Hey all sorry again for the late post but I fell asleep really early last night and then woke up 12 hours later. Too bad I'll have to start getting up early for school in a few short weeks...
Anyway I'm still shocked and upset by Janette's ouster last week. Now I don't really have anyone else to root for except Brandon. You figure if the dancers are paired tonight with the one partner they haven't been with then Melissa and Evan, the two least versatile dancers left on each side, will be partnered up. Hopefully this will finally allow people to see that Evan is a much weaker dancer than Ade or Brandon but his fanbase is so huge he'll probably make the finals no matter what. I've never been a fan of Jeanine so I wouldn't mind if she left as long as Kayla stays but like I said I really don't care about the females now that Janette is gone.
Cat is looking chic with straight hair and a cute blue outfit to go with it.
During the intro solos the cheers for the guys are pretty even, while Jeanine gets by far the most for the girls. I think she's the female favorite with Janette gone- Melissa is going to get tons of backlash since she would have gone last week if not for the cancer dance, and a lot of people think Kayla is too smug and are tired of the judges' constant praise of her.
It turns out the partners are still picked at random this week, so we could end up with the two weakest dancers (Melissa and Evan) not being paired up. I did see Brandon and Melissa paired together at the end of the intro, though I'm not sure if that means anything.
Like last week each duo will have two partner dances plus individual solos and a group number. That's four dances each.
Lil C is back on the judging panel this week, which means lots of "buck"s and other words I don't quite understand. Lil C thinks the results so far have been based on what the public prefers. In other words he thinks the public was wrong (which they were). Mary comes right out and says she was shocked to see Janette go. She also wisely tells the viewers to vote for those who have stood out throughout the show, not just tonight. Nigel advises the dancers to bring out their personalities and stand out from the crowd like the top four (and Gev) did last year. Otherwise fans will vote for the choreography and not for the dancers themselves.
First up is the men's group number, choreographed by Sonya. The piece is inspired by Willy Wonka, or "dark and abstract" according to Evan. Ade calls it a very strong piece, which is good for him and Brandon, not so much for Evan. As Brandon points out, since there are only three people on stage it will be easy for the audience to notice mistakes. Brandon gets thrown in the air and Evan is lifted across the stage- that looks cool.
The song is "True Romance" by She Wants Revenge. The costumes are certainly odd, with bright yellow gloves and lightening bolts on purple and black plaid pants. Wow do they throw Brandon high in the air! And Evan stands on top of Ade and Brandon too! It's a cool, powerful routine with lots of tricks and flips thrown in. It's hard to keep my eyes off of Ade and Brandon because of how strong they appear. From what I saw Evan held his own but still showed that he's the weakest of the three. Ade in particular stood out early in the dance.
Lil C says he has wanted to work with Brandon and Ade together for the whole season so he is living through Sonya now. He loves Brandon's dedication and says Ade is proving him correct by continuing to have strong performances (earlier in the season Lil C told America to watch out for Ade as a favorite to win, and he was right). He commends Evan for not getting swallowed by the other two, which he didn't, though he still was the weakest of the three. I do not think he was as visible during the routine as Lil thought though. Mary loved the dance and how they all moved at the same time during it. Nigel praises Evan for doing moves outside of his comfort zone. Boo for praising Evan- that will just get him more votes from the teen girls. Not that the praise is entirely undeserved, however- Evan was considerably better than I thought he would be at a dance that requires real strength.
The first pairing is Jeanine and Ade, who have not been paired together before so at least there is still hope of a Melissa/Evan "weakest dancers left" partnership. And of course we get to see another clip of the cancer dance from last week while Jeanine talks about how great Ade is. They are doing a samba with Louie van Amstel. Good to see him back doing choreography- it's been a few weeks I believe since we saw him last. However, it is not a traditional structured samba, which makes the dancers happy. Jeanine calls it "adjusted but classy". The dance is supposed to be hot and sexy, though they keep stumbling in rehearsals.
The song is "LoveGame" by Lady Gaga. For a samba? Really? The two of them are dancing it well but I don't get the sexiness from them at all. They almost seem to have no chemistry there on the dance floor. Ade is moving his hips well but is mostly just smiling to show off his sex appeal and Jeanine seems to be trying to put on a sexy face but I'm not really getting it from her either. Ade also looks a bit awkward at times during the dance itself.
