SYTYCD Blabbing of Woe
That was the most faked draw they've ever had. No way everyone would have naturally drawn the proper contestant partner in real life, if they were tied to another variable like that.
I think the judges were so crazy and rambly because they had all the time blocked out and then they lost Alex and Anya's dance so they had MORE TIME. I am so over these judges. I think I'm definitely going to mute their commentary next week.
(Growth growth journey growth journey growth journey journey. Growth. You'll see it when you watch the playback. Journey.)
Adechike (Jazz, Courtney) - The second I saw that bar in the rehearsal studio, I knew I wouldn't like this. It was all very...props-y. They seemed to be doing well, but, ugh, so many props. Half of what happened was behind the bar, where you could not freaking see it. Courtney's costume did nothing for her. And, ew, that fabric. It made her look bigger, and the ruching created a truly unfortunate effect.
Alex - Well this sucks. It was nice to see Anya sitting with him in the audience. She just seems like a really nice, warm person to me. But, yes. This sucks. I bet their foxtrot would've been really good. He was crying, y'all.
Why do they keep changing the rules about what happens if you're injured? Last season they let Ashleigh be voted safe when she separated her shoulder. Maybe they knew she'd be good to dance in a week? IDK.
Ashley (Hip-Hop, Dominic) - "You have to be a little intimidating." LOL. She's too cute and he's too obnoxious. WOW they put her in unfortunate pants. They hobbled her, come ON, she couldn't really dance correctly in parts, I think. And the scarf made her look like she had no neck. WTF. And! She was in a tube top! She must have been taped into that thing to the point of losing chunks of skin when they take it off. Actually, nothing about her outfit worked. She needs to beat wardrobe up. I don't get it. Dominic looked pretty sanely dressed. I thought they both did really well, even though the music had nothing to do with the concept, WTF. I liked how the choreography went all over and didn't just stay onstage (the end was really funny), that split drop was insane, and I especially liked that she kicked him in the balls. But I kept getting distracted by the horror of those pants.
Billy (Broadway, Allison Katee) - STOP BREAKING THE DANCERS. GOD. Anyway, I freakin' love Cats in general (don't judge) and this song in particular, so I'm terribly prejudiced to like this. I hereby declare it awesome, and I don't care what anyone says, because MACAVITY. (I was actually wishing the other day that they would do a Broadway number to this, the other day, and then they did! And I am so happy.) Although it would've been even better if they'd gone all out and dressed them up as cats instead of cat burglars. Billy still needs to shave that thing off his chin.
Jose (Contemporary, Stupid Lauren (TM keenai)) - Ugh, please give this bitch a week off sometime soon. I'm so over her. Apparently the way to get a decent performance out of Jose is to not have him actually dance much, if at all. He just sort of stood there and let Lauren dance around him for most of the routine. He remains a great performer, though. I guess. It's reached the point where I'm not sure if he's actually selling it or if the judges have just told me he is so many times I believe them.
Kent (Hip-Hop, Comfort) - Comfort remains a beast. You could really see Kent forcing some of the moves, but, I mean, it wasn't terrible, and it could have been. (Case in point: Billy.) It was more jazz than hip-hop, but what's new on this show? My mom and I decided the reason his face seemed to be more under control was that you couldn't see his deer-in-the-headlights eyes for the hat.
Lauren F. (Cha-cha, Pasha) - Now we're talkin' ballroom. That was a touch slow and pretty basic cha-cha, but well danced and smokin' hot. After two out of three weeks of Melinda, it was so nice to see Pasha with a partner who wasn't resisting him. With that hairstyle and in that costume, there were moments where Lauren looked a lot like Anya, but I know I've seen that costume somewhere before. At first I thought it was Melinda's from last week, but that's not it. Anybody have a clue?
Robert (Jazz, Kathryn) - I thought that was really fun! High dork quotient. He made a great Ken doll, which is amusing to me but I'm sure his detractors have been snarking about. I know they were blaming him for Kathryn falling out of that lift, but she tweeted that it was her fault, and I figure she'd know better than they would. I don't understand WHY Nigel told him that about people being jerks online, because there's not anything Robert can do about people on the internet being jerks.
Adechike/Assistant Marla (Bollywood) - The dance that broke the best dancer this season. Fuck. I am so down I can't even talk about this.
Actually, yes, I can, fuck the double standard for Jose. FUCK it with a rusty spoon. Thank you, Cat, for calling them out on that. Also, "too African"? I can't quite believe I actually heard that. Damn, Mia.
