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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.

July 14, 2010 I Written By

SYTYCD S7 Top 8 Performance Thoughts/Power Rankings

I don’t know why I’m surprised that predicting the Bottom 3 isn’t getting any easier or that it’s only getting harder to lose these dancers. But I am. Still, every week, I continue to be amazed at how hard this is and how much harder it’s getting.

Even though I had one of the Bottom 3 handed to me, I am NOT happy about putting his name there, fyi. I hope Alex can stay on the show, but I think we all agree the important thing is that he gets healthy for his long-term career.

And here we go…

Top Three

Kent – I’d probably put Lauren in #1 spot, but her personality seems to annoy some people and Kent has TONS of fans, so #1 for him. His routines with Comfort and Lauren were both well-danced and fun. He had a very undramatic night and got lots of compliments on his “growth” and for dancing small (which mean he grew) rather than overlarge. In a very dramatic night, he made it through the fire unscathed and standing strong.

Lauren – She had an amazing (undramatic) night as well and danced excellently. I think her personality is polarizing – she tries for quirky and cute, but her comments come off to a lot of people as self-absorbed and cocky. However, I really enjoy her dancing and I think she is maturing in leaps in bounds. Her cha cha with Pasha was stellar – like, just the definition of sexy. She was like water dancing with him. I think she studied videos of Anya and Pasha dancing together to figure out how to match Pasha. And while her contemporary with Kent might not be the best we’ve ever seen on the show, it was very striking. I particularly loved that these two young, exuberant dancers were given a serious, beautiful routine and were able to dance it maturely.

Ashley – I’m loving her more each week. She had a great hip-hop with Dominic and while I know that the quickstep is supposed to doom dancers, I quite enjoyed hers with Robert. I liked the incongruence between the dance and the music. I thought it was edgy and enjoyable. I think she’s picking up steam fan-wise and that she had such a good routine with Dom that she’s probably safe. I think we’ve realized it’s time to start picking on some of the guys finally. Judging from the comments, two in particular.

Middle Three

Billy – Danced a solid Broadway with Katee. I enjoyed it and I agree that it’s some of his best dancing. Broadway fans, don’t tar and feather me for this, buuuut it seems like Broadway is like ballroom in that it is sometimes not dynamic for a large part of the audience. It was earlier in the evening and even with having Katee back, I think Billy’s first routine kinda got lost in the shuffle. His Afro-jazz with Adechike was underwhelming. It should’ve been great, but as it was, it was just underwhelming…

Robert – There’s a chance Robert might be in the Bottom 3 again and will go home (because he’s been there before). I’m putting him at the bottom of the middle because I’m hoping that’s NOT the case. I love Robert. There’s a lot of talk about whether the judges were trying to “save” him by coming down hard on Adechike instead of him but I thought they were unnecessarily hard on him and Ashely for their quickstep. Just because it’s gained a reputation DOES NOT mean we have to critique it as if it was bad when it was enjoyable. And I swear Nigel was pulling out technical points with the quickstep when he hadn’t really been all that technical with others (ahem, Jose and Adechike). I enjoyed the hell out of the jazz with Kathryn – I thought they were the perfect dancers for it. While watching it again, I could see some awkwardness, especially with lifts. The first time, I didn’t see any of it though because I was so charmed by the routine.

Bottom Three

Alex – From the tip-top last week after his amazing hip-hop with Twitch to the Bottom 3 this week. All because of an unlucky injury. Phewy to the new rules. I’d rather Alex go the chance to stay on the strength of just that bad-quality video clip we saw of him getting injured. I’d lose BOTH Jose and Adechike (sorry guys) just so he could stay one more week and potentially stay on the show. But, luck (new new rules) being what it is, he’s in the Bottom 3. Hopefully, we’ll get some dramatically good news that he’s alright to dance next week. But there’s a very good chance they’ll decide to let him heal and he’ll be leaving this week. In which case, a lot of hearts will break and FOX stands to lose some of its audience, judging by some of the comments. We <3 Alex, that’s clear.

Jose – I really enjoyed his contemporary with Lauren a lot and I thought he did a’riiite in the Afro-jazz with Billy. But…there’s been a lot of Jose v. Adechike debate back and forth and in the company of titans, his time is running up, in my opinion. I think he may very well be in danger this week. Whether he goes home or not depends entirely on Alex’s injury and whether there’s a backlash from the judges’ soft critique of him the last few weeks.

