricacies in this routine and movement really came together and if either dancer misses anything, then the whole dance is shot (much like Sean Cheesman’s other routine, but more on that later). As I said before, what these two brought to the table is chemistry and entertainment. There were a few times where they were actually off, but like I said… I really preferred this routine of the two that Sean has created and having two dancers that connect really helps the routine along.

6. Amber Jackson & Nick Bloxsom-Carter – Viennese Waltz
When I saw Nick for the first time in the Meet the Top 20 episode, I liked him, a lot. So I was a bit sad when they already started critiquing him in the Meet the Top 20 episode. Amber Jackson I remembered seeing from previous episodes but almost saw nothing of in Season 9, so when there were rumors swirling around that they were paired together I got scared because these were two fairly unknown dancers who did not have much screen time, how would they fare? Well for a Viennese Waltz they did rather well. One thing I really love about this particular dance was that it really felt like you were dancing amongst the clouds, like a dream. Personally I think they did rather well and should be ok. Only time will tell

7. Witney Carson & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp – Samba
I had a rough time between this routine and number 8. This had a lot of fire and I really love Chehon a lot in this routine. He has very good technique but I agree with the judges that he just seems to be trying too hard. If he can get his head out of the game and just feel the dance it would flow so much better. There isn’t much to say about Witney except that she did excel rather well in this number. Though Chehon seemed out of place in this routine, I don’t think it is going to be much of an issue in later routines since hopefully by then he’ll start emoting more into the dances and routines.

BOTTOM THREE ROUTINES
8. Tiffany Maher & George Lawrence II – Contemporary
The reason I ended up placing them a lot lower than I originally thought I would is because I had to separate myself from the awe that is Sonya’s reinvention of herself into this contemporary movement from the dancers themselves and how they performed the routine. I really really do like this routine, but for some reason other than the fact that this is atypical of Sonya’s routines this was just not a memorable routine for me. This couple emoted rather well overall and I really like George in this routine, but Tiffany just wasn’t memorable for me. So I don’t know

9. Alexa Anderson & Daniel Baker – Jazz
This was a very technically difficult routine and given to two really technically advanced dancers it should have shone but it fell flat. I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two of them let alone with the audience. Between the two I preferred Daniel over Alexa, but then again I think they should have been paired with different partners, perhaps they would have done better emotionally. Granted I felt that Daniel was more emotionally committed to this particular routine over Alexa, but then again I am probably in the minority in this.

10. Janaya French & Brandon Mitchell – Hip Hop
This was another rather forgettable routine for the most part. For some reason I didn’t feel a connection between the two dancers and it felt a little bit like a “dance by numbers” kind of routine with the emotions and facials becoming little more than an afterthought, particularly on Janaya’s side of the fence. I really enjoyed Brandon’s interpretation for the most part, but again the routine as a whole seemed to have fallen flat for me which is rather sad since in any other season they would have been middle of the pack or higher.

TOP THREE GIRLS
Amelia Lowe
Lindsay Arnold
Janelle Issis
TOP THREE GUYS
Cole Horibe
Cyrus Spencer
Will Thomas
MIDDLE FOUR GIRLS
Audrey Case
Eliana Girard
Witney Carson
Amber Jackson
MIDDLE THREE GUYS
Matthew Kazmierczak
Dareian Kujawa
Nick Bloxsom-Carter
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
BOTTOM THREE GIRLS
Tiffany Maher
Alexa Anderson
Janaya French
BOTTOM THREE GUYS
Daniel Baker
George Lawrence II
Brandon Mitchell

Mind you this is my own opinions on the matter… why don’t you let me know yours! Until next week…

July 11, 2012 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 9: Top 20 Routines (Polls)

I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SPOILERS!!! Top 20 Rumored Pairings

So rumors have been running rampant with who was going to be paired up with whom… looking at twitter right now there is at least one confirmation:

So Witney and Chehon are paired together, not only that but they are doing the Samba as choreographed by Louis van Amstel.

This brings us to another interesting possibility: there has been a lot of talk over at the idolForums of possible pairings. In fact it went so far as to say that according to a series of DancePlug interview videos the couples would appear to be have been paired up.

NOTE: Keep in mind that this is all pure speculation, whether or not this is true remains to be seen.

First the blatantly obvious: Chehon Wespi-Tschopp (Ballet) & Witney Carson (Latin/Ballroom)

Read more..

July 10, 2012 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

SYTYCD Season 9: How will voting work?

The major question that has been on everybody’s mind is: how is voting going to work for Season 9?

In the past seven seasons (excluding Season 1 since that was a one-episode per week season and I don’t remember how that season went)
– performances commenced on Wednesday evenings
– the public call in their votes for an hour or two after the end of the episode
– on Thursday evening we find out who are the Bottom Three couples
– the dancers of the Bottom Three couples are asked to “dance for their solo”
– judges choose who to let go

Since Season 9 is only going to have one episode per week as opposed to two, how is that going to affect the flow of the show. In a previous post I mentioned the possibility that So You Think You Can Dance may run in a similar vein as that of America’s Best Dance Crew.

According to the following interview between Nigel Lythgoe and DancePlug :

So what is going to happen is the following:
On Wednesday, July 11th
1: The Top 20 will have their first partnered performances
2: After the show the public will be allowed vote for the dancers that want to keep on the show. All the dancers will be voted individually as opposed as by pairs

Then on Wednesday, July 18th (in order)
1: The judges will announce who are the bottom three guys and bottom three girls at the top of the episodes
2: The dancers (including all the bottom guys and girls) will dance their partnered routines
3: The judges will decide who will leave the show… if the judges are still unsure they would ask the bottom three guys and/or bottom three girls
4: The voting public will be allowed to phone in their votes for the following episode

Rinse and repeat.

Not exactly confusing, but definitely different from what we are used to. What might be noticeably different is that the dancers do not appear to be dancing solos to prove that they should be considered to be kept on the show. I think a major reason that the “dance for your life” solos are eliminated is that because the bottom three guys and bottom three girls are already announced at the top of the episode they have their partnered routines to prove to the judges that they should stay on the show. To me that kind of makes sense as to why having a solo thereafter would almost be overkill. But that’s my opinion.

July 4, 2012 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)