Ah, I see. Thank you.
I’ve cried twice while watching SYTYCD. Last year, Travis and Heidi, as linked above, and this year, Lacey and Kameron. The emotions were so raw. Mia Michaels is amazing.
I love Jessi and Lauren. As Nigel said, Lauren is a lot like Alison.
For some reason, I wanted to not like Jimmy, but he was great in the Broadway routine.
For me it’s still too early to want to get rid of anyone.
Not only did I call the bottom three couples right, but after their solos I also called the 2 people who went home. (You’ll have to take my word on it.) They were an unfortunate pairing and just had zero chemistry.
Shallow commentary ahead:
As I said before, Lacey reminds me of Lisa Marie Presley.
Neil looks a lot like the Take Home Chef dude.
Jessi reminds me of Toni Collette.
Cedric reminded me of a young Muhammed Ali. I thought it was adorable how nervous he was.
I wish Faina would get a new hair color.
That’s all.
Ashlee’s solo sucked ass. Did they play the right song? Because nothing she did had anything to do with the music whatsoever.
Ricky on the other hand, blew me away.
I agree with the judges’ decision on the girls for sure. Ashlee’s solo sucked ass.
I totally disagree with the decision about the boys–Cedric should have gone home. Ricky is amazing and should NOT have gone home.
This is my first season, but is that last judge (not Nigel or the extremely irratating Mary) always on? Is he always like this?
And I also assumed Ashlee would go, but thought Ricky would stay. Of course, I don’t know diddly about dance, but I didn’t like the Mia Michaels thing (although last year looked awesome) and I thoroughly enjoyed the disco themed dance. Furthermore, could someone explain to me why Faina was so bad? She looked pretty decent from here, says the person with two left feet.
No. The third judge is alternated.
Like what?
Dan is always like that. I don’t think he’s formally trained so he lacks a technical eye and focuses instead on the x factors, like chemistry between the couples and “hotness.” He can come across as very critical and cocky, though IMO he wasn’t off base in his assessment of the couples who lacked chemistry. I do, however, think that at times he needs to remember that these kids have, you know, feelings.
It’s interesting because for a while Nigel was acting like Simon Cowell in his post-dance reviews. But last season, after he criticized one dancer with a below the belt comment (IIRC it was something like “Do you know the movie 'The Princess Bride” where the girl has no facial expression and dead eyes? That was you.") He returned the next night and apologized for acting so undignified towards the dancer. Since then he’s really toned down his rhetoric and I find him, and the show, much more enjoyable.
In the past, Nigel has been the only constant on the judging panel. During season one, the panel was usually three or four people, Nigel plus 2 or 3 of the following: Mary Murphy, Mia Michaels, Dan Karaty and Brian Friedman (who seems to be MIA this season). Very occasionally another choreographer would sit in. Last year, there were a lot more guest judges, and it was very common to see a choreographer create one piece one week, and the judge others during other weeks.
Dan Karaty has been on a lot, but not always.
Yes. Although you’ll be surprised to know that the harshest critic during the first season was probably Mary. Then she was gone as a judge for several weeks, and returned for the season finale with her current, screaming, everyone-is-great, Paula Abdul caricature of a personality. So abrupt was the transition, that Nigel looked suspiciously into her water cup more than once. She’s been that way ever since, although her current face only appeared in season 2.
I thought they’d pick Ricky over Dominic, and I thought Faina would follow in her brother’s footsteps and be eliminated first. If Mia Michaels had been judging instead of choreographing this week, Ricky would probably still be in it. So would Ashlee.
I always tell people in these threads that you can see dozens of modern dance routines before you see one that speaks to you on any level.
If we are disparaging of the disco routine, it’s only because there have been much better disco routines on this show in the past. None probably matches up to Nick and Kamilah from season 1, which, IIRC, was the same choreographer as Wednesday’s number.
She was decent, but never got beyond the stage of “This isn’t my style and I’m pretty uncomfortable in it”, whereas other dancers on Wednesday seemed to be more able to immerse themselves in unfamiliar styles, like the girl in the vagabond dance, whose unfamiliarity and presumed discomfort with the Bob-Fosse-style jazz moves she was given didn’t seem to show at all in performance.
Faina did OK, but if she was hip-hopping like that in a subway station, you wouldn’t put a quarter in her hat, never mind a quarter million bucks. Others also had trouble inhabiting their given styles. Ricky’s gone because he couldn’t take on the persona of a tango dancer. Ryan did the whitest salsa ever, etc.
