July 21st, 2010 by soullldiva

Yes, there have been a LOT of upsets on Season 7 of SYTYCD. Two of the best dancers are gone, and not because of lack of votes. My first pick for early choice to win is gone. The best female dancer on the show is gone. What NEXT? Billy Bell sidelined with a knee injury? Oh, what’s that? Billy’s injured? Oh.

Gorgeous, wonderful, teddy bear Kenny Ortega is a guest judge tonight which is really amazing and a great treat for us. Sa-weeeet!

Does anyone know what Cat Deely is wearing tonight? My husband said it looked like her original dress had static cling and picked up a red scarf. He has a point.

First up: Last girl standing Lauren and all-star Twitch with a Hip Hop routine. I’ll give this to Lauren she is one powerful dancer. She’s got muscles and she’s not afraid to use them. She works this dance within an inch of it’s life. What about that rollover she did–twice? What? Cool. Not my favorite NappyTabs number, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Judge’s love it and her. Nigel noted that Twitch looked like he’d been “ridden hard and put away wet.” Ooh, baby.

Jose is next with all-star Allison for a contemporary number with Sonya Tayeh. A sad, breakup contemporary number, which will be interesting to see Jose in, since he’s super good at loving the girl. And Allison says she melts when she’s around him. Hmmmm… The dance starts on the edge of the stage which is awesome, we’ve not seen that for a while. Jose really got nailed bad last week for his dancing and I’m not certain that he pulls it out here, either. He’s very into the acting and the moments with Allison, though, to his credit. But then again, there is not much dancing for him to do here. The piece is mostly acting. Very quaint and sweet. The judges have trouble critiquing it, as his performance was great but his dancing didn’t seem to shine because of what she gave him to do.

Robert is paired with Lauren for a Tyce DiOrio Jazz routine. The boys are fawning (or is that foaming) over Lauren and her juicy booty. Sexy dance indeed for the two of them, along with sexy music from My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult…although I am left a bit unimpressed with the entire thing. It was good, though, don’t get me wrong. I just wasn’t blown away. Mia noted that it was refreshing to see just a strait jazz piece with no story. The choreography was good, but I do miss story (that’s my thang and all). Judges loved it and Robert.

Little Kent is matched with Kathryn for another Sonya Tayeh number, but jazz this time. Hopefully Kent can contain his love for the audience this time. I love this piece from the music to the costumes, to the great choreography. The chemistry is there between them, but is more like sister and brother rather than romantic. But it works for them because the both of them are so sweet. This is just tons of fun. And the song, “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae is just first rate music, I’m checking into her right now. Mia gets on his case for making the choreography “juvenile” with his facial expression. I really see her point, but it seemed to work in this piece. The other judges love him.

AdeChike gets to do a NappyTabs Hip Hop with Comfort next. This one is a bit more serious than the cowboy one, so it should be interesting. Not to mention she really smacked the hell out of him in the rehearsal (did you see the slowmo?). Lyrical Hip Hop? We’ll see. Oooh, props on the stage! Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’” lends itself so wonderfully to hip hop, yet is not the usual driving music. I liked it. I think that it needed a bit more of the softer side of the love to match the violence, but it was very good, especially Ade, he really was moved by the scenario, you could totally tell. It was very raw and real, and very cinematic, as the judges said. Nicely done by AdeChike!

Lauren and Robert are the first contestants to be paired together for the night, and get to do a Dmitry Chaplin Samba, set at a beach party. Lauren’s butt is a lethal weapon, ya’ll. I’ve never seen a behind cocked up and rolled so much. Pretty amazing stuff. She shot me with her butt. This was a non-traditional samba, pretty cool, though. I love Dmitry. They did a great job, very clean, precise and lots of shaking and rolls. Robert really looked like a ballroom dancer, wow!

