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So You Think You Can Dance
Season Five — Top 14 Dancers / Top 7 Couples

By Dr Matt 

Here are the weekly Recaps from the Top Twenty Dancers to the Final Four:

Intro      20      18      16      Top 14     12       10       8       6      Final 4

Yo SYTYC-Dance Fans:

Did you happen to see American Idol's rebroadcast of Michael Jackson Night? I really enjoyed Adam Lambert's version of Black & White again, and Danny Gokey did a FINE job of singing PYT — Pretty Young Thing. I bring this up just to mention that the A.I. Producers did a "sweet mix" over the top of Kris Allen's performance of "Remember the Time" — in an effort to keep up the image of the Season 8 Eight American Idol.

Sweet Mix means that the Producers re-recorded Kris's song and played the better sounding version over the top of the visuals — as if he sounded that good the first time, NOT! Anyway, I had him ranked #7 of 13 contestants that night. Now, back to SYTYCD:

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

Everyone danced well tonight, so the Bottom 3 Three will be determined NOT by who did bad — but by who did BEST and which couples are most popular? You can tell that the SYTYCD Producers are trying to sway the Vote in particular directions: The Producers REALLY want Kayla to be on the Top 10 Tour. In addition to being a fantastic dancer, she has a great "commercial" look that the Producers obviously love! Kupono and Kayla — Kaylono — Danced well tonight, but they also had a edge: their music was "eyes on fire" from the wildly popular movie Twilight — a sure winner!

As if it were written in a script, Mary put Kaylono on the Hot Tamalee Train for the 2nd time in Two Weeks. The Train was a tad crowded, because Brandon & Janette were the first to hop aboard after the 1st number of the night.

A couples that didn't get high praise were Randi & Evan. After deliving a very clean Broadway Performance, one that was synchronized meticulously, the Producer's script called for the Judges to be disappointed and want MORE from Evan. Can you say . . . contrived plot? I knew you could.

Tonight’s impressive solo-ettes belonged to Ade and Phillip, with honorable mention to Kayla, Brandon and Evan. Actually, Evan was even more impressive in the up-front montage that included his high jump in the zoot suit.

Tonight’s guest judge is the Queen of Kindness . . . NOT . . . Mia Michaels. In the continuing effort to make the show about the judges instead of the dancers, they spent an inordinate amount of time on Mia’s revised opinion of Brandon. Yawn.


From LESS to BEST!


7 - Jeanine Mason & Phillip Chbeeb 
Hip-Hop, choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon 
Music:
"Love Lockdown" by Kanye West

I really thought they'd edit out Jeanine's "we have chains all over the place at our apartment" comment. Cat's face when Jeanine said that . . . totally cracked me up.

Hip Hop by Napoleon and Samantha and Tabitha. The "chain" concept was creative, but I agree with Mia Michaels . . . the chain was a deterrent to really ripping loose with the moves. There was hesitancy and carefulness, because of the Chain. Great idea, but bad application in the end. I just didn't like this number that much.

 


6 - Karla Garcia & Vitolio Jeune 
Quickstep, choreographed by Jean-Marc & France Genereux
Music:
"Puttin' On The Ritz" by Rufus Wainwright

After Vitolio made the comment about hoping they turned the "kiss of death" quickstep into the "kiss of joy" and Mia said they made out with it. Because Dr Matt is a Ballroom Dance specialist (former competition and Gold Level Dancer), I KNOW the Quickstep. And while their Top Line was held up quite nicely, the Closed Hold was NOT close enough — waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much space between the partners. Now, if they brought that in tighter . . . it would have been quite excellent.

Here's an example of world-class Quick Step by Mirko Gozzoli & Alessia Betti: Notice how the partnership is body-to-body—even when they the quick chasse steps. This takes YEARS to get good at, and that is why Karla Vitolio were NOT good at it! But, I'm surprised that Jean-Marc was NOT able to get Karla & Vitolio closer!?

It was clever number with good use of props and gimmicks: I admit . . . I liked the trick dress. Charleston steps didn't have that inner bounce going . . . they were too stiff. This should be one of the Bottom 3 Three couples.