Kent/Lauren F. (Contemporary) - Aren't they both eighteen? "After prom" as a concept? They just did that for real, come on. I found their rehearsal package of them being bratty at each other hilarious and kind of refreshing. I can't ship it, but it was cute. Lauren...I HOPE that is not what the wardrobe department thinks girls wear to prom. "Usually you're lacking the soul," WTF Mia. As far as I can remember you've said nothing that would indicate you thought that about her before. That was good (helped by the fact that they are both basically at this place in their lives, yes), but I did notice some "standard contemporary movements" that just sort of...stood out. Like the thing where they both reached straight up and then intertwined their hands.
Robert/Ashley (Quickstep) - Bad luck drawing the quickstep, which I actually really like, but I accept being in the minority here and do understand why it doesn't work well for a lot of people--it's hard to connect to when it's mostly in close hold, and it's impossible to learn properly in a week, with so many things that can go wrong people are likely to notice. I tend to look at quickstep with a forgiving eye, trying to see if they "sold" the dance.
The "kiss of death" leading into the commercial, and then the reverse kiss of death in the results show footage? Really funny. I actually really liked the music--yes, it was different for a quickstep, but different isn't necessarily bad, total non-ballroom experts Mia and Adam. I keep trying to imagine a jive to it and it doesn't go at all. That was some pretty serious dancing, too; those choreographers did NOT go easy on them. I feel like the one thing that would've brought the whole thing together would've been if Ashley's dress was maybe red or black instead of light blue. It just clashed with the lighting and the music and the whole feel of the dance. Why does Mia keep telling Robert to take ballet? HE CAN'T RIGHT NOW, he's a little busy shooting your show. Jesus. Give him some feedback that'll help him now.
Quickstep is one of the dances that would have seriously benefited from an All-Star specialist's guiding hand. I cannot understand why they gave it to Robert and Ashley unless they were deliberately trying to get rid of Robert. If they had to do ballroom, why not a waltz? We haven't had a waltz at all yet this season.
Okay, seriously, can we talk about the double standard? I know I like Robert a lot more than, apparently, most people, and I worry that I'm headed into irrational defender territory here, but: that was absolutely decent for two total non-specialists, he stayed in character all the way through (while she kept smiling, which I thought was inappropriate to the mood of the piece, and I do love Ashley and she did dance it very well, but the smile was out of place), and then they criticized the hell out of Robert's topline and elbow in the hold, and the part where Nigel said the dance overall and his performance were great got SWALLOWED in the criticism, and it doesn't matter what Jose does, it's, "That was terrible but let us talk forever about how nice and cute you are." And then they ran out of time to say anything to Ashley because they had to pick at Robert forever.
Seriously, if Jose had done this with Ashley it would've been ten times more disastrous and the feedback would've been COMPLETELY different. They still might not have managed to say anything to Ashley, though.
Jose/Billy (African Jazz) - Jose's deadpan slayed me. "I've got a family to feed." I don't think I actually cared for the dance, but just, wow, Billy was insane in this. The strength and flexibility of that boy in those deep, DEEP plies...wow. Once again, Jose just cannot hold up.
Results show stuff!
Group number: Why were half the men wearing skirts? It was...odd and unexpected, and I didn't like it. I guess they used Ade because Alex was out, but I hope Alex's part would've been more than standing on a pedestal doing nothing for most of the dance. If it was, I see no reasonable argument for not just strapping the wings on him and letting him hobble on up there for one last bow. Well, besides that it would have taken away the 'suspense' of waiting to find out his condition.
ANYA & PASHA ANYA & PASHA (TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT) OMG. God they are just staggeringly good. THAT is a partnership. You can't build that kind of trust in a day or a week or a month. And they're just so freakin' hot I can't stand it. The dancing was great, they have gotten better and hotter even since their season (well, obviously in Pasha's case, he's not recovering from a life-threatening illness now), and those lifts and drops were just. Damn. Please, can they do that every week? Or, I'm sure they were like, "Oh, God, you want us to dust off that old thing?" They could do something new, I would not object to that in the least.
Billy's solo: This was nice. Again, I'm aware there's some serious dancing going on here, but the overall impact it has on me is 'nice.' I'm completely not overwhelmed or anything by Billy. Maybe if he shaved that damn thing off his chin.
Ashley's solo: Athletic, solid dancing. I liked her spin a lot. I'm not sure it had a ton of musicality, though.
HUGE shocker that they're letting Alex come back next season if he wants to, but let's face it: he's Alex freakin' Wong. I'm glad the Achilles is not ruptured, which would be worst-case scenario. I'm sure having your Achilles tendon detached from the bone is not good, but I'm believing Nigel when he says that it can be repaired simply and there's a strong chance Alex will be back up and dancing relatively soon. Fingers crossed for his speedy and full recovery.
