So You Think You Can Dance? - OAD 8/1/2007

I liked it when Nigel called out the choreographers about their lame routines the past few weeks. This season has gone downhill compared to last season. Shane's 1980's hip hop was laughable. It reminded me of Fresh Prince of Bel Air opening credits. And Shane is usually great.

Mia's routine didn't nothing for me. My wife and I looked at each with disbelief when the judges went ga-ga over it.

 

I agree about the Mia Michaels routine. I just didn't get the emotional punch from it that the judges did. It was okay, but certainly not my favorite. I do think that it buys Lacey and Neil another week.

Sabra is definitely still my favorite, and I loved both of her routines with Pasha. They were energetic, and fun, and they both looked like they loved being out there. I also enjoyed Sara and Danny's Tango. I thought it was sexy, and I loved Sara's boots!

I think that Lauren and Dominic go home tonight. No complaints from me.

 

I am so glad to hear others say that about Mia Michale's routine. I thought I was going to be the only one and you all were going to call me a heartless bastard.

I really liked Sara and Danny's first routine it was one of the best of the season for me. Their second was laughable and it is really not their fault I hope Sara does not suffer for it.

Sabra and Pasha were awesome but they were an odd combo...usually Sabra dances like she is 6ft tall but with Pasha she looked short and her little legs looked like they could not keep up. I hope she never has to dance with Danny.

 

I think you can watch them all here:

http://www.rickey.org/?cat=147

 

ITA about Lacey's mugging after the emotional Mia dance. Perhaps she was trying to bring a little levity to the situation but that was not the way or the time. Just confirmed my growing dislike of her. I love Sabra and Sara. Not on the Danny train. He is a great dancer but he just doesn't connect with me on any other level.

 

Krump? Not a fan.

 

I didn't care for Mia's number either. It wasn't even in the same league as her park bench routine with Heidi and Travis from last year- that one blew me away.

For me last night was all about Pasha and Sabra- my favorite boy and my favorite girl did great great great. To be fair the Quickstep is my favorite dance and while this one certainly didn't top Apollo/Juliane's on DWTS it was mighty fine nonetheless. I do wish they would quit pushing Sabra so hard, though- it could cause a backlash. It's clear (to me) they've chosen her as their winner and want Ameriker to "get it right".

 

you guys nailed it, Mia's routine was a yawner. Lacey acted inappropriately when she mugged for the camera. I'm really trying to like her, but she is highly unlikeable. I wish Travis was on this season, he would BLOW away any of these posers.

It was sort of unfair, after all of that buildup before the heaven dance, how could any of the judges tell them it sucked?

 

I don't think Mia's routine was horrible but it wasn't horrendous, either. Lacey is just horrible. It's like she doesn't get it, maybe she does get it and doesn't care. I really really want Dominic gone as well.

 

I'm not a big Dominick fan either, but his second number was really good.

 

Okay, let's get out the notebook:

Here's my ranking of the routines last night, just after I watched the program.

1) Quickstep
2) Mia's contemporary routine
3) the Broadway routine
4) the Tango
5) the rumba
and then in the bottom three:
the Latin Jazz, the hip hop, the krumping

Now, in order:

Tango by Alex da Silva, danced by Danny and Sara:

Pretty much agree with the 'ooh ahh's of the judges about Danny's centering. The turns were effortless. That comment they made about how he just stepped out of the pirouette as if he had not been turning -- yeah, that was a WOW moment, if you are a dancer. Smoothly executed, and yet, I was wanting something else performance-wise. Maybe it was too much all on one level.

Krumping by Lil' C, with Lauren and Dominic.

Here's the funny thing about Krumping. It's not my favorite thing, unless Lil' C himself is doing it, and then I 'get' what he is trying to do, and then I can get into it. But when the dancers do it, it just doesn't come off somehow -- the only exception so far was earlier this season with <FX: flips madly through notebook> Sara and Jesus (this 6/27 show).

If you have the ability to review 6/27 and last night, run the two routines back to back and you should be able to see the differences in performance between the two couples.