 


5 - Jason Glover & Caitlin Kinney 
Pop Jazz, choreographed by Brian Friedman 
Music:
"Creator" by Santogold

Before making the "condom" analogy, Nigel said that Caitlin was wearing too much to try to impregnate her partner (being the last surviving mortal man on earth). Even though it was weird, the dancing was great, especially from Caitlin — who is proving herself to be a formidable competitor. Caitlin's costume reminded me of an "I Love Lucy" episode where Lucy and Ethel were Women from Mars. The music was such a great fit, and they danced it so well.

 


4 - Kupono Aweau & Kayla Radomski 
Contemporary, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh 
Music:
"Eyes On Fire" by Blue Foundation

Holy Wow, that was an exquisite dance. Honestly, I can’t keep my eyes off Kayla when she dance. The girl is perfect. Every time there was a lift, it was awesome and unique and gorgeous. And Kupono did a great job keeping up with her. This is a dance that I’m excited about. Some of the steps were extremely hard: Like the turn-into-jeté, straight to the ground. Waaaaaaay Cool?!) That step just made my eyes get real wide.

But I’m was a little concerned that this “story dance” will land Kaylono in hot water with the voters, like the other “story dance” inexplicably did two weeks ago — because America just won't GET IT. And all that great dancing is lost in an unmemorable blur. But hopefully, because the judges rave about this number, America might jump on the Bandwagon.

 


3 - Evan Kasprzak & Randi Evans 
Broadway, choreographed by Joey Dowling 
Music:
"Rich Man's Frug" from Sweet Charity

Evan looked like someone kicked his puppies during the judges' critique. The Judges were waaaaaaaaay too hard on Evan. What's up with that? Because THEY KNOW what the Voting Tallies are, . . . they may know that Evan is sooooooooo popular that they want to create some suspense — else everyone will think he's the runnaway winner!

I was very intrigued by Joey's choreography. She was able to communicate to the dancers, so very subtle details that DID shine through! The“Rich Man’s Frug” is so iconically Fosse that I pity any choreographer who tries to make it something different. Joey seemed to honor the Fosse-ness of it, but she did vary things…and they were somewhat successful variances, with a few quality drops.

I not sure that Joey really used well the resources that these two talented dancers have to offer. I think it was an interesting experiment, terrific in places, but it didn’t do Evan or Randi any favors…and that’s not because they’re not technically skilled enough. Remember, Broadway is Evan’s home genre. So the fact that this dance looked quite effort-y and cumbersome in places is all on the choreographer.

Vote for Randi and Evan…they deserve to stay in. Forget about the UNFAIR criticism from the Judges, that was largely a function of choreography that didn't make use of the dancers' talents.

 


2 - Ade Obayomi & Melissa Sandvig 
Pas de deux, choreographed by Thordal Christensen 
Music:
"Romeo & Juliet: Prokofiev's Suite No. 1, 6th Movement"
by Orchestre De La Suisse Romande & Armin Jordan

This pairing begs the question of whether these dancers actually pull the dance choices out of a hat or not. Isn’t it a strange coincidence that the bona fide ballerina on the show is doing the only pas de deux? They speak of "pulling dances out of a Hat" . . . but it's all smoke and mirrors. The Producers are showing off the BEST ABILITIES of the dancers, and I say: BRAVO! It makes for excellent entertainment!

Now, that was beautiful! And I had real concerns about it being a train wreck. Ade doesn’t have the extensive ballet chops that Melissa has, but he showed himself well…especially in those lifts, which just came off as effortless, and totally beautiful. I liked this dance so, so much. It had enough modern spin in its formulation that it served as a formal pas de deux, while at the same time giving us something unique and almost edgy.

 


1 - Brandon Bryant & Janette Manrara 
Cha Cha, choreographed by Jean-Marc & France Genereux 
Music:
"Hush Hush; Hush Hush" by the Pussycat Dolls

After being so harsh on him during auditions, Mia changed her tune on Brandon tonight, giving him such effusive praise that he cried. And took half of the audience into a puddle with him.

Brandon came off somewhat egotistical in the taped color piece; I wonder if it will affect the votes he gets. First of all, Janette looked GORgeous! Between her costume, which looked amazing, and the fact that she’s totally in her element in this style, she was burning it up. In fact, she quite overshadowed Brandon. Their unisons were fabulous, and there was one killer lift at the end (which would have been nice to have seen from a front view, Mr. Camera). Halfway through the dance, it looked like Brandon didn’t do a lift he was supposed to…otherwise, it was very stranged that she draped across his knee, and he just put his arms around her hips for no reason.