Mary says the first 15 seconds were great but once the samba started it fell apart. Ade hopped around too much and they didn't do the samba rolls well. Lil C thinks Jeanine looks amazing (is he turning into Paula Abdul???) but the routine fell flat. Again Ade gets much of the criticism, this time for frolicking too much- that could be why I thought it wasn't sexy. Nigel agrees, saying Ade has to learn to change his style based on the routine. He thought Jeanine was terrific, however. Watching it again I still think they were too hard on Ade, though perhaps his poor dancing is why the routine seemed less sexy as it should have been. Either way this is good news for Evan.
The first solo of the night is Kayla's. She dances to "You Found Me" by The Fray (awesome song!). Technically it is danced very well but she seems to spend a bit too much time getting up from being on the floor. Also she doesn't quite get into the emotion of the dance as much as I would like her to.
The second couple is indeed Melissa and Evan, so all six dancers will be performing with the one partner they haven't danced with yet. Makes you wonder how "random" the pairings really are. At least now the two weakest dancers are together. There is also the height issue, as Melissa is much taller than Evan. However, she is going to wear heel when they dances, unlike Kayla when she partnered with Evan earlier this year. That sounds like a strange decision since it will really put the focus on the height difference and not on the dancing (though maybe with Evan that might be a good thing...)
Luckily for Evan he is doing Broadway this week with Tyce. Though if I remember correctly last time he did Broadway it wasn't that good. Anyway Evan is a groom-to-be who oversleeps and is late to his wedding with Melissa. Melissa is married in real life though, which is a bit awkward. Evan is getting into the dance with all the personality and flashiness of the routine. It really does seem like his kind of routine. Tyce thinks they just have to have fun with the dance and they will do well.
The song is "Get Me to the Church On Time" from My Fair Lady. The best part about the dance is Evan doing the whole thing in his boxers! Seriously Evan really brings his personality to the routine, which allows him to overshadow Melissa. Even so I still don't love the choreography- it's mostly a lot of running and jumping around on stage, and Evan doesn't seem to be hitting the steps as hard as he should. His personality saves the routine but still I found myself bored halfway through.
Lil C thinks Evan didn't live up to his expectations, and I agree. He thought they danced it well but they could have aimed for excellence. Again I agree- they could have brought more to the dance than they did. Mary disagrees, calling it fun and entertaining even though it could have been more out there. She also thinks Melissa has not taken a wrong step in this competition and held her own in this genre. Nigel says Melissa has inspired other ballerinas to audition but they can't adapt to other genres like she can. I don't know if I agree but whatever. He adds the routine was more personality-based than choreography based, and Evan did bring enough personality to the table. I didn't like the routine as much as they did but I do agree it was more about personality, which Evan certainly showed. That alone might save him from elimination, and dancing in his underwear certainly won't hurt.
Ade is next to do his solo, set to "18th Floor Balcony" by Blue October. I think this is one of his strongest solos so far, though it does drag a bit at the end and the music still doesn't quite match the choreography. Brandon and Evan are known as strong soloists also so I don't think the solos will make much of a difference with the guys this week anyway.
The last pairing is of course Kayla and Brandon. Their first dance is a contemporary piece by Stacey Tookey. They are both contemporary dancers I believe so this should be a strong dance hopefully. Kayla is a mistress of a married man who doesn't have the strength to leave Brandon. They are struggling having chemistry with their new partners, but Kayla hopes they can make it believable. Not helping matters is Stacey's tough choreography for the semifinals. There are few pauses in the routine, but Kayla thinks it could be amazing if they pull it off.
The song is "All I Want" by Ahn Trio. This is definitely the best routine of the night so far. They nail all the choreography and are almost perfectly in unison when they have to be. And yay for Brandon ripping dancing shirtless for much of the routine! I don't really feel the chemistry between the two when the camera is far away but I do see the emotion when there are closeups on the faces, especially Kayla's. Kayla's solo in the beginning was also really beautiful.
Lil C says it was intense and beyond amazing, and he is almost in tears. He thinks this is the first time Kayla has been with a partner good enough for her. Mary says they are both staying on the hot tamale train and calls the dancing "brilliant". She calls it perfection on the dance floor. Nigel says Stacey is now a star choreographer on this show. He agrees with me in saying the chemistry wasn't all there (likely because they had just been paired together a week earlier) but technically it was brilliant. Exactly. But even with their lack of chemistry I still think it was still the strongest routine of the night so far, and based on their comments the judges seem to agree.
