So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5

Janette and Evan - Jazz, Rumba - Janette danced well.  Evan didn't.  He's great in his style -- I really liked his solo.  I give Janette a lot of credit for not doing the salsa in her solo.  She combined several different styles and it worked for me.  I really like her.
 

Jeanine and Brandon - Waltz, Pop Jazz - I liked both of their routines.  Brandon out-danced Jeanine in the Pop Jazz number but I think he can't out dance everybody anyway.  I wish her solo was a bit more dynamic.  She looked fatigued this week.  Not her usual self.

Melissa and Ade - Cha Cha, Contemporary - Their contemporary moved me in a way I never expected.  It was one of the most beautiful performances I have ever seen.  Truly awesome.  Their cha cha was fun but they were out of their comfort zone and it showed.

Kayla and Jason - Broadway, Hip hop - Great pairing.  Jason is peaking at the right time but he still is not near Brandon or Ade.  Kayla can do anything.  Their hip hop number was very cool -- great choreography, great execution.

Bottom three guys:
Evan
Jason
Ade

Bottom three girls:
Jeanine
Janette
Melissa

Evan and Jeanine go home, I think.

Ellen Degeneres was funny but useless as a judge.  They should avoid that in the future.

I hate to sound like the Grinch, but that Cancer Dance seemed really exploitative to me, and while it was one of Tyce's better choreo jobs, I don't think it's as good as everyone thought it was without the prism of "this is about cancer".  It's like Mia's Dead Daddy Dance -- how much of it was the choreography/dancing and how much was it about losing a loved one?  I cringe whenever the theme of a dance is about tragedy, because it the reaction usually goes overboard in relation to the execution.  That said, it was still the best dance of the night, but only because the rest of the evening sucked.

The only other good performance was Brandon and Jeanine's pop/jazz dance, but there were too many times where Jeanine lagged behind and threw off the synchro.

The rest were either flat out bad (Melissa and Ade's cha cha was suckage) or boring (Brandon and Jeanine's Waltz was slow as molasses) or blandly performed (Kayla and Jason's hip hop was soft and squishy and lacked any hip hop vibe).  Speaking of Kayla and Jason, it was unfortunate that the two least charismatic performers got paired together -- it was like watching two Terminators dancing.  And Kayla's solo was gratingly monotone (not that Jeanine's was that much better).

Janette outdanced Evan in both their numbers.  Janette and Brandon are really the new Josh and Katee -- they were both incredible together, but with different partners, they seem mismatched because no one else can keep up with them.  Let's get these kids back together, because I can't stand watching their new partners lagging behind.  They are clearly the best male and female dancers.

Oh and SABs from last week:



Oh and I forgot add:

Nigel looked like he was trying to cry critiquing the Cnacer Dance and it made me really squeamish.

Ellen was about the worst judge ever.  She said nothing of value.  What a pitiful waste of time.

The judging on the show has sunk below Paula and Rady level.  It's like watching three Karas now.
Edited by Hanson Yoo - 7/23/2009 at 03:11 pm GMT
Edited by Hanson Yoo - 7/23/2009 at 03:13 pm GMT

You're like that Kris-kovered Kanye song: Heartless!

Patrick, I realized yesterday that your avatars are pencil sketches that (presumably) you've drawn.  I had thought they were pictures of tatoos for some reason.

Compared to the average person, I am pretty heartless, although I take that to mean that I am not positively affected by cloying sentimentality.  It makes me nauseous.

Yes on the avatars (I may try to do a weekly or bi-weekly sketch for my avatars, just for fun, hope people like them).

Kanye nauseates me.  But I digress...

Melissa definitely got a vote bump this week, and for that, Janette had to go home.  But I still didn't want to lose any of the gals, but would have settled to lose Evan and Jason this week. 
 

Brendan just has this faint air of arrogance/confidence in his body language that keeps him from being embraced by the voting public, while Evan's been playing that humble pie card all throughout the show, even though he is technically not the better dancer than any of the final 4 guys, but it's a popularity contest, so you get what you get.
 

Yes, sad to see Janette go.

While I wasn't totally surprised that the Katie Holmes performance was a pre-recorded, lip synced, series of poses while dudes danced around her deal, I'm surprised they actually made such a big deal about it.

Totally agree with your post.  Thought Janette was going to take it out this year. 

Katie Holmes pre-recorded, lip synced hype.  About half way through I fast forwarded.

Kayla is this season's partner killer. That's three down on her watch. She appears to have enough of a fanbase to squeak through, but her dances aren't connecting with the audience which is why two out of three partners have been voted out by Ameriker. Shit, if she hadn't been partnered with Fan Fave Evan two weeks ago and was paired with, say, Ade, she would have been three for three. And she's getting good choreo -- she's probably gotten the best choreo overall. I am hoping she gets paired with Ade next week and we will not have to see her pasty android face in the finals. Kayla looks like a transluscent Whippet.  Please leave!