With Lauren and Dominic, I saw glitches in the transitions when they switched from dancing solo to partnering -- several times -- and in general, the unison was way, way, way off. If I were pulling out routines as demos to people who had never seen this style, to show you what krumping was, you betcha, this is the LAST routine I would use. I am the world's most ignorant person when it comes to krumping, seeing as how all I know about Lil' C's own style is what he has done himself on the show and what his other couples have done in the competition -- but taking the small sample set into account, even I can see how horrible the execution was.

Latin Jazz by Maria Torres, danced by Lacey and Neil.

I watched the whole routine with it not grabbing me, thinking, okay, what's wrong with this. It's just not grabbing me, so why not? It needs -- something ---

And then Nigel comes along and says they were dancing it too high, they didn't get down with it, it was danced like two dance school pupils. And he's right. That's exactly it. Neil was called down before for dancing one of the routines too high, "like a cheerleader" and not getting down into the floor with things, and from the looks of this routine, that comment went in one ear and right out the other. Plus I agreed with the comments about the lack of chemistry, and the knock on Lacey for looking out at the audience too much.

Broadway routine by Tyce, with Sabra and Pasha:

Not my favorite choice of music, but -- lots of good energy, nice performance.

hip hop by Shane Sparks, with Sara and Danny

Loved Adam's riff about 'what had they done to wardrobe' and the 'hip hop on Sesame Street' comment. Too funny. What can I say, something's wrong when you enjoy the judges' comments (Nigel translating '50 cent' into pence was a hoot) more than you do the dancing.

Tony Meredith's Rumba, Lauren and Dominic:

Apologies to Sabra, but I'm still waiting for a really sexy rumba. Count me in the 'is this really a rumba' camp -- I too thought there was more posing than dance, not enough hip action. Nigel's comments about how the choreographers need to step it up and actually show off the real style rather than doing camouflage and hiding what the dancers could not do were spot-on, IMHO.

Mia Michaels, contemporary, danced by Lacey and Neil.

Okay, let me step up in defence of Mia on this one. First of all, I don't disagree that we needed the backstory given to us to 'get' it. Neil just doesn't have the gravitas to dance the role in a way that would convey that they were father and daughter. I also agree 100% that Lacey's mugging afterwards, while probably an attempt to lighten the mood, was out of place. However --

I do have to say that I enjoyed the performance a lot more than I was expecting to. There was a simplicity to the choreography that was refreshing after seeing some of the other contemporary stuff this season -- it was like listening to Aaron Copland, open and airy, after you've been listening to something more densely orchestrated. The kids could have gone WAY over the top with it, but they didn't -- they kept their dancing in line with the character of the music, and were light and effortless in what they did. I think Lacey was making the effort to dance like Mia as much as she could, and of course that will have a much greater impression on the judging panel than it does on us, because they have all seen her dance -- the illusion of it being a young Mia will be more powerful for them than it will for us.

So while it didn't have the same impact for me as the contemporary routine Lacey had with Dominic in show one, I liked it for what it was, and while Neil's dancing had a lot of the same bag o'tricks we've seen him pull out all season, I thought they were nicely placed, choreographically speaking, and that it was well-danced.

And anything that makes Lacey not mug and grimace through a routine has got to be a good thing, yeah?

Quickstep by Tony Meredith, danced by Sabra and Pasha -

This was my favorite routine of the night, a full-out quickstep.

The very fact that you would make that comparison speaks to the quality of the dancing. Remember Nigel's earlier comment that the choreographers would have to step it up next week: Well, hello, next week is now!

Finally -- finally -- we get a ballroom routine choreographed by Tony Meredith that I can watch and say, 'oh, yeah, I could totally imagine Tony and Melanie in their prime, dancing this' -- and NOT 'I wish I were watching Tony and Melanie dancing instead'.

See, I cut my teeth on watching ballroom by watching the Ohio Star Ball on PBS. It was interesting back then, and fun, but I was mostly watching it to learn more about the dances so I could understand ice dancing, so when the commentators said "that was nice, but I don't think it was really a rumba" I would know what the heck they were talking about. It was homework -- entertaining homework, but I was watching to learn more than I was watching for its own sake.

