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So You Think You Can Dance
Season Five — Top 6 Dancers / Top 3 Couples

By Dr Matt 

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

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

Hey There Dance Fans:

Final Six 6 Dancers. Yahoo!!! Here they are in all their glory:


Melissa Sandvig, Kayla Radomski, and Jeanine Mason


Ade Obayomi, Evan Kasprzak, and Brandon Bryant

America got the right dancers for the Top 6 Six. Nigel Lythgoe said that by eliminating Janette, America "got it wrong." If so, . . . which of these three fine female dancers are you going to eliminate instead: Melissa, Kayla, and Jeanine?

The SYTYCD Producers likely think that Melissa should have gone last week, and she would have, had she NOT been given the Cancer Dance — which the audience and Judges blubbered big alligator tears over. Without the influence of the Cancer Dance, Janette is still in the running. Nigel essentially acknowledged this in comments made in the Top 6 Six show. He suggested that the viewing audience was voting on "choreography" instead of dancers.

You can't separate the dancers from the choreography: Else, every time a couple is given a dance style outside their genre, you must rationalize: "This couple are fantastic dancers, so they can't do the Quickstep very well . . . they are still fantastic dancers, and I will vote for them anyway!?!" HELLO! The name of the show is: So You Think You Can Dance! This means, Dancers must be about proving they can tackle ANY dance style, an do it well.

The Style, the choreography, the music, the costuming . . . all combine to influence the audience's impression of whether they LIKED what they saw, and therefore associate their liking to the performers who danced it!

In this way, the so-called "luck of the draw" plays a huge role. Nevertheless, dancers like Benji Schwimmer and Danny Tidwell had a knack for making anything they were given . . . GREAT! And that what should add up to . . . America's Favorite Dancer.

On that note, I'm thinking that Kayla and Brandon are pretty good at doing whatever is given them . . . in a fantastic way!


From Worst to Wow!


6 -
Ade Obayomi & Jeanine Mason  

Samba, choreographed by Louis Van Amstel 
Music:
"Lovegame" by Lady Gaga

I thought the samba rolls were waaaaaaaay awkward: it look more like sexual harassment than Samba. Ade, especially, was dancing all kinds of sick and wrong here. His sexy was mostly cheesy, and it looked very odd next to Jeanine's smoldering expressions. Everything about this dance that was NOT Samba looked pretty good, and every element that was genuine Samba was . . . atrocious! So this dance ranks rock bottom for me!

This choreography by Louie van Amstel might be called Samba-Light . . . or possibly Samba Lousy! Even though Louie tried to dumb-down this Samba . . . it still turned into a train wreck.

Of course the King of dumbing down ballroom dance choreography is Jean-Marc Genereaux: where he will take a Viennese Waltz and simply turn it into a Contemporary Dance in 3/3 time. This way, Contemporary Dancers can excel at the "Viennese Waltz" — which is really a Contemporary Dance.

I was a Jeanine Mason fan to this point . . . and I still like her lots, but I have to conclude that Kayla was able to dance "out of her genre" and do the Samba at a higher level, compared to Jeanine. But to be fair to Jeanine, it probably makes a difference when your partner knows how to do the Samba (speaking of Max Kapitannikov).

Speaking of Max Strellnikov (all Russian last names seem the same to me), I think the Producers need to invite Max to go on the SYTYCD Tour, because none of the Top 12 Dancers can do Ballroom Dance worth beans.

 


5 -
Evan Kasprzak & Melissa Sandvig 

Quickstep, choreographed by Louis Van Amstel 
Music:
"As Long As I'm Singin'" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra

This piece plays to Evan's personality and dance style. It turned out better than I expected. Yet, I KNOW what the Producers are UP TO. Last time the "dreaded" Quickstep was pulled out of the "rigged" hat, the couple that danced it (Vitolio & Karla) were Kick to the Curb.

I believe the Judges/Producers do not think that Evan's popularity is justified by his technical merit. Thus, to TRY to show America that Evan may not deserve to be in the Final Four, they give him the dreaded Quickstep. Truth is . . . Evan and Melissa did pretty well, but the Judges comments are not exactly going to get people running to their phones, to vote for the Munchkin from Michigan.

Tonight was the first time I didn't Vote for anyone. I restrained myself from merely voting for my favorite person — blind fan voting. If I had to do it again, I believe my votes would have been given to Brandon and Kayla. YET, the styles and choreographers and program positioning . . . were all to their favor. Brandon and Kayla did not have to do a ballroom dance that requires a high level of technical execution. Instead, they got the easier "couple dance" assignment: DISCO — which played to their favor.