I remember watching the Bench Dance when it originally aired, and while I liked it, I was puzzled at some of the accolades it received including the Emmy.  Watching it again, there's really not much to it, just a lot of soulful looks and a bench and a flower.  I'm not a Mia hater and I at least like almost all her stuff, but if I had a top ten Mia routines list, the Bench Dance would be far down on that list.  Just off the top of my head, Hometown Glory, Higher Ground, Mark & Chelsie's week one piece, and last season's group number with Mark as the Ringleader.  I'm sure there are three or four others.

Yeah, that Katie Holmes thing was overpimped by Nigel.  Had he not raised expectations so high, there wouldn't be such a backlash.  Nigel is currently scolding people on his Twitter because so many people have tweeted about how much it sucked.  And I know she's going to lip-synch while dancing, but jeez lousie -- her lip-synching was freakin' awful.  I had made the joke that her lip-synching was worse than Milli Vanilli, but actually, they were good enough to get away with it for a while, and were only discovered when their backing track malfunctioned.  Katie Holmes lip-synching was like watching a dubbed Kung Fu movie.

BTW, the Ramalama routine was originally choreographed for 9 dancers because Natalie was hurt and couldn't participate.  Ryan Rankine apparently couldn't or didn't want to come back, so Wade took his place.

It was odd that they mentioned the contestants who came back to choreograph and neglected to mention that Dmitry from season 2 was nominated this year for an Emmy.

Once again America got it right (something I can't say for my fellow countrymen for the Canadian versions of shows).  While I thought Janette was a skilled dancer, suprisingly adept at picking up styles that were not her own, she would.not.stop.pulling.faces.  Further, not a single judge called her on it, which was frusterating to me.  I was completely distracted with her faces, ever since her audition, and in every routine.

I completely agree with Patrick that Brandon has an arrogant air about him, slight as it is, that people might be picking up on, and consequently not picking up the phone.  I suspect this may be the same thing Lil C and Mia saw in the audition stage, though they have since come around on their opinions of him as a dancer.

I really enjoyed Jeanine's solo, in another wise bland (yet again) set of solos.  I swear that if she was stacked *ahem* with a different partner from the first performance episode, she would the dancer to beat.  My three favourite girls from the top 20 are still in the competition, so I'm happy either way.

My FOX HD affiliate glitched out during the entire Katy Holmes routine, but it sounds like I didn't miss anything important.

I think I've stated this before, but Janette never got a contemporary and hardly got any sort of style of dance where she wasn't supposed to pull faces.  Almost all of her dances were in the face pulling category (pop, hip hop, disco, etc).  She didn't pull faces during her tango and if anyone was pulling faces during the rumba, it was Evan.  Besides, I never actually noticed the face pulling -- I mean, she's no Benji Schwimmer.

But aside from that, Janette was the only female dancer who exuded any personality.  And she was the most adept at adapting to other styles.  Going with the Brandon & Janette/Josh & Katee comparison, Brandon is the Katee and Janette was the Josh, not fully cross-trained but able to slide into all sorts of styles with ease.  In my book, she definitely should have been in the finals.

Kayla has all the personality of a mannequin:

Paula Abdul on SYTYCD?  Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2009/07/24/10244256-wenn-story.html

The difference between this show and Idol is 1) I actually believe these people have talent and skill, coming from years of practice and 2) At least the judges have some idea what they are talking about.

I can't watch another season of Idol.  The forced weekly genre's, the judges, the terrible group routines, the terrible contestants.  Please don't ruin this show too.

I also didn't watch Katie Holmes.  I hit the 30 second jump button a couple times after 15 seconds it, was terrible, over hyped, and plain stupid.  It's fine to add it to the show, just don't over hype it.

Yeah, I was just watching last season's finale and you have to give the judges props when they get out there and can actually do a Samba (Mary) and tap dance routine (Nigel).

Yeah, I was just watching last season's finale and you have to give the judges props when they get out there and can actually do a Samba (Mary) and tap dance routine (Nigel).

Hot on the heels of the Erin Andrews spycam video, here's a frame from the video of Kayla after showering and washing off all her makeup:



Also, just to clear up a misconception, Kayla is NOT a dancing robot.  She is a protocol droid:

Evan and Melissa - Broadway/Quickstep - Evan had a softball thrown his way with the Broadway number, but he didn't exceed expectations, he was playing catch-up at times in the Quickstep, while Melissa was solid in both numbers and handicap with Evan as her partner.