AdeChike and Jose get to do a…Paso Doble together? Two guys, very interesting concept. Will Dmitry and the boys be able to pull it off with the concept of them fighting over the girl? I think the Paso is the most challenging dance anyone will ever do on the show for so many reasons. It is unfortunately clear who the more technically accomplished and undoubtedly better dancer is here, folks. It is kinda unfair to pair Jose with AdeChike. But on the whole, it was not so bad, they were both committed to the piece and had connection.

The last contestant pairing is Kent and Billy. Will Billy bring Kent down to earth or will Kent send billy up into the stratosphere? We’ll never know, will we? Nor will we ever get to see Billy do Step. And I’m disappointed, because for two contemporary/ballet boys to do straight rhythmic movement would be something to see. Twitch gets to do the routine with him which is fine, but defeats the purpose of having two ballet boys do it. I much prefer stepping with a large crowd of men, I think it resonates better and has more power. But I think it’s great we get to see a new style on the show, one that doesn’t get much air time on national TV (Tahitian dancing, Russian dancing, what’s next?) Not my favorite thing, but done pretty well. The judges gush over it and that’s…okay. Mia says Kent is the one to beat. Mia, love ya, but we’re not on the same page.

The standout solo of the night is the only one I’m going to comment on and that’s AdeChike’s solo to the infamous “Women’s Work” covered by Maxwell. This was an absolutely superb solo, and I could not take my eyes off him. I was a little nervous for him using the song that was already “done” two season’s ago with Tyce’s cancer piece, but no. He ripped his heart out and left it on the stage. Perfection. Ade is officially my new front runner and favorite dancer on the show. Can I get an amen?

That’s all for this week, it’s whittling down to the best of the best. Who will go home tomorrow night? Let’s hope it’s due to votes and not an injury. Cross your fingers, people.

November 25th, 2009 by soullldiva

*SPOILER ALERT!*

The three finalists: Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel, Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson and Mya and Dmitry Chaplin performed their last dances on the season 9 results show for Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday night. They chose their favorite dances from their 10 week run on the show.

Kelly and Louis chose their Viennese Waltz from the very first show. This dance always stuck with me because not only was it her first dance, she really declared herself in it.  Not only as a dancer, but as a  new person that people had not seen before. Their rehearsal/talk footage of their journey together was very touching; especially moments between the two of them where Louis expresses how proud he has been of her and the progress she’s made through the weeks (I even teared up).

Their waltz was even better than I remembered it, with more romance, love and grace. Bravo! The crowd chanted her name while the judges spoke to her.  She was definitely a crowd favorite. Even Carrie Ann Inaba cried a bit when she said Kelly was her favorite dancer to watch as she went on her journey.

Mya and Dmitry chose their Jive from week 2, and this was always one of my favorites from her (along with her Salsa from last week). Their dance was very cheeky and funny with cute characters.  This was a great one for them to pick.

Donny and Kym did their Argentine Tango, which continues to be one of my favorite dances of the entire season (along with Kym’s amazing dress). The two of them had real passion, connection and lust (and this from a happily married man from Utah??). Fantastic dance to end with as the evening progressed.

Unfortunately, the Judges did their ridiculous ranking again, like for the Megamix.  This just perplexes me, as it doesn’t give the stars any chance of getting the score that they really deserve. Maybe I was just pissed off that Kelly was ranked 3rd when she deserved more than 26.  In that moment, you could tell that Kelly thought she was not going to win. In an interesting turn, Donny and Kelly were ranked 1st with 30 points. Shades of things to come?

As the reveal of 3rd place happened, I was wiggling my toes and hoping against all hope that it was not Kelly and Louis. But unfortunately, it was, and although overall she was happy you could tell she was disappointed.  Who wouldn’t after giving it their all and doing so well?

