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So You Think You Can Dance: Season 5 (1 Viewer)

Mikah Cerucco

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The producers can easily simply mute mircophones during performance if they didn't want us to hear the audience, so I'd say yes, they encourage it. The music we're hearing is from a different (direct) feed and both the dancers and the TV viewing audience would still be able to hear it even if they muted the microphones.

I agree with Mary Murphy's annoying tendencies. Last week she took off one ear of Nigel's headphones and basically slung it like a slinky and slapped him in the face with it. That's not entertaining to me. It was bad enough when she had the whole "I can't listen to this crap," moment regarding Brandon, but I find myself losing whatever respect I had for her by the minute. Brandon is one of my favorite dancers (if not my favorite male), but there's no need to be unprofessional as a judge. Sometimes letting your hair down a little can be fun, but not in this case. Luckily for her, we watch for the dancers, otherwise I'd have tuned out long ago.
 

cf525

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Yeah, I'd definitely have to say Mary is probably my least favorite part of the show. She just gets under my skin. There are no two ways about it....I just don't like her.

BUT! As you said...it's about the dancing. It's really amazing to see what some of these dancers can do. There's something so fun about watching the whole process from the auditions to the finale. My grandmother loved Dancing with the Stars but to see the talent of the folks on So You Think You Can Dance....it's awesome. Makes me want to dance! Just never next to any of the Season 5 contestants.
 

Hanson

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Evan and Randi were okay in their Jive, but for me, Evan sold it better than Randi did. There was no way his technical flaws were going to make it past Mary, but he faked it pretty good from where I was sitting. Randi's technique was apparently better, but I didn't get nearly as much charisma or jive feel from her as I did from Evan. Randi busted out another unitard during the intro solos.

I forget how many numbers Sonja has done for the show, but I don't remember enjoying any of them. I find her choreo to be off-putting -- lots of crouching, posing, and unimpressive looking lifts and throws. The other issue with Sonja numbers is the horrible 80's wardrobe -- I don't know how much input the choreographers have with the costumes, but her dancers always seem to end up with tres ugly Flashdance meets New Wave Punk mash ups with ripped clothes and day-glo colors. The judges were surley impressed with Ade and Melissa's take, but I just didn't like the choreography. Their contemporary last week was miles better.

Shane Sparks is back, but then again, I didn't miss him all that much (so no exclaimation points). I enjoy his larger group numbers to his pairs choreo, and it seems that whenever a choreographer is tapped to do two numbers, there's always one good one and one medicore one. Jason and Caitlin got the mediocre one, and this is one of those cases where they weren't given enough to do and they didn't perform it particularly well. When you get these pieces with small movements, they really have to pop to be noticed -- Neither Jason nor Caitlin really hit the sharpness required, and the dancing felt mushy. It was so under choreographed that the end of the number was just a bunch of standing around and posing. Easily, it was the weakest piece of the night on all levels.

I must say that Asuka and Vitolio's waltz was nowhere near the top of the list for most impressive waltzes on this show (smooth, viennese, or otherwise). The lifts were great, but the dancing itself was just okay for me. I was also put off a bit by Vitolio's sob story -- I won't deny the emotional impact of the story, but I thought the judges were reading a lot into the dance from the orphan backstory, and I feel like there would have been a different opinion and critique if it weren't for that. Asuka thinks her lack of connection with Vitolio is because she doesn't find him attractive -- maybe it's because that dude cries, like, all the time. Shut down the waterworks every now and then, ya big sissy.

First Shane's back, now Brian Friedman is back! The judge and choreographer from the first two seasons returned after taking a break for a couple of years, and he has since ditched his Sideshow Bob hairdo for that shaved chrome dome look (probably because he started losing his hair in the interim). I had always found Brian's choreo to be so-so -- I remember liking one contemporary piece he did, but this Jazz number for Max and Kayla did not do anything for me. It reminded me a lot of the Mandy Moore Jazz piece Chelsea and Thane had last year, the one where it looked like Chelsea was wearing a diaper. Lots of posing, ugly, ugly outfits, and uninteresting choreography. Max has all the charisma and sex appeal of a customer service rep at an auto parts store, and he looks 40-something. I don't understand the love for Kayla -- her face has alien features and while she may be technically outstanding, I don't get any charisma off of her and I don't really care that she's dancing. She didn't really wow me during last week's Salsa, and I only barely remember that she danced a jazz piece. Those eyelashes were distractingly weird looking.

