6/23 Performance Show discussion *Spoilers*

[Quemoni]

Paso...was okay but her timing was off a bit.
Adecheke did better but he still thins too much.
Alex in fosse...well...I agreed with the judges.
Ashley did a beautiful move in the beginning but I hated the music. How was the choreography and music in the Jazz genre? That was forgettable.

Billy>>>>B Buck??? Ummm...he was chasing Comfort. He got the steps but it was missing that true gruff. He did survive it though. He committed to the best of his ability. The choreo was fantastic!

Robert>>>Roberto....I was unsure in the beginning but by the end Roberto convinced me. His expressions started to win me over and allowed me to overlook many many technical things that were annoying me. I tried to put in my mind an addition to the story. Not only could he communicate with her verbally but the two came from two different dance worlds. He was trying to win her approval whilst she continued to mop him up on the floor. In the end, she was intrigued by his attempt. That worked for me!

Melinda. mmm. First, what did they have her dressed in? Second, the choreo...I didn't get it. Third, she didn't have it. I began watching Ade because she was so.....(fill in the blank here because I'm at a loss for words.)




Robert

[JavaJo]

Not a fan of Melinda, Cristina or Ade part two. Be gone.

Lauren was MUCH better this week. Reminded me a bit of Chelsea when her and Mark did the Bleeding Love dance.

Alex was really good. I thought him and Lauren made a great pair! I'm not familiar with Fosse, either, so I didn't see that he did anything wrong.

Kent. What can I say? I LOVE him! His facial expressions are great and I thought he held his own pretty well. He was very flirty. I gasped out loud when he did that flip onto the table...wow.

Ashley...I like the girl. Thought she danced that beautifully.

[BerryCrazy]

Isn't anybody going to comment on how hot Mark Kanemura looked with his shirt open??? Very nice abs. Did we ever see him like that during his season?

I noticed those abs. He looks better than ever!

[BerryCrazy]

Jose rocks. Best freakin Bollywood routine ever!!!

My favorite performance of the evening! I don't know what the judges said was wrong about it, but Jose just shines in this routine. Love his energy! And my favorites have been Lauren and Alex so far.

[Annika]

Melinda was terrible! She danced second-rate contemporary at best. There is just something "ugly" about how she holds the core of her body and it shows up in her torso and back... so that her extended arms and legs are not extending from a beautiful core but sort of just popped onto a lump of a middle. Like a mannequin. I thought at first maybe her back had no spring and no ability to arch, but that isn't quite it. I think Mia M. was trying to put a finger on the problem in the first show when she said (I'm paraphrasing here) that Melinda had ugly legs. I think the problem comes from the lack of core and the legs are ugly by extension (no pun intended!). Her torso dances like an 8 year old with no training or understanding of suspension. Makes for UGLY dancing always and everywhere.

Adechicke was better this week, but he has no soul in his dancing. He could be awesome if he found that part of his performance.

Cristina was blah. And I am SO SO SO SO TIRED of the Paso-D being danced to Carmina Burana and other rocked-out song choices. Please, choreographers - the dance loses so much when it isn't paired with at least slightly appropriate music to the dance genre.

Lauren was the best girl of the night. The rest of the boys were all okay but not anything amazing.

Overall I give the show/dancers about a B. I give the judges a D - for playing favorites, hyping dancers that didn't earn it, and getting too down on the dancers who did a good job tonight.

Again, Melinda - terrible! Can I say it again? Ugly ugly ugly dancing. I even think the audience reaction was lukewarm in the applause. At the end of Melinda's dance I thought to myself "How embarrassing. I feel like I just watched a high-school dance recital where one girl was pitiful and we're all now having to clap politely and look away." And then the judges followed some pre-determined script to praise Melinda (why are they shoving her on us?).

[JavaJo]

Forgot all about the Bollywood routine when I was posting...which is odd because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I noticed he wasn't near as crisp as Katherine in his movement, but I smiled throughout the entire performance. I enjoyed it and I'm not a huge Jose fan. I loved the story behind the dance, too. Katherine looked great in that costume, too.

Mia is just weird. Instead of words she's uses sounds. Not helpful to the dancers, I'm sure. I will say that whoever is doing her make-up this season is doing a fantastic job.

Allison....I admit, that's the only season I didn't watch but I've caught her performances on youtube. She is such a joy to watch. Beautiful, simply beautiful. And the other all stars...they dance like pro's now. It's wonderful to see how much they've grown since they were on the show last. Mark is flawless and Courtney isn't a cute little girl anymore...she's a sexy woman!

[BuckeyeAddict]

Did anyone notice Travis grumbling something after Nigel praised Tyce for making his number a jazz routine? Earlier, Nigel gently criticized Travis for making the routine he choreographed for Ashley and Mark more contemporary than jazz, when they were supposed to be dancing a jazz routine. After Nigel praised Tyce (Kent & Courtney's routine), the camera panned to Tyce, and Travis was sitting beside him, not looking very happy and saying or mouthing something.

[superfly]

The 2 Laurens were the best tonight. This was probably the best I've ever seen from Gottlieb, on her season or this season. She was veeeeery sexy, maybe it was just the outfit.

[BuckeyeAddict]

Isn't anybody going to comment on how hot Mark Kanemura looked with his shirt open??? Very nice abs. Did we ever see him like that during his season?

When I think of Mark, I usually don’t think “sexy.” Now Neil and Pasha – yes! Hot, sexy. Smokin’! With Mark, who is probably my favorite SYTYCD alum ever, it’s quirky, fun, adorable. But last night… that open shirt… that steamy dance… yep, Mark was plenty hot last night. I might even say he’s on the hot tamale train!!!

I do not think we did see Mark like this on his season.

[Maybaybie]

I think it's interesting that when the "favorites" do a dance that isn't supurb, the judges use any excuse in the book to give them a nice tongue-lapping. Jose and Billy were so far out of their element (and Kent last week), but yet the judges said it was so "fun" that it didn't matter if it was all wrong. But some of the non-favorites do a technically correct number and the judges hop all over it and pick it apart. I don't think the dancers that got Travis "non-jazz" piece should have been punished (so to speak) because the choreographer didn't pass muster. It seems Nigel didn't have much of anything to say to Ashley about how she danced just because he didn't think it was officially jazz. I also noticed Travis' not-so-happy face when Tyce was getting praised for actually choreo-ing a "real" jazz routine. Is that the first time Travis has EVER gotten any criticism for his chorography??

Also Mia commented at least twice about the costumes the dancers were wearing- as far as I know the contestants have no say in that, so why bring it up and make it look like it's something they can work on? It's like saying, "Hmmm....nice dance...but it would have been better if you had blonde hair and not brown hair for the piece to have worked." I guess it's fine to say you didn't like the outfits, but she made it seem like it was the contestants fault.

I think Nigel is now seeing the caveat to the All-Star angle- he never banked on the fact that he could be left with a top 5 of all guys. Hmmmm..I wonder how he will fix that. As someone said upthread, I think if any guy ends up in the bottom 3, they will be gone even if they dance a spectacular solo.

After two shows I think I have officially decided that I'm not a fan of the new format. I do love seeing the All-Stars, but the show is just missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. I think I miss the 'naive-ness' of all the new dancers doing the show for the first time. I loved seeing them develop chemistry and loved seeing them NOT be perfect in their routines together. They should just rename the show Dancing With the (All)Stars.