SYTYCD Season 7 Top 7 Performance Thoughts/Power Ranking
Well, this is the first week where predicting tomorrow’s result is easy…but typing it is difficult. Coming to terms with it is difficult.
Top Two
Kent – He had a great night. He really delivered energy and personality (and skillz!) next to Neil. I don’t think he outdanced Neil as Nigel claimed, but he definitely kept up. And he did what I thought was impossible and developed some real chemistry with Adechike in a great male-male contemporary. He’s maturing, but still keeping his personality, which is the right combination with this show. The cheers are so loud while he dances that I don’t know how he hears the music. He’s safe.
Lauren – She gets a lot of flak, but since my only sorta formal dance training is in belly dance, I have to say that the stuff she did in that Tahitian dance is HARD! You have to have incredible core control to do all of the thigh/knee stuff she was doing (she was doing shimmies while crouching, with her legs at different angles! Normally, you take a pretty solid stance when shimming, that would’ve put a lot of strain on her stomach and back, but it was all really smooth.) Not to mention she kept the tail on her costume bumping and that is seriously hard to sustain. The really impressive part is that no part of her body or face was telegraphing how hard she was working to do that. As impressive as I found all of that (I barely looked at Mark and that’s SAYING something), the real winner of the night was her Mandy Moore jazz with Billy. These two should dance together for the rest of their lives. I totally saw what Cat said about Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney. It was so effervescent and fluid and just fun. Loooooved it. Lauren can be really annoying in her interviews, but she continues to impress me with her dancing.
Middle Two
Billy – He’s been getting a lot of flak lately, too, after being a huge early fan favorite. He gained something back tonight he’s been missing for a while. He was so relaxed. He seemed to be enjoying himself – just plain enjoying himself and that brought back the Billy that I love. He had jive with Anya and was a strong, matched partner to her. They had great chemistry, which hasn’t been his strong suit lately. But, of course, the second of his routines, with Lauren, was just incredible, as I mentioned above.
Robert – I think every single one of his fans are going to take nothing for granted and VOTE like crazy to keep him out of the Bottom 3. He’s been there too often. There’s a good chance he’ll be there again, but I think he’ll be saved by Ashley going home due to her injury. As for his routines – I really liked the Travis Wall contemporary, but I think that the judges/producers tried to hard to make an “Emmy moment” out of it because it was about Travis’s mother’s illness and it was so heartfelt. That almost ruined it for me. It was very reminiscent of Tyce’s breast cancer peace, in my opinion. Especially the opening walk of the two characters. I absolutely adored the walk at the end and the symbolism behind it, but while I think it was well-danced by Allison and Robert, I think Travis has deserved an Emmy more with other routines. I’m glad he shared something so personal with us, but I resented being told to feel about it. I felt the same way with Tyce’s breast cancer piece, actually, and liked it more when I saw it on SYTYCD UK with less fanfare. His disco with Kathryn was a lot of fun. It had it’s problem spots but when you consider they probably only had a day or so to practice together, very good.
Bottom Three
Ashley – is in the EXACT same place Alex was last week. The same place Jessica King was in a few years ago. If her injury is what I’ve heard it is… she’s almost 100% going home tonight. Which makes me very, very sad because she quickly became my favorite once the performance shows started.
Adechike – Okay, so Chike hasn’t been getting much love from me. I’ve acknowledged that he’s a great dancer, but I feel that he doesn’t connect to his partners. His salsa with Anya was horrific – even though there were tiny patches that were pretty incredible. However, I *finally* saw what everyone else sees in him when he danced contemporary with Kent. He had chemistry with Kent!! I loooved this Dee Caspary routine. I thought Chike was so comfortable with Kent in the interview and that really played out in their performance. It was the first time I thought he got everything right. However… I think it’s too little too late. It’s only one solid performance in a night with two performances and after a pretty lackluster season. I think there’s gonna be some Chike backlash this week after all the gossip and controversy. I think he’ll be safe though, since Ashley’s almost certainly going home.
