SYTYCD – Top 8
I’m not going to be able to see tonight’s elimination, so I thought I’d post my thoughts about last night’s performances. I’ll be checking back later to find out who got booted.
First, I hate to see any of these dancers leave the show. I think they’re all incredible. I think the best performance of the night was Mollee and Jakob’s Viennese waltz (above). Just perfect.
Based solely on performances from last night, I think we should probably say goodbye to Legacy. He’s the only one who didn’t have a stellar night. Though it’s mostly not his fault (I think Tabitha and Napoleon let him down a little), I think he’s probably the best choice to leave on the men’s side. I say that with regret because I think he’s fantastic.
The women’s side is a lot tougher. I really, really hated the fact that Ashleigh was injured. Mostly because I think she would have been fantastic in the dances she was supposed to do with Russell. I’m hoping that a sympathy vote will keep her alive, especially given the fact that Ryan went to bat for her (What a stud! Can we have a round of applause for a guy sticking up for his gal?)Â
I have a hard time calling this one, so I’m just going to say I don’t want to see any of them leave, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ashleigh was eliminated just because she didn’t dance. It’s not her fault, and not what I want to see happen, but I won’t be surprised if it does, just because it’s hard to vote for her over others when she didn’t dance. If it’s not Ashleigh, I think it should be Ellenore, for the same reason Legacy lost points on the men’s side. Their hip hop dance just wasn’t great.
Your thoughts?
Posted on December 9, 2009, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 38 Comments.
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
arandomjohn
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
That waltz was AMAZING. I am sincerely hoping Jakob wins the whole thing, at this point.
Very strong night last night. Anxious to see who’s voted off!
Also, I agree about Legacy and Ellenore, but the Travis Wall piece was fantastic. Just brilliant.
Yeah that waltz was really special. And Travis’s piece was really cool.
I still want Legacy or Russell to win.
So, Legacy and Mollee are gone? Sad. But I guess I can live with that. It seems a little unjust that Mollee leaves after that great waltz, but that’s show biz, I guess.
I’m really looking forward to next week. Let’s hope Ashleigh is back. This should be one of the best finales ever.
Holy cow! I really thought Ryan was gone. Huh. I’m ok with who’s in the finale. I think Jakob is on track to win it all. I’m glad Ryan’s plea helped Ashleigh – nice that she wasn’t even in the bottom. I know I don’t like Mollee and have wanted her gone for weeks, but lovely that she got to leave on such a high note. However, I would have completely chosen Legacy over Russell (this week’s solo conveniently out of mind, of course…).
I was shocked that Ryan was still there. Even before Tuesday I couldn’t see how the logistics could work.
I think what happened was that Ryans crying for his wife and taking his time to push her really got a lot of people to vote. I honestly thought Ryan would go and then his wife too given she couldn’t dance and how great everyone else was. But I think people want to see them dance together.
What’s this “great Viennese waltz” everyone’s talking about? I remember seeing a beautiful contemporary piece that was referred to as a waltz, but I don’t recall seeing any waltzing.
I would place Travis Wall’s piece and the Cha-Cha-Cha as the two best dances of the night, though I give the edge to the Cha-Cha-Cha. It just really bugs me that Travis didn’t ask Legacy to head spin on top of that table. I mean, c’mon man, Legacy is a freaking maniac and the table is right there!!
Russel, of course, deserves praise for his solo, which showed great awareness of his audience. Smart, very smart.
I’m happy with the girls who are left. Many say it isn’t fair that Ashleigh made it through when she didn’t even dance, but here’s the deal: I would rather see her dance than Mollee, and looking back over the season I think most will agree that she has been consistently better than Mollee (in the partnered dances, not the solos).
I think MCQ will disagree with me, but since I actually voted this week, then what I say goes!
Hey, I voted too! I voted for both Ashleigh and Mollee. They are my two favorites, but as I said, I like all the top 8 a lot.
