So You Think You Can Dance "Top 16 perform" 6/25/08 *spoilers*

[Kamakzie]

Twitch and Kherington did really good, I liked Courtney and Gev and I really liked Courtney's outfit or lack there of. I didn't really get Comfort and Chris's routine at all. Will and Jessica didn't do a bad job but not great either. Kourtni and Matt with some weird choreography but they danced what was given to them well. Chelsea and Thane did okay but not sure it will be good enough, I think they are bottom 3 bound. I thought Chelsea and Mark did a really great job with the hip hop routine. Joshua and Katee with a very sexy dance! Katee mmmmmm mammacita!

[TonyTheTiger]

It's actually Top 16, not top 8!

[Kamakzie]

It's actually Top 16, not top 8!

Thanks.

[TonyTheTiger]

You were part right - it was eight couples, but 16 dancers. As it's an individual competition, it should be top 16.

I think Thane & Chelsea may be on the block tomorrow along with Comfort & Chris and Will & Jessica. C&C to go home, unless they pull out amazing solos.

[Kamakzie]

I'm still partial to Kherington and Twitch, Courtney and Gev and Katee and Joshua.

[jradosh]

Best 1/2 outfit ever. :up:

[JoBeth66]

(**Please note - my notes & attention are colored slightly by the fact that I have a 5 week old kitten running around and trying to play with me, and it's very distracting. :D )

Kherington & Twitch - Hip Hop - Tabitha & Napoleon - She smiled way too much in this number, and pulled too many faces. It didn't fit with the theme, IMO, and I'm really surprised Nigel couldn't find *any* negatives.

Courtney G & Gev - Rumba - Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin - Bad music choice IMO. I like to see a latin dance set to latin music. I LOVED her dress, though - but still no footwork. It was just eh for me. My pick for bottom 3

Comfort & Chris - jazz - Tyce Diorio - Again, surprised at the song choice, but it *worked* for me. They looked good together, the energy was there, the connection was there - and surprisingly Nigel felt there wasn't any power? I certainly was there. It was much more of a jazz dance to me than the rumba was a rumba. Shrug.

Jessica & Will - Disco - Doriana Sanchez - Some of their tricks weren't on, but other than that, it was a fun routine, and there was a LOT of energy there, and the partnering skills were very good. I loved the way she tried to cover up his fall at the end. :)

Kourtni & Matt - Contemporary - Sonya Tayeh - Interesting choreography and I really like the way a lot of her movement took into account the long lines these two have. Wardrobe, though, REALLY screwed the pooch on this one. Had Chelsie and Mark not hit theirs, this would've been my favorite routine.

Chelsea & Thayne - Quick step - Heather Smith - Again with the music choice. This was so much easier to pay attention to I watched it without sound. And that shouldn't be. But this was a jarring choice and it totally threw me off. When I watched it the second time it was better. The painted on smiles were a disappointment, the energy was good, but I'm just not feeling these two. my pick for bottom 3

Chelsie & Mark - Hip Hop - Napoleon & Tabitha - I really liked this. A lot of emotion and it all came through, I thought their movement was good, I thought there was a real connection with them. This is my favorite routine of the night.

Katee & Joshus - Samba - Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin - Finally. Latin feel to the music for a latin dance. Loved her dress, too. He's gorgeous to watch. And FOOTWORK! This is tied for favorite routine.

I feel that Chris & Comfort will round out the bottom 3, but I don't know that they really belong there. I think Kherington & Twitch do, at this point, but I know that's not going to happen.

[mwhip]

Disco and the quick step were the ones I did not like.

I agree Kherington smiles too much she really needs to work on that.

I thought Josh and Katie were going to be so-so the background piece was looking to set them up to fail. They killed it and it is the best Katie has looked dancing with Josh.

I like Courtney and Gev they have good chemistry and damn was that dress hot.

[Kamakzie]

I agree Kherington smiles too much she really needs to work on that.


She can smile at me all day long!

I thought Josh and Katie were going to be so-so the background piece was looking to set them up to fail. They killed it and it is the best Katie has looked dancing with Josh.


Katee has been a very pleasant surprise and she is very beautiful in her own way too. Joshua seems to be able to handle everything thrown at him. Very impressive.


I like Courtney and Gev they have good chemistry and damn was that dress hot.

