SYTYCD
I am currently reading China Miéville's The City & The City--to the writer of the cover blurb that says the book is the lost love child of Philip K. Dick and Raymond Chandler raised by Franz Kafka, I say yes, that's exactly it, and oh yes, I am loving it. About a third of the way in so far.
Oh, and last night was SYTYCD. Poor Alex! We noticed he wasn't in the initial intros and wondered what could have happened. If his injury really is a ruptured Achilles tendon, then he is certainly done for the season. I know a local dancer who did that a few years back (H from AJ's class), and it was a long slow recuperation process. So I sincerely hope it was just a bad strain, not just because I want to see more of him but for his own sake as well.
I thought the judges for the most part were completely on crack last night. I joked to M that they must have three cards that they shuffle and re-distribute, one that says "I uncritically love you in a way that is somehow still insulting to your talent," one that says "I over critically hate you and crush your tender little soul" and one that says "Spout mystical nonsense until your time is up." Good for Cat Deeley for pointing out that they were saying the same words in criticism to Adechike this week that they had used as praise to José last week. Somebody needs to keep those judges honest, because they aren't doing it themselves.
Dancers that stood out for me overall were Ashley and Billy. Ashley could be a real dark horse in this competition. I've felt all along that there was more depth to her than she was giving, and if she learns how to access it in the next couple of weeks, that will be exciting to watch. She kept right up with Dominic in that ninja number, and her quickstep was lovely. Billy finally woke up and started really *dancing* in the partner pieces, and it was lovely to see. Yes, the two numbers were a bit similar, but that's not his fault. Also not his fault was the really unfortunately dangly front bit of his costume in the African jazz number that made him look like a floppily well-endowed jaguar. Anyway maybe he just liked these choreographies or these partners better, but he really stepped it up performance-wise.
Pasha and Comfort are just amazing, aren't they? So much so that their partners were pretty invisible to me. So tired of Kent. Sorry, kid. He looked again like he was in a high school dance contest in his duet with Lauren, though the routine did show her off well. I wanted to like Adechike's duet with Courtney better, but I think he's still not partnering very well. Robert's doll routine was, I am afraid, dull. The fixed expressions on their faces became strained as the routine went on, and it was distracting from their movements. His quickstep looked like he thought he was still supposed to be a stiff doll.
Adechike's Bollywood I really enjoyed, much more than the judges did. I thought most of their critiques were way off the mark. Nigel, it's Bollywood, not bharatanatyam, so don't critique him for not doing bharatanatyam. Mia, his eyes were supposed to go this way and that way. Adam drew the mystical card for this one, so whatever. Also, Mia's "I'm really missing Alex now" was just cruel. We're seeing a different not so nice side of her as a judge, between this and things she'd said to Melinda last week. And I didn't like the way the judges tried to imply that Adechike was copping an attitude about their criticisms, when he was just concentrating and thinking hard about what they were saying. He looked just stunned when that line came out from Nigel. Again, yay Cat for standing up for him. The routine wasn't perfect, the judges in their more rational moments were correct that he needed more sharpness, but it had a great feel and a lot of spirit and personality.
It was interesting to watch José and Billy dance together. I didn't buy for a moment that the hunter was going to catch the beast, perhaps vice versa, but that's an okay story too. I did agree with the judges' overall assessment of the duet, that each of them needed to learn from the other when to be more strong in technique and when to let go of technique and just let loose. But they did set each other off better than I thought would be the case. José's a good dancer and seems like a nice person, but watching him dance beside Dominic in the ending free for all, it's painfully clear that he's not up to par with the b-boys of seasons past, regardless of what I might have said last week. Maybe he's on a par with Legacy, but not Dominic.
The bottom two, I don't know. Personally I would say Kent, José and/or Robert, but since the first two have the teenage girl vote sewn up, I'm guessing Robert and maybe Billy, which is insane but the arena wasn't cheering for him much in the show intro. Maybe one of the girls. I would pick Kent to go home, but that won't happen. I suppose if Alex has to withdraw, then whoever the judges pick to go home gets a second chance, otherwise the season would be shortened by an episode, wouldn't it? Well, hopefully it won't come to that.
