As with my reviews of Rising Star, the opinions are less professional than those of the TV-show websites.
Hey everyone. This season continues to be great and get even better. The dancers continue to impress me in places I never felt impressed, especially the guys. And I feel the ones I like or are beginning to like are end up eliminated. And that sucks. And another thing, I guess the twist from last week doesn’t happen again this week, as the mixed-up duos stayed the same for another week, and will probably for the rest of the season.
This week, Nigel and Mary were again joined by Ballet icon Misty Copeland. I like her critiques; so balanced, straightforward and subtle.
Also, I apologize for not putting the names of the choreographers in the last two reviews. I will put their names in this review and those afterward.
Unfortunately, this time, my source for the videos on YouTube has been deleted thanks to the production company behind SYTYCD, so I had to switch to videos from the Fox network's YT channel. My apologies.
This week’s Group Dance features the dancers as chess pieces on a board for this Hip-Hop dance choreographed by Christopher Jennings and Krystal Meraz to “How It’s Done” by District 78. I could only hope that it isn’t a danc-y version of any scene from Game of Thrones and is a danc-y version of the scene with the huge chess game from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Everyone was stretching and clawing, the King making sure things were in order. And then...they dance? Anyway, this dance is pretty awesome. The dark setting and lighting really work with this dance, and the back piece dancers & white piece dancers really mesh when doing the same moves. I also love when the black pieces and white pieces get their own chances to shine. My favorite part is when the Black pieces danced; that was so menacing.
I never knew Hip-Hop and Chess can go hand in hand sometimes.
Straight after the dance, the show intro, the Top 18 dancers being introduced, Cat Deeley walking to the stage, and the T18 coming back to the stage, the Bottom 6 dancers are announced. Unfortunately, I can’t put them on the bottom of the page because they’re in the video. The Bottom 6 dancers are:
Girls: Bridget, Emily & Jourdan
Guys: Emilio, Stanley (such a shame; I really liked him) & Teddy
(I will reveal the Eliminated dancers at the end of the review)
Jacque & Zack kicked off the competition with a Hip Hop dance to “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith (They really like this guy’s music (and Ed Sheeran’s) this season). It was fine, I enjoyed it, but not as much as the next ones. Also, "Stay With Me" definitely isn't a Hip-Hop song, so it felt odd to use an R&B song for a Hip-Hop dance. They did a great job, though.
Next, Marcquet & Jourdan (two dancers with very unique names) performed a Dee Caspery-Contemporary dance to “Disappear” by Mikky Ekko (the guy that appeared in Rihanna’s “Stay”). The emotion and intensity were really nice. Jourdan was amazing, with the way she the moves while...being caught by Marcquet while he did...ummm. Anyway, what they did was so great, I can’t describe. Also, when she was leaning on her tip-toes was great; must be the Ballet influences.
Jessica & Stanley later performed Tyce DiOrio Jazz routine to “Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter” (I don’t know if the person who came up with the name was high or did it on a dare, but okay) by Nikka Costa. The dance was performed on a very flat rug, so it’s understandable that you would get hurt from it. But Stanley did an awesome job, and did get spared by the dance Gods to walk around normally.
Bridget & Emilio took the stage to make a Jive groove to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”. It was an okay dance, but what a Turkey it was. I won’t say because I heard the song like ten thousand times; I’ll never get tired of it. There were pauses of some sort throughout the dance, so Bridget can shimmy, I think. I did love the split Emilio did under Bridget’s dress. It just didn’t feel exciting to me.
After the 3-minute switch, Emily & Teddy performed a Tyce DiOrio-Contemp dance to “Ne me quitte pas” by Nina Simone. The intensity and emotion were on high alert here. Both dancers did a great job, especially Teddy. And this Nina Simone song was a great choice and fits here. Also them putting their arms in the air in a dramatic way was really funny to me.
Brooklyn & Casey took to the floor to do a Jazz bit choreographed by Bonnie Story to Michael Buble’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (a cover of the Queen classic). It was exciting to watch. The flipping and the spinning, the the twirling and the tip-toeing and the jumping (stammering). It just makes me dizzy just thinking about it again. Brooklyn is becoming my favorite girl and Casey is tying with Teddy as my favorite guy.
(I’m fearing they might leave next week. Because the dancers I like always leave the next week.)
Valerie & Ricky came to perform Lacey Schwimmer’s Vietnamese Waltz routine to Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up”. It was beautiful. I mean Bee-YOU-tee-FULL! The chemistry was heartwarming and the part where Rick spins Val (along with when she slid halfway across the floor) was fantastic. The two were so graceful and beautiful with this dance. I’m naming this my--cue Imaginary Trumpet--Favorite Dance of the Week.
Then, Carly & Serge did a Hip-Hop bit by Luther Brown to “Senile” (a song you would think about cranky, dumb old people) by, of all people, Young Money. The two wore body-suits with skeletons, which really helped here. The two really got in character as skeletons and I liked that. I’d be damned to like a Young Money song for an actual legit reason (especially because I like Every Girl), but the beat of the song meshed well with the dance and it was perfect. Well done all around.
For the last dance of competition, Tanisha & Rudy took to Broadway for their dance, choreographed by Warren Carlyle, to the beat of “Sing Sing Sing” by Bob Fosse and the original B-way cast of “Fosse”. I love the Broadway dances; they’re always fun, jazzy, full of bursting energy and never ceases to amaze me. This one’s no exception. Tanny and Rude brought it and left it wrapped with a bow. So jazzy, so fun, so energy-bursting, so AWESOME!! And the fact that it’s also a “Same Moves” dance (and I’ve seen a lot this season so far) only makes this 100 times better!! This definitely made Mr. Carlyle really happy. These guys were amazing. So I also name this dance the--again cue Imaginary Trumpet--Favorite Dance of the Week.
And now, the weekly performance by someone else. This time, A Great Big World with "Say Something", the song that's gonna make them reach one-hit-wonder status really hard.
And now, the moment we’ve all dreaded; the eliminations. This time, it’s about America’s votes. Six guys and six girls. Who will be the two to leave us this week?
It’s Stanley Glover and Jourdan Epstein.
I really liked Stanley, so I’m saddened to see him leave the show. He was so good. Jourdan was good, too. Oh well, too bad for me.
FAVORITE DANCE: (TIE) Valorie & Ricky--Vietnamese Waltz and Tanisha & Rudy--Broadway
Worst Dance (Sorry): Bridget & Emilio--Jive
Okay. We’ll be back next week as 18 become the Top 16. We’ll see who improves, who falters and who gets eliminated again (probably one I like. It probably the one-episode-a-week concept with eliminations at the end. Why do people like it this way?)
See you then!!
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