Oh man Courtney Galiano is such a hottie. I think I'm in love with her and Kherington with Katee in a close 3rd. :D:D

[murgatroyd]

I tried to give everybody a fair shake tonight by skipping all the lead-ins and rehearsal segments, and going straight to the performances. Ranking was determined by my 'which one do I want to re-watch' vs. the 'oh my god, not this again' test.

Favorite routine of the night: Chelsie & Mark - Hip Hop (Napoleon & Tabitha)
[Shane Sparks] Y'all just smashed that. [/Shane Sparks]

Also very watchable:
Katee & Joshua - Samba (Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin)
Boo to wardrobe for putting her in such a dull-colored dress! But this was fun.

Kourtni & Matt - Contemporary - (Sonya Tayeh) Weird! But I like weird! Agree with the judges, there was a lot of strong technical stuff in here -- 'well done you two' as Cat would say.

Wardrobe drops the ball again! I get that you want quirky clothes, but I also would have liked to see them in clothes that better showed off their lines. Great to see new choreographers on the show -- I look forward to seeing more work from her.

Special department of 'damn, go back and try it again!': Jessica & Will - Disco - (Doriana Sanchez)
Arrrrgh! They started off so well. They were killing it! And then the wheels started to come off. But I loved Adam's comment about Jessica trying to match Will's line at the end when he fell over. It was great partnering there (when their timing got messed up on the tricks that went wrong, not so much!)

Still, I'd rather see a routine where people really get the flavor of the dance, even if they have flubs, than a performance where the dancers get all the steps in technically correct but totally miss the feeling.

The 'half-a-performance' group:

Kherington & Twitch - Hip Hop (Tabitha & Napoleon)
Always fun to see Twitch, but if I have to rank the two T&N couples against each other, they were clearly not as good as Chelsie and Mark. I think they partly fell victim to the two-routines-per-week curse, because I don't think this routine was as strong as the other one.

Courtney G & Gev - Rumba - (Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin)
I give Gev props especially, there was some good stuff in it, but there's something off about this performance. It wasn't slinky and melty enough. That's probably a sign that the hip action wasn't always there, which gets back to footwork, or lack of it -- so I guess I've circled around to the point of agreeing with JoBeth. ;)

Bottom two:

Chelsea & Thayne - Quick step (Heather Smith)
A valiant attempt, but way too 'hoppy', and too many places where I thought 'the choreographer surely didn't ask them to do that'. (If so, she violated my rule of 'never choreograph something that will appear to be a mistake'.)

Comfort & Chris - jazz - (Tyce Diorio)
When Nigel singles out one dancer for praise and I'm sitting here thinking that I actually like the other better, and meanwhile JoBeth is liking the routine as a whole, that's a sign to me that something somewhere has gone wrong. If they had really killed it, wouldn't we be unanimous?

I thought that Chris, for all his faults, at least had some tension in his line, but Comfort was just sort of sleepwalking through it. So my reaction was that dreaded "I wish I could watch [fill in the blank] dance this instead" where the blank could have been filled in by several different couples from the last couple of seasons.

Jan

[JoBeth66]

Jan - I started doing the same thing, skipping the lead ins & back story stuff - I can go back and watch that later. I'm simply watching the routines twice - once with music, once without, and then listening to the judge's commentary.

While I see your point on Chris & Comfort, the overall *feel* of the routine was there for me, even if technically it was off, which, to ME, is much more entertaining than watching them technically nail a routine and be completely devoid of personality - which we've seen way too often, and which also trips you up.

What was your thinking of the Phil Collins song for the quick step routine?

The Kourtni & Matt routine I can go back and watch again - it really was beautiful. I'd love to see them try that again in much better costuming. I mean, EVERY time we see contemporary they put them in pajamas. This is a routine that would have ABSOLUTELY worked in that kind of wardrobe. I always wonder who makes the final wardrobe call, and does the choreographer have any say.

(I also love that you & I usually see eye-to-eye on the bottom 3. :) )

[verdugan]

Kherington & Twitch - Hip Hop - Tabitha & Napoleon - She smiled way too much in this number, and pulled too many faces. It didn't fit with the theme, IMO, and I'm really surprised Nigel couldn't find *any* negatives.