They brought the two finalists upstage with the Mirror Ball in between them and the anticipation was so thick you had to swim through it. We waited with the heartbeat thumping…to hear Donny Osmond’s name called as the winner of the 9th season of Dancing With the Stars! This was truly a surprise upset, as Mya has consistently been the front runner to win the entire season.  What a great event, as not only Donny wins, but pro Kym Johnson gets her first and much-deserved win. I was so happy for her, she really deserved it! Mya was super gracious as she expressed how glad she was for Donny and how her experience on the show was amazing.

Donny was so happy and brought his entire beautiful (and huge) family on stage to share his victory. YEA DONNY!

I’ll be back with Dancing With the Stars coverage when they announce the new cast for the spring. But of course I will continue to with my normal dance posts. Ta!

(Images courtesy of ABC Television)

November 24th, 2009 by soullldiva

I always have mixed feelings about the finals.  I think I expect too much out of everyone, and maybe get disappointed. But I forget that these are the same people as before, just one more week along.  So logically, they are not going to turn into full-fledged pro dancers in 7 days (or really 5 days because that’s all the time they get). Tonight I watched with that in mind so I could really enjoy myself.  These three stars (and their pros) have really busted ass to get in the Finals and they deserved it!  Now I wanted them to show me the stuff!

First the stars did one last regular-style dance by themselves.  Kelly Osbourne was first with her Argentine Tango.  Now this is my favorite Ballrooom/Latin dance, and I was crossing my fingers that she would do well, and better than her last effort.  Fortunately, Carrie Ann Inaba made a visit to their rehearsal to give her some coaching specifically on her emotional connection with her partner.  This is something she has always needed to work on, even though Kelly is really “The Transformer” of the show.  She’s the one that’s come the farthest and really discovered dance.  But she has never quite had that connect with Louis Van Amstel that would allow them to play lovers.

Let me tell you she did NOT disappoint. Her footwork was excellent, lines were beautiful and they really smoldered when looking into each other’s eyes. It was the real connection this time, yea!  Strangely, this was the lowest scoring first dance of the night, with a 9-9-8, and I sincerely believe it was the best first dance of all three.  Maybe the judges were warming up or something.  The only big criticism that I heard was from Bruno Tonioli who said that Kelly’s “free hand” was doing odd things while she danced.  Ugh, whatever.

Next up was Mya. Len Goodman paid her and Dmitry Chaplin a visit as they rehearsed. Len’s intention as they practiced was to really push Mya to her limits in the Paso Doble. He even yelled at her about her kicks, that she could kick his upper hand out of the way. This is a great thing, because I have thought through pretty much the whole season that Mya was too cool of a cucumber, and never really revealing much or reaching her limits.

Technically, the dance looked good and had that measure of anger and sharpness that the Paso calls for.  But I really didn’t feel the passion that it needs.  The Paso is such a difficult dance to pull off and make look super spectacular in my opinion, you really need a variety of great moves coupled with a really great passionate anger with your partner. Nothing can hold a candle to Mel B. and Maks Chmerkovskiy’s Paso in season 7. Incidentally, Len mentions Mel’s dance in his critique of Mya, saying hers was up there. As you can guess, I do not agree. Judges scores: 10-10-10.

Donny Osmond was next with his Cha Cha Cha. Bruno made a visit to him and partner Kym Johnson to help sharpen up his technique enough to match his showmanship. This is great because Donny can always pull out a crowd-pleasing performance, but not be technically perfect. Bruno took him to task and really put him through his paces. Oddly enough, I didn’t see much evidence of this in his Cha Cha, where he did what seemed as little actual dancing as possible.  I thought I might be wrong, but my friend sitting next to me echoed my thoughts exactly. The judges seemed quite happy with it, so it’s possible I don’t understand the man’s role in the Cha Cha. Judges scores: 9-9-9.

