SYTYCD Top 14 Power Rankings
This week is REALLY hard, so I cheated a little and checked out y’all’s comments on John’s music post. Thanks for all the help, all of you! One thing I have to say about the non-dancing part of the show was I love, love Cat Deely’s dress last night. And I’ve never noticed before, but doesn’t she seem to have a lot of pockets on her dresses? Last night’s definitely did, she kept sticking her hands in throughout the show. Cute.
Now to the couples:
Jeanine & Phillip – I’m loving Jeanine more and more and of course Philip rocked in his style. This was the best hip hop of the season, in my opinion and I think it gives this couple’s legion of fans an excuse to keep them faaaaaar away from the bottom 3 this week.
Janette & Brandon – Brandon won me back with their intro video and then with his emotional response to the overtly staged “apology” from Mia Michaels (he must be working with her soon). This routine was smoking! Great song, great choreography and great dancing. I think they’re safe.
Kayla & Kupono – Okay, you got a routine about vampires, a song from the Twilight soundtrack and Sonya. Kinda seems like it couldn’t fail, especially because good dancers were in the mix. I like Kupono’s dancing better with Kayla (though I really liked Ashley). Kayla is stunning. And Kupono matched her step for step in this piece.
Melissa & Ade – Pointe shoes! Awesome. It was beautiful and really cool to see. I thought Ade did a spectacular job when you consider how specialized classical routines are and it’s not his style. But it kinda felt like a gimme, like a routine you couldn’t judge against the others. I almost felt like I was watching one of the professional routines on Thursday. Which is a compliment, but also not (am I making any sense). It didn’t feel like a SYTYCD routine to me. I did enjoy it, a lot.
Randi & Evan – I really, really don’t want to put them here! I love this couple and I liked the routine. But you could feel that it lacked some of their normal vitality. There were numerous great moments (starting with Evan’s slow handstand across the table), but I think they’ve been flying high for several weeks and are probably due for a bottom 3 landing (temporarily). I don’t think (and really hope) they won’t be going home. They’ve been near the top every week, so hopefully that and their solos will save them.
Caitlin & Jason – I don’t want to write this one either. I didn’t feel the piece (it was weird!), but I do think the two of them danced their hearts out with what they were given. Those costumes, especially Caitlin. WTF? The moment I saw them walking into the room with Brian Friedman, I thought, “Oh, this could be really good or really, really, really bad,” and when he said “You’re an alien who came down to Earth…” I kinda wanted to throw up, I was so scared for them. They showed a lot of good sportsmanship and personality at the end, facing the judges, so maybe that will help them. But, they have been in the bottom 3 several times…
Karla & Vitolio – I still don’t like Vitolio, though I do agree he’s growing and demonstrating more personality every week. I like him more when he’s dancing and Karla has really, really grown on me. I loved the quick change and Karla in general throughout the piece.
In the end, I suspect that it will be Caitlin and Vitolio that go home. Or perhaps Caitlin and Jason, since they’ve both gotten a lot of flak and have ended in the bottom. I love Caitlin, so this is a sad conclusion for me. But I don’t want Randi and Evan split up before the Top 10 and Karla has been doing better and better every week.
TV Guide.com has done a Power Ranking of the Top 14 individual dancers, some of which I agree with and some of which I don’t. They place Jeanine and Karla in a tie for the bottom of the Top 14, when both girls have been gaining steady popularity AND the girls (in my opinion) are far stronger dancers than the boys this season. Nice to see TV Guide liked our idea for power rankings.
You helped me create this week’s Power Rankings, so let me know if you think I got it right or not.
I’m terrible at ranking people and trying to guess how America will vote and this week seems especially hard. All I can do is share my opinions (which I’m pretty sure do not jive with the rest of the world)!
I did NOT think that was the best hip hop routine of the season. The FIRST hip hop most certainly was.
I’d like to see Phillip and Evan/Randi in the bottom three. Why? I started out REALLY liking those boys, but I just don’t think they’ve “brought it” yet in enough dances (they’ve had shining moments, for sure). I know they are extremely popular and will thus remain for a while, but I don’t think they have earned their places yet. I do not think it is Evan’s time to go quite yet though.