After the guest judge made a comment that they had to have eyes for the camera, I commented to my wife that Tabitha didn't look convincing as a convict who escaped from jail. With those faces she made, she looked like she was on an ESPN's cheerleading competition rather than on SYTYCD.

[DancnDude]

After the guest judge made a comment that they had to have eyes for the camera, I commented to my wife that Tabitha didn't look convincing as a convict who escaped from jail. With those faces she made, she looked like she was on an ESPN's cheerleading competition rather than on SYTYCD.

Agreed. I liked the routine a lot, but it could have been so much better if Kerrington played the part a bit more. She should have been nervous or paranoid, maybe a devious smile, like "ha-HA! I just escaped from prison!". She seemed more like she was smiling because she was enjoying the performance rather than getting into character.

Her smile is kind of a defining characteristic for her, and she could easily use it to her advantage. But when she doesn't it becomes a bit distracting to the performance.

[murgatroyd]

Agreed. I liked the routine a lot, but it could have been so much better if Kerrington played the part a bit more. She should have been nervous or paranoid, maybe a devious smile, like "ha-HA! I just escaped from prison!". She seemed more like she was smiling because she was enjoying the performance rather than getting into character.

Her smile is kind of a defining characteristic for her, and she could easily use it to her advantage. But when she doesn't it becomes a bit distracting to the performance.

"Ooh, look at me, I'm keeping up with Twitch!"

Totally agree, the character wasn't there.

Jan

[murgatroyd]

While I see your point on Chris & Comfort, the overall *feel* of the routine was there for me, even if technically it was off, which, to ME, is much more entertaining than watching them technically nail a routine and be completely devoid of personality - which we've seen way too often, and which also trips you up.

The whole thing just didn't gel for me. What can I say?

What was your thinking of the Phil Collins song for the quick step routine?

I wasn't as bothered by the music choice as you were. Remember that it's the freakish Paso Doble music choices that get me the most. ;)

I do love a good routine where the music is utterly appropriate for the dance -- but I also love the showdances on the Ohio Star Ball broadcasts where people use something wildly different and it works for that too -- I love that feeling of "I can't believe they're using this music and it totally works!" which the great routines evoke.

But if the music strays from what is usual for that dance, the dancers have to be extra good. You have to get that 'effortless' feeling, like the dancing is a walk in the park, so easy -- or things don't come off. It does put more of a burden on the dancers that way.

I don't know if having more traditional music would have helped them or not, but I don't think the footwork was right, no matter what.

I always wonder who makes the final wardrobe call, and does the choreographer have any say.

Ditto.

(I also love that you & I usually see eye-to-eye on the bottom 3. :) )

This week I really only had a bottom two, but you talked me into agreeing with you for the third candidate.

Jan

[Ment]

Twitch and Kherington: Good performance but again one note emotion for her. I'd hate having her perform Mark and Chelsea H's routine.

Mark and Chelsea H.: Loved it..loved it. She just gives good face which was noticeable even from the auditions.

Kourtni and Matt: Contemporary isn't a favorite dance but this performance was quirky and cool. Hope the choreographer comes back again..love her mohawk!

Courtney and Gev: OMG that dress was so hot on her. Courtney has a natural sensuality and that dress just burned it up. Gev is coming into his own. Nice performance


Bottom: Will and Jessica: From an laymans point of view Disco is hard to pull off without looking campy and they didn't even come close. It started out ok but quickly went downhill. Jessica goes home.

[Cearbhaill]

I came here to comment this morning then realized I must have fallen asleep during the show as I couldn't remember having seen Joshua and Katee. Then I watched them- holy moley! I would have remembered that- Joshua can sure fill out a pair of pants.That is one smoking body... just right. Shallow, sure. But I gasped out loud and I'm old and low on mojo so I can only imagine how he affects the younger girls.
Agree that had Katee's dress been the least bit vibrant it would have made a big difference. The style was so similar to the one Courtney had just worn the daylights out of and I think Katee suffered in comparison somehow. As far as the dancing I thought it was wonderfully tight and I don't even like Samba.

I actually liked the Chris/Comfort number (and ever rewatched before the comments) but once I heard the judges I did understand that had they punched everything up a notch it would have been something really noteworthy.

Loved Twitch, Kherington not so much.