Jose – If Ashley weren’t surely going home, I’d bee 98% certain that this was Jose’s week to leave us. He was flat and unimpressive in his Broadway and he disappointed in his own style next to All-Star Dominic. I found the routine entertaining (the breaking), but it wasn’t everything it was built up to be. Just as Jose is not everything he’s been built up to be. Even the judges had to admit, after his Broadway, that he needs training and polish. He needs to layer dance on top of his gymnastics and tricking.
Some last thoughts before I go –
-I looove that Cat is speaking up more about her opinions. Her comments re: Billy and Lauren reminding her of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland was spot on. 🙂
-I kinda liked the disco tonight and there were lots of crazy hard things in there. But…isn’t there at least one single other disco choreographer in the entire world? I’m very tired of Doreana Sanchez’s choreography. And here’s why – I think the style is already so limited that to have just one choreographer makes it very, very boring. It’s basically all the same routine!! And if there aren’t any other choreographers for disco, maybe that’s a hint that the style is played out. Dry. Done.
-We had a lot of male-male numbers tonight (what with Ashley out and Lauren being the last girl in the race, likely) and they were doozies! Loved Kent and Neil’s baseball routine! As well as Kent and Adechike’s contemporary. The Jose/Dom “battle” was aiiiright. Until they made Dom bow to Jose and I was just.not.cool.with.that. S’okay. We all saw who left with the sword. 🙂
-I think it took changing all the rules for the producers and all of us to realize what we love best about the show. I’m glad we’ve had this mix-up because it’s shown us that bringing back All-Stars and same-gender routines really do work. But it’s also shown us that we really like seeing the contestants grow together in partnerships and that the producers need to be careful not to overproduce = manipulate us. If they can even help it at this point.
– I’m *very* sad I didn’t get to see Ashley dance this week and that she’ll probably be leaving.
-It was a good week for dance, even if Alex wasn’t there. I think a lot of the dancers realized they could actually win and kicked it up a notch this week. It’s a weird season. All the rules changed and now all bets are off.
For the Record, I thought Lauren did a great job at Tahitian Dance as well as Mark. I don’t even think this his is style but he is from Hawaii so he’s seen a lot of it.
I also live in Hawaii and although the only hawaiian cultural dance I’ve done is hula, Tahitian is one of the harder Polynesian dances I’ve seen.
@Emilie
You’re right, that it takes incredible core strength to not only shake it at that speed, but to squat and walk around and act like it’s not difficult. Lauren’s abs looked cut after that lol. She did a very good job and you could see it on the choreographer’s face. I give props to Mark too because I bet that’s something he’s not trained in either.
I’ll comment on the rest of the dances after I’ve seen them. SYTYCD is airing right now as we speak 😛
I think that this week was so amazing !!!! I loved allof Kent’s routines. There wasn’t that much that looked weak to me. Aside from Jose’s broadway. I think he will be going home. I really loved Mandi Moore’s jazz routine.
On a side note –Robert’s ass looked amazing in those pants !!!!
This week is a really tough week, wow. I’m surprised at the varied reactions we’ve gotten to Travis’s routine. I personally loved it. As someone said, it really hit me when I saw Robert’s emotion written so purely on his face. He’s seen as such a ham, but he pulled his dancing to another level with this. And the fact that Travis got to choreograph for Allison, arguably the two most technically gifted dancers the show has ever had, was the best icing on the cake I could have asked for. While I see how you could compare it to “This Woman’s Work”, this had more dance elements in it, while Ade did a majority of the dancing in TWW. Their movements were so in time with the ebb and flow of the music. I actually think I liked this more than “Hallejuah” (cue the vegetable throwing). I can’t quite put my finger on why yet.
Feeling so sad for Ashley, I was really looking forward to seeing her do the Rumba with Pasha (choreographed by Dmitry). I know it all depends on her status tomorrow, but I would hate for us to lose another girl.
LOVED watching Adechike and Kent dance together, I thought they had great chemistry as dancers and really worked off each other well. My only issue is that, by the end, I’d lost the sense of what the dance was about. It’s a powerful concept, but I kinda felt like it disappeared.
