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SYTYCD: Top 4 Finale Performance

As usual the performance part of the finale was a night full of dancing. I did love the opening number from Mandy Moore, that was inspired by the musical/movie Cats. The final four were paired up in every way possible…which turned out to be four dances each plus a solo. I think they all were fantastic but I have a feeling who is the fan favorite. 

I loved that we got to see a switch up with the partners and they got difficult styles to perform.

Mariah & Gino: I don’t remember the last time we saw a quick step but I know it has been awhile. Sharna and Artem created a fun but difficult quick step. Side note DWTS is crazy to let these two go. I thought Mariah and Gino did this dance justice. It may not have been perfect technique wise but the performance quality made up for it.

Sophie & Bailey: They had a Bollywood routine. This style always seems somewhat difficult because of the details, like the placement of the hands. I have to disagree with Nigel, I really enjoyed they dance and thought they danced it well. 

The performance of the night for me was the contemporary that Sophie and all-star Marco performed. I hope that Talia will nominated for an Emmy next year. The lifts were breathtaking…especially that first one. Sophie just completely let go and trusted Marco and danced from her heart.

Overall, I enjoyed all the dances. Now who will win and as cliché as it sounds they all could win. There was some chanting going on in the studio audience for one dancer…Bailey…based on that alone, I think he will win. We will have to wait till next week to find out.

September 10, 2019 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: Top 6 to Top 4

I will say this about Monday night, I was not all surprised about who was in the final four. I did find interesting that the judges still had a say, but they chose to stick with how America voted. The all stars returned to the stage to perform with one of the Top 6. Each of the Top 6 also had solo, performed with their partners, and in a group number.

Bailey & Koine: Broadway; Here’s what I really liked about that dance it showed how much Bailey has grown as a dancer. He is not just a b-boy anymore…that spilt leap kinda blew my mind.

Gino & Comfort: Hip hop; A big improvement compared to the last time he had hip hop and Gino showed off a few tricks that he had up his sleeve. I have to agree with Laurieann, Gino finally got out of his own way and just danced. He didn’t over think it.

Sophie & Kika: Samba; Anyone else excited to see Pasha back? I normally rely on Mary’s opinion when it comes to the ballroom numbers. However, this time I saw that her Samba rolls still needed some work. Other than that Sophie could pass for a professional ballroom dancer.

Mariah & FikShun: Hip hop; Working with props can be difficult but I imagine working with magic props are even trickier. Props to FikShun for kick the hat out of the way and somehow making it look like part of the dance. Nigel seemed to be the only one that seemed to be on the fence about this dance. I honestly think Mariah could win this show.

Gino & Sophie: Broadway; Now this is what I expect out of a Broadway routine. It fun, fast, and entertaining. I feel like these two should have been paired from the beginning and they make it hard to figure out who might win.

Bailey & Mariah: Jazz; I can’t say I had the same reaction as the everyone in the studio because seeing things in person is so different compared to watching on tv. That being said, they definitely are fighting for being the top couple. It would not surprise me to see them as the top 2 dancers.

Groups: I thought both the boy and girls has amazing routines. Though I think the guys edged them out but not by much.

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Ezra and Madison. They both had a great night but they just didn’t get the votes.

 

 

September 4, 2019 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: Top 10 to Top 8

*Rain & satellite tv don’t go well together missed who went home and had to wait till spoilers on the inter webs posted.

Okay can we just hand Travis Wall another Emmy…seriously though that opening number was incredible. It also had a powerful message and I look forward to seeing it on the tour. Last night each couple got the chance to dance again and a bottom four was revealed and the judges decided which two to save. 

Gino & Stephanie: Jive, Emma & Sasha

A high energy performance with plenty of personality. An improvement from last week. The judges enjoyed it and so did I. I almost didn’t recognize Gino with his hair done.

Eddie & Sophie: Contemporary, Travis Wall

This piece was had a lot of partner work and Eddie stepped up and was there for Sophie. It was nice to see Eddie improve compared to last week. Overall I enjoyed the dance and it made me like the song a little bit better too.

Benjamin & Anna: Hip hop, Randi & Hef

So many sparkles and if the light hits it the right way does not sound fun for the eyes of the audience. That aside, I love seeing Anna in her element and I found myself watching her over Benjamin (who was great as well). I love when they stay in character after the dance as well.

Ezra & Madison: Jazz, Ray Leeper

I love and good steamy/sensual routine and these two knocked it out of the park. Madison is a power house and Ezra is a not only a great partner but quite a good dancer himself. Though Dominic commenting on his favorite part had me giggling but I agree with him it was a nice moment.