A new element this season was the Megamix, where all three couples danced a “superdance” at the same time.  Three dances, same choreography (by Nick Kosovich from seasons 2 and 3). This, in theory, is a great idea, I always love the pro dances where up to 5 couples dance at the same time–but those are not PRO dancers.  Do you know how hard it is to have six people dancing in complete synchronization and stay in a specific formation?  HARD. I personally thought that the Megamix was a mess, and the girls outfits were rather unflattering and distracting. They combined Viennese Waltz, Samba and Jive which to me was rather jarring.

In any case, the stars seemed to enjoy themselves, which makes it all ok in the end. Mya came in first, Donny second and Kelly third for 30, 28 and 26 points respectively.

Lastly was the most anticipated dance: the Freestyle. They kept on saying that the Freestyle can make or break a dancer and they could win or lose the trophy with it.  I have to say, I completely disagree, and the Freestyle is always interesting to me, but NOT my favorite. I feel that the Freestyle is some odd excuse to trot out every single trick, lift and leap you’ve ever wanted to do.  It’s never simply been about dancing. Freestyles usually do not live up to expectations and don’t always get the best scores.

Kelly and Louis were up first with a disco Freestyle to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”,which she had adopted as her theme song, just because her DWTS trip has definitely been an up and down one for her. Yet she still came out shining. Her dance was fun and free, with lots of smiling and singing along from her (which I love). Also thrown in were lots of tricks, not all of which were completely pulled off. But she smiled and laughed the whole way along and never gave up. This got her kudos from the judges if not high paddles. Judges scores: 8-8-8.

Mya and Dmitry did a puzzling Freestyle to “Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. I liked it a lot, mostly for the reason that they didn’t pull out every trick in the book.  It was good dancing, but not show-stopping.  And her outfit was super cute.  I think they should have gone with Mya’s out-of-the-box idea. Judges scores: 9-9-9.

Donny and Kym were last with what was the most entertaining Freestyle of the evening. Donny did what Donny does the best: entertain us with energy, enthusiasm and style (why didn’t everyone do that?). “Hollywood at it’s best, ” yelled Bruno.  Agreed. Carrie said his Broadway number went down into history with the best, including Drew Lachey’s “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” and Shawn Johnson’s Jabbawokeez-inspired Freestyle. Two really great ones in a sea of not really memorable Freestyles. Judges scores: 10-10-10. Well deserved.

The voting has been unpredictable this season. Almost as unpredictable as this season’s predictable winner. But the probability of Mya winning the mirror-ball trophy does not take away from the suspense.  Will the obviously enormous fan bases of Kelly’s and Donny’s come out screaming overnight to deliver an upset?  Even though all three stars have delivered a fantastic season (Mya included), I am keeping my fingers crossed for Miss Osbourne.  Nobody deserves the win more.

Agree? Disagree?  Lemme have it!!

November 17th, 2009 by soullldiva

This is it!  The final performances before the finale next week on Dancing With the Stars.  The final four couples are really exciting this year: Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson, Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough, Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel, and Mya and Dmitry Chaplin.

I was super super sad to see Aaron Carter go, I felt he could have really stuck it in there for the long run, but unfortunately his fan base was just not as strong as some others.  But big kudos go out to him for his big heart and enthusiasm, and penchant for tremendous improvement in his dance technique.  He entered the show a boy, and exited a man.

Tonight for the first time in Dancing With the Stars history, the final four couples perform three times for the audience.  They finally get a chance to perform that “last chance dance” they’ve been working on for the past few weeks in the event they landed in the bottom two.  Needless to say, these dances are so short (geeze, I think about 30 seconds), that I don’t really even consider them more than a post script for their other two dances.

