So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5 - Page 3

Wow, I really dislike the new quoting system on the forums (or perhaps my adblocking addon for firefox is wreaking havoc with it).

With regards to the random-choosing of the dances, this week definitely has a few ways of looking at it:

1) Some/all of the dances were given to particular dancers (including, of course, the ballet).

2) The dances were chosen at random, but there were backup plans for a few of them, again, including the pas des deux.  If Melissa draws it, then it would be a classical pas de deux; if anyone else drew it, we would get the pseudo-ballet like we saw last year.

3) Only the pas de deux was not random, and it was chosen to coincide with this week's "world of dance" ballet from the results show.

While I'm not a fan of the show sometimes going for 100% randomness and other times making thinly-veiled "fixes," I guess at this point I don't really care anymore :)  I've pretty much agreed with every top10/winner for the past 3 seasons, so whatever it is they are doing works for me!

This season does feel a bit scripted, doesn't it?

Choosing Karla to leave seemed right to me. Her solo again had some really off-putting movements. Contrast that to Janine, who had some of those contemporary stylings but with much more grace and emotion.

I won't miss Vittolio. I never warmed to him.

I watched both episodes from last week today.  Some random thoughts:

Caitlin has an incredible body.  She has not had a wow moment yet.  She's the biggest let-down so far for me.  She and Jason were the only couple to not get a dance that was in their wheelhouse this week. 

Kayla IS a vampire.  Her skin is translucent.  She burns out my retinas.  On a more serious note, she is too emotional.  I don't think she will last in the competition.

Brandon and Janette are awesome.  They fire on all cylinders week in, week out.

Ade and Melissa are hot on their heels.  

There's your top 4, imho.

My rankings for the night:
 

Brandon & Janette - Argentine Tango / Jazz - nailed each dance with impeccable timing and chemistry and technique.

Melissa & Ade - Disco  / Waltz - almost 2 solid numbers, but not quite perfect on the Waltz.

Kayla & Kupono - Contemporary / Broadway - strong Mia Michael number, but lots of running in place with their Broadway number.

Caitlin & Jason - Foxtrot /  Lyrical Jazz - though the foxtrot was a little slow but with nice lifts, the jazz lacked passion for me.

Phillip & Jeanine - Russian Folk Dance / Jive - terrible genre choice on the first number, and the jive was salvaged by Jeanine.

Evan & Randi - Hip Hop / Samba - Good hip hop, but Evan was a boat anchor on the samba.

Evan probably goes home (but only Brandon is safe) because he isn't showing much growth from week to week.

I think it's a toss-up between Caitlin and Randi (but Kayla probably ends up in the bottom 3 from a voting standpoint).  The other gals are safe.  This will be a tough cut for the girls because I'd rather they cut 2 guys for the final 10 at this point.
 

I agree with Patrick.  My money is on Evan and Randi.  Evan is light on his feet but there is no fire.  Randi (as mentioned by a judge last week) dances heavy. 
Brandon and Janette were so great tonight. 

Janine has grown on me the most.  She's an exceptional dancer and so gorgeous.

Caitlin and Jason have no spark -- alone or as a couple.  If they make it through to the olo rounds, I don't see them going very far.  Thy're great dancers but they have no X factor.  They're boring.

Kupono is the weakest of the men, I think.  His addiction number with Kaylee was great (I hope Sara Bareilles' album gets a bump -- "Gravity' is one of many great cuts from her CD).  He'll go after he and Kaylee split up.

I see the top like this:

Men -- Brandon #1, Ade #2,
Women -- Janine/Kaylee #1 (Janine is peaking at the right time, Kaylee is too emotional), Melissa #2 (skilled and confident), Janette #3 (although she could jump to the top if he can kill a contemporary number)

Brandon wins.

Overall, I loved all of the choreography tonight except for the Russian Folk dancing.

Big bottom 3 surprise tonight!

Evan got so lucky because I think he was on the way out if he and Randi were in the bottom 3.