Besides Travis’s dance, my favorite had to be Billy and Lauren. Loved how the camera started out just pointed at their feet, and the feet introduced us to the dance. And thank you, Mandy Moore, for staying away from the 80s music for the week! I loved the genuine groove of the song, well done for the both of them. If I were doing my own rankings, I would probably flip Lauren and Billy, mostly because of how much I enjoyed Billy’s jive. I thought it was one of the stronger jives they’ve had on the show with a non-ballroom male dancer. Mostly, I loved watching Billy tonight for the biggest reason that Adam said, he looked like he was having fun!! He FINALLY got lost in the music and just danced from his heart.
Really enjoyed Kent and Neil’s Broadway number, probably one of the better ones Tyce has done lately. Clever with the # placing (Neil came in 3rd in S3-he wore #3) I liked that. Kent hammed it up and it totally worked. I didn’t think that Kent necessarily outdance Neil (they have a bit of a height discrepancy, so there were a couple parts where Kent kind of felt for me like the bat boy trying to keep up with the star player) but I thought he did a really really good job.
I can pick a bottom 2, Ashley and Jose, but I honestly don’t know who I would put in that 3rd slot. I thought Billy and Kent had 2 solid dances tonight, Robert (hopefully) sealed his “safe” with his Travis #, b/c his disco was eh. So that leaves Lauren and Adechike. I liked Lauren’s 1st number and I give her major major brownie points because it looked soo hard, but A. she went first and B. the dance kind of confused me. Loved Chike’s 2nd #, and I think he was let down a little by the choreographer of the 1st one. Making the choreography so fast, especially for a salsa made the bumps in the routine stick out more. If they had simplified a few of the moves, it may have helped him with that number.
Margaret – For me, at least, comparing Travis’ routine to the Hallelujah earlier this season or TWW two seasons ago comes down in large part to the music. I’m mostly a classical music guy, so all the music on this show is new to me, but I liked the Coldplay song much better than the other two. (Even in my bubble, I’ve heard the Hallelujah song enough to be sick of it, and I really didn’t care for TWW). The dance Travis made also really seemed to fit the music.
After last week’s somewhat lackluster show, this was a good week. I really enjoyed everything except for Jose.
I’m going to agree with Margaret in that I think Travis’s piece was probably the best contemporary this season, and a large part of that was because of the music too. That Coldplay song was just perfect. This was the best routine of the night for me, and close behind was Billy and Lauren’s boogie shoes. If I had to place the dancers I would say Billy, Lauren, and Robert were the top 3. Billy had 2 solid dances, Laurens were both good too. I didn’t love the Tahitian, but thats mostly because I just don’t think I enjoy that dance style. But I think Lauren danced it well, she looked pretty professional. I loved Robert in the contemporary, but the disco was eh. I give him one Awesome! and one It was fun! So my bottom 3 is Adechike, Kent, and Jose, in that order. I think this week was a huge step up for Adechike, he really rebounded personality wise and seemed really likable in his clips. I liked the salsa too. I didn’t really get the contemporary that Kent and Chike did. I just thought it was boring. And as much as I love Neil, the baseball broadway piece was just ok for me too. Now for Jose…. that broadway was a disaster. Like Laurie Ann Gibson Moving Mountains disaster. And I think Dominic is a way better b-boy. So there, I think that Jose should go this week, but it sounds like it might be Ashley 🙁
@Emilie – I completely agree with you on Disco. They are fun dances, but start looking the same after a while. The only other disco type dance they have had on the show by another choreographer was a hustle last year. I can’t remember who choreographed, or who even danced it though, so maybe that tells you how good it was…
@Margaret so you noticed the number thing too. That why I ended up posting the blog before this one.
Ditto to everything Emilie wrote- i agree with her rankings. I think billy had a really good night. his jive with anya was very impressive and my favorite piece of the night was the mandy moore jazz between billy and lauren. i would pay to see that piece alone. normally don’t care for mandy moore’s stuff but it was awesome. yes, they need to branch out with getting other choreographers other than doreana for disco. when Cat first said ashley was out, i panicked that robert was going to have to disco with doreana and those lifts would have been tough. so thanks to kathryn for stepping in!
despite ashley and alex missing, it was a VERY good night of dancing. it looks like lauren and kent will battle for top 2.
