Thought the whole episode was really odd, especially Russell dancing with the choreographer.
I don’t understand what the judges were liking so much about Mollee (I don’t remember how to spell it for sure, but for some reason I feel like this is a safe guess) and Nathan’s disco number. It certainly wasn’t great, and it paled in comparison to Brandon and Janette’s hyper-speed routine last season.
The only contestants I actively like so far are Russell, Karen, and Ellenore. Can’t stand Mollee, Ashleigh, either male tapper, or Legacy (the name makes me want to hurl). I thought I disliked Legacy’s partner (can’t remember her name) after all the ridiculous crying she did, but she was awesome in that hip hop number.
I feel really bad for Brandon. Would have made much more sense to have just taken Billy as the kicked-off contestant and given all the guys a free pass to next week. I think it stinks that Noel got a free pass, but I don’t know how I would have handled that differently.
I sincerely hope that Paula Abdul stays far away from the show. I wish that they had made Adam a permanent judge instead of rather than in addition to Mary. She could have gone back to choreographing routines and being a guest judge. Or better yet, she could have disappeared entirely. Some ideas are just too good to be true.
I’m really hoping that Paula Abdul will provide some sort of good technical feedback, being a dancer/choreographer, and not simple rambling gushing praise.
That’s exactly what Adam is providing. I am so tickled that they’ve made him a permanent judge (and doubly tickled that he accepted the gig). His remarks almost always have actual content to them, and he praises what deserves to be praised and tactfully critiques the stuff that didn’t work. I hope they give up this stupid Paula Abdul schtick because I can’t think of a single thing that whacked out pillhead would bring to the show.
Re: tonight’s elimination, which I’ll spoiler since the show isn’t over on the West Coast yet:
Despite my way-too-often-expressed enthusiasm for tap, I was good with both of those elminations.
Man, the routine with the blond in the blue outfit- I don’t know the names yet- where he just could not lift her? That was hard to watch. He looks like he has some beef on him but he just could not get her up. I think she wasn’t making it easy for him, afraid that he’d drop her on her head. Awkward.
I think a lot of the problem there is that Channing is a SOLID girl (she’s kinda huge, compared to some of the other girls), and Philip just wasn’t quite strong enough. In addition, they were roughly the same height, and he’s a tapper–not a lot of arm work in tap.
I was sorry to see Bianca go, if only because she clearly worked so hard to get there, but I can’t really fault the decision. I’m still a little pissed that they’ve completely cut the voting until the World Series is over, but I did like that it gave the judges the opportunity to pick four people from three different couples, rather than have someone who danced perfectly well in the bottom because their partner sucked.
And I’m with twicks on the Adam Love. He actually says something, which even Nigel doesn’t do so much anymore. And he says it with such tact and respect that even if he says you sucked, you still feel like he likes you. Hooray for constructive criticism.
Plus he’s crystal-clear on the difference between what’s a problem with the dancing and what’s a problem with the choreography. I really liked that he spoke directly (and constructively) to several of the choreographers last night.
Damn, I wish he was straight, I have such an enormous crush on him.
“Jazz” routines are often intended to be avant guarde, just usually end up as just plain weird. This causes a love-it-or-hate-it reaction, like how I liked the crash-test dummies routine from last season and my wife hated it.
The routine last night wasn’t all that “out there” as I was expecting. The connection to the painting was arbitrary, but the dance itself was fine.
I think he’s just adorable and I love that he’s a permanent judge. I loved his comments last week, when he said he went “aooogahh” over one of the female dancers, and then added “and people who know me know I don’t usually do that…”
I want some of whatever Wade Robson is smoking. “OK, let’s pretend that the first draft of Starry Night had people, and Van Gogh removed them, and they’re back and want revenge. In dance.”
I think it was potentailly “controversial” because there was little to no partner work. Basically they just danced next to each other with no interaction.
I usually love Wade Robson’s work, but this was just a snoozer, and if he hadn’t explained the high-high-concept of the piece, I would’ve thought it was just a weird painting conceit (which it actually was, his intentions notwithstanding), melded with poor choice of music.
I have to be honest that Victor did nothing for me, while Phillip had charm to burn. But the partnering was certainly awkward and I have to assume they’d already made up their minds on the guys before the Final Dance even occurred. Sorry to see him go, but my favorite tapper is left, so I guess he has to “represent” for all of them.
I have to say that Ashleigh is really growing on me and her partnering with Jakob is becoming a highlight. It seems like she’s more tolerable when not mooning over her husband. The other great (unexpected) partnership is Legacy and Kathryn, who are extremely well-suited for each other and seem to bring out the best in their respective skills.
Still hate Mollee, though. She can’t managed to look happy without appearing vapid. But really glad that Billy will get another shot in Vegas.
I loved the Starry Night dance and thought the guy was great. The judges had great feedback about “opening up” his shoulders and when the showed it again you could see what they meant. A great evening overall. At this point, it’s sad to see anyone go.
The moves by Legacy were lightning quick and crisp. Just an amazing performance.
I guess my problem with the Starry Night performance is that it’s overly dependant on the video going on in the background. Without it, the dance makes no sense. It’s one thing to rely on a prop or a costume to evoke character, but that number went nowhere without that video (especially when it would shift and change the imagery). I’d never accuse WR of using such a conspicuous crutch before, but I hope it was an exception and not a sign of what may continue to be in store for future dances.
Nice to see so many new choreographers. Wonder how they get them – do people submit audition DVDs?
Loved the African jazz number – Russell is amazing, I’m totally rooting for him. My other favorite is Jakob – I was surprised no one was commenting on the Clockwork Orange vibe of the cane number, which I thought was very cool, despite the few small flubs.
Legacy is also turning out to be a better all-around dancer than I expected.
Among the women, I don’t have a strong favorite yet.
Both the hip-hop number and the samba were complete messes; with any luck, this will be the end of Mollee, who was clearly way over her head. (Hope they bring the choreographer back; would love to see what his stuff looked like danced by someone who could.) The hip-hop wasn’t as badly danced as that, I just didn’t think it was a particularly interesting dance.
Honestly, and if I may be so crude, Mollee needs a good hard fucking. She needs to grab another dancer by the collar, throw him on the bed, and ride him like he’s a horse that got caught by a cactus plant.
She’ll emerge from that session a much better dancer.