Adechike – Is my least favorite dancer. He’s shown the least growth in my opinion (which is NOT to say he isn’t a great dancer) and he dances with *any* partner like they’re inanimate props. He’s got to work that out and I don’t see any improvement on that so far. There were elements I liked to his jazz with Courtney (the middle section side-by-side on the floor), but that girl was working her ass off to show him to advantage. His Bollywood was fine, but I couldn’t help thinking that he should’ve been dancing the “girl’s” role with Alex instead of the masculine role with Nakul’s assistant Mara. I liked the “African element” that Mia noticed – which means that I agree with her that it was there but disagree that it was a bad thing.

I can’t predict who I think is going home tonight because the one who I think is most likely to leave us is one of my favorites and I will.not.type.his.name. There’s a good chance I have the other two wrong and Robert’s in danger. And I honestly can’t predict which was the “backlash/sympathy vote” will go if it’s between Jose and Adechike (my best case scenario). What do y’all think?

Some last thoughts before I go –

-Cat should win an Emmy for hosting this show. She’s a defender, an anti-bullshit monitor, cheeky and funny, all while looking gorgeous in dresses and heels. Yay for her calling the judges on their inconsistent comments, as many of you said in the comments.

-I was SO GLAD to see the contestants dance together. I loved the packages, especially Alex sitting behind Adechike and faking like he was going to attack him and Billy outting Jose’s obsession with Lauren G.’s behind. Lol. Soooo great. I think it really brought out a new element to this season. But what a week for Alex to be sitting out! I missed him so much (and I am not alone). Consider this. We had two routines with two male dancers dancing together last night, but they were both contestants in both cases whereas Alex had to dance male/male choreography with an All-Star and he totally rose to the occasion.

-Which brings me to ALEX WONG! Please, please, please don’t have a ruptured Achilles tendon. But, if it is ruptured, I will endeavor to deal with you leaving the show because I want you to have a LONG career. But gosh, how heartbreaking it was to see you hanging your head and tearing up, but mainly being stoic in the face of a lot of pain and doubt.

-I know Marianya and I got a bit carried away wondering what was going on with Ashley and Neil and it turns out they’re both just great at having chemistry with their partners. BUT, there IS something going on between Lauren and Kent. Anybody disagree? Seems obvious now, after his expression when she picked him out of the hat and their actual routine. Or should I say AFTER their routine. Marianya told me that she’s suspected for a long time now that the two of them are together or something. C’mon Marianya, back me up and expand on your theory in the comments. 🙂

-Nigel is a total perv (but Cat started it by referring to Lauren’s wardrobe mishap list week) and he’s annoying me. Mia is…I agree with her a lot, but it seems like she’s expressing herself in the most offensive way possible because she’s “strong” and “opinionated,” etc. Again, Cat totally made the show for me. All of her asides (“he just said he’s proud of you!”

-Ashley/Robert’s “dreaded Quickstep” TOTALLY reminded me of the Neil-Danny “2 princes” routine, and then Nigel mention it as well. I think it was even the same freaking chair and “sceptor of power,” though of course the choreography was different. Interesting.

-Comfort really has grown since her season. I was one of the haters who wasn’t sure she deserved the title “All-Star,” especially the first time having them back on the show. Same with Dom – he’s been impressing me with his routines, few though they are. It as great to have a bonus All-Star in Katee and have her back, though it sucked that Allison had to sit out cause I’m really loving seeing her dance. Pasha has such quiet strength and he’s so lovable!!! And my girls Lauren G., Kathryn and Courtney G. are so amazing! Sexy ladies! And strong! They’re three of my all-time favorite girls and I think they do a great job partnering the guys, but they’re also setting the gold standard for the two remaining girls. The All-Stars are such a wonderful element this season. I say once more – we should have a variety show in the fall with JUST alumni of the previous season and Cat emceeing. The judges can take a break (then we’ll miss them and be glad to have them back for the regular competition in the summer) and they can hold auditions for new contestants and a real tour in the hiatus.  C’mon, Nigel. We know you’re reading! You know my idea is good! Fall Variety show, summer competition show!

July 8, 2010 I Written By

SYTYCD Top 18 Performance Thoughts

We still don’t get to vote this week – next week, we’ll get a full meal of SYTYCD – Tuesday performance show and Wednesday result show. I’m still a little glad that the judges are making the tough early decisions. We’ll see if they make the right one (unlike last week…)

Here are some of my thoughts from tonight’s show [SOME SPOILERS]: Read more..

November 3, 2009 I Written By