Top 14: Performance

UH! Mia's on the panel and guess who's up to dance first?!

Brandon and Janette
Dance: Cha Cha, Song: "Hush Hush" by the Pussycat Dolls
Choreographer: Jean Marc & France Genereaux

Whew. Thank goodness for this dance and it's redeeming the first Cha Cha of the season (ok it wasnt that bad- but it wasnt as stellar as this one). When it started and the music was slow, and the music was... the Pussycat Dolls...I thought, "Nooooo!" SO glad I was wrong. That moment where the song went from slow to HELLO! deserved several Mary screams! The dancing followed and the episode started with a bang. I'd not heard this Pussycat dolls song before and it never fails, I write them off because of that STUPID song they had (When I Grow Up) but end up liking their songs! I REALLY liked Hush Hush! I was groovin in my living room. Anyway.

An essential part of the Cha Cha's appeal for me is its ability to get those who are not dancing pumped up about what they're watching; it pulls the audience into the dance and has a TON of energy. Brandon and Janette excelled at this because of their facial expressions precise nailing of movements. (Check out the showmanship at :33-:37. The thing that really separates Janette and Brandon from the other couples is not just their technique but their attack of that technique. Brandon and Janette ATTACK their dances. You'll see what I mean if you watch the clip at :45. Janette doesn't just fall onto Brandon's leg in a star shape. She sits down and then explodes down into the shape and pops her head all the way back! I mean I don't know how she doesn't have whip lash half the time. This dance is closer to Janette's style but you would have thought it was Brandon's too! This style is so far from contemporary but Brandon stood regal and precise in his movements without being too stiff. He had good hip movement action and some spicy looks at Janet and into the audience! He rocked it and I'm really glad he rocked it in front of Mia. (insert "I TOLD YOU SO MIA, STOP TALKING BEFORE YOU THINK WOMAN!). At 5:16 Brandon cried in response to her comments. Way to prove Mia wrong Brandon! Clearly I could keep going but this one critique is getting too long!

Kayla and Kupono
Dance: Contemporary, Song: "Eyes on Fire" by Blue Foundation
Choreographer: Sonya

A dance about vampires, a song from Twilight. Every girl's dream and every guy's nightmare =). At least my guy friends. For some reason I've been hearing mixed reviews of this dance. I'm not sure why. I thought it was fantastic! SUPERB SONG choice too! I LOVE the moments in this dance where moves started crisp and sharp and then extended out to very controlled, slow movement. There are a couple of examples at :18 and :36. Though I'm still not a huge Kupono fan (at least not him as an individual dancer), I really thought he did a good job of staying in sync with Kayla. Their movement matched and he partnered pretty well. EXCELLENT pirouette at 1:16-1:21 by Kayla because she came out of it with precision and into the crouch to meet Kupono at the same spot. As a dancer with bad knees I can't even begin to tell you how painful the move at 1:27 looked; both dancers got a lot of height and landed at the same time. I loved Sonya's idea that Kayla's character doesn't want to accept death but Kupono's character is pulling her toward it. I'm not sure if that was communicated as clearly as I would have liked, but still a wonderful dance!

Randi and Evan
Dance: Broadway, Song: "Rich Man's Frug" from Sweet Charity (2005 Broadway revival cast)
Choreographer: Joey Dowling

Can I just say that Joey Dowling scares the crap out of me. I mean I think she's nice and is an amazing choreographer but I'm the type who'd be intimidated by her teaching style. OH CREEEEAAAAAAP! I was worried about Randi and Evan but I thought this dance was awesome! I'm not sure WHAT the judges were smoking because they didn't seem to agree. (Though Nigel did say Evan was in his Top 10, yay!). Sometimes I think they catch on to who's getting votes and if they want someone else to get votes they'll critique a good dance as being sub par. Maybe it was something else but I think you're blind if you didn't think they nailed that routine. (Ok, I'm biased. There was room for improvement but on the whole, I had a great time watching it). Nigel and Mary talked about their wrist movement not being quite good enough???! Um, could you both please demonstrate how to better roll your wrists?! I mean I know you have to dance everything full out, down to your finger tips, but how much more can you roll your wrists? I mean the wrist rolls looked good to me. Maybe there were some technical weaknesses? Whatever. I didn't notice because they entertained me! This dance was entirely under-rated. Can we talk about Evan's look at :15 and :22 and :26 (HOT) AND his move at :10 (SUCH CONTROL!). And Randi! Girl's got some 'tude! I thought she held her own and kept up with Evan's entertainment level. Maybe they could have brought a litttttle more to it but I thought it was great. If you scroll through a lot of the Youtube comments, you'll notice a lot of "I liked it more than the judges did!" So there judges, take that! *Punch, Punch* =)

Jason and Caitlin
Dance: Pop jazz, Song: "Creator" by Santogold
Choreographer: Brian Friedman

This dance fueled a good amount of criticism from both fans and the judges. I was a mix of emotions and thoughts the first time I saw it and was kinda torn.

What I liked: 1st, I've LOVED this song by Santogold since the first time I heard it when Mark danced a solo (1:01) to it in Season 4. It was a great choice to execute that "funky, weird" feel of an alien. 2nd, While the actual concept is pretty "out there" the dance itself is something you'd see in more creative shows like Broadway, Cir De Soli sule, music videos, etc. I think I liked the actual dance and concept...which makes sense because I love quirky.

