Top 14 Performance Thoughts and Discussion

I’ll be updating my thoughts on tonight’s episode live (with a little lag, I’m sure, while I’m working on the music). Feel free to begin the discussion in the comments. What are you most looking forward to tonight? Dreading?

Spoiler space just in case…read on after the break…

Not sure how Carmen Electra’s going to do as a guest judge, but she seems to have an okay dance background. But what I’m REALLY excited about, of course, is seeing TRAVIS on the judging panel. CAN.NOT.WAIT.

I looooved the Top 7 Guys group routine with new choreographer Justin Giles. My mom said it was mostly just posing, but I really loved the routine for the guys. I think it gave them a chance to stretch within an idea and a song, to show of their strengths. Also, perfectly suited to the song. Looove those routines. What do y’all think?

Melanie and Marko’s Ray Leeper jazz routine was like a cross between Sonya and Jean Marc. I liked it, I really did, mostly because I love them and there was some fun stuff in there. But I could sense some of their same slowness and heaviness from the last time they did jazz. I think it was the first Top 20 night or the 2nd. I’ll have to check that. Anyway, I think I saw more of it at the beginning and it got a bit snappier by the end. I’m glad everybody loves them since they’re first.

While I really like Sasha’s dancing, I often find her personality abrasive and I don’t really like her partnership with Alexander. Which is weird because I usually like their routines fine. They’re both incredible. I actually liked this hip hop a lot. I thought it was cute and it reminded me of the firefly routine a while back. I could see where the judges were coming from, but I thought Travis had the best things to say, acknowledging that it was good but not chock-full of swag by any means.

I groaned when I heard that Jordan and Tadd got another waltz since they’ve already had the Viennese and I don’t particularly like waltzes. I love Toni Redpath, though. I think the idea of the dance was cool and they largely danced it well, but it seemed a bit jerky for a smooth waltz. I liked that Travis was the only one who was honest enough to mention this. His analogy to periods on sentences was perfect. Also? Carmen Electra is the most boring judge ever. She has no energy.

Clarice and Jess really impressed me in their Justin Giles contemporary (hip hop?) routine. I agree with Travis that it’s the best they’ve danced with each other and it might even be my favorite routine so far of tonight. I think Travis nailed it when he said it’s the first time their chemistry has been honest. He is just nailing the judging gig tonight, across the board. At least for me. You?

I worried for Ashley and Chris when I heard Liz Lira say it was her most complicated choreography. Loved when Chris dropped Ashley and asked her if she was okay and she took his hand and put it on her waist, making him lift her up and keep dancing. Awesome! I was impressed with them throughout, but I did feel that their chemistry was more with the audience than with each other. It felt like a routine in a dancing movie, maybe the couple’s second time performing where you can see them getting better together but it’s not the big bad finale yet. Again, I thought Travis was the one speaking what I felt and saw. I loved when Chris said, “You’re so mean, I love you!” That’s how I’d feel if Travis ever critiqued my dancing. 🙂

So relieved to see Ryan and Rickey in this AWESOME Chucky Klampow jazz routine. They killed it! It was so stylized and the music was perfect and I just really dug them in this routine. I agree with Nigel when he said it reminded him of Ramalama and Mary when she said she likes a little quirky in her life. Me, too!

Loooooved Caitlynn and Mitchell in their Mandy Moore contemporary. Mandy Moore has a way of taking music I don’t like and building an awesome routine around it – this is a perfect example. The lifts were so unreal that it was just breathtaking. I think they have a definite advantage with this great routine and being lost tonight. Also, Robert was Mandy’s male assistant. Cool! 🙂 And Mandy made me laugh when she said, “If you drop her, I’ll kill you!” Way to motivate. lol

The Top 7 Girls Ray Leeper jazz routine was fabulous. But I am getting sick to death of all this “girls are beasts out to get the boys” stuff. Seriously overdone, even if the choreography is stellar. And it was. I looved the slide across the floor, especially paired with the music.

The Power Rankings are gonna be tough and I know there’s gonna be some loud disagreement. I better just get on with it… Don’t forget to tell me what you think in the meantime.