Here’s the thing: When it gets closer to the end and everyone is doing phenomenally, I start choosing who I want to stay the least (because I can’t choose anyone to go home). Philip and Evan fit that category for me right now. The show would lose a good personality if Phillip left, but I just don’t think he can compete with the other stronger boys.
Maybe I am just tired of the hype given to Phillip and Evan???
I’ve been hard on Kupono, but I’d like to see him another week. I guess Jason would be my third “boy” in the bottom three (if I could make the rules!).
The girls…sheesh! I can’t even begin to narrow it down there. However, Caitlin (as much as I liked her at first) hasn’t had as many great moments as some of the others so I’m okay with her in the bottom 3.
I didn’t think the chain hip hop was that great. Perhaps it was the chain that was SO distracting, but it was just fine. The best this season, but that says little.
Other than that, these are probably about right, though I hate that. I personally enjoyed the broadway and the pop-jazz (along with the contemporary, these were my 3 favorites routines…but the couples in them definitely helps), though it seems that many others didn’t.
I agree with your comments about the pas de deux. It just doesn’t fit well with the program. Seemed well done…but that’s not why I tune into the show week after week.
I think you got it right on. Exactly what I told my husband last night – before I read any rankings…although I said Caitlin and Jason, with Vitolio as a possibility.
liked your idea of power rankings? Because no other So You Think You Can Dance site has ever done power rankings? Are you delusional or just self-aggrandizing?
Gretchen – I know what you mean. It’s hard not to be concerned about the “hype” given to certain dancers. I hope folks continue to love Evan.
Ronnica – I wasn’t distracted by the chain, though I can see how that would be a distraction. 🙂 I’m so glad you liked the Broadway!
Jackie – we’ll have to see if we’re right tonight!
Really (#4) – It’s good natured, no worries. I was interested to see their ranking of the individuals. Who knows who used “power rankings” first, though I’ve always loved reading John’s here on the site. I think we all read whatever SYTYCD gossip and news we can get our hands on!
I disagree with your comments about the pas de deux. I thought it entirely fit into SYTYCD. It was a sweet dance, danced amazingly well – haven’t there been many other fabulous dances danced so beautifully my breath has caught in my throat? What is the difference? Because Melissa is a ballet dancer? Phillip is a hip hop dancer, but I hear no one complaining that he dances too well for it to fit in the show when he does hip hop. You can’t even say that both of them are in their element, because Ade is not a ballet dancer. And, it must be said, he also did a fabulous job. It was a true duet, not just watch-Melissa-be-fabulous-dance. Bravo, to both of them!
PS… I can’t add to the power ranking game. I thought everyone was fanTABulous, and the votes will mostly come down to popularity. Possible exception: Caitlin’s unfortunate costume will really pull them down, I predict. I think the take-away message is DON’T PISS OFF THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT!! 😉
I thought it was a little TOO ironic that the show’s first ballerina got the show’s first pas de deux…but who knows. I’m not a big Mellisa fan because she dances old (and not just because she’s 29…), but no doubt she is a good dancer. I enjoyed the pop jazz, even though it was bizzare. I was also distracted by the chain but since I absolutely adore “nappytabs” the number was still amazing. It was very meaningful, no? Especially the ending. I’m not a big fan of Karla, I think she has no personality and I don’t think she can connect well with a partner, especially Vitolio. I really can’t wait for Jeanine to really show us what she can do, and sorry Phillip fans but I don’t think she can do that with him. He weighs her down unless they’re doing hip hop, but she shined in the tango and broadway numbers. I agree with the rankings and predictions of eliminations.
Remember that this wasn’t the first pas de deux, folks…just the first classical one. And I imagine if someone else had drawn it, they just wouldn’t have used pointe shoes (e.g., see Katie from last year). Because she is a classical ballet dancer, she probably chose to dance it en pointe (which I’m sure pleased the choreographer).
That’s just my guess, though.