It made it all the way down to 82 in the house this morning, so the ferrets got to come out and do their own dancing for a bit. Happy weasels!
.
Oh, and last night was SYTYCD. Poor Alex! We noticed he wasn't in the initial intros and wondered what could have happened. If his injury really is a ruptured Achilles tendon, then he is certainly done for the season. I know a local dancer who did that a few years back (H from AJ's class), and it was a long slow recuperation process. So I sincerely hope it was just a bad strain, not just because I want to see more of him but for his own sake as well.
I thought the judges for the most part were completely on crack last night. I joked to M that they must have three cards that they shuffle and re-distribute, one that says "I uncritically love you in a way that is somehow still insulting to your talent," one that says "I over critically hate you and crush your tender little soul" and one that says "Spout mystical nonsense until your time is up." Good for Cat Deeley for pointing out that they were saying the same words in criticism to Adechike this week that they had used as praise to José last week. Somebody needs to keep those judges honest, because they aren't doing it themselves.
Dancers that stood out for me overall were Ashley and Billy. Ashley could be a real dark horse in this competition. I've felt all along that there was more depth to her than she was giving, and if she learns how to access it in the next couple of weeks, that will be exciting to watch. She kept right up with Dominic in that ninja number, and her quickstep was lovely. Billy finally woke up and started really *dancing* in the partner pieces, and it was lovely to see. Yes, the two numbers were a bit similar, but that's not his fault. Also not his fault was the really unfortunately dangly front bit of his costume in the African jazz number that made him look like a floppily well-endowed jaguar. Anyway maybe he just liked these choreographies or these partners better, but he really stepped it up performance-wise.
Pasha and Comfort are just amazing, aren't they? So much so that their partners were pretty invisible to me. So tired of Kent. Sorry, kid. He looked again like he was in a high school dance contest in his duet with Lauren, though the routine did show her off well. I wanted to like Adechike's duet with Courtney better, but I think he's still not partnering very well. Robert's doll routine was, I am afraid, dull. The fixed expressions on their faces became strained as the routine went on, and it was distracting from their movements. His quickstep looked like he thought he was still supposed to be a stiff doll.
Adechike's Bollywood I really enjoyed, much more than the judges did. I thought most of their critiques were way off the mark. Nigel, it's Bollywood, not bharatanatyam, so don't critique him for not doing bharatanatyam. Mia, his eyes were supposed to go this way and that way. Adam drew the mystical card for this one, so whatever. Also, Mia's "I'm really missing Alex now" was just cruel. We're seeing a different not so nice side of her as a judge, between this and things she'd said to Melinda last week. And I didn't like the way the judges tried to imply that Adechike was copping an attitude about their criticisms, when he was just concentrating and thinking hard about what they were saying. He looked just stunned when that line came out from Nigel. Again, yay Cat for standing up for him. The routine wasn't perfect, the judges in their more rational moments were correct that he needed more sharpness, but it had a great feel and a lot of spirit and personality.
It was interesting to watch José and Billy dance together. I didn't buy for a moment that the hunter was going to catch the beast, perhaps vice versa, but that's an okay story too. I did agree with the judges' overall assessment of the duet, that each of them needed to learn from the other when to be more strong in technique and when to let go of technique and just let loose. But they did set each other off better than I thought would be the case. José's a good dancer and seems like a nice person, but watching him dance beside Dominic in the ending free for all, it's painfully clear that he's not up to par with the b-boys of seasons past, regardless of what I might have said last week. Maybe he's on a par with Legacy, but not Dominic.
The bottom two, I don't know. Personally I would say Kent, José and/or Robert, but since the first two have the teenage girl vote sewn up, I'm guessing Robert and maybe Billy, which is insane but the arena wasn't cheering for him much in the show intro. Maybe one of the girls. I would pick Kent to go home, but that won't happen. I suppose if Alex has to withdraw, then whoever the judges pick to go home gets a second chance, otherwise the season would be shortened by an episode, wouldn't it? Well, hopefully it won't come to that.
It made it all the way down to 82 in the house this morning, so the ferrets got to come out and do their own dancing for a bit. Happy weasels!
.