Oh, Alex. This is bad. One of the few truly exciting contestants in the competition couldn’t perform this week because of an injury, and we don’t know how bad it is yet. I truly hope Alex is able to stay on the show, considering he gave up a principal soloist position with the Miami City Ballet to be here and is the best one on that stage.
Lauren and All Star Pasha, Cha Cha – I thought Lauren was cute and fun, but she wasn’t smoldering, sexy, totally on this amazing path, murderation (??), or any of the overpraise the judges threw at her. I will never understand why the judges must treat every good dance like it’s the best thing ever. Pasha, as usual, was amazing.
Jose and All Star Lauren, Contemporary – Scratch everything I said about Lauren’s Cha Cha. She deserved every positive thing ever said to her. In comparison to Jose, she might as well have invented the concept of dance. “Ew” was all I could think of during this routine. Jose can’t really do sexy. At least not the intense, look-at-me-forever, loving, sexy thang. And he didn’t deserve the heapings of love given to him. We get it, he’s sweet. But it’s not a sweetness competition.
Kent and All Star Comfort, Hip Hop – The weird thing is, everything they say about Jose, I think about Kent. He’s the endearing and sweet one, at least that’s how it translates on TV. Will he be a great Hip Hop dancer? Maybe , maybe not. But this was a fun performance to watch, I thought he coped well. Love Dave Scott.
Adechike and All Star Courtney, Jazz – I liked this routine. It was fun and cute, and while it may have been a step down from his great Hip Hop, it was still very good. I completely agreed with Nigel… and of course, Mia didn’t. She’s too pompous, but if her critiques were actually solid, I could take her seriously. They weren’t. And Adam didn’t even know what he was even trying to say.
Billy and All Star Katee, Broadway – I hope Allison is okay, but I was sure glad we got to see Katee again. She and Spencer Liff (so glad he’s back!) brought some greatness out in Billy, and I find myself agreeing with Nigel again. This is the best we’ve seen Billy dance in a couples routine, by far.
Ashley and All Star Dominic, Hip Hop – Ashley’s been good this season, but this was friggin great. She made herself a contender with this routine, proving she can do something other than pretty and flowy. There were points were she was almost dancing better than Dominic! Officially the best female in the competition.
Robert and All Star Kathryn, Jazz – I looooooooooved this. Can’t say that enough, I loved it. The concept was so much fun, super quirky, and I enjoyed every minute of it. More of Sean Cheesman, please! And also, more of Robert. I don’t know why people aren’t voting for him, he’s an amazing dancer.
Adechike and Marla, Bollywood – What the eff, judges? There were so many things wrong with their feedback, I can’t even take it.
- I’ve studied Indian styles my entire life. He was doing Bollywood – not anything else, but Bollywood. I was annoyed when it was even brought up. To those unfamiliar with it, it may look African. The same way a Salsa and Samba can look the same to the unfamiliar. But if you know enough about it, you know they’re not similar. The head swaying that Nigel pointed out is Garba, an dance from the Gujarat region of India. It was hilarious tonight when the judges tried to get technical with their comments – they don’t know what they’re talking about! They shouldn’t critique a routine they don’t understand.
- If you you need proof, note how Nakul (the choreographer) stood up and cheered when Cat backed up Adechike. He agreed with her and made it perfectly obvious. I doubt he appreciated Mia’s ignorance of the genre when she insinuated that the routine may be a fusion of Indian and African.
- Alex not being in the routine is not Adechike’s fault. Mia not liking his personality is not his fault. Nothing the judges told him was constructive. If the performance didn’t work for them, their comments should have indicated why. Instead it was a bashing session.
- Jose’s “heart thing.” Sure, fine, call it what you want. But at least acknowledge that he couldn’t dance his way out of a paper bag.
- I do think that Adechike’s Bharatanatyam (the finger/feet movements) were sloppy, rushed, and not crisp enough. Other than that, it was an admirable job and a fun routine. I was genuinely shocked at his skewering by the judges.
- Cat is my hero! I loved that she brought Jose’s god-awful Bollywood and how well it had gone over with the judges. The audience’s reaction was also great. Just another reason she’s an awesome host. DEELEY FTW.
- There’s a big difference between constructive feedback and being a bully. It turns out Mia’s a bully.
Kent and Lauren, Contemporary – This was gorgeous. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I love that Kent finally came across the way he did, as anything but goofy. And Lauren just moves so well. My favorite of the night, I can’t say anything else.
Ashley and Robert, Quickstep – Meh. I don’t know. I don’t know why Ballroom is so “dreaded” on SYTYCD when Dancing with the Stars does them all the time. It was fine, I don’t think either of them were quick and snappy enough in their movements (a little too staccato) but it was fine. I would like the judges to critique dancers, not choreography or music. That’s out of the contestants’ hands.
Bill and Jose, African Jazz – A very interesting routine that was wasted on Jose. I thought Billy was beautiful and lithe and so good. Jose, not so much. He was the sole reason the piece didn’t work for me. He was… laughable. Almost silly. And I do think it was obvious the judges only critiques Jose because they’d just been called out by Cat.
Bottom 3 Predictions:
- Jose – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.
- Adechike – Unless the judges’ words sparked a backlash and tons of votes go his way, he’s in the bottom. Unfortunately.
- Robert – He was there before, I guess he’ll be there again.
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