SYTYCD Commentary 6/20 and 6/21
OPENER HIGHLIGHTS:
Lacey schmoozes the camera par usual. She really is riding on that whole brudder thing. And damn it, it's working. Did Lauren and Hok coordinate something/dare each other do do something in the opener? They both did something hand sparkly like, but on opposite sides. Did anyone else notice? Pasha looks like he's wearing a shirt straight outta Peanuts, and his mini-solo is strangely hip hoppy. Sara and I need to become friends when I move to LA so she can teach me b-girl stuffs such as her air chair. Part of the reason Cedric's solos look so freaking cool is because the boy is tall and skinny-- it gives the illusion that there are way more joints there than should be. I read in a different online commentary that Neil was a second rate Travis with his pirouettes. I disagree. I think he might rival Travis. He just did seven perfect pirouettes (that we saw), I think he might still be going even after the camera gets off of him. Danny also rivals Travis with the pirouette game, but that makes sense, they grew up in the same studio. Aaaaand we're off!
NEIL AND LAUREN- HIP HOP
"THE WAY I ARE" - TIMBALAND
This is a couple I love, but this is purely because of the exposure that Lauren received during audition episodes, and the fact that I saw Neil audition. Unfortunately, they have failed to deliver two weeks in a row. It's not that they're bad, but both weeks, they get by with just doing what they need to. There's always something missing that would make them absolutely outstanding. I'm hoping they're just getting warmed up, and next week they'll be a standout. (Maybe they'll get contemporary. I have a feeling they'll tear that up!) This week with their hip hop, I agreed with the judges. I think that Lauren was depending too much on the fact that she was the hip hop dancer of the duet. Neil outshined her by a million. In fact, I only remember watching him, which is really okay because last week, I only watched Lauren. I knew they'd be safe, but they're really going to have to step it up if they want to keep me as a big big fan.
JESSI AND PASHA- JAZZ
"STIFF JAZZ"- DZIHAN AND KAMIEN
I love Tyce Diorio's choreography! Rarely has there been a piece of his that I flat out disliked. This piece was no different. In fact, the quirkiness of the dance is probably what sold me so muc on it. Choreography aside, I have to look at the dancing-- Pasha grew on me with this dance, and Jessi I already liked. I totally got what Mary was talking about when she talked about Pasha's partnering skills. Even not doing ballroom, you could tell he was 150% invested in his partner. Having someone that intune with you must make it pretty damn easy for Jessi, not that I'm discrediting er at all. I think part of the reason I like Jessi so much is because I emphathize with her; she's good at everything, but not particularly the best at any one thing. This dance though made me love them as a couple.
Complete shock when they were in the bottom!!!
JAIMIE AND HOK- SAMBA
"BANG BANG TO THE ROCK AND ROLL" - GABIN
Here's a couple that has me torn down the middle. I think that they have given Hok way too much publicity. Right now, he is riding on three years of being exposed to the SYTYCD audience. Yes, he's cute and charming and a ridiculous breaker, but let's face it; the boy can't partner. Jaimie on the other hand has received little to no pimping out by the producers, but I've known who she is for the past three years. The competition dance world really is a tiny tiny place. The girl is amazing; some of the best technique ever. She grew up in the same studio as Travis for goodness sake. Youtube her if you don't believe me. Going into this competition, I had every belif that she would be the new Allison. Their pairing her with Hok confirms that for me seeing as I think it's their attempt at recreating the Allison/Ivan dynamic. This week though, I thought they should have been in the bottom. They were cute, but technically, I didn't think it was too good, and I don't even know anything about ballroom technique. It just looked sort of awkward when they did some of the stuff. Kind of like they were struggling to work together with the stuff.
