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So You Think You Can Dance — Season 5 Five
Buzz About American Idol Season Eight
Dancing with The Stars Season Seven
The Difference between Facts and Truth
Why You Can't Keep
New Year's Resolutions
Being Clueless, a.k.a.
Self-Deception, In Denial
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Default Duet: Deceived
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So You Think You Can Dance
Season Four Review — Top Six
By Dr Matt
Here are the weekly Recaps from the Top Twenty Dancers to the Final Four:
Top 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 Final 4
Aloha Dancing Maniac!
The Partners and Dance Styles are supposedly "drawn out of a Hat." But this week, the producers didn't even pretend the "Hat" charade for the Dance Styles. They just gave each dancer, a dance in his/her genre.
I previously predicted that that Chelsie and Twich would be "randomly" paired this week. And if the producers were being "randomly" fair . . . they would pair up Mark with Katee—a partnership that hasn't happened before.
But, I don't think "the Show" wants to promote Mark: Clearly Twitch and Joshua are the favored sons. Getting paired with Chelsie, Twitch is absolutely given a bit of a boost into the Final Four; and of course, the reunion of Joshua and Katee is a set-up for Final-Four-Dom.
After being in the Bottom Two a couple of weeks in a row, Mark has managed to gain some momentum. Pre-Show on Wednesday, Mark leads the SYTYCD AOL Poll, but it only has a measly 2,000 votes to date:
1) Mark 487 23%
2) Katee 412 20%
3) Chelsie 333 16%
4) Twitch 237 11%
5) Will 189 9% totally kicked to the curb
6) Courtney 174 8%
7) Joshua 140 7%
8) Comfort 118 6% ba bye to this Hip Hopper
Of course Will and Comfort were eliminated last week, yet the AOL Poll still shows their irrelevant rankings. AOL puts together a very good American Idol Poll, but their SYTYCD Poll . . . stinks!
Burning Question: Who will the former Will-Voters vote for now? If they voted for Will, that likely means they are appreciators of highly trained technique. I'm thinking that Mark may be the largest beneficiary of former Will-Voters.
As for former Comfort-Voters, I'm guessing that Twitch and Joshua may get some of these votes, because they are also Popper Hip Hoppers.
Left to right in the photo below are: Joshua Allen, Chelsie Hightower, Mark Kanemura, Katee Shean, Stephen "Twitch" Boss, and Courtney Galiano. Here are the Top 6 Intros and the Less to Best Rankings for Week Eight:
Dr Matt's Red-Hot Review of SYTYCD July 30, 2008—Three Couple Recap
Memory Lane Moment. Let's stroll down memory lane and remember the Intros of the Top 6 of Season Two (<----- Click-Able Hyperlink!)—now, wasn't that fun?
Fashion Alert. Are my eyes going badonkers, or do I see Cat Deeley wearing shoes with Star Trek Tribbles attached to the back. Cat's fashion coordinators must have stayed up all night figuring out that shoe embellishment! But such exciting fashion details do give us common folk something to talk about, as we live out our dull and dreary lives without Tribbles on our shoes. Pass the Prozac, . . . I'm depressed.
Dr Matt's Got Criteria. In the end, I do have a criteria, but it's JUST ME applying my subjectivity (again, how objective of me to admit that I'm being subjective). And everybody else has criteria too, even though they may not consciously think about it. Here are some interesting evaluation criteria according to a Fox Poll at the official SYTYCD website:
Versatility 41%
Good Form & Training 18%
Great Personality 17%
Fresh Original Moves 15%
Makes an Effort 7%
Super Athleticism 2%
Versatility is a superb criteria, because the premise of the Show revolved around the question: . . . "So You Think You Can Dance?"
Thus, "If You Think You Can Dance" then let's see if you can do the dreaded Quick Step! Being able to do the Ballroom Dances, and the Comtemporary Dances, and the Hip Hop Dances . . . this is test of versatiltiy.