Bailey & Mariah: Hip hop, Luther Brown

Honestly I have no words for these two. I mean the definitely brought the “sauce”. The couple to beat.

Bottom Four: Eddie, Ezra, Anna, and Stephanie

Going Home: Eddie and Stephanie. Hate seeing them go but someone has to be first.

August 20, 2019 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: Top 10 Perform

It was the first live show of the season and I thought surely we would get a two-hour show, but I was wrong. The opening dance was a fun way to introduce the dancers and probably time-saving as well. Essential each of the dancers had three chances to prove themselves: the opening dance, the dance with their partner, and the group dances. As always these are just my opinions on the dances please feel free to tell me you favorite dance of the night.

Bailey & Mariah: Jazz, Mandy Moore

It might have been somewhat of an obvious pairing due to Bailey’s height but it was a great one. I love the song choice (which I have danced to in the past). I loved the beach theme…though I might have put Mariah in red. Overall it was a fun and sassy to watch. I have a feeling these two will go far.

Gino & Stephanie: Hip hop, Luther Brown

Honestly I had to watch this one twice because I missed what the concept was about. It fell a bit flat for me, it was danced well but I felt like something was missing. Even the Judges had mixed reactions.

Anna & Benjamin: Cha Cha, Emma Slater & Sasha Farber

Let me say I loved the fact the first thing they did was come up with a team name. Second, Emma and Sasha prove again that they are amazing teachers. I love the dance and they seemed to be having fun themselves. Agree that Anna needs to point her feet.

Madison & Ezra: Contemporary, Talia Favia

Talia created a beautiful piece that Madison was able to connect to and we got to see her softer side. I was Dominic’s favorite dance of the night. Ezra, was great too and prove that he is not only a good partner but also quick thinking. He was able to take a little mistake and make it seem like it was part of the dance.

Eddie & Sophie: Jazz, Brian Friedman 

Brian style tends to require the dancers to have to infuse a personality to match the choreography of the dance. Again it was danced well but felt bad for Eddie, Sophie out shined him in the dance.

Travis Wall and Luther Brown gave us great group dances and all the dancer seemed to dance well. There wasn’t anytime for Judges comments but I do feel like some of the dancers might have redeemed themselves in this round. However, will the home viewers take that in to the consideration when they voted. I hope so…I not looking forward to losing people next week.

August 14, 2019 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: Academy Week, Part One

Well that first Academy episode went by a little to fast and I had to re watch just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Now this is a personal opinion, I feel like the network has done this show a disservice shortening the length of the show by limiting the number of episode. It really doesn’t allow the viewers to connect with the dancers, unless they were featured in the first round of auditions. That being said, the first episode of the Academy didn’t disappoint with very challenging rounds for the dancers to take on. Nigel was probably the toughest judge that we saw during the show. The first three rounds were featured in this episode: Hip hop with Luther Brown, Ballroom with Emma Slater and Sasha Farber, and Contemporary with Talia Favia. 

Round One: Hip Hop (79 Dancers)

Luther gave us a hard-hitting routine that allows the dancers to inject their own personalities into the performance. I also agree with him when it comes to talking while he is trying to teach. The dancers have 90 minutes to learn these routines…I would be paying attention as closely as I could to each choreographer.

The only hip hop girls to make the academy were up first and one of them seemed to get a little bit flustered but they were given a second chance. The second chance was much better.

It’s really hard to see those struggle with picking up the choreo and that includes dancers from all styles. However it is also great to see the dancers succeed as well, like Jay Jackson being part of the best group. Sophie Pittman seemed to be worried while learning but shined when it came time to perform.

Laurieann’s reaction to Nigel being a bit harsh was amusing “You made it, run for your lives before he changes his mind…” By the end of day one a total of 10 dancers were cut.

Round Two: Ballroom

I love that Emma and Sasha are back and that they want to show the dancers what they created first. Wow…what a cha-cha. I was really cute to even see the ballroom dancers react to that last trick. Which was probably an optional thing due to the potential injuries if the trick went wrong.

The was a lot of debate after the first group to which D-Trix commented that when they did that his season, that it scared him. The entire group made it through but I understood their critiques.

The ballroom round turned out to be the end of the road for many dancers including  a few of my favorites (like Smac) from the first auditions.

Round Three: Contemporary

I feel like Talia created a piece that sums up this week of auditions. The dancers are at “war” fighting and crawling your way to the top 10. With not much time left in the episode we only saw a few clips of this round.

