SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: Top 9 Performances

Sadly I’m not sitting in the Woo watching with the my SYTYCD crew. There will be no fits of late night laughter, parked one the side of the road. And if you have no idea what any of this means, then clearly you haven’t been listening to our SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE podcasts. To that I say shame on you…shame.

This week it’s just me – no Ducky –  and for the first time in a long time, I’m going to take to the good old blog and share my thoughts on each of tonight’s performances.

If you’re new to my SYTYCD recaps, I watch, I pause, I write and then I go see what the judges have to say. But really, why listen to the judges when you have someone right here who has absolutely no experience with dancing? I mean…

So let’s get to it.

Tonight’s theme is “Inspiration”. Now if this was an episode of GLEE we’d hear the word inspiration at least 45 times. Hopefully, despite this over indulgent opening, we won’t be beat over the head with the theme. How about you let me be inspired by the shirtless men about to take the stage.

Here are the guys and here are the girls (…at least for now)
Sorry but I have to comment on tonight’s introduction of the Top 9. How odd to only have three girls left this early in the season. It was noticeably uneven.

Also uneven were the applause for the men vs. the women. I suppose that’s to be expected given that the SYTYCD live audience is jam packed with squeeing teens, but still. Go back and listen to the explosion of applause for my little Kent and compare that too that smattering of golf claps for Melinda. I think the pressure is on the boys tonight. The judges are going to be looking to out a guy to keep the ladies in the competition.

AdeChicke & Lauren
Hip Hop by Dave Scott
If the judges were looking for a little bit more personality from AdeChicke this week, then he certainly delivered.  Although I was bit nervous for Ade at the beginning, it wasn’t long before he was strutting across the stage with all the confidence of a real hip hop dancer.  I’ve always been a fan of Dave Scott’s smooth hip hop and he designed a routine tonight that blended some tough hits with some fluid transitions. Despite Lauren’s shirt busting open, I think all eyes were on Ade, not only for his fantastic dancing but the character he brought alive tonight.

The Judges: Nigel went on and on with praise. Mia gave it a big YAY. Shankman shrieked and was on his feet. All around great news for AdeChicke tonight.

Ashley & Ade
Contemporary by Dee Caspary
Interesting. The judges made such a big deal last week about Ashley only dancing in her own style to date, that I thought for sure she would not be dancing Contemporary this week.  In fact, I thought the producers would have intervened if she in fact did choose that genre.  But I guess not, because she’s back at it this week.

And thank God she is!  Damn that was a powerful performance.  Welcome to the SYTYCD family Dee Caspary. If that’s what you’ve got packed in your luggage, then feel free to settle in and stay awhile.  The choreography had so many levels and it was so explosive, but it was the energy, technique and passion of Ashley and Ade that made it come alive.  That was superb! Um, did you see that Mission: Impossible move where Ash was headed towards the floor but Ade suspended her seemingly in mid-air?  Crazy!

The Judges: Nigel thought it was Ashely’s finest performance and said she was a different dancer than she had been the previous two weeks. Mia called the performance extraordinary. She said that Ashley was her favorite and cut a above the female dancers. The Shankman was a little choked up and said that it was one of the best Contemporary female performances he’s seen across all the seasons.  Well, that’s some great praise for Ash this week.

Robert & Courtney
Jazz By Sonya Tayeh
In my heart of hearts I want to see Robert do well in the competition. He’s that good.  I just need him to dial it down to about a 3, or at least low enough that I don’t want to throw rotten food at him and his obnoxious personality, because this boy can dance.  And he certainly showed us that tonight.  So far everyone is on fiyah!  In a sick jazz routine by Sonya, Robert really showed his versatility.  He owned every single move on that stage tonight.  The character was there, the technique was there and most importantly Robert didn’t do anything obnoxious…yet.

The Judges: Nigel thought that this style really suited Robert and he enjoyed the performance.  Mia liked it as well but suggested Robert take ballet to take him to the next level of his performance.  She felt he wasn’t grounded enough. Adam thinks that Robert is a great dancer and he really liked the routine.  He offered him a few words of advice, but all in all great feedback.

Melinda & Pasha
Salsa by Fabian Sanchez
I’ll be the first to admit that Melinda has to work harder than all of the other dancers to get me on her side. I just have never felt a connection to her.  I know I said this on the podcast last week, but the way she overplays to the audience, it often feels like she’s acting rather than dancing.  She has all the confidence, and bravo to her on that, but she can’t back it up.  While tonight’s Salsa was clearly very fast and challenging, it look like Melinda was going through an obstacle course rather than dancing. She got through one move and then went to another.  I could almost feel her thinking about the choreo in her head…but of course always with that smile plastered on her face. Sorry, this didn’t do it for me at all tonight.  If we have to give a Paula Abdul comment, then I will say that I was jealous of the way she rocked that outfit.  Damn!