However, other Criteria clearly sneak into the equation too! For example, the Butcher of Ballroom Dance, Twitch, continues to escape elimination on the basis of . . . I'm not sure what? It's definitely NOT "good form and training." Nigel identified Twitch as the "least trained" among all the Male Dancers. Speaking of which, Twitch come in LAST in my Top Six Solo Rankings:
Less to Best Solos:
YouTube View totals (000) 24 hours after the solos **
Dr Matt's Apology: Sorry about all the DEAD hyperlinks; Dick Clark Productions decided to exercise their copyrite privilege, and thus, crush our fun!
Sweet Redundancy: Obviously, the dancers are running out of fresh material after shooting their wad—a Cannon metaphor—in previous weeks. None of the solos were "the best" to date. Here are the rankings for six choreographically redundant dance solos:
6 - Twitch (4250) **
"Midas Touch" By Midnight Star
Twitch . . . twitches again and again. This solo was lack-lustre for me. It looked like the kind of dance chiche' that one might see at a Club. Been there, done that. Pretty average performance!
Twitch tried to compensate by wearing gold-plated teeth, but I didn't buy the smoke and mirrors. But it was fun to see Cat Deeley put the golden grill in her mouth—"spit and all." Cat Deeley gets high marks for her daring dental feat!
5 - Joshua (2960)
"Like That" by Memphis Bleek
Extremely constipated start: A couple of crotch-grabs, while casually walking around the stage—when is the dancing going to start? Can a beginning be more boring?
But Josh picks up the pace and finishes with a flurry of cool moves. His dancing is rough and raw—lacking the polish of a trained dancers. I think the average person likes his rawness, and this wins him the "common man" vote.
I'm seriously repeating myself at this point: Joshua's body-quaking is fabulous, but I've seen him do it about a five million times now—(yawning here) I'm sleepy. Despite my low solo rank, I anticipate piles of people will vote for Joshua, and the Final Four is where he will land.
4 - Katee (6330)
"Can't Stop" by Maroon 5
This week, Katee doesn't do the more difficult moves that she is capable of, and she plays it safe. Not the best solo she's done. Disappointment here. Still, if anyone is a LOCK for the Final Four, Katee is just that.
3 - Mark (3690)
"Bum Like You" by Robyn
Odd originality again. Mark usually surprizes us with a bunch of fun, unexpected moves. But this week, it seemed like he didn't spend much time designing his dance. It wasn't as good as previous solos. The most exciting moment was when he almost took his shirt off, and then played with it for a few musical measures.
Advice to Mark: More Dancing . . . Less Playing with Shirt. But I give Mark some pizzazz points for his after-solo, pseudo-sign-language routine as Cat Deeley did her announcing—quirky and cool!
2 - Courtney (2970)
"Rock Your Soul" by Elisa
Spins, leaps, and lots of energy as usual. Courtney Galiano doesn't hold back. No "playing it safe" for this girl! But this is what she had to do, because last week she was in the Bottom Two. America's Vote will be interesting.
1 - Chelsie (3400)
"When I Grow Up" by Pussycat Dolls
Two weeks in a row, Chelsie puts a pile of pizzazz in her solo. I know, I know, it's the same steps as usual—but that can be said of all the soloists.
Chelsie has discovered a great vote-getting formula: WEAR A SMOKIN' HOT OUTFIT, add a few sexy, gyrating hip twists, a sensual body ripple or two, and a sassy flip of her long blonde hair, plus a sultry face that says: "I'm gonna to eat you for dinner!" Top all that off with the "Chinese Splits" at the end.
For comparison on how great solos are done, here's Allison Holker from Season Two. Her Top 20 Solo was danced with no prepared choreography—all improv
off the top of her head. And did you know that Chelsie Hightower
and Allison come from the same home town: Orem, Utah?
Allison's Top 20 Solo . . . . Top 14 Solo . . . . Top 10 Solo . . . . Top 8 Solo . . . . Final Solo
On a night filled with outstanding performances, the Final Four will be determined by . . . which dancers have the most fans. All the performances were very well done, save one: Twitch didn't deliver his side of the Mambo and that made this routine the weakest of the night:
Less to Best Couple Routines:
6 - Chelsie and Twitch — Mambo (4790)
Choreographed by Tony Meredeth and Melanie La Patin
Music: "Ahora Me Toca A Mi " by Victor Manuelle
Chelsie was ON FIRE! She's a Molten Lava Hot Tamale! And then, . . . there's Twitch: he mangled this Mambo. And . . . as usual, the Jeedges go easy on him. I guess "the Show" wants Twitch in the Final Four. He flat doesn't deserve to be there. Twitch, the Butcher of Ballroom Dance, doesn't show the consistency over styles.
