8/5 Results Show Discussion *Spoilers*

[queenb]

Is the general feeling that a female only wins this show when there's no young male dancer present which viewers (of either gender, if you include all sexual preferences) can fool themselves into thinking they could somehow date?

I disagree with you this time; if you include all preferences, I would think Danny and Brandon as well as Neil would have won their seasons. And I did not think Russell was near as good looking as some of the others on his season, so he should have gone home earlier.
I actually suspect just as many middle aged women as 'tweens' vote on this show, though they might not admit it; I don't know about other age groups.

I have to disagree with the majority here as well; I just don't think Adechike's stiffness is due to muscle, I think it's just that he still is not comfortable in front of such a large audience. He is not truly "huge" like a body builder; gymnasts and wrestlers in lower weight classes are built like he is and are plenty agile. And look at Russell--he was about the same build, and won his season.
He might not be quite as "loose", but that should put him at an advantage at styles like hip-hop and Bollywood where the movement isn't supposed to be floppy, but he didn't shine in those either. He just wasn't the best out of this bunch, that's all, and he's gone home at the correct time or maybe even a little late, although I have to say I'm glad Jose didn't outlast him.

I've often wondered this myself. I've even heard rumors she is her own stylist, which I think can be kind of like trying to be your own lawyer: you end up with a fool for a client.

Ah, I'm just a grump this morning! "Stylists" were not even invented until a few (for someone my age) years ago, at least not for the random rich person or stars when they were not working, and yet we see pictures of many well known women from the past who always looked stylish and well put together in pictures and film clips.
And I'm sure there are plenty of celebrities today who can and do choose their own wardrobe, hair, and makeup, and don't need a stylist. Unfortunately, you are correct about one thing- Cat DOES need one, because her taste is all over the place and it doesn't always work well for her. maybe she could hcome up with her own look, and the stylist could then say "Heck yeah!", or "Hell no, go try again", before she goes on tv.

[fan*addict]

Watching AdéChiké do his solo with that gym-pumped body made me think of something. I wonder if the muscle development is what is working against him when he tries to do Jazz and other styles that require a loose feel. The muscles help with strength, precision, and extension. But they hinder a loose, rubbery, limber style. That would also explain why Kent and Billy handle those styles better.On another topic, Desmond Richardson is one heck of a dancer for being fortysomething, huh?

First let me say Billy could be nicknamed the "rubberman" as I don't believe the boy has any bones in his body..sometimes his body moved in such an awkward way (my feelings) because he was so limber /flexible.

As for AdeC, I think he is without a doubt a very humble and appreciateive person. But as a viewer BECAUSE OF his power I kept waiting for this explosion of dance on my screen. I just don't believe I ever saw it expressed by him. When they were showing the montage of his journey, I thought some of his earlier numbers were actually better..

as for our lovely cohost Kat...so glad to see she looked in the mirror before entering the stage this evening!..she is a gorgeous woman!

[TopCatDC]

Umm.. I only said this about 10 times already. O.K. maybe not 10, but several times I mentioned his build as a reason why he's can't loosen up. I even mentioned that we used to call that "muscle bound".

No offense taken. I didn't recall your earlier posts; thank you for making reference to them.

Remember the dancers from the Elvis Presley Las Vegas show that appeared last month? I don't think I have ever seen so many "muscle bound" (as you put it) male dancers together. I'm not complaining - they looked great! And that is definitely the trend these days; dancers spend time in the gym as well as at the barre.

Back when I was dancing, your typical male dancer looked more like Billy, and the predominate commercial dance style (i.e., what you got paid to perform) was Jazz. Since then, Pop jazz (Paula Abdul and Michael Jackson, for example) and then Hip Hop have taken over TV, movies, etc. I'm wondering if good Jazz style is becoming more elusive as dancer's bodies change.

[Gala62]

I don't know... I rather LIKE the fact that Cat is "eclectic" and a bit funky in her choices. We are inundated with so many tanned, sprayed, polished people nowadays, its refreshing to see her as a real person who makes some rather odd selections for hair and clothing.