To me, it really looked like Jonathan was faking it, so I was surprised at how much tongue-bathing was going on. The piece was good and Karla was up to the technical challenge, I just didn't get anything from Jonathan, and I don't think these two did the choreography justice. I really want to like Karla, but she hasn't impressed me so far. I think Jonathan is a lost cause.

There was a point, during the beginning of Phillip and Jeanine's Tango, that Phillip was more or less pulling off the chorepgraphy and getting the character, and I thought, "hey, Phillip may surprise some people tonight!" That lasted for about 30 seconds. Then you could see Phillip just following the steps without any dancing, and as game as Jeanine was, there was a point where it was a bit painful to watch, and I just wanted it to be over. It appeared that they cut some of the harder lifts from the final product, which probably saved Jeanine's life but made the routine even less interesting. The performances on the show are actually pretty short... on paper. This one seemed excruciatingly long. I hope Phillip can make it past this, as they danced my favorite number last week, and I think Phillip can develop the chops for contemporary to smooth over his inevitable failings in ballroom.

Shane Sparks is back! Okay, this time, Shane's choreo was really, really good, with a neat concept (Ashley is Kupono's shadow, moving on the floor sometimes to match his movements) and lots of great synchro moments. I agree Ashley & Kupono could have/should have danced it better (I liked it a lot, but it's neither as memorable nor anywhere near as good and Phillip and Jeanine's Nappy Tabs routine from last week), but I didn't see this as the failure the judges were making it out to be. I was enjoying the choreo too much to notice all the myriad technical and performance failings that the judges glommed on in their critiques.

I've saved Brandon and Jeanette's Disco routine for the end because it just blew everyone else out of the water. Doriana's disco routines get a bad rap because the dancers are often not up the the choreography, and when you take out the spectacular lifts that are the higlights in her numbers, you're really gutting them. Brandon and Jeanette didn't take out a thing, and the performance was a series of spectaular lifts, one more jaw dropping than the other. The dancing in between had that certain disco flavor that goes missing a lot of times on SYTYCD, and the speed of the performance was breathtaking. This disco routine is the only one that has even come close to touching Melody and Nick's disco routine from season one -- that Doriana routine has always been the gold standard for disco on SYTYCD, and this one is better on some levels and not quite as good on others, so I'd call it a push. So far, Brandon has killed the Foxtrot and demolished disco, and you have to give a ton of credit to Jeanette for that -- having him paired up with a fearless ballroom dancer allows Brandon to go beyond the normal lifts and tricks seen on the show. That said, I'm not sure how they're going to top this routine any time soon. At this point, I cannot imagine Brandon not winning this -- he's like Danny from season 3, a physical freak who is head and shoulders better than practically anyone else in the competition (although it needs to be noted that Danny somehow lost to Sabra that year). Brandon's only failing may be that an underdog may end up getting more votes since Brandon is clearly the favorite in the competition so far.
 

Patrick Sun

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Kupono sucks. I still think it's easier to go from ballroom to the other genres, so Max got the short end of the stick tonight. Now Kayla is stuck with a sucky partner in Kupono. Bah!
 

Hanson

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Was it me or did Kayla stumble during her solo?

The bottom three consisted of both Shane Sparks routines and the Brian Freidman routine. Welcome back guys, we really missed ya! Not.

I did really dig the Mia Michaels group dance. It was very Sonja-ish, but much, much better than anything that cross-eyed freak has ever done.

Lil C dropped a couple of Lil C-isms last year, and they were sort of charming every now and then. This season, he's trying way too hard to incorporate one with every critique, and it's turned into Mary Murphy level schtick. It's quickly become unbearable. So much shit-talking.

I wasn't surprised to see Ashley leave (she had fodder written all over her), but I was surprised that they broke up a couple so early.

I don't think that there is as mismatched and as uncomfortable a couple than Asuka and Vitolio. They are oil and water in regards to personality and temperment. I did get a kick out of Kayla's bitchface in reaction to Vitiolo's OTT celebration:



But c'mon dude, that was kind of uncool.
 

Patrick Sun

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Jonathan was also a little too excited when he heard Karla and he weren't going to dance for their lives. Kayla did stumble towards the end of her solo.
 

Mikah Cerucco

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It's a strange season to me. I feel like I've "fallen" for contestants in past seasons, but I haven't really in this season. However, when I end up watching the routines, I'm not sure it's because of the dancing. It seems to me like these dancers as a group aren't as strong as some past seasons. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where I'm getting that from. I haven't put my finger on it.


That'll build chemistry. Tell millions of viewers you don't find your partner attractive. Were past seasons really this crass?