I really hope Ashley’s injury doesn’t put her out of the competition because Jose REALLY needs to go. I was so happy that the judges finally gave him a poor review with that broadway number. Yes, he has “personality” and “heart”, but he is NOT a good dancer and I’m sick of the judges holding him to a lower standard than the rest of the dancers. Not to mention that the choreographers dumb down their routines for him. In my opinion, Legacy and Dominic are much better than Jose, even at b-boying. I don’t think Joe should have even made the Top 11.
When Nigel said they made a mistake with the Broadway routine by not playing to Jose’s strengths it just proved what I’ve been grumbling about.
This show is supposed to push dancers by making them do different styles and giving them difficult choreography. They aren’t supposed to fall all over themselves to make the dancers look good. There might be a place for that, but a competition isn’t it.
one other thing that I forgot to post last night, did anyone else catch Nigel say, when he was talking to Kent after his broadway routine, “I would put you as the one to win this at this point now that Alex is out of the way”? My ears may have been playing tricks on me but I swear I heard him say that. “out of the way”, really?
@Margaret: I heard Nigel say that, too and couldn’t believe it. And while he is probably right, his choice of words was inappropriate. He probably shouldn’t have said anything at all.
Ohmygosh, I loved your comment about how could he hear the music when the cheers are so loud! LOL
What have I got to say? Man, I love Kent! Plus I do think he is pulling away from just the cute kent and pinning more on his dancing abilities, while at the same time, keeping an awesome balance between personality and performance. Although I loved his broadway with him. I just couldn’t understand his contemporary with adechike. I was so confused at the end of the routine. One part of me saw the masculinity of the two boys and appreciated their strength, but another part of me just couldn’t blend the soft edges to their powerful movements. Especially at the end of the routine when adechike walked away, it felt like such a broken male/female love story. I became even more confused. However, just on their dancing, I thought BOTH of them were tremondous (I’m not an adechike fan). Exactly like you said, I saw that thing in adechike that everyone has been talking about!
We so agree on the Bottom 3. Nice Judy & Mickey clip. Well done review. I’ve posted my thoughts here:
http://notjustanotherjen.com/2010/07/sytycd-excellent-night-of-dance/
Ok– so was it jus t me, or did the rest of u notice something a little more then chemistry going on betweeen Robert and Kathryn?? and how cool was that roll that Lauren did at the end of the show? How can she have that much energy left after those dances shed did–wow!
Emilie, I loved that you didn’t like that Dom had to bow to Jose. 😉 When I saw that, I was like, “Um, I like you Jose, but no.” And apparently they don’t let Dom run with sharp objects. 😛 Oh, yes, we usually don’t let 24 year-olds run with swords, lol. 🙂
I LOOOVVEEDD Billy and Lauren’s number, and Robert and Allison’s number. I was starting to not like Mia, but when she started crying it actually made me cry. Kent and Neil are two of my favorites, and their routine was great, but WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT SONG???!!!!! It was irritating!
@jjasonb
its funny you mention Robert and Kathryn having chemistry because my husband (who i make watch the show with me), has pointed out several times how gropey Robert is with his partners. I think a couple weeks ago he kissed Courtney several times after their dance too. I think he just likes to rub on the ladies.
Tonights All Star dance is Forever choreographed by Dave Scott and danced by Comfort and Twitch. Yay! I knew we would see it again.
@ Rachel: my wife and i both watch it also. Both of us last night noticed that Kathryn didnt seem to mind the groping–lol. if u watch close at the very end of the show when they all get on stage the 2 of them went straight to each other and started dancing and talking to each other. If u have a DVR go back and look. And as far as robert rubbing on all the ladies– i thought he was gay this whole time. or is he bi– i bet thats it. lol
When Nigel said Alex was “out of the way” I went absolutely ballistic!!! >=| I thought the evening was great overall, but leave it to Nigel to disgust me once every single episode.
@jjasonb I had to clear this up for Emilie last night but Kathryn does have a boyfriend and theyve been dating since before she left for la and yes he is out there too. I guess that clearing it up for anyone else that is wondering.