5 - Katee and Joshua — Pasa Doble (000)
Choreographed by Jason Gilkison
Music: "A Los Amigos" from Forever Tango
This routine was passionate and powerful. Joshua and Katee put their own flair in to what I will call a "Josho Doble." I'm rating this one lower than others, because . . . it simply was NOT a REAL Paso Doble.
The choreographer, Jason Gilkison, was smart; he gave Josh and Katee dance moves that they could do well. And like Twitchington's Viennese Waltz (that wasn't a real Viennese Waltz in Week Two), this is the Paso Doble that WASN'T . . . either.
Part of the "Bait N' Switch" was to have Joshua go shirtless, which distracted viewers long enough NOT to notice that the Paso Doble was NOT being danced. Just compare this Josho Doble to a REAL Paso Doble and you'll see the difference.
Comparison: First, here's the BEST Pre-Music Paso Doble Beginning in the history of competition dancing—and here's the rest of Michael and Joanna's Paso Doble.
Although plenty powerful, Joshuamoves more like a football player with a forward lean, whereas the Paso Doble is danced upright and with what is called a "U-Shape" in the body: Shoulders are drawn back, chest is arched out and up, and hips are tucked waaaaaaaaay way under. Genetically speaking, Joshua is NOT built for this dance, because of his huge muscular butt. To his credit, Joshua did capture the stank face of a bull-fighting matador.
More Smoke and Mirrors. The Jeedges drool over Joshua's talent and say that Josh is amazing everyone by doing these dance with "no formal training"—wrong. In his video bio, and in the written one at the FOX SYTYCD website, Joshua admits to having formal dance training. The Producers are trying to SELL a "rags to riches" story-line for Josh, and those who are NOT noticing the facts, are buying into the Show's "pauper to prince" story line.
Very heart-warming! Don't get me wrong, I'm a Joshua fan! But he doesn't need the Smoke and Mirrors to succeed on this Show.
4 - Chelsie and Twitch — Hip Hop (10430)
Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon
Music: "Control" by The Vitamin String Quartet
Chelsie has been in the "Pimp Spot" three weeks in row! It was a cute performance, but NOT enough dancing—which is NOT the fault of the dancers. They performed very well what was given to them. It was a well-done, light-weight routine.
Chelsie continues to prove her versatility from week to week; whereas, "the Butcher of Ballroom Dance," Stephen "Twitch" Boss, continues to show his weakness in most every dance form EXCEPT Hip Hop. And isn't it interesting just how many Hip Hops have been tossed Twitch's way?
I need to do a Content Analysis (here's a more detail definition of Content Analysis) that is sure to show BIAS for the favored son, Twitch. Does anyone believe that the "dances are pulled out of a Hat"? Twitch has gotten more Hip Hops than random probability can produce.
3 - Mark and Courtney — Jazz (25100)
Choreographed by Sonja Tayeh
Music: "The Time of My Life" by David Cook
Sonja from the land of Mohawkia returns to the show to create another uniquely delicious dance number: French Burlesque! This one rates higher than Twitch-elsie's Hip Hop, simply because there is MORE dancing being done (as opposed to play acting).
This piece reminds me of a bizarre-cabaret piece choreographed by Wade Robson from Season Three—danced by Jesus and Sara. This is the kind of demented, dark dance that Mark really gets into; and Courtney also threw herself into the weirdness very well.
2 - Mark and Courtney — Viennese Waltz (000)
Choreographed by Jason Gilkison
Music: "The Time of My Life" by David Cook
Good music. Nicely danced. Very pretty! Mark and Courtney have proven to be versitile throughout the season. Different from Twitchington's Viennese Waltz (that wasn't a real Viennese Waltz in Week Two), Mark-ourtney actually learned and performed real Viennese dance steps—a tougher task.