For the guys, I would not look at Ade and think "great dancer" but when he gets going, he's so... precise. Of course there's strength as well. Evan is just so smooth. Philip is a joy to watch doing his style, though I think I saw him put in a wave during his Tango. I know they say infuse yourself into the routine, but I'll have to admit to thinking, "Did he just do a pop/lock wave in a tango?" I also like Max doing what he does. At this point, I'd say my favorite guys in order are Bandon, Ade, Evan/Max.

For the girls, there are angles where Janette looks like a cross between Mr. Ed and Bugs Bunny. At least her backstory explained it. Then again, there are angles where I think, "Stop the press - who is that?" With her hair pulled totally back, she was quite elegant. I'm having a harder time remembering the girls, which isn't necessarily a knock on their personality or dancing. Randi's fine. I like Caitlin. I want to like Asuka but there's just something off putting about her for me. I think I pick up a, "If you were better, I'd be better" vibe from her, as if she's entitled to the best male dancer in the competition. I also like Melissa, the naughty ballerina. Some of these girls have really big strong thighs. I can't really rank the women at this point except to say which ones I didn't like, so I'll skip that.
 

Hanson

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The girl who has impressed me the most is Jeanette. You can be the best dancer in the world, but if your partner can't keep, it won't really show. I didn't think that Jeanette could keep up with Brandon, but the fact that she has has made him look that much better. It's especially impressive considering she's not a trained dancer -- she's a "street salsa" dancer (that's Alex DaSilva's term, not mine) like Susie from last season. This is the closest thing to Katee/Josh, only the genders are flopped. After Jeanette, no one really stands out, although Asuka and Kayla are getting way overpimped for what they've been doing. And as it turns out, Kayla was Brian Friedman's assistant, so she's like this year's Lauren Gottlieb -- a former assistant to an SYTYCD choreographer who gets undeservedly high praise from the judges (I mean, she stumbles during her DFYL solo and the judges don't even note it?). I want to like Caitlin and Karla (because, let's face it, they're very attractive), but neither have really done anything impressive.

As for the guys -- obviously, Brandon is on top of the list. Phillip, for all the grief he got for his tango, is still high on my list, because I think he will surprise a lot of people when he gets contemporary. Ballroom will probably remain his achilles heel, but his next ballroom dance will have to show improvement. Ade, Evan, Jason and Vitiolo are in the same boat -- they're supposed to be excellent dancers, but they haven't wowed me yet. The rest are fodder.
 

Citizen87645

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Melissa and Ade continue to be the standout couple for me. They have just been really consistent regardless of what gets thrown at them.

I also rather liked Randi and Evan's number and thought Kayla and Kupono got off to a good start.
 

Patrick Sun

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Bottom 3:
Karla and Jonathan (actually just Jonathan because Karla was good, Jonathan was mushy).

Jeanine and Philip (just Philip, as he's not too versatile a dancer).

Asuka and Vitolio - didn't find them in sync line-wise, as Vitolio's body shapes didn't match Asuka's.

Decent:
Caitlin and Jason - Jason didn't pull his weight on this paso.


Solid:

Evan and Randi - fun and whimsical. They are good performers, even if their dance technique needs work in spots.

Brandon and Janette - didn't like the concept of "rock" chick dancing, but Brandon was good on his hip-hop contribution.

Kupono and Kayla - very lyrical and "dreamy" movements, I was apprehensive about this pairing, as I thought it would hamper Kayla's chances to advance, but at least Kupono didn't have to do any upper body lifts.

Ade and Melissa - most consistent pairing so far. My friend who was in town for a day couldn't get over Melissa's rockin' bod.
 

Citizen87645

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I was a little baffled by Karla's solo but I thought Asuka was the right choice to go.

I have not really like Vittolio but I suppose it was right to keep him over Jonathan.
 

Josh Dial

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So far I have agreed with every placement this season, from who is in the bottom 3 couples, to who the judges save/lose. Though I'm not a fan of Vittolio, I must say his solo was really great. I'm glad to see Jonathan go, since he didn't seem to bring anything other than tumbling. Also, he was twelve years old or something
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif
 

Hanson

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Anyone catch Nigel's gaffe? When he was talking about Farrah's death, he referred to her as, "Farrah Fawcett... Majors". She hasn't gone by that moniker since the the early 80's. OKay, no big deal, but obviously, the Ed McMahon and Farrah obits were tacked on so they could talk about MJ's death.

The right two people went home, which surprised me. I thought they'd foolishly keep Asuka around because they've pimped her so much. But Karla is a much stronger (and hotter) dancer, so that was the right call. Jonathan was in waaay over his head and had to go.

