SYTYCD 7: Top 11 Performances Reactions
Sooo normally I don’t have an opinion when it comes to dances and emotion and what not, but there was so much going on that you can’t help but react, so I’m going to give it a shot… 😀 Just a quick warning, chances are high I’m not going to react to the actual dances as much as some other things that have happened… 😀
Overall Show format
Marianya’s Reaction: Now I’m really digging this All Star format, I think the All Stars are really a big help in helping the dancers get acquainted with unfamiliar dances… but another week I think will help me refine that opinion.
Dancer: Billy Bell
All-Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Broadway
Marianya’s Reaction: Ok, Billy is a beautiful dancer, no question… but he seems to have lost a bit of that luster from Season 6. Though I’ll admit this is one of the better Broadway routines.
Dancer: Cristina Santana
All-Star: Mark Kanemura
Style: Jazz
Marianya’s Reaction: Took me a while to realize that Cristina was wearing a body suit and not body paint >.< But dang Mark was flirting with the audience as he walked off stage... with the finger pointing and the semi-Elvis semi-The Fonz look... such a ham.
Dancer: Jose Ruiz
All-Star: Comfort Fedoke
Style: Hip Hop
Marianya’s Reaction: Jose looking all werewolf-y yeeeaaah, didn’t expect that, but I think Jose got cut a break with a good portion of his dancing being more breaking than actual dancing… he’s better on the floor than on his feet… and doesn’t necessarily work in dancing, in other activities I’d agree, but not dancing.
Dancer: Adéchiké Torbert
All-Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Contemporary/Jazz
Marianya’s Reaction: This had SO MUCH potential and it felt flat. I mean COME ON, I work in the office and I have fantasies of being able to do that to a couple of guys, but this routine is a man’s fantasy not a female’s fantasy. Seriously dude.
Dancer: Melinda Sullivan
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Ballroom – Jive
Marianya’s Reaction: *Squee* Pasha’s back, I’m a Pasha fangirl. I was going to say something about the routine but Adam totally made me forget what I wanted to say when he said, “look in here please don’t look down here…” with his fingers aiming towards his family jewels… so he had to add to that, “and by that I mean your legs and feet”. I love Adam… I don’t care which team he bats for.
Dancer: Alex Wong
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Jazz
Marianya’s Reaction: O.M.G. Where the hell did that come from!??!?! I’ve never see Nigel speechless… and I swear I thought Nigel shed a tear or two or three… One thing I noticed is that Alex held Allison for a very long time… almost as long as Neil and Ashley later on… but that was such an emotionally driven piece that they needed a bit to calm down. Oh and SONYA ROCKS tonight… I’ve never been a huge fan of Sonya, I am now.
Dancer: Alexie Agdeppa
All-Star: Stephen “Twitch” Boss
Style: Hip Hop
Marianya’s Reaction: Shankman of the 90s scares me, and instead of the girl barging through the door it’s Twitch barging through the window… He so suave in that dance, he could sneak through my window any night. Though, I totally would love to see the extended clip of Shankman in Star Search.
Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Ade Obayami
Style: Contemporary
Marianya’s Reaction: As much as I love Ade, Lauren totally killed the routine for me. I ended up fast forwarding through the routine because Lauren seemed to be a dancing Barbie doll. It’s pretty and all but there’s no substance behind the pretty face and lines.
Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Ballroom
Marianya’s Reaction: OMG I know what Kent needs to do in order to remain on top… he needs to enjoy dancing and not think! I love, LOVE, LOVE his last back bend and when he gets out of it and looks at Anya, did anyone notice a bit of a flick of his tongue out the right side of his lips? OMG. Forget the lips puckering or his Jessica Rabbit impersonation. And then he went from being a “man” to being a “boy” again… it’s like *blink* I’m a kid again. And Mia and Adam’s reactions to the cougar exchange… priceless!
Dancer: Ashley Galvan
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Contemporary
Marianya’s Reaction: Another strong emotional routine, right up there with Alex/Allison. But for more of my reaction, go to this exchange between myself and Emilie.
Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Courtney Galiano
Style: African Jazz
Marianya’s Reaction: Courtney’s my least fav All-Star… so you could bet I was a wee disappointed that Robert didn’t “really” kill Courtney 😀 I watched Robert primarily through this whole thing. This is a dancer that’s like Ade where you know almost nothing about them at the beginning but their dancing spoke for them… and his exchange with Mia was entertaing… RAWR! Though Adam’s assessment of Robert would be interesting considering there’s Kent and Billy there too… I’m beginning to understand way there are so many male dancers, it just made me wonder how did Anthony Burrell do in the other styles that forced them to let him go because that has GOT to be the reason they didn’t keep him on…
PLease read my criticisms!!
http://tl.gd/1u5lcv
1. Billy did well and so did Lauren.
Contestant: 1, All-star: 1
2. I don’t know what the judges we looking at but Cristina’s face was still and when she posed she was shaky and unsure of her moves. Mark Killed it w/ a capital K.
Contestant: 0, All-star: 1
3. This is Jose’s free pass and he did well. Comfort was buck.
Contestant: 1, All-star: 1
4. Adechike’s technique was great but his face got by step 5. Kathryn was smolderingly good and I’m so happy she’s an all star.
Contestant: 0, All-star: 1
5. Of course Melinda would look amateurish when partnered w/ Pasha. Nuff said.
Contestant: 0, All-star: 1
6. Breath taking performance by both Alex and Allison. Perfection x3.
Contestant: 1, All-star: 1
7. Alexie does have charisma but was a little too fluid for that Nappytabs routine. Twitch had the swagger.
Contestant: 0, All-star: 1
8. Lauren’s my favorite but this really disappointed me… Mandy Moore’s face said it all. Ade was the perfect parter as always.
Contestant: 0, All-star: 1
9. It’s a dancer, it’s Kent. No, it’s superboy! Anya helped me remember why she’s on the show. Best entertaining dance of the night. Trainwreck diverted.
Contestant: 1, All-star: 1
10. I felt Ashley, still need more time to get to know this ‘special bunny’. Neil was gorgeous from beginning to end.
Contestant: 1, All-star: 1
11. Robert was more organic with his movement while Courtney looked a little manic. He carried the performance by himself without the Courtney crutch.
Contestant: 1, All-star: 0
Final Tally:
Contestants: 6, All-stars: 10
It was a good show and, to me, the All-stars made it worth my while to watch it a second time.
I was just thinking about something.
For ‘Meet the Top 11’, Melinda was placed into Broadway with Lauren G, Alexie and Allison. They completely bypassed her style and not even a solo. No mention from the judges and, surprisely, not from Nigel.
Does anyone else think it’s strange or was it too small to notice while it flew over our heads?
I agree with Mia’s comments about the freneticness of the piece, there’s a bounce in the beat that just wasn’t quite there. I kinda liked Billy’s hair all messed up, lol. New look for him.
LOVED seeing Mark and Sonya back together, but I completely disagreed with the judges about Christina. My eyes were on Mark the whole time. He said in the piece that he was her prey, but when they performed it looked like the reverse, she looked like his prey, and I think it’s because that’s his style of dance.
Eh, José’s number was cool, but he definitely got a free pass
I actually really liked Travis’s number with Adéchiké and Kathryn, it was very different than most of the stuff he’s done. Loved the moment at the end where he picked up the shoe on the table, the notion that it was all a fantasy. I think Adéchiké needed to finish some of his lines, he felt a bit rushed, but I thought they made a really good team. I do agree with the Mia about the chemistry thing. I kept thinking about Kayla and Brandon’s piece from S5, done by Stacey Tookey, they needed that kind of chemistry. The kind of jaw-dropping, pulse racing chemistry.
I’m afraid the judges were right about Melinda using performance to mask her flaws. I didn’t notice it at first but watching it back I saw what they were talking about with her legs. She has very strong feet, but her legs got a little wild. I don’t think she’ll be dancing for her life tomorrow because of one person: Pasha. I have a feeling his fanbase will, in turn, help her get through. But I’m afraid she may be on thin ice.