Twithington's version of Viennese look more like a Contemporary routine, danced to Viennese music. Watch and compare.
1 - Katee and Joshua — Contemporary (000)
Choreographed by Tyce Diorio
Music: "All By Myself" by Celine Dion
I wasn't expecting much from Tyce Diorio because of his predictable string of "Broadway" boredom. But he delived BIG TIME on this routine, and so did the dancers! Again, the synergy of a great performance starts with great music, and you can't lose with this classic song by Celine Dion. People will not be able to divide up whether they're liking the dancing or the singing—that's synergy!
Although the number seemed a bit trick-heavy, I give this piece my highest rank because of its difficulty (the Olympic Figure Skating Criteria—more spins, higher scores). Joshua was a real man as he pulled off every lift, steady and sure. Great dancing by both of them. The leaps and lifts were delicious and Katee's lines were beautiful, as usual.
The Show continues to think that America needs help in making up its mind: The Jeedges were gaga over Joshua and Katee tonight, and it's clear that the Producers WANT this couple in the Final Four. I think they both deserve to be there, BUT I don't need the Jeedges propaganda campaigne to persuade me to this opinion—and neither does America.
It's painfully CLEAR to me that "the Show" has an idea of which dancers will be able to deliever the biggest audience in next week's Final Four showdown, and because "television ratings" rule their thinking, . . . the Jeedges/Producers need to remind us of which dancers are our favorites.
* * * * * * *
This week, adding up the various ranks will NOT necessarily reflect upon who the Final Four will be, . . . but let's add them up anyway. The first number is each dancers solo ranking, followed by the couple performance rankings:
6 - Twitch 6 + 4 + 6 = 14
5 - Chelsie 1 + 4 + 6 = 11
4 - Joshua 5 + 1 + 5 = 11
3 - Katee 4 + 1 + 5 = 10
2 - Mark 3 + 2 + 3 = 8
1 - Courtney 2 + 2 + 3 = 7
Predictions:
Courtney had a solid evening, but because she's been in the Bottom more than once, odds are that Katee and Chelsie will be the Final Four girls. But it comes down to who has the most fans, because everyone performed well tonight (except Twitch's half of the Mambo).
Thus, Chelsie's lower "couple" rankings come because:
1) Twitch was a hot mess in the Mambo, and
2) the Hip Hop routine just didn't have enough dance content;
which is NOT the fault of the dancers—but Chelsie may feel the sting, anyway.
America will hopefully base their voting upon how each dancer has done throughout the season. And on that basis, Twitch, the Butcher of Ballroom Dance, should be eliminated tonight! But there could be millions of new viewers tonight (like the way I never watch the MLB regular season, but I do tune in to see the World Series). If this happens, then there may be many viewers who haven't seen what each dancer has done through the season—so what happens tonight alone may sway some votes.
Double Standard for the Favored Son. Twitch has benefitted from a double standard for many weeks. The Judging of Chelsie and Twitch’s mambo was a clear example of Bias for the Hip-Hop-Boy. Twitch was a molten-hot mess through most of the Mambo, yet, the judges didn’t call him on it. They basically told him that it was all right that he stunk up the stage, because they are sympathetic to Hip Hoppers who have no formal dance training (and have never heard the "2" beat of Latin music). Such a sad story.
In similar situations of disastrous dancing,the Jeedges haven't held back on thoroughly criticizing other dancers. Do the Producers want to help Mr. Twitch succeed so much that they will look passed his dancing deficiencies? The evidence says . . . yes!
Mary Comments that she was amazed that Twitch didn't screw it up even more, . . . given the fact that he only had "five hours" to learn the routine. More tears shed for Twitch. Speaking of tender moments:
Recall Twitch's dramatic emotional break down, when he heard his name called for Bottom-Two-Dom? Come on Hip Hop Boy, suck it up, . . . be a man about it! I'm thinking that Twitch is totally taking his alleged stardom too seriously. Twitch needs a good swift kick in the EGO. Don't disappoint me America! Vote like you did last week!