Predictions:

So who will be the bottom three couples? First, let me say who should be in the bottom three:

It’s extra hard to pick the bottom three couples this week. Some great dancers were given less-than-great choreography, and other dancers weren’t as brilliant as the dances they were in. So, the bottom three should be Karla and Vitolio, Caitlin and Jason…and Jeanette and Phillip

For some reason, the producers want to put some doubt in Randi and Evan's popularity, but I predict they will remain strong, because they're dancing was strong (regardless of the Judges smoke and mirrors).

Now, who will be in the bottom three? I wonder, however, if America will put Kayla and Kupono in the bottom three instead of Phillip & Jeanine . . . or possibly Ade & Melissa will appear in the Bottom 3 Three for the first time? Truth is . . . Ade & Melissa's popularity ratings are lagging behind the front runners.

Again, Jeanette and Phillip should probably be in the bottom three, but we already know that America loves Phillip too much to not vote for him, and his partner Jeanine is pretty popular too! Who will go? I like Vitolio A LOT, but I think he goes, simply because the other competitors are better! If Kayla gets in the Bottom 3 Three, the Judges will NEVER eliminate her, when they can boot Karla instead. And if Philip happens to make an unlikely appearance in the Bottom 3 Three: He will dance his way to safety in a hurry!

Kicked to the Curb? Most likely: Vitolio and Karla!

Results Show:

WOW . . . Tyce the Oreo did some FANTASTIC choreography to the tune of "Brand New Day" from the Broadway Show, "The Wiz." It was groovy! AND, as usual, the dancers are wearing make-up and costumes that make recognition almost impossible: Was that Karla . . . or Caitlin. Actually Kayla was easy to recognize: She was the one that was wearing (and I use that term loosely) the NUDE suit. The Producer's are exploiting the heck out of this pretty girl.

But, Kayla is going along with it? How much pressure do these dancers feel, as they are asked to push constuming to the edge of their moral standards — and beyond? I know that former Dancing with the Stars, Ashley DeGrosso was CUT from that show, because she wouldn't wear skimpy costumes. While all the other ladies were wearing two piece, and showling lots of skin, Ashley was wearing a one piece. So, she's OFF that show!

The MILD shocker was that Phillip and Jeanine made the Bottom 3 Three — instead of Jason & Caitlin. As predicted Phillip easily danced his way to safety (however, the Judges slapped him around a little before they sent him to safety, BECAUSE he has been bad in dance styles that are out of his genre). Then, watching Jeanine dance was pure joy! Wow, what control and artistry she showed in her solo.

In contrast, Kupono completely stunk up the stage with his pathetic solo. And Kayla got criticized by the Judges for delivering a solo that was "too static" — meaning, it didn't move enough. In the end, it was as I predicted: Kicked to the Curb: Vitolio and Karla!

This business is brutal: Karla was told that she lacked "star quality" — probably so, but do you have to KICK a girl while she's down? And while saving Kupono, they mentioned AGAIN that he needs to step up his solo content A LOT!

I predict these TWO should be in the Bottom 3 Three next week as well. It will be very interesting what efforts the Producer/Judges go to . . . to save Kayla — because they love her so much. Now, even if they Kick Kayla to the Curb, I predict that Kayla and Kupono will be invited to do the Top 10 Tour Anyway. Because Kayla has so much "commercial" sell-ability, SYTYCD wants to cash in on her assets.

:o)
Dr Matt

Weekly SYTYCD Recaps from the Top Twenty Dancers to the Final Four:

Intro      20      18      16      Top 14     12       10       8       6      Final 4


     
 


The Greatest Prize
for Life's labors isn't
in material possessions
or impressive accomplishments,
but in the progress of personal character.
You labor for your own becoming, this is your richest reward.
Who You Become is your greatest possession,
make it your Masterpiece!

(Changing Your Stripes, 2nd Edition, page 274)
.

"Changing Your Stripes" presents principles for getting out of
the ditch in which you've been dumped (the difficulties of which you are a victim),
and the ditch in which you've jumped (the difficulties for which you volunteer).

"Mastering a challenging situation
is ultimately a matter of
mastering yourself!"

- Matt Moody 

"Changing Your Stripes," teaches you the principles that lead to lasting change,
making you a new kind of creature capable of communicating
with calm, even as storms of contention swirl.

If these ideas resonate and ring true,
then . . . this book is for you!


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Changing Your Stripes is a
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