There were several guys who weren’t as bad as Ricky, but they coasted in on the coattails of their partners (Neil, I’m looking at you!). I’ve never been impressed with Cedric but it’s also a style of dancing I can’t get into much, though I found it curious that Nigel set he made a good partner, when I think he didn’t do much to “support” Faina at all–she was left to her own, admittedly limited, experience in that style. Still, I’m glad she’s still around (and not just because she’s smokin’).
Mary was right–Faina & Cedric never should’ve been in the final 3 (certainly not w/Shauna & Jimmy’s tedious Broadway number in the mix). I think a few people really got off easy, since they were put in a category perfect for them. It’ll be interesting to see how Cedric does in whatever style they throw his way.
I’m also glad to see Sabra & Dominique around–they mostly suffered from a dance style that doesn’t get a lot of props and which usually has less real showcase moves (though I was only on-&-off w/previous seasons, so I don’t know if there have been true standout disco acts in the past).
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies. Here’s what I’ve got in return…
Liberal, I just meant that Dan seemed almost consistently negative, but as PunditLisa noted, perhaps he forgets these dancers actually have feelings.
And to Lisa, I had heard that alluded to about Nigel, after he kept repeating that he’d promised himself to “be nice this year.” To think too, I really like him. I’ve never watched AI, but the scathing out takes you see of Simon made me realize I couldn’t stomach that. Or anyone acting the same. [ ::: shudder ::: ] I guess I’m just a chicken shit that way. Heh.
What is Dan’s credentials anyway, scot? If that’s been mentioned up thread, than I apologize. My caffeine levels haven’t been up to par lately. As to Mary though, I’d still like to stitch her big ass mouth shut, much like one of the victims in Strangeland. Where the hell is Dee Snider when you need him?
See, Dominic I was on the fence about. Maybe in some other style he’d be more interesting, but overall I agreed with Nigel’s comments about his ‘tricks.’ Out of the three, I found Cedric to be really weak. I don’t know, maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to see any potential or understand his strengths. Hopefully, I learn more from watching and reading on here. But Ashlee? She freakin’ made me cringe and feel like I was watching an Amazon with constipation issues. And bad make-up.
So far, that’s all left me cold. Sure, every once in a while (to me), it can be kinda pretty, but I’m missing something. Surely that’ll improve for me, because I get the gut wrenching emotions going on while still appearing like scenery-chomping angst for the Flashdance wannabes. I’m still out on Mia. Again though, considering how the best critics (the dancers) view her opinion, I know I’m just the rube.
With the disco, I think I’m way stuck in the 70s and simply loved Sabra and Dominic and the entire extravaganza come across as authentic. The youtube link you posted had some cool stuff, like her spinning around on the floor, but I got more that the audience responded favorably to the hyper-energy combined with good music and flashy/eye-catching movements. Or maybe that’s what it’s all about. Regardless, I can’t wait for next week.
Oh, and I agree with ArchiveGuy about Cedric (obviously) and that a lot of coasting was going on. However, am I the only one who thinks that Shauna is outclassed? In my opinion, she’s bland, not very good and dances sluggishly. Am I not comprehending what the judges see in her? I just don’t get it. I mean, how was it possible that she was worse than some that went home, while she stayed? Is it wrong to cross my fingers and pray she gets the ax soon? I await y’all’s wise counsel.
Thanks again everyone for your help!
P.S. I almost forgot, even though she must’ve only been technically proficient, I still liked Faina. As a clueless non-hip hopper, it looked pretty cool to me. But what do I know? 
Also, I’m rather fond of Neil. I think he’s kinda. As is Doogie Howser. 
No really!
Overall, I thought the right pair went home. Of the three girls Ashley’s solo was by far the weakest, and I’ve frankly never been impressed with Ricky. He’s a good dancer, yes, but he has very little personality onstage. The personality he has offstage is just weird. This early in the competition it’s still tough to tell much about the dancers, though – for the first couple of weeks people are bound to land in the bottom 3 based on unfamiliar styles or lame choreography (like Dorians Sanchez’s disco crap).
All of the judges and choreographers on this show have credentials out the wazoo in their particular areas. Even Nigel was a world-class dancer and choreographer before he became a TV producer.
Here’s Dan Karaty’s bio at the New York City Dance Alliance, which is only one of several web pages to feature information about him:
So he’s big papers in white-boy hip-hop.
Ah. Well that explains it. No wonder I didn’t feel very generous in spirit toward him. 
Gracias.
I’ll admit that the only dance I got to see in it’s entirety was Lacey and Kameron’s–and I’m not much a fan of modern/contemporary dance.
So it came as quite a shock, my reaction did. I was left breathless with the rawness of the emotions portrayed–the love, the hate, the passion, and the pain. It was simply stunning.