Before I get to the topic of the title, here's my recap of the thoughts of this week's So You Think You Can Dance top 18 episode.
I usually like standard hip hop affair - you know, the hard hitting type with the tricks and such, but the jailbreak from Twitch and Kherington was entertaining. It was nice to see Kherington go ghetto and show she has some flava!
I just love Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian. It seems as though they are in the middle of the pack and I don't know why... Usually there's one strong dancer in the couples that just carry the team but Courtney and Gev are evenly matched. Courtney is a stronger dancer but Gev is just cute in his adoration of her and he's a good partner. I thought their rhumba was hot! Not enough hip action from Gev but I don't care, this couple just does it for me!
Next we have Comfort Fedoke and Chris Jarosz' routine from Tyce Diorio. I usually like Tyce's choreography and this particular one was an African jazz routine. The look was interesting but there was no musicality with a heavy metal song. Choreographers need to be careful not to try make a statement with their art and instead make something more approachable to get votes for the sake of their dancers.
For the next number, it was William Wingfield and Jessica King. It was nice that their choreographer Doriana Sanchez was trying to emphasize Jessica in this disco number because Will is just in a class by himself. Jessica should know that she's in trouble - the judges pretty much say to her all the time she wouldn't be there if it weren't for Will. Jessica should have listened to Doriana's advice and taken it more seriously. In any case, I liked their disco number for what it was worth. Nothing spectacular but good.
I'm going to make the same comment for Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame's dance number as I did for Comfort and Chris... Weird and difficult to understand routines will not get votes. This piece was choreographed by Sonia, a new choreographer to the show. I think she should have opened the gates to something with wow factor.
Moving on, we have Chelsea Traille and Thayne Jasperson. I thought it was a disastrous routine. I thought it was supposed to be a quick step but it was not quick at all. All night I've been talking about a crowd pleaser. I think the music was good and bubbly and it could have been out of the ball park and had they been able to pull it off.
Finally, we save the best routines for last... Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura's routine of Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. Okay, folks, we have our first signature performance of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4! This is an unbelievable hip hop performance. I'm not used to this style of lyrical hip hop but the gestures, the pops were so in sync and fed the story. I beliiiiiiiieeeeeeved the emotions of the stay out home housewife and the workaholic husband. This could go down as the best routine of the season.
Next, we also had a very good samba performance by Katee Shean and Joshua Allen. Katee might have had a problem feeling sexy but I believed it from the start when she shot her leg out on Josh' shoulder. I thought it was a good performance but it went in and out for me. For parts of the routine it seemed as though they were a bit slow and then they caught up to the music. But the best part of the dance was Josh' ass. He really has good hip movement on this.
Overall, a very good night with memorable performances!
*Updated, Chelsea Traille and Chris Jarosz got voted off. Not surprised as Comfort has been protected all season. And Thayne does have more personality than Chris.
Twitchington love!
Okay, so I know I'm a week late with the So You Think You Can Dance top 20. To be perfectly honest, the top 20 performance left me really flat last week. I really wasn't vibing with anyone and I thought it was a very week way to start off the So You Think You Can Dance voting round.
Last week, the pairing of Rayven Armijo and Jamie Bayard got toasted. Pretty much it was a non event for me. Canon fodder.
But after watching the So You Think You Can Dance top 18, I'm more hopeful. There has been a lot of love for Twitch and Kherington Payne and at first I wasn't a fan, but now I am after their performance of Jean-Marc Genereaux's choreography of the Waltz dedicated to his daughter. It was beautiful and the voting might be helped by Mia Michael's harsh criticism of Kherington smiling too much. It was meant to be uplifting, Mia! Lighten up!
And another stand out performance for the night was Joshua Allen and Katee Shean. I am not a big fan of Broadway dances because I find them to be very cheesy and out of context when not framed within any context. But I have to say that I loved the entertainment factor! Bravo and they captured all the gestures and exaggerations perfectly!
So those were my favorite performances of the evening for the So You Think You Can Dance top 18. Other honorable mentions go to Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian. First off, Courtney Galiano is just beautiful! Second, Gev is so sweet on her that they make such a cute couple. Their dance was so simple but universal about love. It was very believable for me.