Why can't Caitlin and Jason get it together? On paper, they should be a power couple. But they're both really meek and have zero chemistry. And what was with Caitlin's outfit? The bottom consisted of a sheer skirt, sheer granny panties, and white panties. So you could see her panties anyway, but when she danced, it looked like she was wearing bloomers.

My take on the boringness of this season is that aside from Brandon and Jeanette, there are no power couples to speak of. Last season had Mark/Chelsie, Josh/Katee, and Twich/Kherington all vying for the top spot. Ade/Melissa and Evan/Randi are second tier, Courtney/Gev level couples, and the rest are subpar. The only routine that was really memorable was Brandon and Jeanette's disco routine -- at this point last season, there were 5. And there have been more flat out bad routines this year.

I think that it is all nice and good to pair fodder with a pimped dancer, but it appears it's better for the audience to pair fodder with fodder and couple up your best dancers. It also didn't help that dancers like Jason, Caitlin, Asuka, and Phillip just aren't delivering on their promise. And none of the fodder is really stepping up their game.

I still don't know what the big deal is about Kayla. She says she wants to be a model -- maybe she should try out for ANTM since the producers of that show tend to go for girls with high cheekbones, alien features, and no boos like Kayla. Straight guys don't watch that show because none of the models have been hot since season 1.
 

Patrick Sun

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Bottom 3 (tough to choose 3, but bottom 2 are easier)

Jason and Caitlin - Pop Jazz by Brian Friedman - Caitlin never sold her part of the number, and it showed repeatedly on her face. Jason wasn't memorable in the dance, either. But Caitlin's body was bangin' in the pleather outfit.

Evan and Randi - Broadway - Lacked pop and pizzazz. Needed more energy and technique.

Phillip and Jeanine - Hip Hop by Napoleon and Tabitha - I was too distracted by the chain to appreciate the number.

But since Philip is so popular, it'll mean that Vitolio and Karla will most likely be in the bottom 3.

Karla and Vitolio - Quickstep by Jean Marc - Not totally polished, but Karla was the weaker of the 2 performers, plus Karla's body language during the judging towards Vitolio wasn't all that convincing of new-formed chemistry.

Solid numbers:

Brandon and Jeannette - Cha Cha by Jean Marc - So far, all their numbers are fast-paced, wonder how Jeanette will handle the slower, more controlled dance genres.

Kayla and Kupono - Jazz by Sonya - Visually the most interesting number of the night.

Melissa and Ade - Pas De Duex - This was right in Melissa's wheelhouse, and Ade rose to the challenge to sell his role, while making all the lift look effortless, and Melissa was having a ball in this dance.
 

Hanson

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Wow Patrick, it appears we have wildly divergent opinions on the dances.
For me, Janette and Brandon absolutely smoked their Cha Cha Cha, although there was some weird moment where I couldn't tell if they missed a lift or if it was choreographed that way. I will have to give them props for covering so well if it was a bobble. The most impressive thing for me was that it had no really flashy elements other than the brisk pace, and they still absoultely nailed it into the wall.
I thought that Caitlin absolutely OWNED her dance, as weird as it was. For someone who spent weeks dancing a bit tentatively, she really threw herself into it and it was the best thing she's done on the show so far. Jason, OTOH, wasn't much more than a prop, but a lot of that will have to fall on Brian Friedman. Anyone who remembers Ashlee & Dmitri's Ballerina and soldier dance from season 2 knows how weird Friedman's dances can be. Mary open dislike of Brian's choreography parallels Dan Karaty's dissing of that dance from season 2. Apparently, you can't openly criticize the choreography unless it's from Brian Friedman.
I didn't appreciate Melissa and Ade's pas de deux nearly as much as the judges did. Melissa was okay, the choreography was meh, but Ade was lumbering and heavy footed. The lifts looked awkward, partly because of Ade and partly because of the choreo (why was Melissa bent-legged with her ankles crossed in the last lift? It looked gangly). No big deal for me -- watch this pas de deux to see what real ballet dancers can do:

I don't really like Sonya stuff, it all looks samey to me. Kayla is so devoid or charisma or personality or looks that I can't even tell if she's dancing well or not because I barely notice her when she's dancing and I cannot remember a single thing from her performances. So this was a double-whammy for me, a boring, unmemorable performance that didn't look different from any other Sonja job. In five season, I've never been so underwhelmed by a dancer as I have been by Kayla. I don't even dislike her -- she's just a non-entity.
I loved Phillip and Jeanine's hip hop because of the really tight synchro parts. Most hip hop dances lack flashy lifts and holds -- what really gets my attention when I watch hip hop are the intricate synchro parts. So I loved this one.
About five measures into Brandi and Evan's Broadway, I realized that it was already 10,000% better than anything Tyce has done, so I loved it from start to finish. The judges' critiques elicited a shrug from me -- I didn't see any of the flaws they were pointing out (I didn't even see them on the replays). Great, great, bullet-proof choreography. Have this lady back and let Tyce (if he has to choreograph anything) stick with contemporary.
Karla and Vitolio were good, not great. This was another case of bullet-proof choreography -- it may have been better for them to take some of the time away from nailing the steps to getting the performance level higher. A bit underwhelming in that department.
So... we agree on Karla/Vitolio, agree somewhat on Brandon/Janette (I liked it much more than you did) and split on everything else.
 

Josh Dial

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I personally thought the pas de deux was quite well danced, both by Melissa and Ade. Yes, there were times where Ade wasn't the paragon of grace, but there were also a few sequences where he was amazing, all things considered. For example, around one minute in there's a sequence with a tour jete that is actually pretty good considering it was from a virtual standstill (and without proper training, I assume). Melissa's pointe work was simply superb, and if there was any real flaw in her performance, it was that the choreographer didn't give her enough to do.

Hanson, that link to the Aussie Ballet's routine is quite nice--but man, is that ever modernized! I was half-expecting one of them to start flying around on a jetpack! I tend to like my ballet a little more classic, and a lot less contemporary (heck, without the ballerina's pointe work, most of that routine could have been done as a straight-up contemporary routine).

I thought Brandon and Janette's Cha-Cha-Cha was entertaining, but I definitely saw the same "miss" that Hanson saw, but otherwise it was "good," though merely so. However, they might be in danger somply because they were first.

I also thought Ashley was superb in the Friedman routine, and that Jason was nowhere near as "there" as he was last week (where he was clearly acting to the crowd, which was both bad for his partner, yet oddly entertaining).

During the preview material for Brandi and Evan, Joey Dowling said it was not the typical broadway routine. I expected yet another Tyce-style "broadway," where the routine is actually jazz, not broadway. Much to my surprise, it seems Joey's comment was almost a dig at the show for called jazz routines "broadway," as what she choreographed could literally be lifted from a broadway routine (you could even sing while dancing most of it!). The show needs more Joey, and less Tyce (though he still tosses out a good routine now and then). Overall, Brandi and Evan danced it well, but I felt their energy wanning a little towards the end, and they didn't seem to be committing to the moves as much as at the start.

I'm also not generally a Sonya fan, especially last season when I felt she was trying way too hard to be different. This routine for Kayla and Kupono was actually quite reserved for her, and the story it was communicating actually made about 75% sense! The makeup and costumes were good, as Mia stated, and really helped the routine in my opinion (usually everything extra about a Sonya routine detracts from it). I also really like Kayla--I think she has some amazing lines and fantastic body control. It's also nice to see Kupono dancing more masculine these past two weeks, as I felt he started off very feminine.

The Tabitha and Napoleon routine was once again amazing--they really know how to push the envelope for the style. Once again, Jeanine kept right up with Phillip when it came to the hard-hitting portions of the dance, and there was some really impressive sequences where everything could have went wrong, but didn't, and props to the dancers for that. I think Mia was totally off on her comments vis-a-vis the chain, and I bet she was focusing on the prop to watch for any little mistake, so she could critique harder, and that made her miss everything else.

The quickstep was, well, a quickstep, but saved by my countryman Jean-Marc. Vitolio's carriage was actually pretty good, and there was some nice footwork throughout. However, I think Karla is the most boring of all the dancers on the show now, with Vitolio coming in second place. Perhaps it's time for these two to go?

Edited by Josh Dial - 7/2/2009 at 06:04 pm GMT
 

Hanson

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Originally Posted by Josh Dial

Hanson, that link to the Aussie Ballet's routine is quite nice--but man, is that ever modernized! I was half-expecting one of them to start flying around on a jetpack!
When I first saw it, I thought/assumed it was on wires. I had to watch it repeatedly to verfiy that there were no wires.

I actually saw A Midsummer Night's Dream at Lincoln Center last week, and compared to those dancers, Ade was quite lumbering. Lots of choppy steps and a lack of grace/fluidity. I thought that he stumbled on that last lift, but after rewatching, it appeared that it was just poor footwork. But the choreography was not very exciting.

So Josh... first pas de deux goes to... the ballerina? Wow... they're really just pulling these styles out of a hat, eh?
 

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