Unfortunately Jay Jackson, even though he had improved since last year, it wasn’t quite good enough. It had to sting a bit when Nigel said we will see you again. He quickly said that they wouldn’t because he is 30 and that is the cut off age for this show. 

The best group of the night was Bailey and John John, a b-boy and a hip hop dancer. They put their whole heart into that performance and show more emotion than some of the contemporary dancers.

Next episode will feature the group round with Mandy Moore and the Top 20 that will make it to the final cut to create the top 10 for the live shows.

July 17, 2019 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: Season 15 Finale Winner Announced

I figures it’s time for the big finale and it storms and takes out the satellite signal. Thankfully, it was only out for about ten minutes and it was in the first hour of the show. So, I did miss some of the judge favorite dance picks. Anyways the opening number was fantastic and love watching the dancers dance for the joy of it and no pressure of the competition.

Many of my favorites were performed again last night and some even had some new surprises that I loved. Also a new dance created just for Evan to show off his tap dance skills. Evan and Lex were definitely a highlight for me last night…that tap was amazing. Two of Luther Brown’s group numbers had a few more dancers added to it. “Bump” Magda and Chelsea joined the top three girls in this fun number. However, it was “Juice” that added dancer that I didn’t quite expect. I should have seen Twitch coming…not a finale without getting him to dance. When Nigel joined in on the fun at the end it just made me smile.

Results and their favorite dance
4th: Slavik- He chose “Round & Round” hip hop with Genessy. I always liked that he tried his best with every style that was thrown at him.

3rd: Genessy- She chose he break out contemporary routine “Be Brave” with Lex. Genessy definitely proved to Nigel that she was worthy of a spot in the top 10 and in the top 3.

2nd: Jensen- I loved that she chose “Cookin” a hip hop as he favorite. I like that they added the fun little twist of pulling out Mandy’s Emmy at the end. I look forward to seeing watch the future holds for Jensen…perhaps we will see her on DWTS with her sister Lindsay.

WINNER- Hannahlei: I didn’t get to see her pick, but judging for the inter webs I figured it out. Hannahlei chose her duet with Marco that was choreographed by Robert.

My final thoughts.

Overall, I was happy with the outcome. Hannahlei and Jensen were my top 2. Cat did mention that it was the closet vote in the shows history. Which makes me wonder just how close it was. Love that the contestants are always happy for whoever wins. Look forward to see the tour in the fall.

September 11, 2018 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: Finale Performance Thoughts

Monday night’s performance finale might have been one of the best I’ve seen in a while. I say that because I feel like everyone had a great night, the top 4 were prepared to do what it takes to win. Only problem with everyone having a great night is trying to figure out who will be the last dancer standing. As usual it is a busy night for the top 4, dancing with each other, an all-star, and their solo. Melanie, Jonathan, FikShun, and Robert were the all-stars that danced last night. The judges seemed to be playing it nice, but Twitch provided me with my favorite judges moments of the season. Due to wedding festivities that happened over the weekend, Twitch was loosing his voice. After Hannahlei & Genessy’s performance, he felt like he couldn’t true express how he felt about that number…so he asked Mary to do it for him and she did.

Out of all the dances…my top 3 of the night were:

Jensen & Robert: Contemporary (Mandy Moore)
This was absolutely beautiful, and I love the partnership between Robert and Jensen. I look forward to seeing tis number on the tour.
Hannahlei & Slavik: Afro Jazz (Sean Cheesman)
Happy that we had another amazing African Jazz this season. The tricks were amazing and glad they took out that on lift where Hannahlei fell in rehearsal.
Genessy & Hannahlei: Contemporary (Talia Favia)
The synchronicity of this routine is what made it so good. I also love the strength of these two ladies throughout the dance.

Final thoughts on the top 4

Hannahlie: What I like about Hannahlei is that she is a little power house. I love that she is able to become a different person the moment she steps on that stage to perform. I truly think she will be in the top 2. She hasn’t had any miss steps in the competition and has been consistently good.

Jensen: I love Jensen’s personality and she does reminds me of her sister. Even though she does reminds Lindsay, I feel like Jensen has made a name for herself. Honestly, I just love watching her dance. I wouldn’t mind seeing all of the Arnold sisters dance together. Jensen had been my favorite this season and I would love to see her win.

Genessy: Genessy may have started off as the dark horse this season, but she has really turned out to be a contender. I feel like I under estimated her at the beginning of the live show. Also, I think that we are just scratching the surface of how great of a dancer Genessy really is.