There was no way Melissa or Ade was going home, so that left all-around dance ability vs. unique style, and versatility won out amongst the guys, while Caitlin was simply the odd woman out when Randi didn't end up in the bottom 3 either.  Glad both Philip and Caitlin made the tour, though.

Every week, I continued to think Philip was the guy who needed to go home, but every week I was happy when he made the Bottom 3 and had to perform, but stuck around. He's a joy to watch dance, but he didn't deserve to keep being pushed along in this format. I bet he'll be a real crowd pleaser on the tour, and I'm glad the producers did what they did.

Going back to the performance show, I saw 3 things that really stood out for me. One was the Mia Michaels routine. Sometimes when I watch Mia's routines and try to describe their impact, I'm reminded of Jody Foster in [i]Contact[/i] where she's saying "no words". It's like tasting a favorite food that you've lived all your life without knowing it existed. You're not the same afterwards because you've now experienced something that has broadened your horizons. Collectively, her routines on this show lessen the sense of loss I feel over never going to see Baryshnikov in his prime. The routine forced me to look at and appreciate dancers who up until now haven't been my favorites.
 

My other two standout performances were both by Brandon and Janette. First was the Tango. There are times when I feel the judges are a bit over the top with their praise, but to this untrained eye, that routine just [i]rocked[/i]. It's like Tice said... technical excellence. I [i]really[/i] don't want to see them split up, but it's fair for the competition. Then they come back with that 2nd routine, which was just flat out cool. I'm glad the judges have come around on Brandon. What a dancer. I don't have a good enough memory to compare him with all that have come before, but he and William Wingfield (Debbie Allen's protege) are two of my favorite male dancers. Just two powerhouses.

I'm continuously moved by the show. How nice that it comes back in the fall, though next summer will be a little emptier.
 

Surprising results show.  I'm done guessing who stays and who goes.

I'm also glad that Philip and Caitlin will tour.

I was out at the Stampede this week, so I had to watch the performance and results shows back-to-back, so I won't really comment on the performance show other than to say Jason is very lucky to be in the top 10.  I think the only reason he made it, is because the judges decided to include Phillip (I think Caitlin was included just to appear "fair") on the tour--I've always thought one of the shows biggest mistakes was to eliminate Hawk before the top 10, as I'm sure he would have been a great addition to the tour.  I know a lot of people (well, okay, only a few, since it's only a few people that post in these threads :)  ) don't like Twitch, but he was a definite crowd-pleaser, and from what I've read has given a lot back to the dance community through volunteer work.

This show just goes to prove how subjective dance can be sometimes, as I personally think Kayla delivers great performances (dancing aside), and that Janette , while quite adept at dancing outside her own style, has zero personality other than the stereotypical "spicy Cuban."  *yawn.*  She pulls faces all the time, and I find it annoying.  Jason was about as interesting as an empty chess board, so I won't miss him.

Jeanine's solo was brought to us by scotch double-sided tape.

Good choreo all around this week (unlike last week, which was moderately disappointing), and some really good performances, too.  I always like to see Wade Robson stuff, as he's my favourite choreographer overall.  Tyce is hit or miss for me (about 50%, actually), but I think he's a great guest judge--keeps his comments short, which is rare, yet gives actual advice.  I'm also glad Tyce defended the Russian folk dance routine, since my g/f and I both felt the judges were WAY too harsh on it.  You simply can't choose "any ol' traditional folk dance," and expect it to be Bollywood (which naturally lends itself to modernization).  There were some fairly technical moves there that were pulled off quite well, like Phillips leg turns and cossack moves, and Jeanine's heel-toe work, which is deceptively complicated, and quite hard to pick up in 3 days.  The show and the judges (save Tyce) dropped the ball here, not the dancers.

One more thing:

Stop. with the. Dutch. Angles!!!!!!

Seriously stop it.  I swear more than half the show is now shot like this, and it's annoying as hell.

I'm still a fan of Kayla's as well, don't quite get the hate.  I like that she is a little hungrier than the more "composed" female dancers at times, and I think she's more versatile, but time will tell. 