I also really liked Chelsie Hightower's and Mark Kanemura's Argentinian tango. Mark was hot! But if I have a little criticism with Chelsie was that she wasn't as hot as Mark. She was great in her technique but she wasn't as intense as Mark in his passion. Maybe it's her age that she can't pull that lust off or the fact in her interview that she was always saying that Mark's like her brother... but it could have been hotter.
And on a similar vein, I thought Susie Garcia and Marquis Cunningham lacked something in the hotness factor too. Very disappointing as the salsa is Susie's expertise. Maybe it was the pressure that she should be in her element, but their were elements in which she was off tonight. Sometimes it was hot, then it turned cold. It was like she was concentrating too much and wasn't grinding it out. Maybe it was due to Marquis not partnering her right. I think this couple is in real danger. More so in Susie's case because I don't know how she can win a dance off.
My suspicion of the other couple in danger would be Chelsea Traille and Thayne Jasperson. It was just boring, I didn't like the music and it wasn't banging or interesting enough to lead off. It was pretty forgettable.
And the rest of the dancers... William Wingfield and Jessica King, Matt Dorame and Kourtni Lind and Comfort Fedoke and Chris Jarosz acquitted themselves well tonight. Very solid performances if not a home run. Hopefully, they will be safe.
My prediction of who will go home? Susie Garcia and it will be a toss up amongst the guys depending on their solo.
I will await for tomorrow's results!
Last week, the pairing of Rayven Armijo and Jamie Bayard got toasted. Pretty much it was a non event for me. Canon fodder.
But after watching the So You Think You Can Dance top 18, I'm more hopeful. There has been a lot of love for Twitch and Kherington Payne and at first I wasn't a fan, but now I am after their performance of Jean-Marc Genereaux's choreography of the Waltz dedicated to his daughter. It was beautiful and the voting might be helped by Mia Michael's harsh criticism of Kherington smiling too much. It was meant to be uplifting, Mia! Lighten up!
And another stand out performance for the night was Joshua Allen and Katee Shean. I am not a big fan of Broadway dances because I find them to be very cheesy and out of context when not framed within any context. But I have to say that I loved the entertainment factor! Bravo and they captured all the gestures and exaggerations perfectly!
So those were my favorite performances of the evening for the So You Think You Can Dance top 18. Other honorable mentions go to Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian. First off, Courtney Galiano is just beautiful! Second, Gev is so sweet on her that they make such a cute couple. Their dance was so simple but universal about love. It was very believable for me.
I also really liked Chelsie Hightower's and Mark Kanemura's Argentinian tango. Mark was hot! But if I have a little criticism with Chelsie was that she wasn't as hot as Mark. She was great in her technique but she wasn't as intense as Mark in his passion. Maybe it's her age that she can't pull that lust off or the fact in her interview that she was always saying that Mark's like her brother... but it could have been hotter.
And on a similar vein, I thought Susie Garcia and Marquis Cunningham lacked something in the hotness factor too. Very disappointing as the salsa is Susie's expertise. Maybe it was the pressure that she should be in her element, but their were elements in which she was off tonight. Sometimes it was hot, then it turned cold. It was like she was concentrating too much and wasn't grinding it out. Maybe it was due to Marquis not partnering her right. I think this couple is in real danger. More so in Susie's case because I don't know how she can win a dance off.
My suspicion of the other couple in danger would be Chelsea Traille and Thayne Jasperson. It was just boring, I didn't like the music and it wasn't banging or interesting enough to lead off. It was pretty forgettable.
And the rest of the dancers... William Wingfield and Jessica King, Matt Dorame and Kourtni Lind and Comfort Fedoke and Chris Jarosz acquitted themselves well tonight. Very solid performances if not a home run. Hopefully, they will be safe.
My prediction of who will go home? Susie Garcia and it will be a toss up amongst the guys depending on their solo.
I will await for tomorrow's results!
So You Think You Can Dance Season 4, Top 20 Finalists!
After enduring some awful auditions for So You Think You Can Dance Season 4, Las Vegas week has finally arrived! There were some shockers as the heavily featured dancers did not make the cut! But before I spill the beans, let's recap some of the Las Vegas highlights.
Right off the bat, Robert Muraine, the insane popper from the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance bowed out. He couldn't even get through hip hop. It's hard to say whether or not it was a good decision... he certainly wasn't versatile enough, but just stay in for the face time, ya know?
Another to go bye bye quick was Claire Callaway. I'll say it before and I'll say it again. Girl should have waited another year to go back to SYTYCD auditions. It was just too soon and she didn't stand a chance in hell. She was over rated in her season anyway, now that I look back on old So You Think You Can Dance episodes.
