So Mollee and Legacy go. Probably not the two I’d have picked, but not anything I have a particular problem with either. I think the married couple are by far the worst of those remaining, and if either of them so much as sniffs the top four next week… hmph. Really curious to see what they’ll do with the time they have allotted, normally everyone dancing with everyone is the best part.
The Ellenore + Legacy + Travis Wall routine last night was the first one this season I have gone back on the DVR and watched a second time; for comparison, I had done that a dozen times by now each of the last two seasons. So from that point of view I think this is definitely a bit of a weaker year. On the other hand, I think Jakob especially can stand with anyone - I’d really love to see him get a hard hitting hip-hop next week just to see it, though.
Keep in mind that next week is the season finale. With six finalists instead of four. Which means that number one is even more wide open than usual.
I’d be pretty appalled to see Ashleigh or Ryan win. I could probably accept any of the others, though I’m pulling for Kathryn or Jakob. I think the dancers as a group have been about as strong as prior seasons, but there haven’t been quite as many standout routines this season. That could have something to do with Mia Michaels’ absence, or be just luck of the draw.
Benji, winner of S2, was ballroom (partnered with cousin Lacey who competed the following season and then went on to pro dancer in DWTS).
i actually like Ryan and Ashleigh more than most of you. Excellent partners. Ashleigh has beautiful lines and always goes all out in her routines.
Have to agree about Travis’s routine with Ellenor and Legacy. Outstanding. All of Travis’s routines have been exceptional this season. Sorry I can’t say the same for the other choreographers. Dancers were top notch, but routines were typically forgettable with no WOW factor.
You might be assuming that Jakob doesn’t have a fan base to pull off a win, but he has yet to be in the bottom 2. Not so for Brandon or Ade from last season who were so awesome technicaly. So, I think that smile of his and humility paired with his excellent dancing technique will serve him well in the finale. I see him edging out Russell.
Russell is cute and thoroughly attacks all the challenges thrown at him, but he just isn’t quite well-rounded enough to win the whole enchillada, IMO.
Kathryn is a lovely girl and beautiful dancer, but I never remember anything about her. Until this week I could never tell her from Noelle. They looked too much alike and danced too much alike. She just hasn’t stood out enough personality wise. Ellenore, OTOH, is quirky and very talented. She hasn’t shown the sexy, ellegance of Kathryn or Ashleigh however, and I think she will need to do that in order to win.
I’m trying to remember if Jakob has had to do any hip-hop type routines. Contemporary, ballroom, and broadway is all I can remember.
Also and curious as to how they’re going to arrange the partnerships for the finale. Should
be interesting.
Could they cram in nine routines? That would be each possible guy/girl pairing. Like 4 minutes for them to dance, another minute used up by Cat’s intro and audience applause – 4X9 = 45, leaving fifteen minutes for commercials…
Of course that leaves no time for the judges to comment, which might be a good thing. What the heck was up with Adam last night?
Also, here’s an idea: instead of drawing for what dance you do, the couples draw for the order they get to pick which dance they do. There’s a list of dances/choreographers to be chosen from, and each pairing gets to choose in turn. Obviously Ashleigh/Ryan would go for a ballroom dance while more mixed pairings might have to negotiate whether they went hiphop or contemporary. And the choices would narrow…
I just think we’d end up getting some really good dancing when there’s a good chance of good matches between dancers/genre.
I don’t have much to say about last night’s performances: they all seemed perfectly nice. And Ryan and Ashleigh finally get to dance together…cheesy, but very sweet.
But mostly: does anyone else feel that this season may have been a success artistically, but from a TV production standpoint…a disaster? Everything felt rushed and half-assed. At the beginning we had performance/results compressed into a single episode (no voting) thanks to the World Series; and we end with a final 6 instead of a final 4 – and in a single hour, no video clips – in a frantic rush to finish before Christmas. New choreographers were trotted out every week with nary a how-do-you-do. The new theater seems tiny and the audience seems flat.
No love for last night’s show? We rarely watch the day the show airs, but happened to catch it almost live last night. Jakob and Kathryn were amazing! And even though Ashleigh and Ryan may not be the most technially perfect dancers, their routine almost made me cry, just because of the amazing tenderness and love that was palpable through the whole thing.
I think Jakob and Kathryn are the best dancers, but Ryan is the epitome of hunky-man-meat in my eyes!
I wouldn’t have a problem with any of those top 4 winning, and everyone was really good last night. Wasn’t crazy about being rushed, but was impressed they fit 9 numbers in one hour, and I can’t say I missed the solos one bit. However, unlike the last few seasons, we didn’t call in a vote, so I don’t have a particular dog in this hunt, though I think Jakob (win or lose) has his entire career made from here on out.
Well, they did manage to shoe-horn in nine numbers in an hour – impressive. As was some, but not all, of the dancing.
My guess for the winner: Russell. His *joie de dance * is gonna win him votes in numbers that Jakob’s astonishing skills, but somewhat cold persona, will not be able to match. It’s possible that the votes for the top two males will somehow cancel each other out and that Kathryn, clearly the top female, will win, but I’d be surprised.
