SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Rundown
July 29, 2010 by Kath Skerry
Dan and I will be saving our full review of last night’s SYTYCD for the upcoming SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE podcast, but I’m dying to hear what you thought of last night’s performances. So I thought I’d share a few highlights and turn it over to you.
In no random order…
- He might not be at the top of everyone’s favorite list, but AdeChicke continues to amaze me with his solo work. Last night was no exception. His solos are so interesting to watch and so beautifully executed.
- We haven’t seen Lauren do much solo work this season (that happens when you don’t spend a lot of time in the bottom three), but last night she performed a solo that reminded us all just how fabulous she is. It was reminiscent of the routines she dazzled us with back in Vegas. I watched it twice.
- Just when you thought you could count Billy Bell out of the competition, he turns in two killer performances last night. The Stacey Tookey Contemporary piece, danced alongside Ade, was beyond spectacular. Everything was just perfect down to the heart-wrenching facial expressions. It suited Billy so well that I think he might actually stick around after tonight (although it’s a big “might”).
- Continuing the praise for Billy – that was one hell of a Bollywood number! Although I thought Robert out-danced Billy, both were extremely entertaining to watch. It was so powerful and precise — something missing from the other Bollywood routines we saw earlier in the season. Go back and watch it again and you might notice that although Billy didn’t follow through with all of his movements — he was sloppy in a few places — it didn’t take away from his performance or the quality of the routine.
- Kent was beyond brills last night in the Spencer Liff Broadway routine. He looked the part. He danced with joy. Technically he was superb. Mia was right, this kind of dance suits him so well. But so does Contemporary. Wait, this kid is just great at pretty much everything you throw at him. I’d like to see him continue on in Broadway though. His enthusiasm wouldn’t ever need to be contained. A brilliant Broadway number! Oh and Jose was there too.
Those were the big standout moments for me last night. Your thoughts?
Which two do you think will go home tonight? For me, it’s 100% Jose. Up until last night I just figured Billy would join him, but now I guess we’ll wait and see. Billy might not even be in the bottom three tonight. The drama of it all.
One quick note, at the end of last night’s show, Cat mentioned that Lauren was with the medics. Uh oh…not another injury! Based on what we were able to piece together, it seems Lauren went to the hospital to be treated for a concussion and dehydration. Assuming she can bounce back, I’m expecting to see her dancing tonight, and most definitely next week. Be well, Lauren!!
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Filed under So You Think You Can Dance, SYTYCD
As good as Billy was, he was spoonfed a Stookey Contemporary and a Bollywood to keep him safe. He sat out last week while everyone else worked hard. I would find it wildly unfair for anyone else to go home before him. Which they will since the judges drove the bus at AdeChiki last night. I really dislike the judges right now so much.
SYTYCD has become a trainwreck of epic proportions in many ways. I miss the public making the choices on who is going home, I miss rotating judges without an agenda. I miss partners setting the season on fire and as much as I love the all-stars like Mark and Pasha, I really think they have taken over the season to the detriment of the dancers.
With that said Kent in the Broadway was my fave. Billy’s contemporary was also great.
Harper, I disagree on pretty much everything you said. Billy was absolutely brilliant in the contemporary number. But in the Bollywood number, he didn’t look that good and Robert did much better. I like the new format this year. I love seeing the all-stars dancing. For me it’s been great seeing Allison, Lauren Gotleib, Kathryn, and Twitch again. And it’s been cool seeing how much better some of the all-stars have gotten (Comfort). I suspect that they will probably have at least the finals decided by the audience. But again, I have no problem with the way it’s gone and having the judges decide who goes home. I’ve been so sick and tired of every year the best dancers getting cut in favor of the “teen heartthrob of the season”.
Loved Lauren, AdeChecke, Kent and Robert.
Billy and Jose need to go this week! It will be interesting to see if the judges listen to what the public clearly has been voting for the past weeks.
Wish Pasha would have given me some eye candy to look at! 😉
There are things I love about this season and things I hate. I love the all stars. I hate that we only got a top ten and that there were so many injuries. I love Kent but hate that Jose is still there. And I HATE that America is not picking who gets the boot by now.
Here’s what I think should be done next season. Go back to top 20. They dance with each other and the judges narrow it down to the top 10. Two people a week. One boy, one girl. Then America takes over saying who gets kicked off but the dancers now are dancing with each other AND with an all star and performing a solo. We get the best of both worlds and the dancers get the connection to each other I think is missing this season.
I will admit that Kent is a pretty good dancer, but his personality annoys me so much it is hard for me to even watch him. I know many, many people just love him, but his “aw, shucks!” persona, whether real or fake, irritates me beyond belief. I would also like to see him on Broadway, because then I could avoid those shows and be guaranteed never to see him again.
Billy was so fantastic last night because he finally got choreography that showcased his particular strengths as a dancer. He is completely unique. I love that he is quirky and when he does a solo, even if you couldn’t see his face, you would recognize his dancing. Whereas Kent, Robert and Adechike are certainly talented dancers, but they dance in a manner very similar to all the other male contemporary dancers we have seen on the show. Adechike, I believe, is the best of that group, but TPTB do not want him to succeed.
I know there is a backlash because Billy didn’t dance last week. I don’t care about any of that. I do think if he winds up in the bottom three again, he should probably go because he has failed to connect with the audience. I don’t understand it, but there it is. That said, I find him to be an amazing, talented dancer and choreographer, and miles ahead of everyone else on this show in terms of artistry. Unfortunately, it is quite clear at this point that he is not going to be “America’s Favorite Dancer.” And so what? He is out of the mainstream, and that doesn’t win votes from America. He is, simply, weird and wonderful. I am looking forward to following his future career.
I will be happy if he makes it through, for the sole reason that I can watch him dance another couple routines. But I fully expect that he is leaving tonight.
Patty I ditto that SO very hard. This season has been so strange, but hard to describe why exactly -however I think your suggestions get at pretty much all the love/hate elements rolling around in my head! It’s been great for me to see the All-Stars, because I didn’t start watching until Season 5, so most of them are new to me – it’s been fun searching for old dance clips to see what they did in their seasons!
Kim, I echo everything you said about Billy. I think he’s an amazing dancer and I love watching him every week.
I’m surprised at the amount of people saying Robert outdanced Billy in the Bollywood, to me at least it looked the other way around, I’ll need to watch the routine again methinks – because Billy looked so tight and precise, where as at times Robert looked messy and almost manic trying to keep up.
Whatever, I love Billy and it breaks my heart that he didn’t connect with America at all.
Lalq, I agree with you about Billy in Bollywood, but are we the only two who think that? Both Robert and Kent have more ham than substance, and I can’t vote for either of them. Adechike continues to wow in every performance, and perhaps the judges constant “notes” are helping him, but why can’t they ever praise him? And as for the comments about his “being overly concerned” for Lauren in their Foxtrot, he probably WAS, since the poor girl wasn’t well. His personality is genuine, and so is dancing.
And WHY don’t these judges EVER give props to ADE?! He’s been beyond amazing this season, and never gets called out. As Harper47 says above, we need rotating judges without an agenda.