If I can re-interpret Nigel’s comments:
Shut up & listen. At some point you have to actually dance, and can’t pander to the audience and rely on tween voters and your good looks. Judges hold some power on this show, and if you fall into the bottom 3 in the next 3 weeks we’ll drop you like a bad habit.
In other words…this ain’t American Idol.
I was amused by Nigel’s comments about Karen just being too damn sexy for the show’s tween demographic.
Reminds me of Nigel: “[Female fans] are really quite fearful, that’s my theory. They see us on stage with tight trousers and we’ve got, you know, armadillos in our trousers. I mean, it’s really quite frightening, the size. They run screaming.”
Top 2: Ashleigh & Jakob, Ellenore & Ryan
I was underwhelmed w/the hip hop choreography, but there was no doubt that A&J fully committed to the routine, especially her. The best choreography was in the contemporary, and E&R did the piece total justice; as mismatched as they seemed last week, they were perfectly in tune this one.
In the Game: Kathryn & Legacy, Noelle & Russell, Mollee & Nathan
I didn’t care for the Paso Doble or the Foxtrot as much as the judges, but there’s little doubt that Legacy & Russell continue to prove they’re well-suited for all sorts of material and that they’re much better dancers than their backgrounds suggest. Their partners didn’t have as much to do, relatively speaking, but Kathryn in particular is more stunning every week.
I don’t like M&N and while their number wasn’t nearly as bad as last week, it left me completely cold and I thought they were dodgy in execution and only so-so in conveying anything real or personal. But the judges like them and the crowd even more so, so I’m resigned to them making the Top 10. I would pick them as the 3rd of the cellar dwellers, but I suspect the foxtrotters will be there instead.
Bottom 2: Karen & Kevin, Channing & Victor
Karen is hot and has nice lines, but hasn’t shown much more to offer, and Kevin is just out of his league at this point. The Broadway was an out-n-out snoozer. As for Channing & Victor, they may have stepped things up this week, but the high-concept number didn’t help their cause and Adam was right: the a cappella song was a bad choice and acted more as a distraction than a seamless complement to the rest of the piece. They already haven’t demonstrated to have much of a following, so it’ll be a minor miracle if either makes the Top 10.
What was with Nigel going first on the critiques tonight? Don’t remember who said they didn’t like Adam’s “long-winded” critiques, but Nigel’s were much longer last night than Adam’s. I thought they both had very good advice to the dancers, very straightforward and unambiguous. Mary is just annoying. Occasionally she has relevant comments on ballroom styles, but overall she’s just plain irritating.
Enjoyed the paso doble and the hip-hop by Ashleigh and partner. Did not enjoy Molleeeee (what’s a few more e’s amoung friends?). There just didn’t seem to be enough extension or completion of the moves. Also Channing and Viktor’s bird routine was for the birds.
Travis as a choreographer continues to impress.
Hated Mollee and Nathan, could not see anything worth praising in the routine, which they chugged through without grace or expression. Have no idea whatsoever why the judges were not only not mocking them, they were praising them.
Alas, the tweener girls are creaming over Nathan, so we may be stuck with them for the top ten. Sigh.
Unlike everyone else, I really liked Channing and Viktor’s bird routine, and would even say especially because of the music, not despite it.
Agree with ArchiveGuy about the top two teams – two great teams, four damned good dancers.
Channing’s grandfather is one of my clients.
I agreed with Adam about Bobby McFerrin: I was listening so intently to the music that I completely spaced through the dancing.
I don’t like the video backdrop. Displaying the “text messages” was just cheezy.
Cat displayed some talent for vocal mimicry, “doing” Travis Wall and Mary.
I loved him as a dancer, and I’ll multiply that by about a million for his choreography. I feel his numbers have the same power as some of Mia’s best stuff, but without the angst that all her pieces hinge on. I was really impressed with Ryan’s performance of it, as well. Up until last night, I had always seen him as a ballroom guy who made every other style look like ballroom. Last night, I thought he did much better.
It’s really very simple. The producers have determined that these two dancers will sell tickets when they’re on tour. That’s why they were “fan favorites” before any voting had occurred and that’s why they will not be kicked off until the top 10 (though they’re then free to kick them off before the top 8).
I missed tonight’s results show – could someone spoiler it for me?
[SPOILER]Bottom three couples: Mollee/Nathan, Karen/Kevin, Channing/Victor
The two who were kicked off: Channing and Kevin
Karen (quite rightly) got credit for her earlier top-notch performances and was able to slip through one down week (even if it was very down). Honestly I was hoping they’d get rid of Nathan because this week might be their only chance to do so for a while, now that the 12 year old girls have seen that their sweetheart could possibly be in danger. No real complaints, though; they probably got the ‘right’ two for this week.[/SPOILER]
I could have sworn Karen was going- her “dance for her life” solo was weak. It was like she was dancing in a club or something. I thought Channing’s been improving and her solo really looked like she was trying to save herself; Karen looked like she didn’t give a damn.