SABRA AND DOMINIC- CONTEMPORARY
"I'LL STAND BY YOU" - THE PRETENDERS
Another choreographer who is a lot of fun: Mandi Moore. I've been waiting for her to appear on the show. The Sabra/Dominic pairing concerned me, and still does a little. You've got Dominic, who is a breaker through and through, cannot partner, cannot really do the unison stuff like talking about it. Breakers are soloists. And then you've got Sabra, who has been dancing only for four years. The girl is amazing for it, but she's still very green in the dancing world. Despite my worries, they delivered this week. I was worried about the two of them this week for some reason, apparently that was all moot; they did wonderfully. I agree with the judges that Dom is what the competition is about because of his improvement and his proving that he can do more than just break, and et cetera. Don't know how long they're going to last as a couple though. I feel like they're going to be very inconsistent. Their reactions to being safe tonight were fabulous! I particularly don't want Sabra going home. I think I've got some black girl bias towards her, though.
FAINA AND CEDRIC- FOXTROT
"YOU'RE THE BOSS" - ELVIS PRESLEY AND ANN-MARGARET
Ohhh boy. This was the partnership that was doomed from the start. They put a hip hop dancer and a ballroom dancer together-- the two genres who tend to be one trick ponies. And how funny that in these two weeks of show, we have seen both of them do their expertise once, and when they were amazing, their partners sucked. Before I start on this week, I just need to say that I hate the judges. On the results show, they gave Cedric absolutely no credit for his hip hopping last week. Yes, they identified that Faina was the weaker link of the two, but they were all, "You let you partner down both weeks" on the poor boy. No he did not! He was good last week and bad this week just as Faina was bad last week and good this week. The two were on equal footing for me going into this results show. Did they deserve to be in the bottom both weeks? Of course. But blame Faina and Cedric equally, why don't you? (Yes, I know the results show makes this complaint a little silly, but I'm not getting to the results show yet...)
LACEY AND KAMERON- BROADWAY
"ALL THAT JAZZ" - Chicago SDTK.
I'm not going to lie when I say that I was very wary of Lacey going into this competition, and probably unfairly so. The girl has talent, I can't deny that. Whether or not I believe she would be in the top twenty if it weren't for the Schwimmer name is a different story. (That belief also goes for Faina and Danny... okay, maybe just Faina. Danny'd be in it anyway.) Last week they wowed me with the contemporary piece. Yes THEY. Kameron was a prop, but he was a vital prop. He had Lacey's dead weight drop how many times in that routine? This week, I thought they were good, but not great. Not as great as Nigel and Mary pumped them up to be; I was more on the Mia train. I figured they would be safe though, mainly because of their performance last week, and if the teeny boppers have their way, Kameron will be in it until the end.
ANYA AND DANNY- VIENESSE WALTZ
"YOU AND ME" - LIFEHOUSE
I didn't see any of the rehearsal video of this one. We had a power outtage, and the satellite came back in right before Shauna and Jimmy. I did catch the dance and the comments on youtube immediately after, though. What can I say about them? Absolutely amazing. I agree with the judges that they have a professionalism about them that the other couples do not have. I'm trying to not look at them with the eyes of someone who knows for a fact that Danny is as arrogant as Mia and Shane complained about during Vegas week, nor am I trying to look at them with the eyes of someone who thinks Anya looks and sounds like stupid ass Natasha from Top Model. Ha! They're good. They're crowd favorites. They'll be top 10, easy.
SHAUNA AND JIMMY- HIP HOP
"U SEXY GIRL" - FAT MAN SCOOP
Let me open this up with, "I want those pants and that t-shirt and that sweatshirt! Okay, now that that's over with. Their dance was good. This is another partnership that was screwed because what did we know about Shauna or Jimmy before the voting stuff started? Nothing-- Neither of them got any publicity regarding their auditions or Vegas week. It was devopted to people like drama-queen Olivia, or one-armed sweetie, Janice, or STUPID FUCKING HANNALEE WHO WAS IN FRONT OF ME AT AUDITIONS AND WHO I COULD IDENTIFY SUCKED FROM THE BEGINNING! (I'm not bitter at all. I swear.) I have issues with them both though. Jimmy just plain rubs me the wrong way, and I think Shauna is too trained for the styles she received last week and this week. She's so trained and so placed, that her movements were too stiff last week. This week was better, but she still was the weaker link in the duo compared to Jimmy. I had a hunch they'd be in the bottom, but I didn't necessarily believe they deserved to be.
SARA AND JESÚS- PASO DOBLÉ
"WE WILL ROCK YOU" - QUEEN (?)
