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Top 8 to Top 4: Thoughts

It’s hard to believe that we are almost to the end of this season and I still not sure of who I think might win. I enjoyed the Addam’s Family theme of the opening number, just sort of wish Tyce used the music from the musical. Team Street won the night again with 52% of the vote. Travis and Twitch’s exits are just too much fun, though this week they asked social media for help and I was hoping they’d pick leap frog to leave the stage.

Virgil & Jasmine: Sean Cheesman (African Jazz)
“African Jazz Ant Man” really Nigel. Nigel is right I don’t think that Virgil has had a bad night on the show. What I like about Virgil is that he just an entertainer and had the ability to adapt to whatever the show has thrown at him. Love how he got excited about keeping the envelope that said he was safe.

Derek & Jamie: Tyce (Contemporary)
Just as Derek is having a break through, he is eliminated. Like the judges, I think he has great technique but seemed to have trouble with connecting to the emotion/story of the dances.

Hailee & FikShun: Luther Brown (Hip hop)
It was easy to figure out that I would like these two paired together. While I didn’t really care for the dance itself, I did enjoy watching them dance it. Hailee is in my personal top 4 so I hope she stays.

Megz & Paul: Jean Marc (Paso Doble)
I felt bad for Megz, she gave her all in this dance but still fell short of the technique that it takes to truly pull off this dance. However, I think if she had a little more time to practice it may have been a little better.

Neptune & Kayla: Ray Leeper
Neptune was the dark horse of the street side to me. I thought he has done well all season and I hoped he was the one that stayed.

Jim & Comfort: Pharside and Pheonix (Hip hop)
I actually think Jim wasn’t that bad but I can see what the judges were saying. He doesn’t seem quite comfortable with this style, so it’s not quite believable.

Gaby & Robert: Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore did it again…created another memorable routine. This was my favorite dance of the night.

Jaja & Ricky: Al Blackstone (Broadway)
Glad Ricky was given time off from Broadway to be an all star. Nigel was right, Jaja does look like Amy Adams. I love how she always has the character down and she had the skills too.

Bottom 4: Derek, Hailee, Neptune and Megz
Going home: Derek and Neptune

August 24, 2015 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

New York Auditions

New York wraps up the first round of auditions, before Vegas week. Thankfully, there was some more diversity in which auditions we saw. Even saw a few of the bad auditions, not sure why I thought the breaker ballet guy was going to be good.  We were treated with a little preview of Vegas week. Even with the format change, Vegas is still going to be an intense week.

STAGE 30

Alexia Meyer: Great dancer. What I loved about her was her musicality. She had movements that went with certain beats of the song.

Ryan Raffloer: His mom forced him to dance, too funny. Great solo for a ballroom dancer. Definitely, saw the Dmitry reference and maybe the attitude of Neil Haskell.

Darious Drooh: Loved seeing him and he friend dance the choreography from Paula’s Cold Hearted Snake music video.

STREET 21

Virgil Gaston: His smile did remind me of FikShun. He has also put in a lot of work since his audition in season 8. I can see him in the top 10 stage dancers.

Korey Cleveland: Honestly, even though I thought he was good, I really want to see him give that 90 day chip to Nigel.

Justin Ballasy: The first example of a style that could go towards either street or stage. Justin is an amazing tapper/hoofer but I agree with the judges that he need to work on his musicality.

 

Final total of dancers moving on to Vegas 219. Street: 105  Stage: 114

Side note: Great to see an update on season 11 winner Ricky. I tried to spot him at the Tony Awards but had no luck.

June 22, 2015 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

SYTYCD on Ellen

In case anyone missed it, the Top 6 from Season 11 were on Ellen this week. Such a fun dance to “Uptown Funk”. Also love that Twitch is there as the guest DJ as well.