What OUGHT TO Happen. Based upon the actual "dancing" through the season (call me demented, but I think dancing should make a difference in a dancing competition) Twitch deserves to be eliminated. I'm hoping America gets it right this week—just as they did last week, by placing Twitch in the Bottom Two.
Again, I anticipate that former Will-Voters will shift their votes over to Mark, but Twitch could benefit from former Comfort-Voters?
Tonight will be a suspense-filled announcement. Especially because NONE of the girls are weak. Courtney, who has been in the Bottom more than once, is most likely to go, but NOT because of bad dancing at all; again, she had a solid night and benefited from having a partner that held his own in both routines.
Final Four Prediction: Katee, Joshua, Mark, and Chelsie. And if there are any surprises, it will be Twitch switching with Mark.
Katee, Joshua, and Chelsie have NEVER dwelt in Bottom-Dom, so they are pretty safe bets! However, when fans know that their favorites NEED votes—directly because of Bottom-Dom appearances—they become more motivated to make a difference. This clearly happened last week for Mark! The Mark fans came alive and saved their guy, after being a Bottom-Two dweller. And the same thing could happen for Courtney who has made a couple of appearances in the Bottom.
* * * * * * *
Popularity strikes again and again! Versatile Mark Kanemura gets kicked to the curb &
less-versatile Twitch, the Butcher of Ballroom Dance, lives to Hip Hop into the Final Four.
Chelsie Hightower was edged out by Courtney Galiano, who earn her way into
the Final Four with consistent energy and excellence.
Dr Matt's Results Show Recap July 31, 2008:
The Results show opens with choreography by Mandy Moore to the music of "The Rose" sung by Bette Midler—amazingly beautiful!
The AOL SYTYCD Poll results had Mark Kanemura as the top vote-getter among both Guys and Girls. Plus, Mark's YouTube View are were very high last week. Alas, it's all of America who votes—not just the Internet dwellers and YouTube watchers.
No complaints about Courtney beating out Chelsie Hightower. Courtney's has been consistently good throughout the whole season. Twitch, on the other hand, has clear dancing deficiencies in styles outside of Hip Hop—and I'm complaining (can you hear me?)
But America can vote any way it wants . . . and the majority say: "We want Twitch!"
Thems the rules to the game: choose anyone you want, for whatever reason you want—the reason doesn't even need to be a valid—it can be completely capricious. It's every person's personal prerogative! After all, we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, "and the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave." Kind brings a lump to your throat when you think of all the SYTYCD voting freedom we have in America.
Second Thoughts. You've got to wonder how the Final Four might have turned out, if Katee and Joshua had not been RE-paired up again. That was a HUGE advantage for them. What might have happened if Mark and Chelsie had a RE-union?
But alas, Chelsie was partnered with Mambo-impared Twitch, which absolutely reduced her ability to shine her brightest in her ballroom genre. It's completely clear that Mark would have been a better partner for her in terms of couple chemistry AND clean execution of choreography. In the end, Courtney benefited from Mark's fine-tuned ability to be passionate and accurate in his dancing.
Future Reflections. In future seasons of "So You Think You Can Dance" the Judges bear huge responsibility to screen out dancers who are ONLY good at one style (like Twitch), but are bound to have great personality appeal (like Twitch). The Judges need to weed out Twitch-like contestants, so that the Ballroom Dance style will not be mercilessly mangled week after week.
All of the Top 6 Six Dancers performed a dance solo. You could really tell that the pressure was OFF as they danced.
Mark . . . . . Chelsie . . . . . Joshua . . . . . Katee . . . . . Courtney . . . . . Twitch
Next Week, I'll review the delicious dancing of the Fabulous Final Four, as well as the much-awaited announcement of . . . America's Favorite Dancer.
See Ya then!
:o)
Dr Matt
P.S. I think I'm going to root for Twitch. That way, I can't lose: If he wins I'll be "right" and is he loses . . . I'll be "happy." But seriously, maybe I'll campaign for Courtney. American loves an underdog story, . . . and Joshu-atee has had enough glory!
That's it: Dr Matt is officially endorsing Courtney Galiano . . . Go Courtney!
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