Working to their disadvantage, the Producers strategically (in my mind) put the Quickstep LAST, so that this performance would be the last thing on the viewing audiences' mind, at voting time. If they wanted to give Melissa and Evan a boost: they would have put the Broadway piece as their 2nd Dance — a piece for which they received praise from the Judges.

 


4 - Evan Kasprzak & Melissa Sandvig 
Broadway, choreographed by Tyce the Oreo 
Music:
"Get Me To The Church On Time" from My Fair Lady, by Matt Dusk

Honestly, I just couldn't get past Evan's boxer shorts and socks costume. And Melissa outfit looked like she needed to "get dressed" as well. The Costume killed this number. Just compare the effect of the costumes here, to the classy costumes worn by Kayla and Jason in the Top 8.

So . . . WHO makes the final decisions on Costume choice? And if that choice, as well as choices on music and particular parts of choreography are OUT OF the Dancers hands . . . then, it too bad that the Dancers are the one's who suffer because the costume crew makes a bad decision! Remember when Randi was blasted by Nigel for wearing a wig during her Paso Doble? Nigel criticized Randi as if she had any choice in the matter!

Maybe the dancers NEED more say so in choice of music and costume and choreography? In the American Idol competition, the singers often choose the songs they sing each week. Because choreographers, costumers, and musicians need advanced notice to make things happen, the logistics of including Dancer preferences into the production of SYTYCD may be MORE than the show can handle?

In the mean time, Dancers should NOT be penalized by decisions that they do not make!

 


3 - Brandon Bryant & Kayla Radomski 
Disco, choreographed by Doriana Sanchez 
Music:
"Dance (Disco Heat)" by Sylvester

Doriana throws everything but the kitchen sink into this disco routine. It's a routine filled with trick after trick. Kayla was hitting hard, to match Brandon's typical intensity! Nigel went WAY over the top with his celebratory jig — you had to have been there.

 


2 -
Ade Obayomi & Jeanine 

Hip Hop, choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon 
Music:
"Move (If You Wanna)" by MIMS

The dance is about being evicted. So fittingly, the music is called "Move" — complete with boxes used as props, with frowny faces scawled on them). This is Jeanine's third hip-hop this season, and Nigel is amazed at how she can dance "out of her genre." Hey, English Muffin . . . , it's hip-hop, not Quickstep.

Again, it hard to separate the choreography from the dancers. I think Ade and Jeanine get a good draw out of the "rigged" hat, and they make the best of it!

 


1 - Brandon Bryant & Kayla Radomski  
Contemporary, choreographed by Stacey Tookey 
Music:
"All I Want" by Ahn Trio

This was the best dance of the night. Both dancers are under 20 years old, but they performed so maturely. When you get the right choreography . . . it can really make you look good! If Ade and Jeanine get this piece, instead of the Samba, their prospects would be sweet — but such is the luck of the "rigged" hat. Evan has also done well with great contemporary choreography. Remember the Mia Michael's piece Evan did in the Top 16 Round with Randi . . . it was the Butt Routine?

 

Predictions:

Melissa and Ade were in the Bottom 2 Two last week, so they are ON THE BUBBLE. The fact that they delivered the best performance of the Night, make predictions very interesting?

Who should go home: Evan & Melissa

Who will go home: Ade & Melissa

The following vote percentages do not reflect the most recent popularity, but they at least tell you that Evan and Karla used to be very popular:

             Top Five Guys      Raw #    Perc.                 Top Five Girls       Raw #    Perc.
            Evan Kasprzak            354           24 %                   Kayla Radomski            419          29 % 
            Brandon Bryant          163           11 %                    Melissa Sandvig            139          10 %
             Ade Obayomi                93            6 %                    Jeanine Mason               76             5 %

The burning question is: just how many people are in the "Swing Vote" category. The die-hard FANS of each dancer will continue to vote for their favorite, but the Swing Voters are free to SWING to those dancers who have a memorable performance — with Brandon & Kayla being on the top of that mountain.

 

Results Show:

the Bottom Two turned out:

Jeanine Mason is IN THE FINAL FOUR!
Melissa Sandvig is Dancing for Her Life!
Kayla Radomski is Dancing for Her Life!


Brandon Bryant is IN THE FINAL FOUR:
Evan Kasprsak is Dancing for His Life!
Ade Obayomi is Dancing for His Life!

Drum roll please: Melissa and Ade are eliminated. Evan & Kayla join Brandon & Jeanine in the FINAL FOUR!

:o)
Dr Matt

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

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


     
 


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Who You Become is your greatest possession,
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(Changing Your Stripes, 2nd Edition, page 274)
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- Matt Moody 

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