January 28, 2015 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

America’s Favorite Dancer is…Season 11 Finale

** SPOILER ALERT** Just in case I finish this post before the west coast is done watching the show.

Season 11 has gone by way too fast, and no word just yet on if there will be a Season 12. Joining Mary and Nigel on the judges panel are Tara Lapinski, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Debbie Allen, and Adam Shankman. Sort of hate that we had to wait till the end of season to see Debbie and Adam. Tonight was filled with favorite routines, new dances and a few surprises.

It’s always intersting to see what Judges, dancers and Cat choose as their favorite, usually I agree but there is usually one or two that surprise me.

Mary: Chose Jessica and Casey’s Travis Wall dance. This was something they both needed at the time, and they shined.

Debbie: She actually surprised me with her pick. I did love the Witch Doctor hip hop but was unable to enjoy it again thanks to the little brother distracting me…oh well there’s always youtube.

Zack: He chose his dance with Amy. This dance truely showed how good his is and how much he has grown over the season.

Nigel: While Dirty Diana wasn’t a personal favorite but this time the camera guys did a better job with less close ups. The fact that Nigel had to fight to get Allison back for the finale is ridiculous to me. I could go on about this subject but I’m just happy things worked out turn into GMA to find out who her DWTS partner is or just go on over to our sister site puredwts.

Paula Abdul: Well this was a surprise. Paula is a judge for the Austrailian version of the show. She also brought the most recent winner Michael Dameski with her. He is absolutely amazing, I remember seeing his solo video that went viral.

Valerie: Chose her tap with Zack which is one of my favorites. I still amazes me that they can do some of those steps on the stairs.

Ricky: Chose his first dance with Jessica. This quicky made him an early favorite.

America’s Pick: Um Carly and Surge? Wasn’t sure why this was chosen but I got my answer later in the show.

Jenna: Wasn’t a fan of her pick but I did like Rudy and Tanisha as partners.

Adam: I’ve missed him on the show…but thanks to twitter I did enjoy his commentary. Love that he chose Zack and Ricky’s hip hop.

Time for some Results: 4th place goes to Zack. I was honestly bummed about this but someone had to be there.

Tara: She actually picked the dance that I thought would have been America’s favorite. Loved everything about this NappyTabs hip hop. Emilio and Jasimine killed it.

I love Jesse Tyler Ferguson. I would give him a ticket to Vegas for sure.

Chris Scott and Sonya paired up to create a new dance for tonight featuring the top 10 and the All Stars. Loved seeing some all stars that we haven’t seen in a while on the stage. I loved seeing Dominic (D-Trix) and Emilio dance together. I also spotted Courtney and Marko.

The Crew winner was the Bollywood Crew…anyone else forget about the crews during the season.

Jessica: Not surprise she chose her dance with Robert, still a great routine but I like her hair down better this time around.

More Results: 3rd place goes to Jessica.

Before we get to the big annoucement Cat asked Ricky and Valerie to perform her favorite dance, their first dance as partners.

2nd Place goes to Valerie…if they kept the 2 winner outcome a tap dancer would have won dang it.

Which makes RICKY the winner of Season 11. Truthfully this was no surprise for me, he had the most consistant season and I thought he had in the bag long before we got to the top 10.

So now what, since we don’t know if there will be a season 12 yet…I guess we might as well go see the tour. I’m going to try to come up with fun post during the off season. I’ll be sure to post if there will be a new season but what would you like for me to post.

Congrats Again to Ricky!!!

September 3, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 4: Performance Finale Thoughts and Power Rankings

What a great performance finale filled so many dances, it was hard to keep track of them all. Honestly I don’t know how the Top 4 are able to get though that night without showing any exhaustion. The alway fabulous Jesse Tyler Ferguson is finally back at the judges table. His “hey Ricky” chant was hysterical, not to mention all the judges goofing off behind Cat was entertaining as well. Also, three of my favorite all-stars were apart of tonight’s busy show. Like I thought Aaron was the one that got to dance twice.

With a total of fifteen dances, it would take me all night to attempt to rank them all. So I’m going to pick out a few of my favorites and give my thoughts about them. Then I’ll do my final ranking of the dances and who I think might win.