Even the coaching from Gilles Marini couldn’t help Donny and Kym’s unfortunate Tango. Not only was the song selection terrible (it just didn’t scream “tango”), the whole dance just never got off the ground, and Donny’s face surely gave away the fact. Safe to say he had nowhere to go but up. Judges’ scores: 7-7-7

Fortunately, he redeemed himself with his fantastic Samba.  Donny’s solo completely smoked when he broke out in moves directly from his Osmond Brothers days on stage.  Plus, he had an absolute ball, which made up for him berating himself after his Tango. I think most people might disagree, but I really love the way that he cheers for himself when he knows he did a good job.  He likes to celebrate when he nails it. I think more artists should do that for themselves.  Judges scores: 8-9-9

Their third dance was the Jitterbug which was short but sweet.  Very energetic and fun. And surprisingly, their best scores of night. Judges scores: 9-9-9

Joanna and Derek’s first dance of the night was a Viennese Waltz.  I have not been a big Joanna fan all these weeks, but this waltz caught me completely off guard.  The beginning was really beautiful and I actually believed her when she acted the romance in the dance.  Except for one odd move where she was posed in a kind of dip with her knees bent, this was super good.  And the song was an excellent match as well.  Judges scores: 9-9-9

Second for Joanna was a Cha Cha Cha, which I was excited to see after her great Viennese Waltz.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t as “cheeky” as it could have been, although it was fun to watch her sing along with the song while she danced.  It shows just how much she enjoys herself when she dances, and that always endears me to a dancer. Judges scores: 9-9-9

Their last dance was the Salsa which was cute, but I was surprised that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Plus Derek stumbled in the hold at the end.  Shame!  Judges scores: 9-9-9

Kelly is my underdog, and I loooooove rooting for the underdog.  She has this magical ability to capture an audience with her joy and enthusiasm.  Plus she has a radiant smile.  Not a bad dancer, either! Her first dance of the night was a Rumba, and although she and Louis didn’t really capture the sensual feeling that is really needed in the Rumba, they did a really great job.  Kelly’s lines were great, and she moved with great precision and control. Judges scores: 8-8-8

Kelly and Louis busted out of the starting gate with their second dance, a Quickstep.  This is Kelly’s real forte and she did not disappoint. Their movements were super quick, super precise and energetic.  Once again she completely lit up the entire room with that smile while she glided across the floor in Louis’ arms.  Plus her dress was fabulous. Judges scores: 9-9-9

The judges onces again continued to praise Kelly for her third dance, the Cha Cha Cha, which was so quick it was really hard to get anything but just a taste. Her technique was excellent and precise, and she really put a finish on all her moves. Judges scores: 9-9-9

Mya also has not been a favorite of mine through this season, for no reason other than I never really got that she enjoyed herself at all on the dance floor. It all looked like work for her to me, and she looked kinda bored at times. However she, like Joanna, pulled it out tonight, and impressed me with her Waltz which had a good measure of feeling in it.  I believed it.  Their moves were very smooth, lines excellent and their romance was very sweet.  The Waltz has always been a ho-hum dance for me, you really have to capture my attention for me to get into it and Mya and Dmitry succeeded. Judges scores: 9-9-10

Mya and Dmitry broke away from the pack again with their Salsa, which was just excellent, excellent, crazy good. Mya did the best solo I’ve ever seen from a star in a Latin dance.  Ok, who cares about her “prior dance experience” when she gives it this good?  Her Salsa had fun, party, speed, precision, everything. Judges scores: 10-10-10

Mya’s third dance was also the Cha Cha Cha, and it was amazingly exciting and dynamic, and was full of content. Not an easy feat for a 30 second (ok, 29) dance. This was absolutely the best last dance of the evening. Judges scores: 9-10-10

SO! The leader board stands like this:

1st: Mya/Dmitry with 87

2nd: Joanna/Derek with 81

3rd: Kelly/Louis with 78

4th: Donny/Kym with 74

The suspense will be over tomorrow night when we find out who makes it to the finals next week.  My picks are Kelly, Donny for sentimental, artistic reasons, and Mya just because she’s good.  Will I be right or wrong?  Tune in and find out!!

November 10th, 2009 by soullldiva

The final five pairings: Mya and Dmitry Chaplin, Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff, Joanna Krupa and Derek Huff, Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson and Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel squared off and did two full dances this week, one Ballroom and one Latin.