@amanda yes thanks for clearing that up. I wonder if her BF gets jealous– i would lol
@Amanda, you just made my day!! Yay! I love “Forever”. Now hopefully we’ll get to see “Night of the Dancing Flame” or “Transformers” soon
i agree with everything you posted, ESPECIALLY with Adechike. i have never been a fan of his, but his contemporary with Kent really impressed me, and i FINALLY saw a little of why he’s still in the competition. doesn’t mean i’d like him to stay, but i can at least deal with how long he has stayed.
my top 2 might be different, robert and kent are really neck and neck for me right now. robert has been doing so well, and he’s been getting better and better in my books, whereas kent is losing a little of his sparkle for me. No denying he’s an awesome, awesome dancer. But remember in vegas week after the contemporary round where he had that whole moment with the judges about how he has the heart, it was a beautiful moment, something straight out of ‘A Chorus Line’, and it was the most honest i’ve seen him. i have to wonder if he’s pushing the cutesy thing a bit now, playing up to the audience. it’s smart, he hasn’t been in the bottom yet, but it’s starting to get a little forced for me.
@Margaret I love forever too! i knew that would be the one they showed again. I’d put my money on Night of the Dancing Flame (which i’m obsessed with) rather than Transformers, seeing as Pasha already did a perf with Anya.
@Margot i was a little taken aback at that, but i’m sure he didn’t mean it in a bad way, we know how much they all adored alex. i’m sure it was just a way of saying ‘out of the competition’, because alex was leagues ahead of some of them, and now he’s gone they can really shine.
Oh I’m sure it was just an incredibly bad choice of words, but after being in his position for so long you’d think he’d be better about considering what’s coming out of his mouth…
@Katie, that was my thought as well. I think they’re trying to do all-star routines where both all-stars are here for as long as they can, until they get to people like Kathryn, Ade, and Allison. Dom is an interesting case because he does have a piece with another All-Star (Ain’t No Sunshine with Lauren) but it wasn’t really an “All-Star” quality piece like The Garden or Forever. Night of the Dancing Flame I don’t think ever got the credit it deserved, I think it was the week that Lauren and Neil really broke out during S3. It’s pretty cool that they were original partners and they both became All-Stars.
I’m wondering what they will do when they get to people like Allison, Ade, and Kathryn. They’ll want to do more than just dance solos and while it would be fun, not have them dance with each other doing something new. It would be so great if they were able to bring back Legacy, Melissa, and Ivan to dance with them. They’re all living in the LA area now I believe. Why not bring Legacy back to dance they Stacey Tookey # that was just nominated for an Emmy? I’d love to see Ade and Melissa’s Pas de Deux, though they would probably pick “This Woman’s Work” because it shows off Ade beautifully. And for Allison and Ivan, you really can’t pick anything but “Why”. It would be really cool to see the 2 of them, especially, to see the growth since S2.
i couldn’t disagree more about Chike being in the bottom three. I think its Robert’s turn to go. I missed the beginning of the show last night but Kent and Adechike were amazing in the contemporary duet. But i do agree with your top two. Kent is number one for me now since Alex left.
I have also been really happy with the same-sex pairings. There are a lot of routines themed around love, attraction or break-ups, and while they certainly could do that with same-sex pairings, I think that it’s made the choreographers think about a wider range of stories (like a man trying to get his friend out of a bad relationship or the hip-hop therapy piece).
@ Margaret: That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking! If they want Dom to do an all-star performance they’re gonna have to bring back Sabra, which is very unlikely because she’s been AWOL forever.
Done so far:
Mark and Courtney: The Garden
Pasha and Anya: Season 3 audition
Comfort and Twitch: Forever (well, it’s gonna be done)
Possible:
Neil and Lauren: Night of the Dancing Flame
I thought about those 3 (Ivan, Melissa, Legacy) for Allison, Ade, and Kathryn! (Though I didn’t watch their seasons :)) For Dom… IDK. The rumba (with Sabra) or “Make It Work.” But if those combos aren’t able to happen, then they can partner with each other and perform a new piece! Well, there ARE two boys and two girls! Except… 3 of those are contemporary and one’s a freakin’ breakdancer. So… WHAT NOW???!!!! I just realized that! I guess no all-star performance for Dom :'(
bring back Sabra for dominic.