Yeah, but I’m pretty sure Nigel has never made a single oogy comment about Channing.
Karen’s dance-for-her-life was indeed pretty pathetic, but I can understand their point–she still has charisma chops, and I suspect they may be interested in how she’d do with a real partner (no offense, Kev, but you were barely keeping your head above water, let alone being the kind of support a partner needs). Karen comes from ballroom, where she’s a bit more reliant and comfortable w/a partner, so it was an extra disadvantage to be paired up with someone who didn’t really know the ropes at all.
Personally, I think Channing managed to be the prettiest of all the Top 20 ladies without being the most attractive; by this I mean that her features are lovely, but they never added up to something magnetic or interesting, while women who didn’t register anything to me at first (Ashleigh, Kathryn) have proven themselves as increasingly gorgeous (IMHO) because of their stage presence, level of commitment, and effortless comfort in their own skin. Channing has had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate this and has come up zilochola time and time again.
Not that Victor’s much better, but his solo was better than Channing’s, who seemed to do the standard contemporary flip-&-yearn phone-in, so while it may have been better than Karen’s, it wasn’t by much (and while I can’t stand Mollee, I have to admit she showed what you need to do when under the gun). I suspect Karen is on the block, and will go next–unless her partnering with Victor proves genuinely alchemic. Kevin was a millstone, and they want to see what a charismatic performer can do unfettered; Channing showed that, for her, the answer was “not much”, so she had to go.
Most of all, I’m glad “America” saw the light about Mollee & Nathan, since their bottom 3 placing was well-deserved. It gives me hope that the two (particularly Nathan) may be vulnerable to next week’s outing; at least Mollee has Karen as a fairly safe buffer, but Victor may blossom with someone new so I wouldn’t have a problem at all if Nathan were to leave (since, for the life of me, I don’t get his appeal at all–beyond the obvious 13-yr-old girl p.o.v.)
Why the Mollee hate? She is an excellent dancer.
I never liked Channing but I will be the first to admit it was fairly superficial. To me she doesn’t look very dancer-ish. Her legs seeme kind of short and to me did not seem to create a satisfying look in her lines. Like I said it is pretty vacuous of me, but there it is.
I forgot to mention how much I loved Adam’s comment the other night:
“All I can say is, if he’s an admiral, I know plenty of people who would want to join the navy!”
I think Nathan may be losing his audience not from his dancing, but from opening his mouth. He was an idiot (“I think it was HOT! YEAH!”) after last week’s critique, and then the way he took the dressing down from Nigel (“Heh heh, yeah I was funny!” “Oh crap, wait, that’s not good,” ::hangs head:: ) didn’t help either. Add yesterday’s comment where he basically said, “I was the youngest and pretty much always got what I wanted, and my brothers were jealous,” …yeaaahhhhhh. Beautiful dancer, but starting to come across as an immature, spoiled brat.
Mollee was more forgiveable to me as her solo was beautiful. She is maturing as a dancer, but her BOINGBOINGBOING off the dance floor still grates on me.
I, too, though for sure it would be Karen going home, but Nigel’s comments made sense. Karen has been smoking every single week except this past one; despite a weak solo, she still has a better past performance. Channing never had the POW!, and that blandness was her downfall.
I agree w/all of that about Karen and Channing, I just thought Nigel would have dinged Karen more for her clear “I don’t give a crap” attitude in her solo. It was like she didn’t even try.
There’s no way they’re going to let Karen, aka L’il JLo go before top 10. By similar logic, Nathan and Mollee are perfectly safe, as are the Di Lellos. (Going by marketing potential) They’re making Russell a star and Legacy has been kicking butt, so Victor is gone next week. The judges love Ellenore, so if she doesn’t self-destruct, then it’s a toss up between Noelle and Kathryn next week. With a particularly sappy BFF breakup if Noelle has to leave Mollee.
If I were in the audience, I would bring a sign that said “What the [picture of Cat Deeley in her wacky outfit] - O”.
I absolutely loved Channing in Tyce’s awesome piece, my favorite dance so far this season. I’ve had Bobby McFerrin’s “Blackbird” in my head ever since watching that, and I’m still not sick of it. I’m mildly obsessed with Bobby McFerrin now.
This routine reminded me of Wade’s super-amazing number for Brandon and Janette to Roisin Murphy’s “Ruby Blue.” Quirky music, dorky movement. Clearly I’m in the minority in preferring these weird jazz numbers to anything else.
I’m disappointed Channing went home, as I like her much better than Mollee. Karen’s solo was crap, but she’s so smokin’ hot I don’t want her to go home.