Ade and Jeanine - Salsa/Hip-hop - Ade continues to struggle with latin ballroom numbers, but Jeanine is able to use her sex appeal to dance through them.  Their hip-hop was solid, but it ran out of steam for me.
 

Brandon and Kayla - Contemporary/Disco - Strong contemporary number, very much in Kayla's wheelhouse.  The disco number also ran out of steam a bit at the end, but they were asked to pull off many tricks, and had a higher degree of difficulty, and did well, though their double death throws looked a bit weak.  Thought Nigel oversold his pimping of Kayla and Brandon. 

Evan looked a little out of place in the guy's dance, while all three of the gals were all strong in their number.

The only reason Evan doesn't get sent home this week will be due to his fan base, which means Ade might not make the finals.

Melissa getting paired with Evan might be responsible for her being sent home and missing the finals.  But as I said before, they continue to pimp Kayla (I think she should be in the finals, but it's such a toss-up amongst the 3 gals) and that might backfire as well.  Jeanine just has so much sex appeal, but her dancing isn't as technically strong, but her intangibles make up for it.  Nigel's dirty ol' man came out tonight when he was critiqueing Jeanine's assets after the gals group number.

 

Man when LilC starts talking I start fastforwarding.

Most of us would say either "Nature calls!" or "I gotta take a dump", but Lil C would probably say "I need to evacuate my colon due to a most expeditious bowel movement of the highest magnitude".

Melissa leaving was not a surprise, no reflection on her as a dancer. It just seemed the like the logical elimination against Jeanine and Kayla.

Ade, however, was a surprise. People apparently like Evan a lot.

I would like to see Jeanine win (I actually voted for her last night, first time caller...) but I don't know how likely that is if it comes down to her vs. Brandon.

Technically speaking, because this is a dancing show, I think Kayla and Brandon are the best.  But at this point popularity and personality will judge who wins. 

Evan? Are you kidding me?  He is not even great when it's his type of genre, this makes no sense to me.  Oh well.  Melissa and Ade both deserve the top 4 over Evan.

I dunno Patrick -- those are all real words and used properly.  I'd substitue "evacuate" with "evaculate" and "expeditious" with "expeditioned".  So it would be:

That's a bit more "C" like.

BTW, it dawned on me last night that the "C" in "Lil C" could be The "C" word (and not cancer).  And then I laughed for, like, 5 minutes.
 

Why in God's green earth did I think they'd ever pair up Kayla with Ade so that they'd both leave?  It had to be Brandon to ensure her passage to the finals.  And poor Melissa -- she got paired with Evan, who, as a partner-killer,  has now equalled Kayla's body count.  But it's not all his fault -- the judges keep giving him the worst choreo and negative comments to supress his vote totals, and his partners keep getting caught in the wash.  The only one to escape his death touch was, ironically, Kayla.  I guess it was professional courtesy, one Grim Reaper to another:

Oh, and BTW, the attempts at weeding out Evan are totally NOT working.  As a matter of fact, they appear to be backfiring, and at this point, Evan is a shoo-in to win the whole thing.  And thus, the oft repeated mantra that the voters are choosing "America's Favorite Dancer" and not "Best Dancer" will be upheld.  Sorry Blake.  Sorry Travis.  Sorry Danny.

Oh, and sorry Brandon.

About a minute into the opening Clown dance, the combination of that huge prop, the random, disconnected jumble of tricks and moves, hokey face pulling, and overly literal theme (they're sending in the clowns, get it?) activated my Tyce radar.  The fact that it sucked was also a tell.

At this point, I think Brandon is clearly the best dancer, but I've resigned myself to Evan winning.  A Jeanine win would be okay too, because she's hot and I like her (which is an important distinction -- Kherington was hot, but I disliked her).  So I guess I'm saying, I don't want the Kayla to win.  For all of her physical skills, Kayla is just blah. 
 

 

I get a real phony vibe from her, and the wild overpraising from the judges makes me wonder if she really that talented or if they've been helping her all along.  I mean, they keep insisting she's gorgeous, and they're totally wrong about that.  Cripes, she looks like the daughter of Fire Marshall Bill -- why the frick do they keep saying that?
 

 

 

 

Jeanine might pull off the upset.  She's got the bod, nice performance acumen in the acting side, and is pretty competent as a technical dancer (but Kayla is a tad better in that aspect). She might come across as more likable than Brandon or Kayla (but no one is going to unseat Evan for Mr. Congeniality).

Brandon is the best dancer technically and athleticaly, but not overall performer in terms of personality in concert with dance ability. So he doesn't always connect emotionally with the crowd in some of his numbers.

Kayla is the better overall performer in terms of the combination of dance ability and performance personality. When paired with a partner that doesn't hold her back, she usually rises to the ocassion.