I'm going to start with the obvious... Queen? For paso? Yeah, it threw me off. It took a second viewing of the dance with the music on mute for me to actually like it. The entire time I was watching it with the music though, I was saying to myself, "The Spanish music is what usually gives the characterization which feeds the dance. It must be so hard for them to do this to classic rock!" Jesús rocked it. Sara was alright. I feel like this couple will do alright together. They've got a good balance specialties between them. Sara is a breaker, but technically, she's done other things, which is pretty damn beneficial to her. As a couple, I have no clue what to expect from them. It'll be interested to see how they'll do with something like waltz or foxtrot. I think everything else, they've pretty much got in the bag.
GROUP DANCE
"IT WAS ALL IN YOUR MIND"- WADE ROBSON
Ummm... So the show is channelling me! I choreographed to this for IC Unbound this past semester. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I like my piece more than Shane Sparks'. Granted, I've been getting bored with Shane's choreography for the past year. It just seemed like this big hodgepodge of stuff that didn't really correlate with one another, but rather fit with the music. And unfortunately, I think that this was Shane's attempt at trying to be different from himself. I don't know, it was weird.
I'll be happy when they reduce the results show down to 30 minutes. This really takes way way too long.
Bottom three: Jessi and Pasha, Shauna and Jimmy, Faina and Cedric
JESSI SOLO- I agree with the judges that her solo was "eh." I didn't start liking her until her solo to save herself in Vegas when she danced to "Like a Star" for the second time. I think that part of the reason she was safe is because none of the judges thought she should have been in the bottom in the first place.
SHAUNA SOLO- Wow. That's all I can say about it. Wow. I have thought Shauna was just another blonde girl from the beginning, but that solo was amazing. She knew it to. You could tell by the look on her face that she knew she could not have done any better. I knew the moment she was done that they were going to let her go sit down first.
FAINA- Boring solo. Ballroom people have it a little tough when it comes to their solos, but somehow Dimitry managed to save himself how many times last season? She's amazing when she does ballroom with a partner, but by herself, she fails to command the stage. That's why I think they sent her home. Hey, at least she lasted a week longer than her brother, though.
PASHA SOLO- Same as Jessi. Could his solo have been better? Yes. (I personally liked it a lot, but I suppose it could have been more difficult.) I also think like Jessi, hey saved him because it's not his fault he was int he botom by any means. Also, without him, they don't have their requirement of "ballroom male." He'll be in the top five guys just because of that fact, I belive.
Now for the controversy!!!
CEDRIC SOLO- I couldn't take it seriously. These twovideos are why. Once I stopped laughing, I rewatched the solo again, and it was good. Almost the same as last week and as his introduction yesterday, but amazing nonetheless. He really is amazing at what he does. I think he'll have a career purely based on his freestyle.
JIMMY SOLO- In all honesty, it was forgettable. I remember the boy can jump. Granted, we're looking at past performances, and he was amazing both last week and this week. His solo was good; he clearly cared about what he wanted. But he just was too normal.
So who derserved to go home more? Cedric or Jimmy?
My answer is Cedric. We have established that the boy is unique and that his freestyles can save him every time. But before the judges went to deliberate, they were all into him... "Cedric, you suck. You screwed your partner over. You suck. You can only do hip hop. You suck. I'm disappinted in you. You suck." Yet they give him another opportunity and tell him not to suck anymore? Doesn't seem to fair to me. My theory is that a) Jimmy was just too normal, and very much a dime a dozen, and b) They are hoping Cedric becomes the new Ivan. But the fact that he is now being paired with Shauna worries me. Neither of them seem to be strong standouts when it comes to the performances. I want to know how they do. I am hoping that next week, they get a Mia Michaels contemporary piece; I feel like Cedric would be good at it.
So that's my commentary. Respond. Let me know what you think.
And on an unrelated note, I am applying to be on Smarter than a 5th Grader. The people that go on that show are dumb asses! I would have made it the the million dollar question tonight and still have a cheat remaining. Granted, I am very much aware that I have an abundance of random, useless crap in my brain, but it would be so beneficial on a show like this.