Personally, I was pleased with last night’s results. I agree that throughout the entire season Ashleigh has been consistently stronger than Mollee. Yes, Mollee did some nice stuff the last two weeks, but not enough to save her. I always felt she was a little too immature with everything – in dancing (often felt like an out-of-control little puppy) and in personality (it really showed, I thought, when you saw her reaction to her being cut…)
Legacy has done some great stuff, too, but I’m really tired of the constant “look how far he’s come, not having any training” blah blah blah. Ryan is a stronger dancer – he has technical training under his belt, he moves with strength, masculine grace, and is one helluva partner.
I think Kathryn is the unheralded gem of the season – her dancing is immaculate, beautiful, and exciting. And more than any other female dancer, she really has feminine class and grace about everything she has done.
And Jakob? Hands down one of the absolute best dancers they’ve ever had on the show. He has tackled everything given to him with strength, finesse, masculinity (for the most part) and incredible versatility.
America’s FAVORITE dancer??? who knows.
Side note: It has always bugged me that they make such a big deal out of the 30-second solo, when everything else they do, and are commented on, is partner work. The 30 seconds is a ridiculous amount of time to show anything worth anything. Either they try something artistic, dramatic, or aesthetic and get criticized for not “fighting” for it, or they fill it all with tricks and “wow” and get told they’re desperate and need to put more “dancing” into it. If the solos are such a big deal, then let them dance for a minimum of one minute, longer would be better. I mean, we are voting on individuals, right?! And why do they have to stick to their “own” style? Dumb rules, if you ask me.
Brian I agree – and it hasn’t happened just once either. They have allowed a lot of ballroom to “become” something else. It’s quite unfair.
Do they really have that rule about solos? I’ve never heard that. They should really be able to do whatever they want on their solo.
I’ve always wondered why ballroom dancers don’t throw in some other styles in their solos, it’s not like they don’t know how to do other stuff too, or they wouldn’t be on the show. I thought they just reverted to their comfort zone in the solos.
I get so tired of the same moves over and over in the solos.
MCQ: I can’t believe you voted this week! Arrgh, that was supposed to be my trump card.
Mel:
Amen! I don’t know why the judges told her she was “peaking just at the right time” this week. Did they not notice her killing it since week 1?
I would like to see Kathryn paired with Jakob dancing a real, true, not Contemporary-ized Mambo, Foxtrot, Tango or Waltz and a hard-hitting Dave Scott hip-hop. Push them both to their limits! (if Kathryn has a limit, that is)
Brian – I know I didn’t really notice Kathryn until this week or last. I was hard pressed to remember her name or who she was before then. She’s a great dancer, but hasn’t really stood out to me before.
gabby: I remember you mentioning that before, and it just boggles my mind. Different tastes notice different things, I suppose. In fairness, I hardly noticed Ellenore in past weeks—except for her solos, which I think bug—but now I look back and realize that she’s a solid dancer/performer.
I’m with Gabby. Kathryn and Jacob might be great dancers but they don’t have the same spark that Ellenore, Russell and Legacy have.
I really like Jakob but I think he’ll be like Brandon last year!
If nothing else, the finale will be interesting with six dancers instead of four. The voting will probably be very unpredictable and surprising.
Side note: I think I’ve decided I don’t like this new fall season of the show following the summer season so fast. I think it lost it’s momentum and audience.
Mel I agree. Although overall I still like the dancing and choreography better this season. But having them too close definitely lost energy. Another problem is that while people are better dancers this season they aren’t better performers. That performance issue has been huge.
I just like the dancers better this season than any season in the past. I can’t remember a time that I thought the entire top 8 was this good. I think the judges feel that way too.
Okay gabby and Susan: please tell me that after last night you know who Kathryn is!
She’s Nigel’s favorite, that’s for sure. I don’t think I’ve seen him lobby for any one dancer as hard as he did for Kathryn last night.
The judges were out of control last night with their favs. Asleigh and Ryan really weren’t given any respect until Adam asked how they felt about a dance that clearly touched them (and was honestly one of my favorites of the evening) I think we all know neither is going to win. Why not give them their moment?