Evan is the most likable dancer (call it the Kris Allen effect, if you will), but is lagging behind in dancing polish on the technical side, but can perform the character for each dance well enough to connect with the audiences.

I agree with everything you wrote, Patrick.

Jeanine is in the breast, er best, position to pull off the upset.  Is there anyone dancing hooter, er hotter than her right now?  I think her ability to dance outside her comfort zone could tit, er tip the scales in her favour.

Boobs.

To me, Brandon is the total package this season -- performance, personality, technique, and amazing athleticism.  He is by far the best dancer this season, and is able to slip into any style flawlessly.  He's the Danny of this season -- he won't win, but only because the producers always push this "Favorite dancer" angle.  They really put too much stock into likability.  Not that Brandon isn't likable, but Evan has obviously cornered that market and will coast to the win with it.  It's like Danny vs Sabra or Adam vs. Kris all over again.

Kayla may be good technically (although I say this because I'm taking the judges' word on this since I've never been wowed by anything she's done all season), but she has zippo personality when performing, and her acting comes across as phony.  More importantly, she has zero chemistry with her partners, and that's why she keeps losing them -- she doesn't connect with them because she doesn't really care to.  She always tries to outdance whomever she's on stage with instead of working to create a singular performance -- with Kayla, the dances always come off as Kayla and her anonymous partner/prop.  And yet her solos suck.

Also, she waaay less hot than Jeanine.  Who finds Kayla hot anyway?  Necrophiles?

After seeing Chelsie Hightower and Courtney Galiano, I'm not sure how you guys can categorize either Jeanine or Kayla as hot. They're attractive in their own ways, as is Jeanette. Kayla has a sort of elegance to her look.

The Wade number was so bad it was worse than Tyce's numbers.  Too much standing around and miming.  Speaking of Tyce, that was the only Broadway routine of his that I liked.  It was actually coherent and connected and there weren't any pulled faces and vaudelville moves. 

I normally don't like Sonja's routines.  This was no different for me.  The Paso was disappoining only in that they didn't attempt the donut drop they showed during the rehearsal piece.  I was waiting for it and it felt like they didn't deliver.  It was also difficult to discern how good it was, what with the flashing lights and quick cuts.  That part was way overdone.
 

Nigel was waaay off-base in telling Kayla that she finally showed off her personality that was missing the rest of the season.  She exhibited no personality in the finale either.  What the hell was so great about that jive?  That jive was boring as shit. As a matter of fact, I don't really remember any ballroom outside of Brandon and Janette that was memorably good. 
Either the choreographers are slacking or the dancers are ditching the harder moves in practice.  
 

The boys pop number was lame while Mia's number was not one of her best.  Taking off the layers of clothes was gimmicky, and each girl has issues getting them off smoothly and that made it klutzy looking.  They were never in synch, but I'm not sure if they were supposed to be.  They also never connected, and it was as if Mia constructed two solos and they happened to dance them at the same time.  I have come to realize that my biggest problem with Kayla is that she doesn't connect with her partner in the least.  Whenever she dances, she just dances in parallel with her partner and doesn't create any synergy (which is why the Mia piece was right up her alley). 
 

 That comment of Nigel's about wanting Mia piece to keep going was the most inappropriate thing I've ever heard from a judge.  He flat out said, "I want to see you naked".  It's wrong.  Simply wrong.  I can say it, but I'm not their boss.
 

And boy oh boy they threw Evan under the bus, didn't they?  It wasn't so much the content (it was mostly accurate), but the incessant drumbeat of, "you're cute but you're not good enough" will probably be the catalyst for Evan winning.  I don't think he really deserves to be in the finale, but even I thought it was unfair the way they were pointing out every little mistake.

Brandon's solo looked mostly like last week's solo set to different music and performed in board shorts.  Then again, it's still spectacular.  Evan also did essentially the same exact solo, but it's just gotten tiresome.  Jeanine was really good, but Kayla's was the worst.  Boring.  Even the judges said as much.

Edited by Hanson Yoo - 8/6/2009 at 08:43 pm GMT

Janine wins and I'm so happy.  She is so gorgeous and only got better as the weeks added up.  Great season overall.

I haven't watched the finale yet, but I had to find out anyway. That is great news. This was the first full season I've seen and my first time ever voting for anyone on a competition show. It's great to have my pick win! She really delivered last night. Kayla just seemed tired and unpolished in comparison.

Having watched the finale now, I'm not sure if I like the Kodak Theater as a venue. The regular show stage has much more intimacy and the staging within the Kodak seemed a little awkward or limited in comparison.

Oh, and Jeanine's mom in profile looked like Mariska Hargitay.