I think Jason thought he was a goner when Evan and Randi were not in the bottom 3 pairs.

Edited by Patrick Sun - 7/10/2009 at 10:54 pm GMT

"I know a lot of people (well, okay, only a few, since it's only a few people that post in these threads :)  ) don't like Twitch, but he was a definite crowd-pleaser, and from what I've read has given a lot back to the dance community through volunteer work."

I don't think people disliked Twitch personally as much as some of us didn't think he had the skill to rank as highly as he did. I'd have had no problem with Twitch being on the tour, just like I like the idea of Philip on the tour.
 

I also have to point out again that you could be an 11 on a 10 scale in what you do and still only be a 5 on this show. I'd go ahead and call a 5 a 5, and even support an elimination, but that sure doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy seeing that dancer do the "11" stuff he knows how to do. That's where I am with Philip. And for the unpopular statement of the day, I grew weary of Philip's, "Boy, that was hard," schtick. I think it was genuine, but I just grew weary of it. The good thing is... we get to see him do what he does at least one more time. I can live with that.
 

Lest there be any confusion, I definitely did not mean to imply Twitch was an 11 at his specialty. In fact, if he came to our local theater, where I can get free tickets, I wouldn't even bother to go. He's just not unique or better than any other hip hop dancer. Robert Murane, I'd go see. Philip, I'd go see. That said, Twitch seems a likable enough guy, so I stand by my main point, which is that the perceived "dislike" for Twitch has to do with his level of skill on SYTYCD, not him as a person.

I stand corrected. I'll just say my personal dislike was related to his dancing skills.

To be fair, the Twitchington thing started on the message boards almost immediately, and in an era of "Branjolina," it was surely innevitable.  The 4real thing is also completely removed from Twitch, and actually started in Vancouver, if I'm not mistaken (and a lot of celebs promote the brand/concept, such as Cameron Diaz).  The pseudo-superman symbol, though, that was all him for sure.

You are correct, about Hok, though, come to think of it.  I now recall him going on tour for the hummingbird routine (also by my favourite choreographer, Wade).  However, I sort of recall him being added late in the game, as a swing dancer (not the style, of course), after the powers-that-be realized how much of a crowd favourite he was.

I actually thought that two of Kayla's solos have been quite good, actually (one was very weak, however), bested only by Jeanine's first solo from a few shows back (her second solo was weak--perhaps she was wearing the wrong outfit [thanks for it though!]).  Janette pulls faces all the frakkin' time, but her dancing is quite good.  This week, Randi was channeling her inner Hayden Panettiere.

I had seen the hand gesture a bunch of times before that season, in concert with the tv series.   I've even seen an episode from before season 4 of SYTYCD aired, with random people in Brazil (I think it was Brazil) doing it.  I know various posts in different internet forums say differently (that it's some inside joke), and it's possible that it was co-opted, since the 4Real thing seems to draw a lot of artsy types, but it definitely was on the 4Real show.  Of course, I'm not sure it even aired in the US, so it's quite possible Twitch (or Comfort, or whomever) just ripped it off and nobody really noticed.  Heck, I even saw the gesture on one of the awards show (I want to say the Oscars).

Either way it was stupid--that much we can both agree on :)

The judges didn't get a chance to let Randi go last week, and it's too bad because she should have gone home over Caitlin.  Randi is bringing up the rear amongst the gals and should go home tomorrow.
 

I'm struggling with either Evan or Kupono going home tomorrow, but I think Evan's height is the deciding factor at this point of the competition.  Evan's great on his own, but paired with anyone except Janette at this point really hampers the pairing, plus, he just doesn't have the ballroom styles figured out yet.  Kupono drew the absolute worse dance for his all-too-fey dancing persona, but he can be a capable partner when paired with a more competent partner.

Dance number rankings:

1. Jason and Jeanine - stunning piece that captures your attention and maintains it throughout the experience.  Tossing that heart necklace around could have gone badly, but they nailed the entire number.