I think the judges were so crazy and rambly because they had all the time blocked out and then they lost Alex and Anya's dance so they had MORE TIME. I am so over these judges. I think I'm definitely going to mute their commentary next week.
(Growth growth journey growth journey growth journey journey. Growth. You'll see it when you watch the playback. Journey.)
Adechike (Jazz, Courtney) - The second I saw that bar in the rehearsal studio, I knew I wouldn't like this. It was all very...props-y. They seemed to be doing well, but, ugh, so many props. Half of what happened was behind the bar, where you could not freaking see it. Courtney's costume did nothing for her. And, ew, that fabric. It made her look bigger, and the ruching created a truly unfortunate effect.
Alex - Well this sucks. It was nice to see Anya sitting with him in the audience. She just seems like a really nice, warm person to me. But, yes. This sucks. I bet their foxtrot would've been really good. He was crying, y'all.
Why do they keep changing the rules about what happens if you're injured? Last season they let Ashleigh be voted safe when she separated her shoulder. Maybe they knew she'd be good to dance in a week? IDK.
Ashley (Hip-Hop, Dominic) - "You have to be a little intimidating." LOL. She's too cute and he's too obnoxious. WOW they put her in unfortunate pants. They hobbled her, come ON, she couldn't really dance correctly in parts, I think. And the scarf made her look like she had no neck. WTF. And! She was in a tube top! She must have been taped into that thing to the point of losing chunks of skin when they take it off. Actually, nothing about her outfit worked. She needs to beat wardrobe up. I don't get it. Dominic looked pretty sanely dressed. I thought they both did really well, even though the music had nothing to do with the concept, WTF. I liked how the choreography went all over and didn't just stay onstage (the end was really funny), that split drop was insane, and I especially liked that she kicked him in the balls. But I kept getting distracted by the horror of those pants.
Billy (Broadway, Allison Katee) - STOP BREAKING THE DANCERS. GOD. Anyway, I freakin' love Cats in general (don't judge) and this song in particular, so I'm terribly prejudiced to like this. I hereby declare it awesome, and I don't care what anyone says, because MACAVITY. (I was actually wishing the other day that they would do a Broadway number to this, the other day, and then they did! And I am so happy.) Although it would've been even better if they'd gone all out and dressed them up as cats instead of cat burglars. Billy still needs to shave that thing off his chin.
Jose (Contemporary, Stupid Lauren (TM keenai)) - Ugh, please give this bitch a week off sometime soon. I'm so over her. Apparently the way to get a decent performance out of Jose is to not have him actually dance much, if at all. He just sort of stood there and let Lauren dance around him for most of the routine. He remains a great performer, though. I guess. It's reached the point where I'm not sure if he's actually selling it or if the judges have just told me he is so many times I believe them.
Kent (Hip-Hop, Comfort) - Comfort remains a beast. You could really see Kent forcing some of the moves, but, I mean, it wasn't terrible, and it could have been. (Case in point: Billy.) It was more jazz than hip-hop, but what's new on this show? My mom and I decided the reason his face seemed to be more under control was that you couldn't see his deer-in-the-headlights eyes for the hat.
Lauren F. (Cha-cha, Pasha) - Now we're talkin' ballroom. That was a touch slow and pretty basic cha-cha, but well danced and smokin' hot. After two out of three weeks of Melinda, it was so nice to see Pasha with a partner who wasn't resisting him. With that hairstyle and in that costume, there were moments where Lauren looked a lot like Anya, but I know I've seen that costume somewhere before. At first I thought it was Melinda's from last week, but that's not it. Anybody have a clue?
Robert (Jazz, Kathryn) - I thought that was really fun! High dork quotient. He made a great Ken doll, which is amusing to me but I'm sure his detractors have been snarking about. I know they were blaming him for Kathryn falling out of that lift, but she tweeted that it was her fault, and I figure she'd know better than they would. I don't understand WHY Nigel told him that about people being jerks online, because there's not anything Robert can do about people on the internet being jerks.
Adechike/Assistant Marla (Bollywood) - The dance that broke the best dancer this season. Fuck. I am so down I can't even talk about this.
Actually, yes, I can, fuck the double standard for Jose. FUCK it with a rusty spoon. Thank you, Cat, for calling them out on that. Also, "too African"? I can't quite believe I actually heard that. Damn, Mia.