Oh, I’ve known who she was for a couple of weeks. She definitely got lost at the beginning of the season, though and I constantly mixed her up with Noelle.
Jakob and Kathryn were amazing last night. Followed by Elenore and Ashleigh. Ryan was as strong as ever, and Russell rounds out the group for me. Good. Strong. But I’m definitely over him.
The contemporary by Jakob and Kathryn and Ashleigh and Ryan were both great. I really liked them. Though, I do agree with Nigel that Ashleigh seems to have more chemistry with Jakob…
Clark, I agree with you and I felt mad enough about it that I went out of my way to vote for Ryan and Ashleigh. I thought it was mainly Nigel that was over the top, and it was really unfair because Ashleigh and Jakob have had many dances together to perfect their chemistry while Ashleigh and Ryan have never danced together on the show until last night.
People think chemistry between partners is just automatic, especially between a married couple, but it’s not. It’s something you work on and develop just like any other part of the performance. I thought Ashleigh and Ryan were just fantastic in every way last night.
I’m still predicting Jakob will win it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Russell or Kathryn sneak in there for the win. I would be thrilled if Ryan or Ashleigh won (especially Ashleigh) but I’m not expecting it.
MCQ: I agree with your predictions, except that I think Kathryn will win. (I also think she’s a better all-around dancer than Jakob.)
I don’t see what you mean about Ashleigh and Ryan. Yes, chemistry is a skill you work on, but these two have danced together for years.
Russel was truly outstanding last night. From the start of the season I thought he would be dropped pretty quick; his ballroom work was pretty clunky. Not last night, though. His Paso was great and his performance (to say nothing of his dancing) in the hip-hop was just perfect. If you remember the group routine from a few weeks ago that Nap-Tab choreographed, Russel really stole the show there too. He’s a great performer.
The hip hop made Russell shine and if he wins, it’s because of that.
I also disagree with chemistry between Ashleigh and Ryan – there was a lot of nuance in that dance. Of course it won’t be the same as if they were only dancing with each other – they each were dancing with two other partners for the week. And in a style not their own. As I said it was one of my favorite dances of the evening and I think it deserved more praise.
Jakob probably will win although there’s a chance for Russell as dark horse. I’ve been a huge Jakob fan since day one but he hit a wall a few weeks ago in my opinion. He’s still great but… I think in performance the others caught up with him.
I’m a huge fan of “contemporary Jakob.” I just don’t think he’s strong much outside of that style, and some his strongest dances that weren’t contemporary were “contemporary-ized” to suit him (as we’ve discussed before).
Brian I don’t think they have danced together that much. They were competing against each other for a long time when they met and, even if they have danced together in ballroom comp for some time prior to the show, they have not had that opportunity on the show, which is a very different envrironment, in my opinion.
I think there may be something to the idea that Jakob peaked too soon, which is why I think Russell or Kathryn might steal the win. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for Ashleigh or Ryan.
Maybe we should have a betting pool…
So Russell gets it! Amazing ending to a great season. I think Russell may have deserved it the most when you look at where he came from and where he ended up. This is the krumper who just wouldn’t quit. Really a great story. Fun to see Ashleigh and Ryan dance their specialty and their own choreography.
Agreed MCQ. I had a feeling he’d win and things went about as I expected. (Other than his injury halfway through the show which must have thrown the producers for a loop)
I’m really happy Russel won. He’s been my fave since the beginning. I was really disappointed they didn’t have any krump routines this year.
BTW – I hope they go back to only one season a year.
I wonder if Ashleigh and/or Ryan will end up on DWTS.
Congrats to Russell: most improved and perhaps the best performer of the bunch.
Susan: A di Lello on DWTS? Prolly a safe bet.
Clark,
It is my understanding they added this season to create a future of SYTYCD in the fall and American Idol in the spring.
Except they are doing tryouts in January.
Brian, I agree. For all his weaknesses Russell was by far the best performer. Had Ryan had that performance quality he’d have won – but he never managed it. I said a few times though that while this season’s dancers were vastly better than in the past their performance abilities were lacking compared to most prior seasons top 8.