2. Ade and Janette - Ade totally owned this number with his playful style counterbalanced with strong hip-hop dancing.  Janette was competent, but not as hard hitting as better hip-hop dancers in this genre.  I was shocked at how short Janette was, she lucked out paired with Brandon for all those weeks.

3. Brandon and Melissa - Not as crazy about the number as a whole as each dancer was more about doing their own thang, but the parts didn't mesh as a cohesive whole.  Their height works against them a little bit.

4. Evan and Kayla - Evan did good aerial work, but his footwork as sorely lacking.  Kayla did all she could to sell the dance, but Evan's ballroom skill level saddled them into an average pair for this dance style.  Had they drawn a broadway number, Evan would have been better, and hopefully Kayla would have learned from her mistakes from last week. 

5. Kupono and Randi - Randi moved so uncomfortably and unsure throughout the number, and Kupono didn't sell his role, either.  It was the semi-trainwreck that can happen when partners switch and no chemistry develops.  Nothing gelled in their dance, and it was a chore to watch.

 

My pick to go is Randi, as well.  Her solo was nothing to write home about and her partner dance was easily the worst of the night.  I wouldn't be surprised if it was Evan or Kupono, though.  The biggest surprise for me was Jason.  What a difference a partner makes!  He an Janine had the best dance of the night. His solo was playful and energetic.  He's showing some personality.  Good stuff.  Janette is one to watch -- she was great in the group number and her solo was sexy and fun.  Love her.
 

Janette's solo- Wow

Emmy nominations are in and it's nice to see some of the best routines from last season up for outstanding choreography:

"Bleeding Love" (Mark and Chelsie) - Tabitha and Napoleon

"Mercy" (Katee and Twitch) - Mia Michaels

"Silence" (Jessica and Will) - Tyce Diorio

"A Los Amigos" (Chelsie and Joshua) - Dmitry Chaplin

Agreed.

As far as the routines go, I would have liked to see "No Air" (Katee and Joshua) from Tabitha and Napoleon instead of "Mercy."  Though having two routines from them might not have been in the cards.  Of course "Mad Men" snagged 4/5 writing noms, which is just insane, so who knows?

Jeanine has slowly become my new favorite. In the audition phase Kayla had my attention, in the early competition Melissa, but Jeanine won me over when she had to dance for her life for the first time. She said it herself when she said it would be an opportunity for viewers to see what she can really do, and she was not wrong.

And what exactly was Cat giving Ade a hard time about in his solo? Just the flip he did?

Janette and Evan - Jazz, Rumba - Their Jazz routine was okay, and their Rumba was a little too slow and not as smouldering as I like, but Evan is still out of his element, and never seems believable in any dance style outside of his own.  Janette did well, but had a better rumba number.
 

Jeanine and Brandon - Waltz, Pop Jazz - Didn't think their waltz was as bad as the judges thought, but it did feel a little heavy and slow.  Their second number was much more entertaining and energetic, but Jeanine was a little off in spots, while Brandon just breezed through it.

Melissa and Ade - Cha Cha, Contemporary - Didn't like their Cha Cha because none of it felt right because neither got some of the basic steps of the dance right, so it just looked off throughout most of the routine.  Their contemporary number was flat-out one of the best expression of emotions-through-dance that has ever graced the SYTYCD stage, and it moved me to tears.  I just wasn't expecting that quality of movement and grace in a dance on this show, but it just set the bar truly high for others in future seasons.

Kayla and Jason - Broadway, Hip hop - Overall, I think they had the best night as a pairing with consistently entertaining dance routines and nailing both of them.  Other pairings were either good/great, or good/good, but they were great in each, while showcasing both dancers' strengths within each number.

Sadly, a guy and a girl is going home, I think it'll be Jason or Evan going home, and either Jeanine or Janette on the girls side, but it would be terrible if Melissa got sent home after her last dance with Ade.  I'd be floored if Kayla or Brendan left tomorrow night.

I found myself agreeing with most of Mia's sentiments, she really was the surprise on the judges panel for me because she's usually far too snarky to enjoy her comments, though Ellen did deliver some good comedy bits throughout.