Holy cow, Alex and Allison. So gorgeous. It reminded me a lot of “Imagine”, Katee and Will’s pas de deux from S4, but it was grittier than that. I definitely got chills, at some points I was so transfixed by their emotional connection to the piece that I almost stopped watching their bodies. I’m so glad to see Alex start off on such an incredible foot, and it definitely ranks in the top group of pieces ever done on SYTYCD.
What happened with Alexie and Twitch is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen. I think their size difference made it more difficult for her to make those moves bigger. I think it’s something she’s just going to have to work on. I LOVE hearing Jason Mraz on SYTYCD 🙂 Twitch was great, his face and his body movements connect really well.
Oh Lauren, yikes. She looked like she’s taken a page out of the Mary Murphy botox handbook, I don’t think her face moved the whole time (her hairdo wasn’t doing her any favors either). Ade definitely carried this piece, not that I’m complaining. But I wasn’t expecting a lot from this pair, and it just didn’t happen.
Yay Kent!! I was so happy to see him come through that dance and really, for the most part, do well. He didn’t quite get the leading man thing totally (the prancing!) but I thought he was great.
Neil and Ashley made a great pair, really beautiful. My only qualm was Neil’s outfit, it looked like hospital pj’s, so for some reason I had this image in my head of them being in love but he has a terminal illness or something. I’m looking forward to watching her open herself up on the stage over the next few weeks.
Robert’s really cute, I’m just putting that out there. Haha. I thought he did a really good job, I was definitely focused on him more than Courtney. I felt his movements all the way through his fingertips. Loved the music, could have done without the Enya-ish section, the beats on their own were very original and organic.
All in all, I thought it was a great night. Sonya vaulted herself into the upper group of SYTYCD choreographers with her 2nd piece, wow. I’m wondering how I can pick the people I think might be in trouble because they all have such popular all-stars. If I had to guess, I would say Lauren, José, and possibly Melinda. But really, I have no idea.
@Dennis
I kinda think they put Alexie in a weird group. She looked rather out of place compared to the rest of them. Melinda was fantastic in that routine (including that dress). She had the charisma and the sharp snaps in broadway that Alexie really lacked. I like Alexie but I don’t think she really is able to commit completely to the moves. I think Melinda is completely underrated.
Back to the dances.
HIGHLIGHTS:
The only dance that I really found breathtaking was Alex and Allison. I think I was more impressed with Allison’s dancing since she had a lot of featured sharp movements in Alex’s arms, however, Alex was able to capture the mood and essence of this piece. His technique combined with Allison’s partnership made this piece almost perfect. It’s going to be a tough road for Alex now. He’s going to have to improve from here.
KENT OMG loved that guy! He had so much performance and I wasn’t sure if Anya turned it down to make him look fabulous but he really just went out there and danced and had so much fun it had me smiling the whole time.
Robert is also another great personality who earned that kiss of death “best dancer on SYTYCD EVAR!” ala Adam Shankman. I think Adam just put his foot in his mouth but I really like Robert. Mia is right though, he’s got a little bit of everything.
The not so great…
It was good to see Kathryn dance again and she REALLY committed to the character. I wonder if it’s nerves because a lot of the new dancers just seemed focused on the steps and not so much the performances. It was LIVE so that does add some pressure but still. Adechike had this woman smoldering to him (reminiscent of Ryan and Noelle Season 6 and that sexy routine on a desk) and he smiled maybe once. I wouldn’t mind seeing him dance again as a second chance.
I don’t want any to go home sadly 🙁
How many times have we seen the hip-hop/b-boy “randomly” draw hip-hop on week 1? 😀 Regardless, his breakdancing still doesn’t impress me.
I agree with Margaret – Mark definitely looked like the predator instead of Christina. He was quite good in that dance, while I thought she was so-so at best.
