So You Think You Can Dance - Season 14 (1 Viewer)

[Hanson]

I think you underestimate Lex for this reason -- so far, he's had a tap and tango, neither of which are his specialty. No contemporary or jazz like Logan (who's had one of each). When it's time for Lex to shine, he will probably kill it. Which is not to say Logan isn't impressive. But if there's anyone in the cast who could be accused of a personality deficit greater than Lex's, it's Logan.

I think Taylor is the clear front runner for now, although I'm not as impressed with her dancing as the judges are. Her choreography and partner have been doing the heavy lifting. Even in her solo, she never could reach that peak leg extension, and her core didn't look 100% steady when they were extended. But at least she's a better front runner than Melanie Moore.

It didn't occur to me until last night -- what happened to Kathryn? :sadface:

The worst part of the show right now is Vanessa Hudgens. Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard and her comments are about as vapid as I've ever heard on this show. Also, what, exactly, are her qualifications? High School the Musical? Nothing in her bios indicated she's a trained dancer. I'd rather have Katie Holmes back, and she was pret-ty, pret-ty, pret-ty bad.

 

[DaveF]

I don't believe a dancer who doesn't emote or "perform" will win SYTYCD. That's Lex's weakness, not lack of opportunity to "shine" technically. The judges have critiqued him on this multiple times, but he's not showing the innate or honed ability to deliver that TV performance that winning requires, and he's not yet showing much progress within the show.

I'm not rooting against him. He was my initial favorite to win. His audition was bananas. But I am losing interesting in watching him because he's ... dull. He needs to figure out how to deliver a emotionally compelling performance, not just technically perfect body positions.

 

[Hanson]

I've never seen a dancer on this show that has so often and so consistently made me gasp like Lex does. Not just the moves he can pulls off, but also the casual ease with which he does so. It's like nothing to him, and the results are breathtaking. I thought his routine with Gabby was the more physically awe inspiring, the one with Taylor was the better choreography. For those reasons, I liked them equally. Was it fair to pair the two presumed front runners in Lex and Taylor? Probably not. Not any more than pairing the two bottom 3 dancers from last week (poor Dassy and Mark). But it's supposedly luck of the draw, although I wonder if they actually draw the choreographer and not just the genre.

Speaking of Taylor, she wasn't as bad in her hip hop as she was in last week's ballroom, but that gigantic coat obscured so many of her moves it was hard to tell. All I could see was her wig whipping around anyway.

Last night proved that even Travis Wall is fallible. The Shadow Dance was interesting in concept but not nearly as interesting in execution. Logan and Kaylee had to be super duper in synch for it to work, they did not pull it off. Without that, it was kind of bland. But I thought Kiki and Jenna's routine was even lesser Travis Wall. It wasn't even interesting in concept. It's never good when the best part of a piece is the makeup.

The best routine of the night, however, was the Jaci Royal routine for the All Stars. I actually gasped more during that routine than during Lex's. It was visually one of the best routines I've ever seen on the show. The myriad ways they incorporated the plexiglass sheets was astoundingly inventive.

While I liked Dassy more than Kaylee, I don't think it was even close talent wise. So many good dancers left though.

 

[Hanson]

Well, that ended the only way it could. It was Lex, it was always going to be Lex. The only time I didn't think it would be Lex was during the audition when he told Cat he was going to improvise his first audition without any preparation. It seemed like a mix of arrogance and stupidity, the kind of hubris the producers highlight so the audience can point and laugh. And then he proceeded to absolutely blow me away. The things he did looked physically impossible. It's the kind of sight that had me wondering if I was actually living in The Matrix, and Lex figured out there was no spoon. The only dancer who had any claim to being mentioned in the same conversation as Lex was Koine, so it was apropos to see her come in at second. In a Lex free season from an alternate universe, I am rooting full bore for Koine to win. But not this season. This season was all about Lex. So was the finale show, which felt like the Lex Ishimoto Dance Special. I think he was in more than half the numbers on the show. He must have been exhausted by the time he did his duet with Travis Wall.

I loved the season over all and hope it comes back. But I hope they don't return with Hudgens. I think she might be the most irritating judge in the history of the show.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I never warmed up to Lex, nor Koine, so I guess I had been rooting for Taylor. But a pretty solid lineup of contestants this season had.

 

[Hanson]

Well, I never warmed up to Kiki. He was just background noise. And Taylor was very attractive and at times could really pull you in, but I just didn't get that consistent feeling of transcendence from her dancing. She was like a much, much, much more attractive Melanie Moore, although I'd rather watch Taylor any day.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I mostly liked Taylor's contemporary numbers with Robert, she lacked the leg extension/flexibility of Lex, but she emoted better while dancing. Kiki... meh.

 

[Hanson]

Lex's only weakness was ballroom, and he was more than competent, just not amazing at it . But he murdered anything outside of ballroom. Taylor really only had contemporary and jazz to make her look good. Koine was head and shoulders the better all around dancer.

 

[DaveF]

I was rooting for Logan by the final 10, and was disappointed to see him cut for Kiki.

I thought Lex was the best technically from the beginning. But I didn't think he was as good a performer as Koine and Logan.

I would have been happy to see Koine win as well.

But I liked Lex a lot and he was a good winner. His performance with Travis Wall was gobsmacking. And now my wife is looking for tickets to that show next January.

 

[Hanson]

The Logan cut was a bit of a shocker to me. But while Lex may have had a low key demeanor, Logan didn't really have much of a personality. Lex's appeal was being humble, which probably sold him to voters as much as his dancing. And I think it was in the bag after he earnestly proclaimed his love for Taylor. I could practically hear the girls sighing over the moment.

 

[Josh Dial]

I'm surprised Koine made it as far as she did. She had a pretty substantial screw up on almost every single dance this season (including the encore of "Still I Rise," which is the one piece you should absolutely nail).

Otherwise this was a great season. I echo Hanson's comments re: Vanessa. Though it's unlikely if the show returns (big if) that it would have more episodes than this season, I would like to see a reversion to top 20 (eliminating one male and one female per week until top 10, at which point the All Stars join in). Having the All Star pick their partner didn't work: either go full The Voice or not at all.

I can't believe how good Sean's Cheesman's routines were this year. Usually he's among the bottom, but this season he was at the top. If I see him in Calgary, I'll congratulate him.