Zack and Valerie: This was a great piece of choreography from Tyce. It was the acting that was the challenge in this dance. They both sold the story, Valerie almost had me believing she was blind.

Valerie and Jessica: I thought this style suited them both very well. They both looked like they were having fun. Just something about Bollywood that I just enjoy.

Zack and Ricky: I love Pharside and Pheonix. The theme was very familiar though…anyone else reminded of the two princes from season 3. These boys knocked it out of the park. My second favorite dance of the night. I think that the winner will come down to the two of them.

Ricky and Kathryn: I’m not surprised that this dance was beautiful. Everything came together and Ricky is just a beautiful dancer.

Jessica and Robert: This had to be her best performance of the night. I think contemporary his her strong point and was nice to see her finally get back to the girl we saw in the very first live show.

Zack and Aaron: A tap to “Piano Man”, I would have never thought of that but Anthony is a tap genius. Yes it was my favorite dance of the night. I love how their taps went with the music, just so smooth and entertaining.

I honestly think that winner will either be Ricky or Zack. I can’t make up my mind. Ricky has been consistently fantastic and there is no reason he shouldn’t win. Zack is kind of the dark horse for me, he has been able to do anything that has been given to him. It will be interesting to see how the votes will turn out. Valerie will probably place 3rd with Jessica in 4th.

So what were you favorite dances of the night and who do you think/want to win.

August 27, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 6 to Top 4: Thoughts

Hard to believe this season is coming to an end, I’m not quite ready for it to be over. Since there will be another performance show to determine this seasons winner, I figured I’ll wait till then to do a final power ranking.

Lots of dancing in this episode, two partner dances and a solo performances. Christina Applegate is back on the judging panel and I’m glad she is. The first round of dancing they were paired back up with there orignal parners. Casey and Jessica may not have been oringinally paired together, I really think they should have been. Jessican had a better connection with Casey and that disco was fun. I loved the rehearsal footage of Valerie’s dress getting caught on the swing.

All Star Dances.

Ricky and Anya: I don’t think that there is anything that Ricky can’t do. Keeping up with Anya can be a tough task but Ricky was able to “tame” her…well according to the Judges.

Valerie and Twitch: Loved that Valerie really got into the groove and character of the dance. Granted the costume wasn’t all that great but I really did enjoy the dance.

Zack and FikShun: So happy to see Philip choreographing for the show and boy did he put together an intricate dance. Zack pulled it off great and was able to match FikShun. Zack has pleasantly surprised me all season.

Jessica and Ade:  I agreed with Nigel on this one, just wasn’t feeling it. It happens sometimes but I think I was trying to figure out what club they were going to.

Casey and Makensie: Hands down this was his best dance of the season. To tap into that type of emotion can be difficult but Casey was able to do it.

Jacque and Will: I really loved this dance. Glad that they didn’t have any issues with the ball. I’m still not quite sure how they did what they did with the ball.

Overall I am happy with the top 4. I’m not sure but Cat only announce 3 all stars for next week, Kathryn, Robert, and Aaron. Call it a gut feeling but there will either be a tap trio or Aaron will dance with both of the tappers. So what are your thoughts on tonight and who is your pick to win just based on tonights show?

August 20, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 8 to Top 6: Power Rankings and Thoughts

It’s hard to believe that this season is almost over, the stage seems so empty with just eight dancers on the stage. This week was a Michael Jackson theme…well, just all MJ music. Jenna Dewan Tatum joined the judges this week. I really emjoyed this week and the All Stars were great as usual. Still don’t like that the All Stars have to leave the stage right after they dance.  So on to the rankings.

Top 3

Ricky and Jamie: This was a great pairing and I agree with Travis, Ricky is the one to beat. I really don’t think that there is anything he can’t do. Plus it was just another simplistic dance that was just beautiful.

