Melissa can do anything she wants with her tongue. Anything.
Yeah, for every time she plays to the camera a little too much, there are three or four times when she’s simply a smokin’ hottie.
I think Brandon owes an enormous amount to Mia Michaels–he doesn’t have much of a discernible personality and is too shy and reserved to qualify as charismatic, but a hugh wellspring of sympathy went his way extremely early because of her attitude toward him. He’s undeniably talented (probably the best technical dancer of all the men), but he comes off as so benignly “nice” that I suspect he might continue to garner votes just to shove that initial nastiness back in her face.
Jeanine is also latina.
I did not know that. (Obviously.)
If you come down to it… look at the series tagline: They are looking for “America’s Favorite Dancer.”
Not the Best dancer.
Not the most skilled.
Not the most versatile.
Not the most charismatic.
FAVORITE dancer.
Obviously skill/versatility/etc. play a role in making a dancer someone’s favorite, but there’s also a lot of personal biases. Who do you find more appealing? Sexier? Who reminds you of someone you like or dislike?
So as for “America getting it right”, in truth they cannot get it wrong. Whoever gets the most votes is the favorite, regardless of how well s/he stacks up against whatever “impartial” yardstick of skill/talent you want to apply.
Fortunately the structure of the show guarantees winner won’t be some hopelessly uncoordinated doofus. By the time they really allow the votes to matter the judges have already winnowed the field down to the Best Ten.
I feel like I’ve been unfair to Kupono, who has generally danced well. I just found his voice sort of annoying early on, & didn’t warm to him.
Looks like FOX is passing on the opportunity to run Obama’s press conference at 8 PM: full two-hour show tonight, as scheduled.
Okay, Janette is officially my favorite of the girls – she just consistently nails every single freaking thing they throw at her – and she’s a freaking salsa dancer, people! And, as someone said above, I’m finally getting to see the point of Kayla. Jeanine and Melissa are both good, but one of them is going home tonight, and the other will go home next week.
Among the boys, I don’t have as clear a favorite. Well, in terms of who I like, it’s clearly Evan – but I don’t think he deserves to win the whole thing. I think Ade is the best dancer still left, but part of that is his size/strength – he’s able to do some astonishing lifts and holds, as in the “breast cancer” piece last night. (And call me a heartless philistine, but I wasn’t in tears at the end of that, despite having gone through my sister’s breast cancer with her.)
I’m rooting for Janette to take the whole thing. You go, girl!
(Somewhat off-topic: I’m on vacation the week after next, though thank god in a house with a TV. Hope my friends don’t mind if I call dibs on the TV for Weds. and Thurs. night!)
I honestly don’t know who’s going to win this year, but I’m certain it’s going to be one of the girls.
I very much agree that Janette should win. If not her, then Ade.
I like Evan, but don’t think he’s a great dancer in anything but his own style. And he drags his partner down with him - I didn’t even like Janette that much last night.
It was nice to finally see a good hip hop routine instead of the bland stuff Tabatha and Napoleon have been doing this season. I was happy to hear Nigel say he’s been disappointed in this season’s hip hop - I like how he doesn’t pretend things are better than they are.
I was very curious about how Kayla would do, and she was excellent. The judges said they were hard-hitting, but I think they must have just been watching Kayla the whole time, too. When I re-watched to force myself to look at Jason, he was not good. I may be prejudiced against him because he was partnered for so long with Caitlin (who is my least favorite female dancer this season), but I just don’t think he’s good enough.
I wasn’t in tears after the breast cancer routine either, but I did think it was powerful and moving. And beautifully danced.
My favorite male dancer is Evan, but he’s probably the worst dancer.
My favorite female dancer is Janette, who’s probably best overall.
Bit of a slam at NappyTabs, who I thought enjoyed Most Favored Choreographer status.
Interesting thing about dance…if they hadn’t told you that the routine was about breast cancer (and Melissa hadn’t worn the scarf), would anyone have cried?
Janette & Evan - The strongest gal with the weakest guy. I thought it would be impossible for her to perform a Latin # w/o any chemistry, but he managed to help her do just that. I like the guy, but even his solo his treading the same old shtick and he’s clearly in A-for-effort territory (though I thought their well-synchronized jazz piece was the best dance in the first half of the show). She, of course, is awesome and I’d argue the front-runner for the entire thing (though her solos are still incredibly one-note). She’s safe and Evan’s on the cusp (it will really be eye-opening as to the extent of his following).
Melissa & Ade - Both benefit from their already-high comfort level, and the cancer number was the best of the night (though I still thought she over-played her role a bit)–though the latin was also devoid of sizzle. I don’t remember her looking as thin as she did last night. I also don’t think she gets enough credit for adapting to so many styles outside her expertise so well (maybe because Janette just does it better), but her solos always make a concerted effort to be crossover-minded and not just balletic the way you might expect (and the way most of the other specialty-specific dancers approach their solos). A solid night overall, these were the two who dodged the bullet last week, so they seem the most likely to return, though it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he recovers. Depending on how many others were as moved as the judges, she may also skate by with the 2nd-least votes (though her competition is all really strong).
