I liked the idea of the megadance, but the samba portion wasn’t entertaining.
Like the judges, I was expecting more from Mya, especially with “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” Loved Donny’s freestyle.
Bruno, the French judge, surprised me. They use him so much for comic relief that I find him irritating. But, he seemed the toughest when teaching Donny. There wasn’t a hint of that exaggerated accent he uses on the show.
I thought Kelly’s tango was really, really good; best thing she’d done all season. The megadance was just a ball of motion, and I couldn’t see what was going on most of the time. But I was glad to see Kelly giggling so much after her freestyle, because she did make huge mistakes, and better she should giggle than cry. It was a cute freestyle, though, even with all the mistakes.
Mya’s Paso may have been technically perfect, but it had no rhythmic connection to the music at all. It is not good music to dance to, even though it’s a great song. Usually I think the Paso needs to be done to bullfighting-y music, and I rarely think that the ones that aren’t work, but then I saw Derek and Joanna’s futuristic Paso two weeks ago, and saw just how well a Paso could be done to just a strong beat. Mya’s and Dmitri’s didn’t nail any of the beats of the music. It was as if the music was just playing in the background. So I really didn’t get the tens the judges gave her, because technically perfect though it may have been, it lacked musicality. Then there was her freestyle. I hated it.
Dmitri basically screwed up. He had far and away the best dancer on the show and he blew it. Donny is probably going to win, and it won’t be because he’s the best dancer, although he is quite good. But Dmitri didn’t know how to choreograph to make Mya look her best. If Derek had had Mya, there would have been no contest.
I must say, it was wonderful to see three freestyles with little or no hip-hop element in any of them.
I think Bruno is Italian.
Bruno is definitely Italian.
And he, like the other two judges, is a world-class dancer in his own right. As you say, though, it’s fun to see him in action schtick-free.
sorry, the DWTS bio mentioned Bruno lived in France and I assumed he was from there.
Okay, so we all seem to think Donny should win – do you think he actually will?
(And do you think everyone calls him “Donny”? Wouldn’t you at least want your wife to call you “Don”?)
I suspect Donny may actually win. He’s proven to be pretty damned popular and likable and his scores are very, very close to Mya’s. Unless he screws up his last dance, he probably will win, because I think all the people who are voting for likability – and that’s a lot of people as Joanna’s untimely exit showed – are going to throw their votes to him once they realize that Kelly is out of the running based on her low scores. Mya, while not unlikeable, shows as little personality in her interviews as she does on the floor. Less even.
I wonder just how much the judges are ‘coached’ by the producers. I got the impression that the scores they were giving Donny vs. Mya on these last two nights were designed to give the audience permission to vote for Donny if they wanted to, which they clearly did.
I’ll say this for Donny. His final Argentine Tango was not a dance that relied on his charm and likeability. Attitude, yes, but not in a way that usually works for Donny. So it was technique and a foreign (to him) attitude, and it was a darned good tango, both in episode 5 and last night. Still, technically, I don’t think it could compare to Mya’s jive (which I didn’t find especially likeable, but looked clean as a whistle to me), so I was surprised when the judges marked it as the better of the two.
Overall, I’m still of the opinion that Dmitri lost this season for Mya. Had she been paired with Derek, she probably would have won.
Agree that a Mya-Derek team would have been unbeatable – partially because Derek is an amazing choreographer (the futuristic paso is one for the ages), but also because he’s got charm to burn.
My theory about why Mya lost – she didn’t look like she was having fun, or that she was emotionally engaged at all. (Cf. Kelly, one of the most unexpected final-three-ers ever.) She was there to do a job, she did the job, she did the job really well – but she wasn’t enjoying herself.
And really, what’s the point of this competition if not to have fun? The cheese, the corn, the humor – it’s got its own vibe, fer sher, and the underlying tone of that vibe is “fun” – it’s a contest that takes itself seriously, but the seriousness is about the pursuit of the coveted mirror ball trophy, and the absurdity of that pursuit is also completely present at all times.
Mya’s not about absurdity, or fun, or learning anything about herself from the experience, or doing anything but working her ass off – and this isn’t a prize that can be won by work alone.
Which is cool.
Sorry – this is incoherent – I’m running out for a bit, will be back later to make sense –
After Mya’s freestyle I looked at my wife and said, “It’s Stacy Keibler all over again.” This should have been Mya’s to lose, and then she shows up with a, frankly, boring freestyle. She may have danced it well, but it was so dull and safe. I think the moment her freestyle was finished, Donny won the competition.
They made a joke that Donny might win and that dancing is illegal in Utah. I know it’s probably not illegal but do Mormon’s dance? With Donny it’s different because it’s part of his career.
My mom mentioned that she didn’t have a high school prom in 1948 because the Baptists frowned on dancing. She had a banquet instead. Most Baptists aren’t as strict these days.
Glad Donny won. He was a lot of fun to watch.
Do you know why Baptists don’t have sex standing up?
People might think they’re dancing.
As far as I know, Mormons can dance, but don’t drink. It’s Baptists that neither dance nor drink.
I agree with twickster that Mya lost, and Donny won, solely on personality. Donny was engaging and fun; Mya never showed anything beneath the mask.
Re: Mya’s freestyle – I’ve seen Hairspray a dozen times, and particularly love the “You Can’t Stop the Beat” finale (and love that Adam Shankman is a permanent judge on SYTYCD). Her freestyle looked like they took half the moves, half the energy and half the tempo from the film version – like it was dumbed down. Very disappointing.
Because someone might think they were dancing? lol It’s been awhile since I heard that one.
I agree with you completely, Twickster. Mya was very good at the dancing parts, but she never seemed to really get into the whole show. It was like she understood the requirements, but she didn’t really grok them.
Plus, I think people don’t love a ringer.
I believe that pros/former pros Derek, Julianne, and Ashley are all Mormon (or at least were raised Mormon).
From what I know, Mormons don’t discourage dancing.
Mormons dance, a lot. BYU is the only school in the country that has a full-ride scholarship for ballroom dance. I’m pretty sure that I remember reading that barn dances were one of the “recruiting tools” of the Mormons back 100 years ago or more - nice events for the local youth to enjoy, hosted by the church, when the youth’s own churches were fire and brimstone against dancing.