Hey, Did anyone replay Kat coming in to compliment the choreographer after the opening number? Watch her lips after they cut to the Choreographer as she said “F___ Me!” with the audio deleted. Tell me she didn’t say that!
Surprised at one couple in the bottom three, but not in who went home.
Kelly Clarkson’s performance was the best of the season for musical guests.
The contemporary ballet? Whoa. (though she did mess up a bit once when she fell off pointe, it was still beautiful!!!)
Beth, I know!! That woman spent FOREVER en pointe in second position. Crazy! My feet hurt just thinking about it. I was also impressed by Kelly Clarkson. Finally a musical guest who doesn’t distract us with (at best) mediocre background dancers, and who doesn’t look like she’s going to a Halloween party! Hooray! Rachel, what do you mean when you said Melissa dances “old”? I don’t understand.
I think what I meant about Melissa dancing old is that she almost dances safely. Like she knows how she dances and is just showing it off, not trying new things. Her attitude while dancing is very calm and sedated. She is beautiful and a beautiful dancer but I don’t feel like she’s really portraying emotions. Can she do a dance where she doesn’t have to smile? I say “old” but I think I mean “knowledgeable”. She dances like a retired dancer would. I don’t mean to bash her in any way, this probably just comes from her extensive ballet training.
Rachel – just trying to show you the world from the eyes of a Melissa fan. 🙂 I don’t agree with your conclusions; she doesn’t smile during the Rumba, or during most of the group pieces. I don’t think she smiled during Sonya’s piece, either, although at the moment I’m feeling too lazy to go check. I think she’s an accomplished performer; when I’m watching her, I usually feel what I’m supposed to feel. I am more impressed with her because she’s “only” a ballerina. Most ballerinas I’ve met can’t take the ballet out of their bodies. They’re always straight, and up, and their energy is always contained and inward-focused. Melissa is so versatile…she’s sinuous in the Rumba, her energy reaches out during the Contemporary, her movements are hard during the Jazz. And yet she’s still, at the end of the day, a consummate ballerina, as she proved last night. I guess you don’t feel like she’s pushing her boundaries as the other dancers are. I simply think that she IS…and the fact that she still holds on to her calm as she does it proves her power as a dancer to me.
Yay! Power Rankings! I love reading this because you give viable and understandable explanations. Although seeing from the results show you were fairly off, I think it just shows how unpredictable the voting has become. I personally would agree more with your rankings.
As for Melissa, I’m not a huge fan, and I really can’t pinpoint why. I find her “experience” charming, but I think the only thing I can really say is that I don’t see that much of a personalitypersonality within her – the constant smiling! Now, to explain, because this is such a fickle thing within sytycd. Just the littlest things can bother people so much (karla’s stank faces, anyone?) and other things make the dancers so endearing. I’m a huuuge Jeanine fan (can I just say that she rocked it tonight?), probably because her little slices of personality suit me best. Others…maybe not so much. I’m sure it’s different for different people.
All in all, what I’m getting at, is that things like rankings and dislike/likes happen on such an individual level. Sytycd doesn’t really show much of the dancer’s raw personality but just the littlest actions that an entire nation grabs hold on and deciphers on their own.
On that note, I’m super interested in always reading comments and rankings to see how other people enjoy this show! 🙂
Rachel, Melissa is not the first ballerina on the show! Remember Jessica from Season 2? 😮
It’s kind of sad that she’s forgotten because she and James were eliminated on week 3. I don’t blame anyone for not remembering her, not even nigel. But it’s still sad.
He remembered Faina when she came to audition with someone else this season. Maybe Jessica’s been out of the scene too long. 🙁
But she was a great dancer. You can’t compare her and Melissa because of their age so that would be unfair. But I remember her and James were quite a good couple. Remember the foxtrot they did? Dang, Jessica had one of the best lines I’ve ever seen. And James has that cool look about him, as usual. 🙂
Australia’s Talia Fowler, winner of SYTYCD Australia season 2’s also a ballerina. She’s coming to perform as a part of the winner of SYTYCD Season 5’s prize at the end of the season, if my facts are not wrong.
