Performance Show:
- I'm not in love with Cat's dress or hair.
- That was some AWFUL camera work during the intros. Worst I've seen on the show. And we all know I've seen some awful camera work. Not a great way to start our first live performance show.
Billy & Lauren – Tyce Diorio – Broadway – “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins
I never love Tyce's Broadway routines. They really need some new blood for the Broadway stuff. This routine wasn't completely horrible, and thankfully Billy was able to dance with Lauren. It was cute. I didn't mind it. I thought the feedback they gave Billy about inhabiting the character and filling in the space between the steps was right on.
Cristina & Mark – Sonya Tayeh – Jazz – “Starstruck” by Santogold
I felt sorry for Cristina throughout this routine. I never watched her. I was completely glued on Mark. He owns this style, and he's always brilliant in Sonya's pieces. I thought Cristina was fine, but I didn't think she deserved the high praise she got.
Jose & Comfort – Napoleon and Tabitha – Hip Hop – “Beautiful Monster” by Ne-Yo
I like Jose. I don't like Comfort, though she didn't annoy me as much as she used to when she was dancing something besides hip hop. This dance was great. Love NappyTabs.
Adechike & Kathryn – Travis Wall – Contemporary – “Addicted to Love” by Florence + The Machine
I LOVE Kathryn. She's just amazing. She completely outshone Adechike. It's been interesting to see some of the contestants step up and match the all-stars, and seeing that some of them just pale in comparison. He didn't even belong on the stage with Kathryn. She was dancing her face off.
Melinda & Pasha – Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin – Jive – “L.O.V.E” by V.V Brown
I was watching Pasha and his feet. He just looked so much more polished. Melinda had a lot of charisma, but I didn't love her performance.
Alex & Allison – Sonya Tayeh – Jazz – “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley
That was amazing. I love Allison, so I was expecting to like it, but it was just beautiful. What a combination of music and talent. And Alex got some high, high praise.
Alexie & Twitch – Napoleon and Tabitha – Hip Hop – “Butterfly” by Jason Mraz
I really wanted to like this more. I like Twitch a lot, and I love NappyTabs. And a hip hop routine to a Jason Mraz song? Awesome! But Alexie really didn't bring a lot to the routine. The judges repeatedly accused her of being just cute. Very true.
Lauren & Ade – Mandy Moore – Pop Jazz – “Oh Yeah” by Yello
I love a good Mandy Moore routine to an 80s song with a piece of furniture on stage! And I really like Lauren, but she just didn't do a great job of interacting with Ade.
Kent & Anya – Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin – Ballroom – “Lady Marmalade” by Diva Invasion
Clearly, they love Kent. Poor little kid tried his hardest, but Anya completely dominated him. She's so amazing. Kent is kind of lucky that they weren't doing a waltz, or a different dance that wouldn't have allowed for his personality to come through the steps. He's hard not to like though.
Ashley & Neil – Tyce Diorio – Contemporary – “For All We Know” by Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack
This should have been better. The steps were there, but I didn't feel much watching them. It was interesting to see Ashley break down when Nigel was trying to critique her and asked her if she'd ever been in love. Clearly, she needs to learn how to channel her emotion into her dance.
Robert and Courtney - Sean Cheeseman – African – “Norweg” Cirque Du Soleil’s Saltimbanco Soundtrack
I didn't think I liked Robert very much, but after that routine, I think I do. He was great, and really kept up with Courtney, who I think is a rockstar.
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Results Show: (SPOILER ALERT!)
- Opening number was pretty fun. I liked last week's better. A new choreographer - I didn't catch her name.
- Another bad wardrobe and hair night for Cat. The lipstick is pretty terrible too.
Robert is safe.
Kent is safe!
Lauren is safe!
Melinda is in the bottom 3.
Billy is safe.
Ashley is safe. (kind of surprised)
Alexie is in the bottom 3.
Jose is safe.
And it's down to Adechike and Cristina. And Cristina is in the bottom 3. That's a shame. It should be Adechike. All girls in the bottom 3. Poor girls. They never get the votes.
- Performance from the two lead dancers in the new Frank Sinatra tribute dance show by Twyla Tharp. The show is called "Come Fly Away." I loved what Twyla did with Billy Joel's catalog in "Movin' Out," and apparently she did another show that didn't go so well. This new show seems to be going well. I liked their performances on the Tony Awards last Sunday night, and they flew in Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts (two of the leads and both Tony nominees) to perform tonight. Fantastic performance.
Melinda - I have to say, she's a far better tapper than the girl that was on last fall. Loved the rhythms in that routine.
Alexie - She's adorable, but she's expendable. I'm not sure that performance is going to keep her here.
Cristina - That was fun. Ballroom solos are tough, and I'm not sure salsa steps are very difficult compared to other ballroom steps, but she's such a doll.
- Judges are deciding who is going home. I'm pretty sure it's going to be Alexie. Unless they feel like they can get rid of their only tapper or their only ballroom dancer.
- Usher's had a busy week in LA. Diggity saw him perform a couple days ago at a video game publisher party. It was kind of an amazing party. (Video here, if you're interested.) I actually watched Usher's performance tonight. I like this song, and he's pretty impressive as a performer.
- Justin Bieber's new video!?!? AAAAAAHHHH! (Don't hate. I'm only partially kidding. He's a talented kid. And that was a pretty fun video with lots of fabulous dancers.)
This is going to be rough. We usually have a few more people to let go as cannon fodder here at the beginning. But since they're starting with so few people, good people are already going home.
And I was right - Alexie is going home tonight. Cut to the sobbing dancers stage right.
So, friends, did you agree with the judges and I? What did you think of the routines last night?
2 comments:
I was with you most of the way. During the intros and first number I started getting ticked off thinking "oh no, I am going to hate the camera work again this season I don't know if I can handle it!"
I think the impact for the audience and judges is totally changed on screen for us with moving camera work. Things translate differently when you can't appreciate the dancers' movemnt on its merit. Drives me bonkers.
Alexie or Cristina and Melinda for me.
I like the All Stars more than I thought I would, but I do think it's hard when they outshine the performer. Esp in ballroom, they made their partners weaknesses so obvious, where had they been dancing with another contestant it might not have been so unbalanced.
I think as long as they only use Comfort for hip hip I will be ok. Heaven forbid they have her partner in another style.
I think the time they allow for feedback is a little long winded.
Loved the afro-jazz number, and liked Robert more than I thought I would. I am still a huge Billy fan- though I think last year he would have been a clearer winner, this year he has competition I think.
My fav girl is Lauren, and I didn't think she was as bad as the judges made out. They gave higher praise to lesser dancing throughout the show.
Hmm, that's all I got for now.
So far, so good. Also, I don't want to hear any of the dancers sing ever again. It was embarassing.
Thanks Mace- love these posts.
I really like Robert now too! I thought a lot of them had issues with connecting to the dance. They all did the steps fine, but some of them just weren't that interesting to watch. I think Adechike was the worst. Kathryn was giving him every possible opportunity to do well, but he just didn't. I feel bad for Alexie. She finally gets on the show and she only lasts a week.
This is just a theory, but I don't think she should have mentioned that she was a Laker girl yet because she instantly stereotyped herself. The same thing happened last season when that ballroom dance mentioned that she was getting divorced and needed to focus on herself, she was in the bottom 3 every time after that. Just a thought...
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