Kent/Lauren F. (Contemporary) - Aren't they both eighteen? "After prom" as a concept? They just did that for real, come on. I found their rehearsal package of them being bratty at each other hilarious and kind of refreshing. I can't ship it, but it was cute. Lauren...I HOPE that is not what the wardrobe department thinks girls wear to prom. "Usually you're lacking the soul," WTF Mia. As far as I can remember you've said nothing that would indicate you thought that about her before. That was good (helped by the fact that they are both basically at this place in their lives, yes), but I did notice some "standard contemporary movements" that just sort of...stood out. Like the thing where they both reached straight up and then intertwined their hands.
Robert/Ashley (Quickstep) - Bad luck drawing the quickstep, which I actually really like, but I accept being in the minority here and do understand why it doesn't work well for a lot of people--it's hard to connect to when it's mostly in close hold, and it's impossible to learn properly in a week, with so many things that can go wrong people are likely to notice. I tend to look at quickstep with a forgiving eye, trying to see if they "sold" the dance.
The "kiss of death" leading into the commercial, and then the reverse kiss of death in the results show footage? Really funny. I actually really liked the music--yes, it was different for a quickstep, but different isn't necessarily bad, total non-ballroom experts Mia and Adam. I keep trying to imagine a jive to it and it doesn't go at all. That was some pretty serious dancing, too; those choreographers did NOT go easy on them. I feel like the one thing that would've brought the whole thing together would've been if Ashley's dress was maybe red or black instead of light blue. It just clashed with the lighting and the music and the whole feel of the dance. Why does Mia keep telling Robert to take ballet? HE CAN'T RIGHT NOW, he's a little busy shooting your show. Jesus. Give him some feedback that'll help him now.
Quickstep is one of the dances that would have seriously benefited from an All-Star specialist's guiding hand. I cannot understand why they gave it to Robert and Ashley unless they were deliberately trying to get rid of Robert. If they had to do ballroom, why not a waltz? We haven't had a waltz at all yet this season.
Okay, seriously, can we talk about the double standard? I know I like Robert a lot more than, apparently, most people, and I worry that I'm headed into irrational defender territory here, but: that was absolutely decent for two total non-specialists, he stayed in character all the way through (while she kept smiling, which I thought was inappropriate to the mood of the piece, and I do love Ashley and she did dance it very well, but the smile was out of place), and then they criticized the hell out of Robert's topline and elbow in the hold, and the part where Nigel said the dance overall and his performance were great got SWALLOWED in the criticism, and it doesn't matter what Jose does, it's, "That was terrible but let us talk forever about how nice and cute you are." And then they ran out of time to say anything to Ashley because they had to pick at Robert forever.
Seriously, if Jose had done this with Ashley it would've been ten times more disastrous and the feedback would've been COMPLETELY different. They still might not have managed to say anything to Ashley, though.
Jose/Billy (African Jazz) - Jose's deadpan slayed me. "I've got a family to feed." I don't think I actually cared for the dance, but just, wow, Billy was insane in this. The strength and flexibility of that boy in those deep, DEEP plies...wow. Once again, Jose just cannot hold up.
Results show stuff!
Group number: Why were half the men wearing skirts? It was...odd and unexpected, and I didn't like it. I guess they used Ade because Alex was out, but I hope Alex's part would've been more than standing on a pedestal doing nothing for most of the dance. If it was, I see no reasonable argument for not just strapping the wings on him and letting him hobble on up there for one last bow. Well, besides that it would have taken away the 'suspense' of waiting to find out his condition.
ANYA & PASHA ANYA & PASHA (TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT) OMG. God they are just staggeringly good. THAT is a partnership. You can't build that kind of trust in a day or a week or a month. And they're just so freakin' hot I can't stand it. The dancing was great, they have gotten better and hotter even since their season (well, obviously in Pasha's case, he's not recovering from a life-threatening illness now), and those lifts and drops were just. Damn. Please, can they do that every week? Or, I'm sure they were like, "Oh, God, you want us to dust off that old thing?" They could do something new, I would not object to that in the least.
Billy's solo: This was nice. Again, I'm aware there's some serious dancing going on here, but the overall impact it has on me is 'nice.' I'm completely not overwhelmed or anything by Billy. Maybe if he shaved that damn thing off his chin.
Ashley's solo: Athletic, solid dancing. I liked her spin a lot. I'm not sure it had a ton of musicality, though.
HUGE shocker that they're letting Alex come back next season if he wants to, but let's face it: he's Alex freakin' Wong. I'm glad the Achilles is not ruptured, which would be worst-case scenario. I'm sure having your Achilles tendon detached from the bone is not good, but I'm believing Nigel when he says that it can be repaired simply and there's a strong chance Alex will be back up and dancing relatively soon. Fingers crossed for his speedy and full recovery.