Zack and Makensie: Spencer said it the best Zack is just a sponge, soaking up everything he is learning and growing every week. I did enjoy the dance but in the back of my mind I was think about on of the dances in Center Stage that was danced to the same song.

Valerie and Ryan: I wasn’t too sure if she would be able to pull this off. Thankfully she did and she looked like she was having fun out there.

Middle 3

Jacque and Twitch: I loved the smoothness of this dance. I thought the style of the dance suited her and she had the attitude right as well.

Jessica and Will: While I loved the dance, I’m just not liking Jessica anymore. While she is a fantastic dancer I just feel she started off great, had a few so-so weeks and then suddenly bloosomed again. So good to see Will.

Casey and Comfort: I was quite surprised that he did as well as he did. However, it was hard not to want to watch Comfort and even the cameras seemed to do the same thing. He did connect well with her but I think he could of gotten into it just a little bit more.

Elimnated Dancers

Tanisha and Nick: I honestly had Tanisha in my top 4. I’m not sure how she how she ended up in the bottom 2. Regardless she had another great dance. I love Nick as a dancer ever since the first season.

Rudy and Allison: I had a hard time trying to watch Rudy because Allison kept draw my attention away from him. Her facial expressions we a bit too over the top for me. I did think he left on a high note.

Next weeks pairings.

Ricky and Anya

Valerie and Twitch

Casey and Makensie

Zack and FikShun: this should be fun

Jacque and Will

Jessica and Ade

 

August 13, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 10: Power Rankings

So since they revealed which dancer is paired with each All Star, I figur ed I would do the power rankings a little different this week. I’m choosing to rank the guys and the girls separately and predict how I think they will do next week.

Guys

Casey: After a great performance this week, he gets to be paired with Kathryn. I’ve got a feeling this will be a good partnership and most likely a good dance.

Ricky: He is the best techincal dancer on the show and hard not put him at the top of the list. I think Lauren Froderman is a good match for him and I’m curious what style they will be dancing.

Zack: He should be ok being paired with Amy.

Rudy: It will be interesting to see him do ballroom. I think he will do an ok job but Jenna could over shadow him after all she is a judges favorite.

Emilio: The height difference will be interesting. I honestly have no clue how they may do. It could be really good or bad. I  also think it depends on what style they pick.

Girls

Tanisha & Jacque: They are kind of tied for me. The are both paired with an All Star that is also in their strongest style of dance. I’m excited to see Ryan dance again. Also I’m expecting a great pas de duex from Chehon and Jacque.

Valerie: I don’t think she will have a problem keeping up with Ade.

Bridget: Why do I get the feeling she could be dancing disco, Brandon is a great partner for it. Disco is tough to pull off so it’s another wait and see how it goes.

Jessica: While I think she will be safe next week she is pair with Twitch. She has a lot of work to do to keep up with the star that is Twitch.

What are your thoughts on the pairings?

July 31, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 16 to Top 14: Thoughts and Power Rankings

What a show, the group dances were all absolutely amazing. Plus Misty Copeland finishes up her last week as a guest judge.

****SPOILER ALERT****  West coast stop reading now.

I was surprised to see Zack and Tanisha in the bottom 6…they should not have been there. If you are voting continue to vote for your favorites every week and  don’t assume they are safe.

Top 3

Bridget and Emilio: I loved everything about this dance. I think they both proved themselves this week and hopefully will be safe next week. Emilio was far out of his element and he did a great job and pointed his feet.

Tanisha and Rudy: Just a very cool and sexy hip hop from Dave Scott. That outfit was hot and yes my attention went straight to Tanisha.

Carley and Surge: I’m really loving Surge as a partner and he is growing. Carly was fantastic from the turns to the back bend.

Middle 2

Valerie and Ricky: Love the energy that Bollywood brings to the stage. Both of them kept up with the pace but I do agree Valerie could have been a little sharper in the movements.

Jacque and Zack: Love this dance but something just did sit right. Zack was fantastic but I wish Jacque would let go of the “pretty” dancing.