But Tony and Melanie were my "oh yeah" couple. If they were showing the Showdance competition (which is the closest thing to the free dance in an ice-dancing competition), they were the #1 and only couple on the MUST-WATCH list, that I wanted to watch for THEM, where I was excited about what they could do (a feeling, I might add, that has been sorely lacking for me this season on SYTYCD).

So yeah, baby, that quickstep, THAT'S what it is all about!

Choreography of the night, performance of the night, and music I like, too. Yum!

My go-home signal goes to: Lauren and Dominic. The krumping routine -- just not anywhere near what it should have been. It was a sorry mess. And the rumba -- well, just think about what that rumba would have looked like, if it had been performed at the same level the Quickstep was. (Apologies to PJO1966, but I disagree, Dominic was posing, not dancing -- his posing was 'very good' but not his dancing.)

I mean, for those of you who watch Dancing with the Stars, think about what that rumba would have been like if Tony Davolani and Cheryl Burke had danced it instead. Need I say more?

Jan

 

Murgatroys, who is your pick for final 2 and probable winner?

 

No apology necessary. Let me clarify by saying it was much better than usual for him, because he wasn't overdoing the facial expressions like he usually did. My picks to go home (and the only two I didn't vote for) are Dominick and Lacey. Unfortunately I think Lacey is safe yet again.

 

I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the buildup to the Mia dance, but I thought it was good. Better than average, but nowhere close to the "park bench." But I couldn't believe it when they said it was supposed to be her FATHER. Didn't get that at all--not even close. How could they even try to convey that much detail? Are you supposed to know the story before you watch something like that?

 

"Harder" as in the movements hit 'harder' and with more force-- not 'harder' as in 'more difficult.'

Krumping can be really fun to watch in the right time and place, but this contest is not the place for it. It doesn't lend itself very well to choreography; it's more of a freestyle dance.

 

Ok, I just watched last week's final cut show, so now I'm watching last night's now, so I haven't read any of these comments.

Sara & Danny - Argentine Tango: Nice to see a tango that LOOKED like a tango. Sara looked more comfortable with it than Danny did, though. I'm really disappointed that her initial footwark was blocked by the camera angle.

Hip Hop: Blech. Sara should've hit this harder - and it was clear that Danny was out of his element, completely. I think the jidges were right on here. Not good.

Dominic & Lauren - Krump: I didn't like the choreography - I don't think either of them felt it, and they were off - not sure if Lauren was early on her moves, or Dominic was slow on his. Like Nigel, this isn't a form of dance I particularly like, so that colors my opinion, significantly.

Rumba: Can we get some music with a rumba *beat*?? That music was so terrible - even though I LOVE that song. Not a lot of energy, but the chemistry was there. It just wasn't a rumba, and I don't know if it's the sucky choreography, or if it was toned down for these two.

Neil & Lacey - Latin Jazz: Just not doin' it for me. I dn't find Lacey sexy, I don't find her moves sexy, and I can't ignore the faces she's making, I just can't seem to do it. Neil looked good, but they just didn't feel like they were together - it was again two dancers dancing on the same stage but not dancing WITH each other. (and the judges basically just agreed with me. I love when that happens. )

Contemporary: Nice to see a contemporary where they didn't walk away from each other at the end. Neil was gorgeous. Lacey...along for the ride, and completely uncomfortable, IMO. I certainly don't see it as 'one of the great dance performances on television ever'. The park bench was mentioned, and THAT routine WAS one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. I don't think you can compare the two, but the judges seemed to see it.

Pasha & Sabra- Broadway: LOVE that off the floor roll! So much energy with these two - and I was really afraid the height difference between these two was going to be an issue, but they had a lot of fun, and you didn't even notice it. I really liked this one.

Quick Step: Beautiful. I just don't this there's anything that Sabra can't do. I really don't. I like the chemistry between these two, they just worked. I liked it a lot.

So...my picks for bottom 4. Dominic & Lauren / Neil & Lacey.

Probably bottom 4 - Dominic & Lauren / Danny & Sara

I think Dominic & Sara will go this week. Lacey should, IMO, be out of this, but it's just not going to happen.

Sabra & Pasha...if they're not 100% safe, there's no justice in the world.