November 18th, 2009 by soullldiva

Whew! Well, after the fallout from Nigel Lythgoe’s tirade last week, the mood on the set of So You Think You Can Dance this week was decidedly subdued. Criticism was given quite a bit milder, and enthusiasm was not as big (geeze, Mary only yelled once the entire show). This was not to say that the dancing did not merit enthusiasm, however. This was a darn good night, with my favorite dance of the season so far.

Ashleigh and Jakob opened the night with a NappyTabs Hip-Hop number. The story was of a girl and her cheatin’ guy–and she finds out by looking at a text on his phone (how very of the times). I love that NappyTabs tells stories with their choreography. Before SYTYCD, I had never experienced Hip-Hop this way, and it was quite a revelation for me. Ashleigh and Jakob really came out fighting in this piece, they took hold of the story and told it with the movements, creating their relationship. They absolutely had the passion and the hurt, but I felt needed just a tad more love. After all, there’s no hurt if there was no love, right? Nigel predicted Jakob to go to the top 10, and told Ashleigh she has grown super-fast as a dancer on the show. Kudos all around.

Next were Karen and Kevin with a Spencer Liff Broadway ditty from Sweet Charity. This was an interesting combination of super-cuteness and super-hard choreography. Broadway is never an easy task, and doesn’t usually garner high praise from the judges. Karen and Kevin were cute together (a 180 from sizzling hotness the past few weeks), but the level of cuteness and humor needed to be far above what they gave on stage for the whole thing to work. Lots more *wink* would have worked for them.

Interestingly enough, Noelle and Russell drew Foxtrot once again out of the hat, with Eddie Simon choreographing. Wow, did Russell improve vastly from his Foxtrot a few weeks ago. But seriously, can Russell do no wrong? The two of them looked like they were having just the time of their lives up on stage, you could almost feel the joy through the tv. Their movements were smooth and effortless and were great to watch. Sheer elegance.

Channing and Victor got a Tyce DiOrio Jazz number where they got to portray “two curious, eclectic, blackbirds coming out to play,” as Tyce said. They used the Beatles’ “Blackbird” covered by Bobby McFerrin, which lent itself very well to the stacatto movements. They had good connection and synchronization and really popped in this dance. I could have even taken even more bird-like mannerisms. After all, if you’re going to portray an animal, you might as well go all the way, huh? Channing and Victor definitely seemed to enjoy them selves in this, there was a certain freedom that I’d never seen before in their dancing.

Kathryn and Legacy drew the “Paso Doble from Hell” (choreographer Tony Meredith’s words). This one was a lot of fun to watch. The Paso can very easily look silly and overdone, and this was not the case with Kathryn and Legacy. They committed to the story of the sea Admiral coming back to claim his angry, heartbroken woman. Whew! Much anger, passion, heat and fire. There could have been a little more precision, and Legacy’s shoulders were pretty tense (as were Kevin’s, it’s common with guy dancers), but overall it was really terrific.

Ellenore and Ryan performed my favorite dance of the night, and of the season so far, a Travis Wall Contemporary number. This told the story of a broken up couple who happens to bump into each other one day. She nursed a broken heart for along time and got over him, he suddenly realized he missed the boat with her. The moment they bumped into each other was truly exquisite, they really took their time and SAW each other, and reacted, it was a real moment. From there the connection strengthened and their performance was superb. Their movements were completely in tune with each other, and you felt their dilemma with the “I really love you but I can’t do this again” thing. They had a fearlessness when they danced with each other, and the lifts and leaps just seemed to happen with no effort. The dance closed brilliantly, bringing them back to the first moment where they bumped into each other, portraying the whole experience happening in a moment in their heads, and they went their separate ways. Genius.

Mollee and Nathan closed out the show with a LaurieAnn Gibson Pop Jazz routine. Loriann had them use an interesting technique of doing a lot of yelling while they danced, because sound unlocks the spirit. I liked this odd technique, sound is always good, and it also gets you to BREATHE, which dancers often forget to do (yeah, right?). Unfortunately, Mollee’s dress was truly awful and took me completely out of it to begin with, and then I just didn’t GET this dance at all. What was I missing? There was even one move where they looked like they were in a sexual position. But, they were big, coordinated, strong, and committed to the dance. Kudos. Not much connection with each other, however, and I really think that comes with just being too young and inexperienced in relationships. They are babies, after all. Talented babies.

Well! We wait with baited breath for elimination tonight. Will Kevin and Karen get sent home as Nigel predicts? Tune in and see!

(Images courtesy of FOX television)

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!

November 3rd, 2009 by soullldiva

So in my last post I didn’t really talk about the team dances, I thought I better come back and do that.

Team Tango had a couple of advantages over Team Paso, unfortunately (or fortunately, however you see it).  The Paso team had 4 couples, Tango had 3.  Paso is mostly done out of hold, Tango in (this helps for synchronization).  The Paso pros decided to hash (and I mean HASH) things out with the stars in the room, the Tango pros handled the choreography beforehand and then taught it to the stars. Team Paso did a good job of making Team Tango look much more professional and a TEAM.

That said, the Paso didn’t turn out badly at all, it had real power, force and energy, everything a Paso Doble needs.  Plus, Mark redeemed himself from his individual dance earlier and Mya caught the judges eye.

But the Tango really came together and was spectacular, garnering better scores than the Paso.  Just goes to show that “leaving the egos at the door” really helps when being a professional artist, and I wholly support that school of thought.

Both teams, in the end, should be commended for undertaking a difficult task!

October 20th, 2009 by soullldiva

Last night was a very interesting night on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.  I have been looking forward to tango/paso doble night for a little while, it never disappoints.

Argentine Tango is my favorite ballroom dance. Heat, passion, lust, anger and awesome legwork are always in order. The one contestant who really pulled it out of the bag and delivered wholeheartedly was “little” Aaron Carter. Damn if he didn’t pull it together, focus and connect with excellent precision and a LOT of lust for Karina (he’s a young man, who can blame him?). After his last two low-score weeks (and I don’t completely agree with the judges on that) this was new life in his dancing. Unfortunately, his scores were not as good as some of the other contestants, but I really think he gave it all and did excellently (and the judges did like it a lot).

The one dance that I was really looking forward to was Kelly Osbourne’s paso doble.  She was doing it to her father Ozzy’s song “Crazy Train” and I thought “oh yeah, this will be great.” It was good, she looked great in her grey skirt and spiky hair, and Louis looked great in his Ozzy Ozbourne makeup.

Kelly and her Daddy 'do

But I think her nerves got the better of her again, I feel like she’s holding on too hard to NOT mess up.  I think she held on less in the very first week of competition maybe because it was her first time doing this and she thought “what do I have to lose?”  And now, she got such high praise (well deserved) that now she’s afraid to not live up to those standards.  Just let go Kelly, and HAVE FUN–you’re great as-is.

On a different note, the hair was completely out of control last night.  In fact, Tom Bergeron called it when he said “hairstyles by Fellini.” The ‘do I really liked was Kelly’s ,she looked like a blonde version of her father from the early 80′s.  But Lacey’s ratty looking faux-hawk just didn’t read well on TV.  As well, Samantha Harris’ terrible, frizzy curly ‘do made her look like she had it done in 1983 with bad hot rollers (and she’s the worlds most glamorous paper doll on TV, they really know how to dress her up).  Ugh.  THEN to top it off, all the guys wore the silliest, poufy wigs for the Hustle group dance–but that was pure fun! ;o)