Slavik: The wildcard…I call him that because I think he might have a bigger fan base that votes. What I have loved have loved about Slavik is that he has absolutely put the effort to do the best he can. I really hope we will see him back next season as an all-star.

Looking forward to seeing who will win next week.

September 5, 2018 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: Top 4 Thoughts

After a busy two days, I was finally able to get caught up with this weeks episode. I enjoyed Mia’s opening number but not my favorite of hers…I think my arms were tired from just watching them spin the fabric around their hands. The all-stars also return this week with a bit of requirement(well not really). All the participated in Monday’s episode, finished in the top 4 in their respective seasons. I was excited to see JaJa back, because if my memory is right, she is the only female hip hop dancer to make it to the top 4.

Also, it a few all-stars first time to choreograph for a live show, Jenna, Robert, and Comfort. I have to say enjoyed all of their dances and I hope we get to see them choreograph again for the show. If had to pick a favorite of the three, Robert’s piece that Marko and Hannahlie performed was my favorite.

Other Favorites

Jay Jay & Lauren: Mandy delivered a great jazz number, that was entertaining to watch. It reminded of the type of jazz dance that I am used to seeing.

Hannahlie & Darius: These two definitely were able to find a connection with each other quickly after losing their partner last week. It’s a good thing the did, because I don’t think that the Argentine Tango would have worked as well as it did.

Both group dances were good this week but the girls may have edged out to the guys for me but not by much.

The fan vote surprised this week in the top 4 reveal…in the sense that it wasn’t the top 2 guy and top 2 girls. Jensen, Hannahlie, Genessey, and Slavik are this seasons top 4. Sad to see Jay Jay and Darius go…I did’t not see that coming. I thought Jay Jay would have been in the top 4.

Next week will be the performance part of the finale and vote from this week and next week will determine the winner of this season.

August 29, 2018 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: Top 6 Thoughts

Monday’s episode was jammed packed for the dancers, each of them dancing four times. Twice with their partners, a solo, and a group routine. It was an entertaining night with only a few routines that just were not my cup of tea. Also, I am still loving Twitch as a judge, even when he is giving criticism. He makes a point in trying to be kind about it but he has to give because of what stage of the competition is at…not to mention reminding views to vote.

My Favorites of the Night

Jensen & Jay Jay: Hip-Hop
It was such a fun routine and brought each of their personalities. Hef and Randi, made a great debut on the show. I loved the work with the props and I personally loved that they burned the meal at the end.

Hannahlie & Cole: Broadway
So…Travis Wall needs to do more Broadway routines for the show. It was a nice change of pace compared to what we are used to. This was their best routine on the show. Cole for some reason was reminding me of Harry Connick Jr.

Guys Hip Hop:
Luther Brown created another fun routine with some great grooves. I also like that he found a way to spotlight each guy individually. The really wasn’t one standout for me but I will say it is really fun to watch Jay Jay and Darius do hip hop.

Bottom four: Cole, Darius, Genessy, and Magda
It just keeps getting harder to pick who stay and who goes and no matter what a good dancer is leaving the show. The judges decided to stick with what the voters opinion. Magda and Cole pulled the lowest amount of votes and I think the judges might be right that these two were just unable to connect well with the at home audience.

Next week the all stars will be joining in the fun and Mia Michael’s will be back.

August 21, 2018 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: Top 8 Thoughts

Monday night the top ten have two more dances to impress the judges, cause a the end of the episode two dancers left the competition. So it seems like the judges will have a say for now, but I imagine that it will only last to the top six or at the latest the top four. When the bottom four was revealed, I can’t say I was surprised by the judges choice. Evan and Chelsea’s journey came to an end. I felt like they did do better this week compared to last week, but I was their lack of connection with and apparently the audience that landed them in the bottom.

TOP 8

Best dance of the night was Jensen and Jay Jay’s Afro Jazz. I agree with Nigel, I’m not sure what goes through Sean Cheesman’s head but I like it.

Jensen & Jay Jay: These two are my favorite couple, not only they great chemistry but they also have the technique to back it up. Their contemporary was also very beautiful.

Genessy & Slavik: The other couple on the show who’s chemistry is amazing. They still are the dark horses of the competition and audiences like rooting for the underdog. I enjoyed both of their dances but the jive may have edged out the broadway…only because of how much I like Sharna (I hope to she more of her).

As for the other two couples they had good night despite that two of them ended up in the bottom. Hannahlie was the standout and I don’t think that we will see her in the bottom next week. As for who will end up in the bottom four next week, I’m not really sure but I look forward to more fabulous dancing.

August 15, 2018 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.