Poor Melinda – didn’t get to dance “in her style” last week, and then drew Jive this week along with sub-par costuming. She must have ticked off someone in SYTYCD-land.
Great comments Marianya!
Here are my thoughts (oh, and I’m LOVING the all stars idea right now…)
1. Billy Bell–he surprised me with his ability to get into the character, but I completely agreed with the judges. He needs to remember to hold character throughout, even in transition.
2. Cristina–Sonya surprised me this time! I love her work, but it always seems so repetitive and similar to everything else she does. Both her routines tonight had more novelty to them. Four stars for choreo. Cristina doesn’t have the technique or personality to completely pull off a Sonya routine, though. She’s cute as a button, I’ll give her that!
3. Jose–lucky Jose that NappyTabs gave him like 3 8 counts of breaking in that routine. Shame, NappyTabs!! 🙂 I love seeing Comfort in that, though. Wow!
4. Adechike–I’m apparently in the minority here, but I liked him in this. He seemed nervous, but I felt more of the emotion/chemistry than the others felt, apparently.
5. Melinda–no, thanks. Didn’t do it for me. Felt fake and rushed. I think Melinda’s trying too hard. She needs to just be herself. Then again, I’ve never been a huge fan of her dancing.
6. Alex–wow. ’nuff said. I felt every move and every emotion. Allison wowed me. Alex wowed me. The whole thing = perfection.
7. Alexie–love her. I think a problem is that she makes everything look so easy. Plus, Jason Mraz isn’t your “typical” hip hop song. I thought she got the character well–sweet but sexy, happy to see her man, and then happy to see him go! I liked it.
8. Lauren–disappointment after Thursday’s routine. Bummer. Again, think she’s trying too hard to perform to the crowd and not thinking about her partner. She’s gotta get into the moment to keep going in this competition. Bummer.
9. Kent–wowza. A glimpse of a man in that routine! Then again, Anya will make ANY boy a man. 😉 He’s so joyous and authentic. I imagine it will annoy some, but it’s so real that it’s adorable. Love.
10. Ashley–she’s my favorite girl after tonight. She almost had me won on Thursday, and now she owns it. That was gorgeous. And I watched her and not Neil, which says something (other than the Alex dance, that was the first time all night).
11. Robert–lovely. I thought he did great. He has great length and finish on his moves. He overshadowed Courtney, imo.
All in all–EXCELLENT night. Loved it. YAY!
Glad to see Alex doing so well right out of the gates – I think it’s safe to say he’s now my favorite. And I think I appreciate Allison now more than ever – she has a certain maturity to her dancing that I think Lauren, Courtney, & even Kathryn lack. And Kent just had me smiling the whole time – he’s one of the better non-ballroom guys to successfully tackle ballroom. If I didn’t know any better watching that cha-cha, I would have guess he’d had at least SOME ballroom background. And the best part – he actually kept up with Anya! So glad I was wrong about him…not so glad I was wrong about Melinda. Ooh wee…poor girl was the weakest performance of the evening for me. Just painful to watch her stumble her way through that jive – thank god Pasha was there to distract me 😉 And I agree with whoever said Billy has lost some of his “sparkle” from last season – he just wasn’t 100% there for me last night. Not bad…but could’ve been better. Nothing much to add about everything else that hasn’t already been said – if I had to guess, I’d say it’s going to be Melinda, Adechike, and either Jose/Cristina in the bottom 3.
Courtney, I concur with your guess of bottom 3. I’m thinking Cristina moreso than Jose, though–he did better performance-wise than Cristina, even if it wasn’t altogether challenging dance-wise.
Attention to all the Kathryn fan I posted a great article about her in the Behind the scenes blog. If you get a chance please read it. It has some good behind the scenes info.
What about the tour? Its a top ten tour. Are they gonna take the All Stars, or what? Thats been bothering me.
Also, Domnick wasn’t on last night, why?
I don’t know what they’ll do about the tour, good question.
Dominic tweeted about that–there’s one more all star than contestant, and by “luck of the draw” he wasn’t chosen last week. Each week more of the all stars will not be selected.