The Judges: Nigel saw what I did in terms of the lack of fluidity. Both Mia and Adam said they might have made a mistake by sending Cristina home last week in favor of Melinda.  I couldn’t agree more!

Yikes!  One of the guys is really going to have to destroy himself tonight in order for Melinda to make it through another week.

Lauren & Neil
Broadway by Joey Dowling
Let’s get this out of the way first…Neil is back this week!  YAY!  That almost makes up for the fact that Mark is riding the bench tonight.  And what a night to be back.  Neil and Lauren nailed this BIG TIME! Lauren was made for Broadway.  She has so much natural sexuality and charisma that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her…and Neil was on the stage.  For me, that was one of the best dances so far this season.  It made me want to get up and dance (although thank god I didn’t follow the urge because I wouldn’t have looked anything like Lauren.) The girl most certainly gets some ZBZ snaps for not missing a beat despite a nearly devastating wardrobe malfunction.  Oh live TV!

The Judges: All the judges were in awe that Lauren remained fully clothed. Nigel opened by up saying that he ‘enjoyed that tremendously’ which of course prompted the cheeky response of ‘I’m sure you did’ but Mia. Ha! As for Ms. Michaels, she enjoyed the performance to a point. She told Lauren that she needed to work harder to have a more feminine quality to her athletic style of dance. Really, Mia? Adam was excited by the performance and said that Lauren reminded him of a young Cyd Charisse.

Billy & Kathryn
Contemporary by Stacey Tookey
They haven’t even started dancing yet and I’m already loving this routine.  Ok, a bit unfair but c’mon, it’s a Stacey Tookey number with two amazing Contemporary dancers. I hardly think it’s going to suck. But we’ll see.

I’ll be fair. It wasn’t as great as I thought it was going to be.  The pair were lacking chemistry. I didn’t see the back story that Stacey gave us play out on the stage.  At times I felt like Billy was doing his own thing, completely unaware of what Kathryn was doing on the other side of the stage.  When they did dance together there was no passion, no emotion, and I kept seeing Billy set himself up in anticipation of Kathryn’s next move.  No doubt this kid is a brilliant dancer and I do think he’ll be around next week, but I’d like to see him be a better partner.

The Judges: Oh, Nigel and I are on the same page tonight.  He too praised Billy for his dancing and scolded him for his weakness as a partner. Mia artfully stated that she thinks that Billy gets so caught up in perfecting the lines and the technique that he gets lost somewhere. Adam thinks that Billy could be ‘one of the most exciting things that has happened to dance in a really long time’ but he needs to find that missing element that allows him to connect emotionally that much more.

(Note: It must be said. How frakking adorable was it that Billy said that his biggest dance inspiration was Legacy?! And Legacy was in the audience tonight.  What a moment!)

Jose & Anya
Samba by Dmitry Chaplin
Welcome back Dmitry!  For those of you new to SYTYCD, Dmitry was in the Top 10 back in S2. Now that Dmitry is no longer on ‘Dancing with the D’Listers’, I’m hoping we see him a lot more back on this dance show.

Some mixed thoughts on this one.  I have to applaud Jose for showing strong partner work alongside Anya. This guy is a B-Boy and isn’t used to dancing with someone else, none the less in a Salsa.  I was surprised at how natural he looked as a partner. That being said, Dmitry certainly choreographed this number to fit Jose.  Take another look and you’ll see Jose did very little Samba’ing. Anya carried him around in her backpack while he kind of just stood there and smiled at her.  And as for that smile…turn it off sometimes. Not every dance calls for a big toothy grin. Just sayin’. I have a feeling the judges are going to like it a lot more than I did. Let’s see.

The Judges: Nigel said that Jose isn’t the best dancer in the competition (uh, no shit), but he said that he has the charisma that you just can’t learn. I suppose that’s true. Mia said he brings an openness and joyfulness that is contagious, and she doesn’t care about anything else.  Nigel interjected saying that they pick apart the technically advanced dancers but with Jose they just don’t care because they love watching him dance.  Oh boy! Adam said he was brilliant. Judges…we need to sit down and chat.