Courtney G & Gev were very romantic and for a manboy with his dance history I think he is doing really well. Unfortunately he reminds me of Steve-O which kind of destroys the mood. That dress was remarkably well suited to her.

Like Will but dislike disco in the extreme and think Jessica is weighing him down. I could do without Doriana Sanchez and her routines forever.

Chelsie & Mark - Love both of them in almost anything.

Kourtni & Matt- only remember the fugly clothing.

Chelsea & Thayne- Quickstep is possibly my favorite dance of all and I didn't enjoy it one bit. The music took my attention away, too.

Chelsea/Thayne and Kourtni/Matt in the bottom three and personally I would go with Will/Jessica as the third.
I would dismiss Jessica and Thayne.

[Kamakzie]

During the show Nigel commented to Napoleon and Tabitha that he bets they were glad they are on the #1 dance show now or something like that. Anyone know what dance show they did before?

[Jayjoans]

Just a quick Google shows that they were choreographers on America’s Next Dance Crew

[Kamakzie]

Just a quick Google shows that they were choreographers on America’s Next Dance Crew

Sorry I was being lazy. I did a search and didn't find something right away so I thought I would use TC connections. :D

[realityboy]

I really liked Comfort and Chris this week. Despite wanting him to go home last week, I hope they both stick around for awhile.

Jessica & Will (She's noticeably weaker than him week after week)
Comfort & Chris (I don't agree, but that's how the judges saw it)
Chelsea & Thayne (Those smiles were scary)

I want it to be Jessica and Thayne that goes home, but it'll probably be either Chelsea & Thayne or Comfort & Chris since the judges have yet to split a couple.

[pmyers]

During the show Nigel commented to Napoleon and Tabitha that he bets they were glad they are on the #1 dance show now or something like that. Anyone know what dance show they did before?

which is funny because Shane Sparks left SYTYCD for that show.

[Havana Brown]

which is funny because Shane Sparks left SYTYCD for that show.

Didn't he choreograph last week's group dance? :confused:

I think Kerrington looks like a teen covergirl. I like her performance and think she'll be around for a long time.

I really wanted to hate Katee all along. I had hoped that her roommate would make it instead of her. I'm liking her performance more and more each week, I just don't like HER.

[Kamakzie]

Didn't he choreograph last week's group dance? :confused:

Yeah he did.

[pmyers]

Yeah he did.


Yup, but that's probably all we'll see of him for the entire season. He used to be a regular on the show. I really enjoyed his pieces.

[murgatroyd]

Chelsie & Mark - Hip Hop - Napoleon & Tabitha - I really liked this. A lot of emotion and it all came through, I thought their movement was good, I thought there was a real connection with them. This is my favorite routine of the night.

By the way, did the costuming on this number make anyone else think of Rose Tyler and The Doctor?

;)

Jan

[JoBeth66]

By the way, did the costuming on this number make anyone else think of Rose Tyler and The Doctor?

;)

Jan

No, but now that you say it...I can totally see it. :)

They just needed to have "Bad Wolf" written on the set somewhere...

[gschrock]

Ok, finally got around to watching this over the weekend.

Loved Joshua and Katee. For a couple that back in the parts leading up to the top 20 seemed like they might have been borderline to get in, I've been pretty impressed with them every week.

Really liked that second hip-hop routine. While I didn't like the first one quite as much, I have to say that I've generally quite enjoyed what Napoleon & Tabitha have come up with. They've consistently put together genuinely entertaining routines.

Now, I have to say I'm definitely a layperson in all this. I just generally don't get dance. Quite frankly, I'm surprised I've liked the show as much as I have (this is the first season for me), my wife was kinda surprised I was watching the show (although she's enjoyed it too). That said, that contemporary routine, I'm sorry, but it was just plain strange. I didn't get it, I didn't really enjoy it, and if I never saw it again, I wouldn't exactly be upset. If the audience for the show is made up of people like me (and I have no idea what percentage of the people that watch the show are big dance people), that type of thing could be disaster for a couple.

[murgatroyd]

No, but now that you say it...I can totally see it. :)

They just needed to have "Bad Wolf" written on the set somewhere...

:D

P.S. I really liked Tony Meredith's T-shirt. Although it might give some of the dancers nightmares. ;)

Jan