This was a good, quality night for everyone, even with the flu still running rampant among the dancers. There was lots of dancing with medical masks and scarves on.

Mya and Dmitry turned in a really solid Quickstep that was super fluid and smooth.  The judges (Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli) loved it with a 9-10-10 score. Their next dance was a 70′s Samba which the judges positively gushed over, giving it the first perfect 30 of the season.  Personally, it fell a little flat for me, as they slowed their song down quite a bit (Donna Summer’s “Bad Girl”) and that just took the party out of the dance. Overall, Mya has a very good chance in the Semi-Finals.

Aaron and Karina, dancing with face masks on to keep germs at bay, first performed their Foxtrot which on the whole was solid, but seemed a bit awkward at times and not as fluid as it could have been.  They did have a pretty cool move in the middle where in hold Karina turned and flipped her leg up and out; very nice. Next for them was a 90′s Samba which matched for Aaron well, as he had his hit single during that time.  They incorporated moves that he did for his song (the cowboy walk was seriously silly) and it turned out really good.  The Samba’s energy is perfect for Aaron and he really had the fierce, party feel during the dance.

Seeing that Aaron and Karina were in the bottom two last week, I really hope that his fans come out and vote for him to keep him safe and on to the Semi-Finals!

Joanna and Derek did a Quickstep for their Ballroom round which I thought was good, but Joanna’s arms and feet got “lazy” at times. Len thought it was not the standard for Quarterfinals. Ouch.  They then pulled a “Futuristic” Paso Doble out of the hat (yikes) and came up with a concept that was pretty sensational.  Cool makeup, lighted silver costumes and “Living on Video” (which ironically is from the 80′s) for the song. Again, Joanna’s arms and legs were a bit limp for my taste, not enough force and strength for the Paso, but the judges gave it a 9-10-10 score.  We’ll see how she fares for getting into the Semi-Finals.

Kelly and Louis were a breath of fresh air in the evening, with Kelly’s return to a traditional Ballroom dance since her first week. Gone are the nerves, she said, and they have turned to excitement. She’s a little girls who’s learned something new and she wants to show off.  Good!  This is what I’ve been waiting for with her! She danced her Foxtrot with Louis wearing that sweet, giddy smile on her face. Their performance was smooth, graceful and elegant, with a hint of naughtiness which is perfect for her personality. Carrie Ann had it exactly right about Kelly when she said” The moment you have a breakthrough the audience goes crazy.” I know I was hopping up and down in my seat watching her at home. Her scores for the Ballroom round: 8-8-9.

Next was a 60′s Jive for Kelly and Louis. They came up with some 60′s style movements that blended in very well with the Jive. Kelly’s flicks were sharp and quick and she turned in a super performance that was reminiscent of an Austin Powers number (which I adore). Plus, she’s whittling away that waistline and looked amazing in her outfit. Her scores improved this round with an 8-9-9. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her and hope the voting goes her way for the Semifinals.

Donny and Kym did a Viennese Waltz for the first round which started a tiny bit sluggish but quickly gained momentum and excitement with their connection and Donny’s personality. Donny once again gave a first class showmanship performance, and Bruno commented that his Waltz played out like a “Lifetime Movie,” and as silly as Bruno’s comments can get at times, this one definitely hit the mark!

Their second dance for the Latin round was an 80′s Paso Doble. They picked a Dead or Alive song and dressed Donny up like Adam Ant which rocked, but unfortunately didn’t do great things for his lines during the Paso. The whole thing was kind of odd, even though it was pretty good. Once again Bruno’s comment rang true: “It’s like I was watching Donny playing Marie, playing Donny, playing Marie.” Looking at Donny’s makeup, you can see his point.

I think Donny is enough of a crowd favorite he’s secured his spot in the Semi-Finals.

Good luck to them all, tune in tomorrow for the results!