The next solo is Melissa's, who dances to "I Put a Spell on You" by Nina Simone. The routine doesn't seem to have much dancing in it until the end- much of it is her walking around the stage and smiling naughtily at the camera. I think she needs a strong second dance or she is likely gone.
Before each duo's second dance we find out what being in the finale would mean to each contestant.
Jeanine says it would be the most unanticipated success of her life since she auditioned for this show on a whim. The experience has shown her how much she is capable of. Ade says he can't believe he has made it this far and making the finale would mean the world to him.
Their second number is a TabNap hip hop number. It is Jeanine's third hip hop number, and Ade's second, so you figure they will have the proper technique and style down. The dance is about two friends getting evicted from their apartment who take out their anger on the boxes of their belongings. Jeanine is falling down a lot, especially when she has to jump over and between Ade's legs like they are a jump rope. As Ade puts it, Jeanine is getting quite close to the "family jewels" at that part of the number.
The song is "Move (If You Wanna) by MIMS. They start out off stage and then jump onstage, seeing the eviction notice and going nuts. I can't really keep my eyes of Jeanine in this number, who is really selling it with the angry expression on her face. Maybe it's because of his cap that blocks his face but I don't really believe Ade's anger, and he doesn't seem to be hitting the moves hard enough for my taste (I'm not sure if he's supposed to be though), at least compared to Jeanine. Jeanine nails the jump rope move, and I love the ending where they put boxes with frowning faces over their heads! Overall I still think Jeanine outshined Ade but it was better than their first number for sure.
Lil C says he wishes moving was always that fun. He thinks they danced it better than he thought they would. He adds Ade took advantage of his earthy movements and pulled Jeanine down into the dirt with him, whatever that means. Long story short, it was buck. Mary goes back and says Jeanine was great in their prior samba since she forgot to say that before. Mary thinks the two of them won't be getting eviction notices after that performance. So basically she thinks Melissa and Evan are out. She thanks Ade for bringing his butt down from his last hip hop number. Nigel adds this is a routine that could have been applauded just for the choreography but thinks they really got down in the choreography. I didn't think Ade was as good in this routine as they said but I agree Jeanine was great. I was so focused on her I didn't really watch Ade that much so that could have been why I wasn't as impressed with him. Jeanine should definitely be safe tonight but Ade's status depends a lot on Evan's next number.
Next up is Brandon's solo, done to "O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana)" by Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and Kurt Prestel. Hey he's completely nude save for small briefs! Dang he has a lot of muscles in his chest. Aside from that the dancing is great as well. Not my favorite choreography from him but still super strong technically as always. Wow the judges give him a standing ovation afterwards- I've never seen that for a solo. I didn't think it was that good but it was still the best of the night so far.
Melissa came into this competition knowing she was the oldest ever on this show and had no training in styles other than ballet so she's proud and surprised at how she's done. Evan realizes the finale is in his grasp so he must bring it extra hard.
They are doing a quickstep from Louis. It's called the "dreaded" dance because it is really fast and hard to dance. I have a feeling this is going to be a disaster. Louis really got on Evan's case in the rehearsals, and Melissa doesn't really trust Evan to do the strong movements. Louis is struggling with their height difference but adjusts the routine so you can't tell as much.
The song is "As Long As I'm Slingin'" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra. It's actually a lot better than I thought it would be. It seems kind of slow for a quickstep but Melissa does well and Evan, while a bit awkward in spots, seems to hold his own. Once again his personality really shines through, and he has enough strength for the lift at the end. Not amazing, but not a disaster either.
Louis gives them a standing ovation. Lil C says Evan danced bigger than he has on the show before but his retractions still were not strong. He thinks Melissa did a fabulous job, which I guess she did- I was honestly too focused on Evan to notice, waiting for him to mess up. Mary says it had life at the beginning but then fell apart. She thinks the lift at the end was good but it was not really quickstep. She wanted to be wowed but wasn't. Well it wasn't really a "wow" kind of dance but like I said it certainly wasn't horrible. Nigel jokes Melissa is acting like she is the Cloris Leachman of this show when she's only 29. He thinks the only part that lost energy was the Lindy Hop section in the middle. He says it wasn't one of the best routines tonight (which it wasn't) and now anything can happen since these two are two of the favorites. Since when is Melissa a favorite? I think Melissa had a good night but since all the women have been good tonight she may be in trouble.