What I DIDN'T like: Brian Friedman using Caitlin and Jason as guinea pigs. In a show where the public votes for dancers to stay in the competition, you've got to be careful not to alienate (no pun intended, really) viewers and in essence, make them not want to vote for a certain couple. I left feeling like Brian shouldn't be asked back to choreograph. Another blogger said, "Who cares if this was good, it was a horrible mistake to give two people who need to connect with the audience such an outlandish number."

What I thought in the END: Maybe SYTYCD really is the best outlet for Brian to premier this dance. Part of the competition is being able to prove you can handle what's thrown at you. The thing is, I think Jason and Caitlin DID handle it; and very well! Jason was convincing as the last man on earth by looking scared out of his mind while an alien tries to impregnate him?! (Also an interesting concept; I guess Alien men can have babies but can a human man do so? Am I really asking that question?). Caitlin maintained her character very well and did the best with what Brian gave her. She was intense and convincing as an alien. Brian, save the experiments for dancers already in the industry.

CONCLUSION= I BLAME IT ALL ON THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT for giving Caitlin that STUPID outfit. It might have flown if you took off the head piece but Nigel wasn't too far off when he said she looked like a dancing condom! She should have looked more like this.

Jeanine and Phillip
Dance: Hip Hop, Song: "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West
Choreographers: Tabitha and Napoleon

Ahhhhhhhhh! I cannot get enough of this dance and I think I figured out why. Tabitha and Napoleon have amazing musicality. Their movements are danced to words, drum beats, harmonies, melodies. Props to NappyTabs because their choreography always ends up being some of my favorite. Phillip and Jeanine did an amazing job. I was so afraid they were going to step on the chain and really hurt themselves. I think Phillip was nervous too because you can see his hand shaking while he holds the hat at the beginning of the dance (aw). A few of my favorite parts: Phillips chest popping at :04. It's like he vibrates his chest as he comes forward. Incredible. At :39 (the the no, no, no, no part of the song) each "no" in the lyrics has a movement. At 1:10-1:13, Phillip does his cool thing on the ground and Jeanine is mirroring him standing up behind him. There are more but I could commentate every move and that would bore you. I was so impressed with Jeanine. I'll say again that she's completely under-rated right now. She had a great, tough look and really continues to keep up with Phillip in the Hip Hop genres. Nigel said if they keep dancing this way, that maybe they should stay chained together forever. Phillip then threw away the key! And we can't forget Jeanine's "chains in our apartment" quote. 7:02 and ~8:43 for some laughs.

Melissa and Ade
Dance: Ballet (on Pointe), Song: Romeo and Juliet Prokofiev's Suite (check out video for the rest of the song details).
Choreographer: Thordal Christensen

Ok, this was a gorgeous dance. But I can't help but think they did not pull this out of the hat. I know they didn't because pointe has never been in the hat and no one could have danced pointe but Melissa. I'll side with most of my friends on this one and say that I just think they picked this for her so that they could showcase a new style of dance and promote their show as the best. Ok we all know I think it's the best but it WILL NOT continue to be if they start rigging it. We all know some things are pre-recorded (group dances, which is obvious) but it wasn't until this season that things like this started. This competition is about taking dancers out of their styles and seeing how they do with new ones.(Coincidence that Jeanine and Phillip got two Tabitha and Napoleon routines so close together? Hope so.) If you want to showcase a new dance, bring in the professionals to do so and leave the competition fair and un-biased. I also think Nigel made a huge mistake by admitting that the judges know who's going to be in the bottom three before it's revealed on the show. I've always thought this show is more genuine and less staged than American Idol. I hope Season 5 isn't tbe beginning of the integrity slip into the cookie cutter mold for SYTYCD. Rant over. Melissa was beautiful in her style and Ade was strong. Love Ade. Love his jump at 3:30. Very good partnering by both. I thought the dance was too short though, and should have kept going a little longer.

**I went back and read this post before I published it and thought that maybe Melissa and Ade really did pick the Paus De Deux and the choreographer or producers (or Melissa herself) decided to go on pointe. It's probably not unfair because eventually everyone will pick their styles and have a chance to show off their strong point. So I retract what I said about this particular dance but not about some of the other things threatening the integrity of SYTYCD.

Karla and Vitolio
Dance: Quickstep (aka kiss of death), Song: Puttin' on the Ritz (Rufus Wainwright)
Choreographer: Jean-Marc Généreux

Never would have known this was a new partnership! Hands down the best quickstep on the show. Another great song choice too-really matched the feel of the quickstep. It helped that Jean-Marc gave the dance a story. Voters connect to dances with stories because they relate to them to their own lives. Instead of getting tangled up in the close hold, the dancers had a story to focus on. I don't usually admit who I voted for (yes, I vote now), but I did for these two because I feared that even though this dance was the best it could be, I wasn't sure if voters would choose to vote for a quickstep.

One of the judges said Karla looked like she was scared while she was dancing. I think they mistook the fact that being scared was part of her character in the beginning of the routine. I mean she's at a museum where a statue has just come to life. OF COURSE SHE'S SCARED! Props to Vitolio for clearing that red rope(:12-:15). Snagging that could have been disastrous and the height and form of his jump was lovely. Both Karla and Vitolio had great spotting in their turns and really used the whole length of the stage, making their quickstep that much more impressive. The costume change was crazy fast and I kept rewinding my DVR to try to catch it in slow motion. I had no idea all that dress was up under there! Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imiKHSZ16Jw. Vitolio's reaction to it is cute too!