I just wanted to mention a thought I had about Travis’ piece. I also immediately thought of “This Woman’s Work.” But that piece was kind of from the point of view of the sick person, and Travis’ was from the point of view of the sick person’s loved one. OR, Tyce’s piece was about the sickness, while Travis’ is about the recovery. I actually think they almost complement each other.
Oh, and one other comment. I’m getting concerned about the number and severity of injuries on this show. They’ve always been there, but I think they’re getting worse. At what point are the producers guilty of negligence?
[…] hands. Hmmm. First thought was this was confirmation that my #1 and #2 slots were correct in the Power Rankings last night. Cause no way were they sending either of the first two to Bottom 3 the way they did […]
So funny about the Robert/Kathryn thing….Kathryn usually seems like…I don’t know…such an ice queen. I don’t think she really is that way. I think she’s just more reserved, but it comes across that way, but I saw something in her eyes looking at Robert. He is hot! A total dork, but a hot dork…I think she may have a little crush on him. You can still have a boyfriend and have a crush…and Kathryn, herself, is hot stuff. Interesting that other people noticed the same difference in her personality.
I actually like Adechiké. I think the guy had a terrible case of stage fright and as a result, made it seem like he was another one of those too-cool-to-care guys. While I hated his costume for the number with Anya, I did love the routine. It was kind of like a roller coaster. I noticed the choreographer kept putting them in “end poses” – the poses they usually end salsa dances in – but they would come slowly out of the poses and move onto something else. Every time I thought the dance was over, there went Anya’s hips again.
Tahitian dance? Not loving it…and I’m one of those belly dance people. Taken classes in it, love it, and think belly dance would be a GREAT addition to the show. If you’ve ever seen the Bellydance Superstars, you know how interesting belly dance can actually be and how much you can actually do with it. All those isolated movements are also extremely difficult. I would love to see belly dance on this show.
I wish I could have seen what the hype was about with the Travis Wall contemporary…but it missed the mark with me. Sweet? Yes…loved the fast-paced portion…Emmy nod? Given that I disagree on most of the Emmy nominations this year (except for Addiction), maybe the judges saw something I didn’t, but where was the Emmy nod for ‘If it Kills Me”? Stupid Emmy people.
Kent & Neil – WOW! I hate broadway, but man that was fun to watch. I so want to take Kent to the gym with me to build up some muscle so he can kill chicks more than he already does…lol I keep thinking if he had a little more bulk on his tiny frame, people would quit making the “man” comments about him. That athleticism was off the charts…those turns he did at the end…*jaw hitting the floor*
The chair routine…What the hell was that about? Why couldn’t they have the guys fighting over the phone? Like the guy wanted to call the girl that was bad for him, but his friend kept stopping him. But the two chairs? WTF?
This is a rare week…I’m even liking Billy Bell – except for the laugh. Knock it off. Now. The routine with Lauren was just too cool. I missed Mandy Moore. I love how she puts all these funky arm movements in there along with the feet. Now I want to go bedazzle my Converse. Have I mentioned how much I love Lauren? She’s really grown. Love Adechiké ribbing Kent about the kiss with Lauren.
What am I forgetting? The B-Boy stuff? Ack. That’s because it was forgettable. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m not into the style or if it just wasn’t anything new to me, but I wasn’t feeling it. I’d miss it about as much as I’d miss disco disappearing from the show (sorry Nigel & Doreana). Oh! And Ashley…but I don’t think Ashley has ever really “connected” with me. It’s not her fault. It’s the fault of luck of the draw that I saw her dance the same style repeatedly.
I’m still belly-achin’ about the show format, this season. I’m starting to get tired of seeing the same all-stars dancing the same style. The music hasn’t hooked me like music from past seasons. I’m also missing those amazing Nappy Tabs lyrical hip hop routines that actually made me LIKE this style of music. Okay…enough from me. I’m watching late again since it airs behind over here in Japan. I’ve got to watch it online if I want to comment same day! lol