The next solo is Jeanine, who gets huge cheers when she walks out on stage. She dances to "Feedback" by Janet Jackson. Like the other female solos tonight it was a bit too much personality and not too much dancing, but it was better than Melissa's. The dancing itself was quite good and showed off her strong sexy side, though at times it was a bit too delicate-looking for my tastes.
The last solo of the night is Evan, who comes in with a strong flip. The song is "Lady is a Tramp" by Sammy Davis Jr. As usual he performs a strong, fun solo. I actually like this one better than Brandon's, though Brandon's was more technically demanding. All of the guys' solos have been strong tonight, yet they have been weaker in the partner dances except for Brandon.
Being in the final four would prove to Brandon that he's a good dancer. Uh, I think either way you've proven that, Brandon. Kayla has worked hard before and while being on the show and making the finals would show that her work has paid off. Unfortunately they are doing another one of the dreaded dances, a disco from Dorianna Sanchez. Though last time Brandon did a disco I remember it was quite good. Dorianna made Brandon do pushups before they started rehearsals. The routine is more like a circus, according to Kayla. Dorianna wants to challenge them at this point in the competition.
The song is "Dance (Disco Heat)" by Sylvester. Great flips by Brandon early on! Wow this routine is fast! The routine is full of tricks and lifts, most of which they seem to nail, though Brandon appears to almost drop Kayla on one occasion. I don't really like the choreography itself but they do dance it well, especially Brandon. Kayla started out a bit weak but turned it on quickly. After their strong first routine they both should be safe anyway.
Lil C rambles something about having to listen to the music when faced with challenges and that this removes the darkness and they did that. I guess that means he liked it. He then says Kayla got between the "pockets" of the music. He thinks Brandon inspired Kayla to excel, especially since he has done disco before. They made each other better, and he got tired just watching it. Mary says they hit a home run tonight with both their dances and they nailed their lifts. Mary stands up and yells at Brandon for having self-esteem problems and blows a kiss to Kayla. Nigel says it is easy to get caught up in the music and speed of a dance, so he decides to critique it professionally by running around and screaming like a crazy man. I guess that means he liked it too. He loves how they have shown versatility with their two routines tonight. I still didn't love this routine but they danced it well and were definitely the strongest couple of the night. If they are not both safe there is something seriously wrong with this show.
All that's left is the women's group number. They are doing a Sonya number as well, this one about superheroes. Sonya thinks all three of them have different strengths but have the same lines. Kayla is Storm, Jeanine is Wonder Woman, and Melissa is Buttercup (like the Powerpuff Girl??? Since when are they superheroes). They have trouble with their sychronization in the rehearsals along with memorizing the choreography. Jeanine even smacks Kayla in the face- sabotage? (haha)
The song is "Kick It (Stereoheroes Remix)" by Nina Martine. They come out in leather outfits with their initial on their belt buckle. I really don't like this choreography- it reminds me too much of cheerleaders at a football game. They are dancing it well for what they are given though. No one really stands out as being really good or really bad- they are all pretty solid despite the weird choreography. I liked the men's routine better as a whole.
Lil C compliments Sonya and then says a whole bunch of big words about how they have to work together and stand out from each other. He thinks they were all too courteous and didn't stand out from each other, which I agree with. He calls it amazing but wanted more than that. Mary wonders what comes after amazing. She calls them strong, versatile, sexy, and talented dancers and adds Kayla stood out since she had tougher choreography. She even thinks they should perform at Comic-Con next year! Ha that'd be awesome. Nigel loved the chemistry but agrees no one stood out since they were all great. He loves Melissa's little tutu on her costume, which I agree is awesome!
Overall it was kind of a weak night- I wasn't blown away by any of the routines, though Brandon and Kayla's contemporary was my favorite by default. I think the girls were stronger at the partner dances (except for Brandon) but the guys had a better group number and better solos. Brandon and Kayla should be safe for sure, so it should come down to the other four for two spots. I thought Melissa's solo was the worst for the girls and Ade's for the guys (though only because Brandon's and Evan's were so strong). Melissa also wasn't quite as strong as Jeanine in the partner dances, so I'm guessing she'll be out. Evan and Ade were actually much closer tonight than I though they would be. Overall Ade has been better though so I hope he sticks around, but as long as Brandon and Kayla get through I won't be too upset.
So what are your thought's on this week's performances? Who deserves to make it into the top 4? Post your comments below.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment