Wednesday, July 14, 2010

...Set: SYTYCD S7 Top 7 Performance Show

Recap/Review of So You Think You Can Dance - Season 7 - Top 7 Performance Episode by freshfromthe.com
Another week, another injury. If this keeps happening every week, voting is going to become obsolete! That's right, after losing the wonderful Alex last week, this week another dancer was placed on the sidelines - Ashley. We won't find out until tomorrow whether she will be able to continue in the competition, but she wasn't even in the audience during the show, which doesn't really bode well.

Of course, that might make it easier to predict who's going home! Because otherwise, it's a bit tough to figure out who will be joining Ashley in the bottom three tomorrow night. I certainly know who I'd like it to be, but I have strong doubts that it would be at this point. I'm being vague. Deal with it! Nearly everyone did a great job tonight, so I'm just going to talk about each contestant in the order of their voting numbers. I know I change this up every week, but whatever! Get over it! Variety is the spice of life!

Lauren - She started out the night with all-star Mark doing a type of dance we had yet to see on the SYTYCD stage - a Tahitian piece choreographed by Tiana Liufau. Honestly, it seemed like Lauren's only requirement in this piece was to shake her tail feather a lot. I mean, literally, her butt was surrounded by feathers. Mark was, of course, awesome, and I think the only guy who could pull that off. Mia compared it to a duck in heat, so... right? Much like Nigel, I don't have a lot to say. Lauren's second routine of the evening was a Mandy Moore jazz piece with fellow contestant Billy, and it was so very super cute! A Mandy Moore routine that was actually a lot of fun! It was all about the shoes, and they worked them well. Adam said he thinks that Lauren has a chance to outlast a lot of the boys, and I think he could be right, to a point. If Ashley goes home this week due to her injury, she'll be the only lady left!

Adechike - His night kicked off with all-star Anya in a salsa routine by Liz Lira and Danny Davalos. And, whoa, that looked like an epically difficult routine. Also epic? That outfit. Eeesh. Not in a good way. I thought it was really evident that even Anya had to try hard to do that routine, and some of the moves seemed a bit labored and slow even though overall there was a lot going on. Mia seemed to really be trying to hold back on any negative comments toward him this week, though I think she did have them. I mean, it was okay. For his second routine of the night, Adechike was paired up with Kent for a Dee Caspary contemporary number, about a friend trying to help another friend let go of a bad relationship. With a chair. Symbolism! First of all, there was more personality from Adechike in that intro package than I think we've seen all season. Secondly, the judges were praising that routine up and down, but I found it kind of confusing that there were two chairs when the chair was supposed to be the girl. Adechike did have a really awesome leap, though.

Jose - If anything, Jose had the most trying night. It started off with all-star Courtney in a Joey Dowling Broadway piece that really showcased Jose's lack of technique. He was focusing so much on the acting performance that I think he kind of let the dancing bit of it go. I always want to see him push farther than he does, and the judges were pretty harsh on him for it all, despite his ultra sad face. Mia's response to that face: "I hate you right now for that face." She almost started crying just looking at his face! So expressive, he is. Jose did get a chance to redeem himself in the second routine of the evening, an actual b-boy number with all-star Dominic, choreographed by NapTab (and I saw Legacy there too! Legacy, you have left too large a legacy to follow! Sorry, I am full of bad puns tonight.). The judges were over the moon for this routine, but honestly, apart from the opening diagonal bit across the stage, I didn't think it was quite the bees knees. They weren't really together on the parts they were supposed to be together, and Dominic's windmill things totally outpaced Jose's. It was certainly 100 times better than the Broadway, but does that mean he deserves to not be in the bottom three? I don't think so, but I am doubting he will be yet again.

Robert - Robert's first routine of the night was by far my favorite of the evening, and one of the best of the season so far. He was paired up with all-star Allison for a Travis Wall contemporary piece that was very emotional and personal for Travis. When they showed Robert right before the break and I saw what he was wearing, I thought to myself, "well, he's dressed just like Travis!" And no wonder. He was basically playing Travis in the routine, which was about helping his mother while she's sick, which Robert could also relate to. And oof, that routine gave me some chills. When they were doing the side by side dancing, it was amazing. By far the best dancing Robert has done on the show. Tons of people were teary-eyed or full on crying. Robert's second dance of the night was not quite so powerful. He was originally paired up with Ashley for a Doriana Sanchez disco, but because Ashley was sidelined, all-star Kathryn stepped in. It was an okay disco, though I don't know that anything can top that crazy one from Janette and Brandon two seasons ago. That one was insane. As it was, the judges were kind of back and forth. Nigel really liked it, but Mia wanted Robert to be more masculine. I actually agree with Mia here, there were a couple of his moves that just weren't masculine enough. He was trying his hardest, though, that's for sure.

Billy - Billy's night started with all-star Anya in a jive choreographed by Louis van Amstel. Anya had a bit of a dress malfunction, and the music was really distracting to me in this routine too. The judges were all very complimentary of his performance, but said he could've gotten down a little more with the actual steps. To me it was just an okay routine, but that may just be the jive in general. Nigel again mentioned the world cup and NIGEL! It's over, so get over it! Let it go! As previously mentioned, Billy's second routine was the Mandy Moore one with Lauren. I think it was probably one of his best performances to date, but I'm not sure that it was enough to keep him out of the bottom this week. He's been there twice already, and there's something that's just not connecting. I can tell that he's trying hard, but I agree that there's still something not quite there. I don't even know what it is.

Kent - Kent started off the night with all-star Neil in a Tyce Diorio Broadway routine about baseball. It was way cheesy and all about a lot of gymnastics moves, which is appropriate for Neil, as he was always known for doing a lot of gymnastics moves. It's not secret that I'm not a fan of Tyce's broadway pieces, and honestly this wasn't really any exception. Not to say that Kent didn't dance it well, I just found it sort of boring. The judges, however, were over the moon, though all Mia seemed to be able to say was, "I love boys so much." Moving on to Kent's second piece with Adechike, Nigel made the "bold" statement of saying he thinks Kent could win the whole thing. Really? As if this is news. Now that Alex has been taken unduly out of the picture, this thing is Kent's to lose. He has been listening  to the judges, though, and reigning in his personality for the routines that need it. I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve to win it either. He's consistently a good dancer and he has the big and shiny personality to boot.

In tour news, Cat said there will be 14 dates, and that the all-stars will in fact be joining the dancers on tour. You can check out the page at www.fox.com/dance for info on that. And? My favorite part of the show tonight was probably seeing Mark dancing with Cat at the end there. Love you, Mark!

So who do you think is going home? Assuming Ashley will be okay. Seriously, what is with all of the injuries these past couple of seasons? Before that, there didn't seem to be hardly any! Sigh.

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2 comments:

  1. My guess--if Ashley doesn't go home, Billy will. I'm sad to say it BUT so far Adechike has been safe (if he isn't tonight,he'll go home. but it hasn't happ'd yet), Robert just might be safe (after Travis' piece last night I'm almost asured he'll be safe. and rightly so! and even if he isn't safe, he's not going anywhere!), and Jose will be safe. Lauren & Kent should not be in the bottom 3. period. so, that's my prediction...Billy may leave us tonight unless Adechike or Jose are also in the bottom. I'm hoping Ashley is better b/c (1) I really like her and (2) that leaves only ONE girl left!! It's already unfair they didn't choose 6 girls to match the 6 boys to start off with. now leaving Lauren all by herself...sheesh!

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  2. I agree about Billy. He's been in the bottom a few times already and I don't see them ousting someone else unless maybe Adechike or Jose ended up in the bottom, which I am doubting.

    Fingers crossed for Ashley!!!

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