So those were the pretenders. Others who deserved to make the top 20 that didn't make it are:
Kelli Baker! What a shocker. She's the girl whose mother is the High School Musical choreographer. Despite this, I believe she could have gotten in on her own merit. But, a hella lot of tough competition for the girls.
Sheila Kaiser also didn't make the cut. She's the student/dancer. You wonder how good she can be if she wasn't majoring in genius.
For the guys, I was surprised to see Evan Kasprzak go. I thought his Gene Kelly bit was great.
But the biggest shocker of all was Brandon Bryant not making the So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 top 20. Wow! But seeing as he's only 18, maybe they are saving him for another year? I mentioned that if he'd have any personality, he'd be the winner. Maybe he needed to be more camera ready.
Nigel Lythgoe always says that So You Think You Can Dance is about finding America's most favorite dancer not, most talented dancer. If that's the case, I hope the cast has plenty of charisma as I am not in agreement with a lot of the choices.
Those who already got face time and were featured who made it include:
Courtney Galiano, Chelsea Hightower, Susie Garcia, Kourtney Lind, Joshua Allen, Twitch, Kherington Payne, Katee Shean, Gev Manoukian, Matt Dorame, William Wingfield, Thayne Jesperson.
I couldn't quite the last names of these unfeatured dancers but they include:
Chelsea, Rayven, Jamie, Chris, Jessica King, Mark, Marquis Cunningham, Comfort.
Since they cut my favorites, I really don't know what to expect from this cast. There are still some extremely strong girls but it remains to be seen whether or not their personality can shine through along with their dancing.
I'm surprised that there is no red hot ballroom male dancer though. In fact, there used to be a few latin/ballroom dancers. Where'd they all go? I wonder if it's more of a departure this time around with the emphasis on solos.
We shall see what this year of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 brings. Stay tuned on Fox and here to find out!
Right off the bat, Robert Muraine, the insane popper from the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance bowed out. He couldn't even get through hip hop. It's hard to say whether or not it was a good decision... he certainly wasn't versatile enough, but just stay in for the face time, ya know?
Another to go bye bye quick was Claire Callaway. I'll say it before and I'll say it again. Girl should have waited another year to go back to SYTYCD auditions. It was just too soon and she didn't stand a chance in hell. She was over rated in her season anyway, now that I look back on old So You Think You Can Dance episodes.
So those were the pretenders. Others who deserved to make the top 20 that didn't make it are:
Kelli Baker! What a shocker. She's the girl whose mother is the High School Musical choreographer. Despite this, I believe she could have gotten in on her own merit. But, a hella lot of tough competition for the girls.
Sheila Kaiser also didn't make the cut. She's the student/dancer. You wonder how good she can be if she wasn't majoring in genius.
For the guys, I was surprised to see Evan Kasprzak go. I thought his Gene Kelly bit was great.
But the biggest shocker of all was Brandon Bryant not making the So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 top 20. Wow! But seeing as he's only 18, maybe they are saving him for another year? I mentioned that if he'd have any personality, he'd be the winner. Maybe he needed to be more camera ready.
Nigel Lythgoe always says that So You Think You Can Dance is about finding America's most favorite dancer not, most talented dancer. If that's the case, I hope the cast has plenty of charisma as I am not in agreement with a lot of the choices.
Those who already got face time and were featured who made it include:
Courtney Galiano, Chelsea Hightower, Susie Garcia, Kourtney Lind, Joshua Allen, Twitch, Kherington Payne, Katee Shean, Gev Manoukian, Matt Dorame, William Wingfield, Thayne Jesperson.
I couldn't quite the last names of these unfeatured dancers but they include:
Chelsea, Rayven, Jamie, Chris, Jessica King, Mark, Marquis Cunningham, Comfort.
Since they cut my favorites, I really don't know what to expect from this cast. There are still some extremely strong girls but it remains to be seen whether or not their personality can shine through along with their dancing.
I'm surprised that there is no red hot ballroom male dancer though. In fact, there used to be a few latin/ballroom dancers. Where'd they all go? I wonder if it's more of a departure this time around with the emphasis on solos.
We shall see what this year of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 brings. Stay tuned on Fox and here to find out!