Kent & Allison
Jazz by Mandy Moore
If you squinted just a bit during this routine, you might have seen Allison dancing tonight with her S2 partner, Jailbait Ivan Koumaev. Kent certainly reminded me a bit of Ivan tonight. A sassy number by Mandy, but I’m not sure Kent brought all he could to the dance. His lines and him jumps were fantastic.  And I actually felt some bit of chemistry between he and Allison (they weren’t on fire, but there was a spar).  I loved the whole of the dance, but I would have liked to see him have more of a presence on the stage. His dancing is fantastic, but I want him to start dancing older than he is.  Yes, I know that’s what the judges have been saying all along, but I think they are right.  It’s time for Kent to bring his game up to the next level.  He has the votes at home. He almost doesn’t have to worry about that.  He just needs to be a sponge right now and use this show to become a better, more well-rounded dancer.

The Judges: Nigel, Mia and Adam finally got over their ‘aw, shucks’ thing with Kent and started giving him some good feedback. If he takes it to heart we are going to see an improvement in a lot of areas next week.

Alex & Twitch
Hip Hop by Tabitha and Napolean
Well what do we have here? Two guys dancing together mid-season. I like it.  I’m fine with not seeing two guys/two girls dance ballroom (while I’m open to the idea behind it, it’s never been executed well), but I think all other genres should be open to same sex partnership. Why not?

Um, WHAT THE F$#K just happened?! Are you kidding me? Did ballet dancer Alex Wong just give us one of the best hip hop routines ever on SYTYCD?  Holy sh#% he did!  I didn’t see that coming and I’m floored. I was actually even moved to tears because I was so proud of him.  Ladies and Gents, that hip hop routine might have just won Alex the show. I know it’s a bold statement, but it was that good!  I’ve watched it twice but I’m not deleting this ep any time soon.  Twitch and Alex…who knew?!  Can’t of course ignore NappyTabs who did their best work ever tonight!! Wow…just wow!!

The Judges: All were on their feet and out of control with praise!

The Solos
Tonight each of the dancer’s performed a solo in their own genre to further showcase their talents.

Billy: So we’ve established that there is a little resemblance between Peter Pan and Billy Bell. But tonight I’m seeing a bit more Sheldon Cooper up on the stage. Clearly it’s not the dance moves, but it could be the pants. As for the solo…it sucked. BAZINGA! Come on, did you have any doubt that Billy was going to be CRAMAZING?! Yeah, me neither. That kid is bizarre and interesting in the best possible way. And that leg extension? Go on wit your bad self Billy Bell. Bravo!

Jose: Remember back during the auditions when Jose boldly stated that he was better than S6’s Legacy?  Yeah, not so much.  No doubt that Jose is a good B-Boy, but I’ve seen better on this show.  His tricks aren’t up to snuff, and he’s all tricks.  He needs to add a bit more dancing in there so he can really shine.  Oh and as for what Legacy thought about Jose’s verbal smackdown, Korbi caught up with him last week at the SYTYCD live tapings and asked him all about it. Perhaps the boys will let their dancing do the talking?  Yes, please.

Kent: Probably odd to say with such a short solo, but the second half was much better than the first in terms of choreography. I was worried that Kent was going to just keep throwing his hands up in the air in praise.  But he mixed it up, threw in a few gorgeous leaps and handsprings (if that’s what they are called) and really brought something interesting to the latter half.  That’s my boy!

Alex: I really hope my medical/dental plan covers jaw replacement because it’s going to be a long time before my jaw is going to be up off the floor. Good Lord that boy is unbelievable. I just clapped, sitting by myself in my living room (I think my dog thinks I’m insane). Did you see how much air he got?  Not only that, but it was so perfectly choreographed to the music down to and including the final “So You Think You Can Dance…Dance…Dance”.  I need to watch that again.

Ashley: This girl had her thinking cap on tonight.  She knows that the audience has really only seen her in these beautiful Contemporary pieces so she decided to turn things up a notch in her solo.  Smart move to dance to something up beat and fun which gave the audience a little more taste of Ash as a dancer.

Robert: I’m enjoying him tonight. A great solo. Very powerful and he showed great musicality. Bonus – he wasn’t obnoxious while standing with Cat.  Bravo for making the much necessary changes this week, Robert. There is hope for you yet.

Melinda: Oh the mic’d tap shoes. Frantic. Whatevs.

AdeChike: I really loved Alex’s solo tonight, but there was something about AdeChike’s soulful performance that makes me think I might have liked his solo even better.  The two dancers did different things with their solo, so maybe it’s not fair to compare, but that was incredible!

Lauren: Maybe not the best solo of the night, but Lauren always does the most interesting bits of choreo. Go back and watch her feet – yes, her feet.  So interesting.

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