Bottom 3

Brooklyn and Casey: I love the Choreography but those costumes were horrible. I would have rather seen the really baggy pants look. They both did do a good job at dancing it.

Emily and Teddy: All things considered I think Emily played it safe and then the slip at the beginning, she recovered well but it may have thrown her off as well. I love Teddy as a performer and glad he pulled of those lifts.

Jessica and Marcquet: Beautiful dance but that really all I can say about it.

I honestly thought after those group dances I thought there might be a possibility that they’d save them all and then do a double elimination next week. Well I was half right, there is a double elimination next week and we say goodbye to Marcquet and Brooklyn. So who’s in trouble…Jessica, Emily, Valerie(maybe), Casey, Surge, and Teddy. What are your thoughts?

July 23, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Top 18 Power Rankings

Enjoyed the opening number from Josh Burgasse, gave me a flashback of a tap routine I did my senior year of high school. This was a preview of the choreography of the Broadway show “On the Town”, which is part of the prize for the winner this year.

I found myself more excited about the choreographers this time weather than the dancers. Maybe it was the partner switch, but I just was feeling for most of the performances. I also didn’t agree with the bottom six either but four out of the six seemed to redeem themselves where as Nick and Marlene did not, judges made the right call this week.

Top 4

Jacque and Zack: When I heard African Jazz and Sean Cheesman was involved I was already interested. This turned out to be the best routine of the night. Hair, make up, costumes, and concert were amazing. Jacque and Zack also performed this piece well.

Valerie and Ricky: Luckily they were one of the couples who did well with the switch up. Ricky is just amazing and to hear some of his training came from Desmond Richardson sort of surprised me and then eventually I thought well that makes sense. Valerie proved she can do things outside of just tap.

Carly and Surge: Carly was great last week and this week. Surge had to prove himself this week and to be honest I didn’t think he had to. He may no be the best at contemporary but he connected with the emotional aspect of the dance. Like the judges say all the time, Sonya knows how to get the best out of her dancers.

Brooklyn and Casey: Another great Argentine Tango from Miriam and Leonardo. How Casey ended up in the bottom I not sure other than maybe he is just easily forgotten. Brooklyn more than made up for her performance last week, and seem to prove that maybe her nerves got the better of her last week.

Middle 4

Emily and Teddy: I actually really enjoyed this and thought they both did a great job. Agreed that Emily should connect a little more with her partner first before focusing on performing for the audience.

Jourdan and Marcquet: Marcquet seems to be a very well-rounded dancer and I think he has a strong fan base. Jourdan I thought did a good job but I think she still has a lot to prove.

Tanisha and Rudy: I really didn’t find much wrong with this dance and I don’t think they will be in the bottom anytime soon. Rudy has a lot of room to grow and I think he will.

Bridgett and Emilio: This was in Emilio’s element and he did well but Bridgett wasn’t  believable. I think she could have been more hard-hitting.

Bottom 2

These two dances Nigel seemed to be a little too harsh on the dancers when it came to the Choreography, which isn’t their fault. I understand not liking the choreography but I at least will judge the dancers on how well they performed what was given to then. It’s ok to mention if you don’t like it but don’t go on and on about what was wrong with the  choreograph cause the last I checked the dancers don’t have any say in what is choreographed. So I’d wish they would critique the dancers and not the choreographers.

Nick and Jessica: It took others to say the song wasn’t right for the dance for me to realize that it was the song that was throwing me off. I thought they both did rather well but something seemed off. Jessica may be in danger next week but I don’t think she will go home jut yet.

Marlene and Stanley: Stanley is a great dancer but he had no connection with his partner and also seemed to out perform her…I don’t think he will be safe next week

Stanley and Jessica have a very good chance of being in the bottom but who will join them. I think we might see Bridgett, and Jourdan. As for the boys I’m a little more unsure of who might be there but I’m sure it will be a surprise.

July 11, 2014 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.