Heh. None of those posts was there when I started writing.
ArchiveGuy – agree that Jakob is going to have an astonishing career – the man is an amazing dancer. Loved what Nigel said last night about him getting a gig with a company and settling in to work hard for a while before emerging as a major soloist. I look forward to seeing him dance in years to come.
Don’t expect him to win tonight, though, much as I love him as a dancer – he’s clearly the best, this season, but not, I don’t think, America’s favorite.
jsc1953 – agree, the season, as a season, didn’t work all that well – with the one exception of making Adam a permanent judge. I hope he continues in that role.
(OT: Is anyone else watching Survivor this season? I keep having “is that right?” moments with the name Russell in both shows – two such different people sharing a name is really disorienting.)
I didn’t feel that the show was rushed. Actually, I was very pleased that they didn’t have solos (which never impress me as much as the pairs routines) and silly vignettes of rehearsals. It was just a heapin’ pile of good dancing.
I’m happy with the result. The one I hoped would win won and my guess of how they’d be voted off was accurate with the exception of two people being switched around.
Loved the winner. That person deserved it and earned it. Loved all of the top ten, I did have favorites, but just couldn’t make up my mind. imho, the best technical dancers weren’t necessarily the favorites. (I have noticed that many of the previous season’s “losers” seem to have more visible careers than the past winners though).
This season, unlike in seasons past, there wasn’t a single dancer that I didn’t connect with. The only one I was a little lukewarm about was Jakob. He was PHENOMENAL. Probably the best dancer on any season, but for me, there was a smidge of an emotional connection missing.
But what the HECK was up with that finale? I guess I wasn’t paying attention earlier on in the season but from 4 in the finale to 6? And I missed out on the 2 boys and the 2 girls dancing a routine together in addition to switching out partners. Yeah, it seemed a little “rushed” as someone else said. At least they had some decent singers and special guests this time.
Like someone else said, I LOVE Adam as the new judge. I was SO stoked for it to be a complete Mia-free zone! Besides, Sonya knocks spots off ANY Of Mia’s routines and without the deathlike ambiance.
I don’t know if we still have to keep the results under wraps, but just in case:
[Spoiler]As happy as I am that Russell won, what the hell was up with him last night? A mysterious injury that was serious enough to keep him from dancing any of the routines, OK, that sucks. Then they announce him as the winner and he’s bouncing all over the stage. And multiple shout-outs to his crumping crew back home, but what about all of the people who, oh, I don’t know, voted for him as the favorite dancer?
He did thank “America”, and I didn’t see him jumping at all–he just walked to the front of the stage and then knelt down and then got back up (most of his exuberance was through his arms).
I would’ve liked the other finalist to have won but he has an amazing career in front of him, so he’ll be fine. Overall, I can’t argue with the result at all–he did do a great job all season.
I thought the final ranking of the six was spot-on. My only possible beef was Russell winning, Jakob coming in second – Jakob is clearly on a different planet in terms of skill, but as we’ve all been remarking, the emotional connection to the audience was just never there. Plus, I don’t think him coming in second will do him a smidgiest iota of damage in his future career, which is going to be phenomenal, and I think Russell will benefit from having the title.
A couple of interesting choices on the “best of” dances. Some of them seemed like “okay, we need an example of X dancing with Y, which was their best?” (e.g., Mollee and Nathan’s Bollywood). The one they didn’t rerun that I wished they had was the very early Jakob and Ashleigh one that I think of as the Clockwork Orange number – the one where Jakob had a cane. I would’ve liked to see that again.
Glad they reran the original top-20 number – it was fun spotting the various dancers and personalities who we got to know throughout the season, back when they were all just an undifferentiated mass to us.
Oh, and Ashleigh and Ryan’s jive – damn, not very good, actually. There were a couple of times where Ashleigh prepped to get out of the way of a move Ryan was going to make a full beat before he was ready to make it, signalling what was going to happen – at the beginning when she knelt so he could high-kick over her, then at the end, she bent her head so he could do … something, I don’t remember. Anyway, it looked kind of sloppy to me.
I think it was when he leap-frogged over her. You’re right, she telegraphed it.
I think Nigel choosing the tap trio was just a gift to them- after the number that preceded it, it sort of sucked the fun out of the room. I love tap but that was sort of a buzzkill.
My wife and I called the dismissal order, but we had Katherine and Jakob reversed. We expected her to edge him out, but overall we were happy with the results.
Me: What is she saying? “Gonna lose the watch, hon?” I don’t get it.
Mrs Gargoyle: Louis Vuitton
Me: Oh
watches some more
Me: Um. Who’s that?
Mrs G: A shoe designer
Me: So this song is about declaring your independence by buying shoes?
Mrs G: Expensive shoes. Like $700 a pop.
Me: …and this shows she’s tough how?
Mrs G: Dunno. It was her boyfriend’s money?
Me: So stand up and be strong by golddigging? Or is this just a product placement deal she worked out with that shoe store guy?
Mrs G: I vote product placement deal.
Me: I liked the song better when it was her worried about losing her watch.
