Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Season Ten, Week Six: Top Twelve Performances

Hey, remember when this show was good?! Good thing you have those memories, because it's not now.

Another tired, underwhelming, borderline sleep-inducing episode of So You Think You Can Dance has come and gone. Tucker is this season's latest casualty; he sat out his partner dance due to a knee infection (what?!), but was magically well enough to dance for his life upon landing in the bottom three. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Group Performance (Choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahjan)



I tend to always like the group Bollywood routines more than couple dances. This was much more visually interesting than most of what Nakul has done of late (in the past couple of seasons), but I was disappointed by some of the performances, namely from Jenna and Alan.

Hayley and Nico (Broadway by Sean Cheesman)



Nothing about this was Broadway except for the music. Also, this music and general concept previously appeared in season four of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, the second time Sean Cheesman has reused choreography this season. Get some new ideas, or get out, because there are hundreds of choreographers wanting to showcase their work on a platform like this show. I think Hayley and Nico are better suited as partners than they were with their respective previous ones, but I'm annoyed enough with the lack of originality in the piece (also, the concept was too reminiscent of a Broadway routine a few weeks ago with Nico and Alexis).

Malece and Alan (Jazz by Mandy Moore)



 "I'm 19, I've never seen a Gene Kelly movie." GO AWAY. Alan is not enough of a performer to sell the smaller and quieter moments of this dance. He was lackluster, and Malece was kind of awkward in the cha cha moments. They had zero connection as well. Not very good.

Jenna and Alex Wong (Paso Doble by Jean Marc Genereaux)



I don't like the paso doble. The concept of this was lost entirely in the execution, despite how well Jenna did it. Alex seemed like a random choice of all star to replace Tucker, and a ballroom dancer would have obviously done much better. He was shaky toward the end, clearly exhausted from the non-stop lifts. But this style hardly ever fails to excite me (with two exceptions: Jeanine and Brandon and Amy and Fik-Shun).

Also, Nigel needs to never make another joke again.

Makenzie and Paul (Contemporary by Mandy Moore)



What a lost opportunity to not set this concept to "Almost Paradise," because this was exactly the situation in Footloose during the train track scene. I liked this, overall, except for the too-dark lighting. There was nothing too special or memorable about it, but it was well done and pleasant. Paul had some issues with matching Makenzie's motions, but there were some very nice moments.

Amy and Fik-Shun (Viennese Waltz by Jean Marc Genereaux)



Fik-Shun was better than he has any right to be with his background, but he still wasn't particularly good. The arm extensions were sometimes cringe worthy, and this style just didn't sit well on him. The Viennese Waltz is almost always a total snooze though, and this one was certainly no exception. I like them both still, but this was just a boring piece for them.

Jasmine and Aaron (Hip Hop by Tabitha & Napoleon D'Umo)



Aaron has a lot of body to work with, and that almost always works against him. Compare his looseness in his upper body with that of Jasmine: the difference is shocking. She moves so much moreully with her entire body, following through each motion from each muscle group. Aaron doesn't, and it might be because he just can't; he's a tall dude, and maybe he just can't make that all-out motion in the counts given. I don't know. But I noticed it in this piece more than ever, and while I liked the choreography, I just didn't love this whole routine. Jasmine let go completely, and I loved that... but I didn't love it from top to bottom.

Paul, Nico, Alan, Aaron, Fik-Shun  (Hip Hop by Tabittha & Napoleon D'Umo)



Well that was kind of sexist. "I want them to be men. They need to be men on that stage." Well, there are different definitions of what it means to be a man, and apparently the Nappytabs definition has to do with having all the power in a relationship. BYE. On top of that, the choreography was really unimpressive and pedestrian. Alan stood out as the weakest link, followed closely by Paul.

Makenzie, Hayley, Malece, Jasmine, Amy, Jenna (Contemporary by Stacey Tookey)



This was pretty, but (again) instantly forgettable. No one stood out in any way as strong or weak, which is good, but it was just too unexceptional. The choreography was pretty, the dancers were pretty... but, I mean, whatever. I felt nothing.

Elimination

Bottom Three Guys: Tucker, Alan, Nico
Bottom Three Girls: Jenna, Malece, Amy

The two most random dancers were saved by the judges, Nico and Jenna. Tucker's solo would have been very impressive if he would have slowed down and followed through every motion, but he was frantic and harried. Luckily Amy was there to show them how it's done. And Malece? Gymnastics aren't dancing; and don't do a back flip if you can't do a back flip. I kind of can't believe Alan got sent home when Tucker couldn't even perform this week, but whatever. It was a better choice to send Malece home than Amy, though I think it was silly to save Jenna in the first place. She's consistently in the bottom, but whatever. And because Tucker got to stick around, he will automatically be in the bottom next week for not performing in this episode.

My Bottom Three Guys
Tucker
Aaron
Fik-Shun

My Bottom Three Girls
Hayley
Jenna
Makenzie

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