Jeanine & Brandon - I thought both of their solos wre the best of the night, and the military number was the second best-received by the judges. This and their obvious personal appeal should put them both in the safe category, but she’s got enough competition that she still might be in the bottom two. I didn’t think the waltz was as much of a snoozer as the judges did, but I didn’t remember a whole lot of, well, waltzing. The other number was tight and fun, and showed off their skills quite well.
Kayla & Jason - A tough call–she’s clearly talented, but still is not connecting in any way with me. They’re both too anonymous, so lacking in any type of discernible personality, so they can adapt to a well-conceived number (like the zombie hip hop), but something that requires more star power–like the Broadway–and it just sort-of sits there (though in that piece, they took a really good song and used a pretty bad cover of it). Both of their solos evaporated from memory almost instantly. I think he’s almost certainly in the bottom 2, and she likely is as well–she’s always struck me as a bill of good the judges are desperate to sell, but the public isn’t quite buying. Tonight will be a true demonstration on how accurate that is.
My uneducated guess: Evan, Jason, Kayla, & Melissa in the bottom, with Jason and Melissa leaving.
I agree with this in general. But it’s not even that he’s not a great dancer outside of his style - it’s that his competition is so good at this point that he’s coming off as a bad dancer in comparison. He’s hit the wall of his talent while the others are still moving ahead. He’s definitely dragging his partner down at this point. I love the guy, but I really hope he leaves tonight.
The breast cancer dance got to me, but more because of the reactions of the judging panel. Hey, I’m pregnant, and crying comes easily.
I adore Evan, but think it is time for him to go. Whether he will remains to be seen. Of the girls, it’s tough to say…Janette is very safe, I’d say, but after that I’m unsure. Kayla can dance just gorgeously, but is not connecting with the audience as much. Jeanine is very good, but Kayla is better IMO–but, she has more charisma. Melissa does just a lovely job, but her solos aren’t the most inspiring (ballet rather limits her, I think, sadly). I would think she’s going, but the reaction to the breast cancer piece may keep her safe. Soooo…I’m out. Crystal ball, anyone?
I have a cancer patient in my family, who happens to *not *have breast cancer, so I wonder why the dance specifically had to be about a breast cancer patient. But that’s just me and my pet peeve.
You know, that’s a really great point. I thought it was already heavy-handed for Melissa to be wearing the head wrap, but you’re right. I don’t think it would have garnered such a tearful reaction from the panel.
Speaking of the panel…really, why was Ellen there? Good for her, she likes to dance, but she wasn’t going to say anything constructive. I got the sense that after about the 3rd go-round of the judges, the producers asked her to stop rambling and keep it short and sweet.
As for who is left. I think Evan really stood out last night as the weakest guy, much as I want to eat him up. I think Jeanine is tremendous and an amazing dancer, but I think the audience hasn’t connected with her. I think Kayla is the best female dancer, but Janine is the best dancer combined with a strong likability factor. I’d like for either of them to win. I’d like for Melissa to go home.
Because Tyse was writing it with a friend of his who has breast cancer in mind, as he stated during the interview just before the dance. Maybe he could have generalized it, but it’s his creation and his motivation based on what he was feeling about a particular subject.
The short answer is when you’re a choreographer on that show, you can generalize or narrow your creation in whatever fashion best suits your heart.
Ellen is very self-aware. I think she realized when it was appropriate to be flippant and when it was appropriate to just shut up.
Did you see the plug for Kris Allen’s (AI winner) “Heartless” during Evan and Janette’s routine.
I think Evan and Melissa are in danger. Evan is cute as a button, but is the weakest dancer of the 4. Melissa is much better than I thought she’d be, but I have a really hard time connecting with her.
Jeanine is very solid but, for some reason, comes across as a dark horse to me. Kayla has exquisite lines that even I can see, and she may very well win it all.
I don’t understand Mia. She goes from being bitchy to being mushy.
All I can say is ugh. I was really shocked by the results tonight. I was near certain that she was going to win the whole thing.
Now I am near certain that Evan is going to win the whole thing, which would actually be a little funny considering that he’d have trouble lifting Joshua’s jockstrap. My prediction is that the judges will try to pour some cold water on the Evan train next week to avoid that very result.
Ugh, indeed. When they announced who the bottom two women were, I knew the evening had to end badly – and suspected immediately just how badly it would end. I think they definitely got rid of the wrong girl.
The good news is, they got rid of the right boy.
I’m really not sure who I’m rooting for at this point – Kayla, less than ardently, among the girls, I guess, and … uh … Ade? among the boys? I don’t really hate anyone who’s left, but I don’t really think any of them particularly deserve to win, either.
Sigh.
Well, I was enamored with Brandon from last year, and again from his tryout this year. He’s certainly got the commercial look, and the body, and the ability. Evan is a bit different in, obviously, his style, his look and well everything. He’s unconventionally attractive on many levels. Ade doesn’t really stand out for me; he’s good and all, don’t get me wrong. He’s just not that memorable.
With the gals, I was rooting for Caitlin from the first move in her tryout. She has such a classic style, a very natural elegance, and gracefulness in her movement. But I figured she’d get shit-canned. I’m not really all that enthused about the gals who are left. They’re good and all, but I think America got it wrong last night. Well, Wednesday night I suppose.
With the shuffle from last night, I think what comes next isn’t going to be at all shocking whoever leaves. Unless, of course, Brandon is voted off. My money’s on him from here on out.