Rachel, Melissa is not the show’s first ballerina! Remember Jessica Fernandez from season 2?
It’s kind of sad that she’s forgotten, but I don’t blame anyone for forgetting these great dancers, even Nigel, but she was a great dancer. I guess she’s been out of the scene for too long.
She and Jaymz were eliminated despite of their consistent dances because the judges apparently thought they did not connect with the audience. 😮
I remember her foxtrot with Jaymz, her partner. It was fabulous. The lines she had was one of the best i’ve ever, ever seen on the show. And Jaymz was his usual cool self. 😀
But you can’t compare her and Melissa cos of the age gap so that would be unfair.
Talia Fowler, SYTYCD Australia’s Season 2 winner’s also a ballerina.
So i guess, Melissa is not the first after all.
Speaking of previous dancers, I feel nostalgic. I hope season 5 grows on me like the previous seasons did. Miss:
Season 1: blake, nick, melody
Season 2: travis, benji, heidi, donyelle, allison, natalie, ivan, jessica fernandaz, jaymz, ben susak
Season 3: neil, sabra, danny, lauren, jaimie, kameron, anya, shauna, faina
Season 4: joshua, twitch, katee, courtney, chelsie, mark, comfort, will, kherington, gev, thayne.
Now adding on to the list: Jonathan, Vitolio, Karla, Ashley, Max. 🙁
I don’t know but season 5 is not growing on me, which is the last thing i want because i love everyone on SYTYCD so much, i hate to leave anyone or any season out. Looking back, i realise how many great, awesome, fantastic, and absolutely phenomenal dancers have come and go. It’s kind of sad, you know, knowing you’ll never see most of them dance again for you to see.
Arghk. Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic today. It’s just me, I guess. I miss the previous seasons so much! D:
@ Stephanie: To me, it felt like a routine that would fit better on a Thursday show, rather than as part of the regular competition. It just had this “not for judging” air about it, though I can’t describe it more than that. But I know what you mean – SYTYCD is rather unpredictable sometimes (in a good way!) with what it puts on the show. You just never know what you’re going to see! And don’t piss off the wardrobe dept. is ALWAYS good advice. Hee.
@ Rachel et al: I have a feeling that this was a week that routines weren’t pulled out of a hat. It seemed that every couple got at least one of the partner’s style. Probably cause they wanted to show off Melissa’s talents with a classical pas de deux. And you’re right about her dancing “old.” But I like the partnership with her and Ade – I think he livens her up a bit and she’s a very talented dancer.
@ Guy N: I wouldn’t put it past cheeky Cat Deely. Lol.
@ Beth & Stephanie: My roommate came in when the professional dancers were performing and he thought the woman was sitting on a chair. When I pointed out she was supporting herself on pointe the whole time, he nearly died. Lol. I’ve gotten at least 2 male roommates hooked on SYTYCD.
@ Wallflower: You’re right that I was pretty off this week. I had only the vaguest idea of how it was going to go, no strong suspicions. 🙂 I’m glad you like the Power Rankings, even when we’re waaaay off.
@ Buggy: I’ve only been watching since Season 3, but I know what you mean about nostalgia. I like so much of the dancing I’ve seen this season, but it’s been hard at times to connect with the dancers’ personalities and rather easy and instantaneous in previous seasons. I do very much like a few of the dancers, though, so I can’t wait to see what they do.
Thanks *everybody* for all your comments! It’s so nice to be part of such vibrant discussion.
Emilie – Your gut is right about the hat-pulling. Word is, they pulled either “A” or “B” from a hat first. If you got “A”, you got the style of one or the other dancer. If you got “B”, it was not your style. Then I think they pulled from a second hat. Not sure of the details, but I know there were two hats.
On SYTYCD Canada, there was also another cute little ballerina named Allie Bertram: https://puresytycd.com/tag/allie-bertram/ She was my absolute favorite to watch on SYTYCD Canada. She was so cute and sweet and just wonderful to watch dance. Check her out if you want to see another ballerina who excelled on SYTYCD.