So You Think You Can Dance Season 4, Milwaukee auditions
This week's So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 auditions were a mixture of dance auditions from Milwaukee and elsewhere. I guess they didn't want to show bad auditions anymore so they decided to show us the Las Vegas bound dancers who weren't already featured to give the audience some prep time to like them.
The people who made it to the next round of Las Vegas on this episode of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 is:
Michael Kim is a great popper who had previously tried out. It's really good to see that these self taught dancers take their craft seriously to get dance lessons. He said he took ballet after he got cut two years ago. I'd love to see old So You Think You Dance Dance episodes to see how he's improved.
When I first saw Katee Shean and Natalie Reid feature piece, I thought oh now, another dumb BFF pair. But they turned in a couple of strong performances and I was pleasantly surprised.
Janette Manrarra and Romulo Villaverde are a pair of salsa dancers. Great soccer trick were the guy literally bounces her head on his foot! Other than that, there salsa was just okay. Janette is actually a much better dance than he is so she got through but Romulo didn't.
I can't see a tap dancer doing well on So You Think You Can Dance. It's just not the right platform but you never know. Bianca Revels just might prove me wrong that a tapper.
I like male dancers who are suave, and understated. Evan Kasprzak did a Gene Kelly bit with a fedora and that was so elegant. You knew he was powerful but he held it in. It's such a nice contrast as opposed to guys always showing off.
Kourtni Lind is a contemporary dancer who did really well and had interesting choreography. This year, the girl's competition is super tough so it will be interesting to see if she makes it.
Susie Garcia is the type of teacher that you can see get in trouble with the young male students. Maybe that's a bad stereotype but she flaunted it with a school girl look in her auditions. She squeaked through the choreography and got to Vegas. I guess the show needs sex appeal.
Next, comes the lesson that costuming is very important in dancing. Rebecca Hart had been rejected in a previous So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 audition. But persistence pays off and she got into Vegas by changing her costume and reauditioning!
Phillip Courter's story was about how he came to the auditions with his friend but she got injured. It was quite touching but that doesn't negate that Phillip's audition was only good and not spectacular.
Lizz Plott is another tap dancer who I question for So You Think You Can Dance. If she makes it to top 20, she's cannon fodder.
And that's it for the preliminary auditions. On the next episode for So You Think You Can Dance episode, we get to see who makes it to top 20 finalists!
The people who made it to the next round of Las Vegas on this episode of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 is:
Michael Kim is a great popper who had previously tried out. It's really good to see that these self taught dancers take their craft seriously to get dance lessons. He said he took ballet after he got cut two years ago. I'd love to see old So You Think You Dance Dance episodes to see how he's improved.
When I first saw Katee Shean and Natalie Reid feature piece, I thought oh now, another dumb BFF pair. But they turned in a couple of strong performances and I was pleasantly surprised.
Janette Manrarra and Romulo Villaverde are a pair of salsa dancers. Great soccer trick were the guy literally bounces her head on his foot! Other than that, there salsa was just okay. Janette is actually a much better dance than he is so she got through but Romulo didn't.
I can't see a tap dancer doing well on So You Think You Can Dance. It's just not the right platform but you never know. Bianca Revels just might prove me wrong that a tapper.
I like male dancers who are suave, and understated. Evan Kasprzak did a Gene Kelly bit with a fedora and that was so elegant. You knew he was powerful but he held it in. It's such a nice contrast as opposed to guys always showing off.
Kourtni Lind is a contemporary dancer who did really well and had interesting choreography. This year, the girl's competition is super tough so it will be interesting to see if she makes it.
Susie Garcia is the type of teacher that you can see get in trouble with the young male students. Maybe that's a bad stereotype but she flaunted it with a school girl look in her auditions. She squeaked through the choreography and got to Vegas. I guess the show needs sex appeal.
Next, comes the lesson that costuming is very important in dancing. Rebecca Hart had been rejected in a previous So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 audition. But persistence pays off and she got into Vegas by changing her costume and reauditioning!
Phillip Courter's story was about how he came to the auditions with his friend but she got injured. It was quite touching but that doesn't negate that Phillip's audition was only good and not spectacular.
Lizz Plott is another tap dancer who I question for So You Think You Can Dance. If she makes it to top 20, she's cannon fodder.
And that's it for the preliminary auditions. On the next episode for So You Think You Can Dance episode, we get to see who makes it to top 20 finalists!
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