Admittedly a person who is gorgeous even in a sack or turkey feathers (which she's worn! )

[nabrudigam]

1) No one's going home next. Next week's the finale.
2) LOL

Actually, after it's over, everyone's going home.. contestants, judges, audience

[nabrudigam]

.

Remember the dancers from the Elvis Presley Las Vegas show that appeared last month? I don't think I have ever seen so many "muscle bound" (as you put it) male dancers together. I'm not complaining - they looked great! And that is definitely the trend these days; dancers spend time in the gym as well as at the barre.

Back when I was dancing, your typical male dancer looked more like Billy,

I read Gelsey Kirkland's autobiography where she spoke of her drug addiction and anorexia. Female dancers, gymnists, skaters and actresses are known to sometimes have eating disorders in an effort to stay thin. Did male dancers do this also when you were dancing when, as you say, they were built more like Billy? Just curious because I know some men are obsessive about body building and wonder if it could also be the other way around (men not eating to stay thin) cuz Billy sure looks like he could use a good meal.

[TopCatDC]

No, male (and even most female) dancers back in the '70s and early '80s did not obsess about being thin. Probably because a) we were dancing all the time, so there was lots of exercise and, b) we were broke, so no big fancy meals! The "cadaver look" was more specific to George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet, which is where Gelsey spent most of her career after American Ballet Theater.

Although not the most detailed pics, here is the best one-to-one comparison I can think of. Notice the difference in muscle development between the guys in the 1976 original cast of A Chorus Line (b&w) and the 2007 revival (color).

[Duckyface]

Ah, I'm just a grump this morning! "Stylists" were not even invented until a few (for someone my age) years ago, at least not for the random rich person or stars when they were not working, and yet we see pictures of many well known women from the past who always looked stylish and well put together in pictures and film clips.
And I'm sure there are plenty of celebrities today who can and do choose their own wardrobe, hair, and makeup, and don't need a stylist. Unfortunately, you are correct about one thing- Cat DOES need one, because her taste is all over the place and it doesn't always work well for her. maybe she could hcome up with her own look, and the stylist could then say "Heck yeah!", or "Hell no, go try again", before she goes on tv.

First off I agree with you that most of AdeChike's stiffness was due to not being comfortable on stage.

Second of all I also agree that many women can style themselves beautifully, but I think when you're on tv or in a movie it helps to have someone to help you who knows how things look "on film" so to speak. Things that may look fabulous to someone looking in the mirror don't come across the same way in the lights and camera mode.

Honestly I like a little bit of funk in someone's style, but with Cat it wasn't funk, it was downright ugly and unflattering at times.

I think any woman comes off better if she has a friend with taste to go shopping with her and help her pick styles that suit and flatter, both in clothing and in hair. I look at a professional stylist like a friend with taste and experience who will tell you when something looks hideous so you don't end up on stage wearing it like Cat did.

It takes a lot to make Cat look unattractive, but the hairstyle she wore during the last performance show managed to do it.

[nabrudigam]

No, male (and even most female) dancers back in the '70s and early '80s did not obsess about being thin. Probably because a) we were dancing all the time, so there was lots of exercise and, b) we were broke, so no big fancy meals! The "cadaver look" was more specific to George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet, which is where Gelsey spent most of her career after American Ballet Theater.

Thanks for the pics. It's an interesting subject. Stories like Gelsey and others, like gymnasts who starve themselves got me to wondering when dancers and pairs skaters finally realized they need strength training in the form of weight lifting to do those lifts as it's obvious guys like Brandon, Russell and AdeChike have been doing some heavy lifting so, as I usually do, I turned to Google and found an interesting article on strength training and/or weight lifting for dancers that reads in part:

“However, dancers' muscular strength and bone and joint integrity seem to suffer as a result of the dance-only selection and training system. This partly reflects the unfounded view that exercise training that is not directly related to dance would diminish dancers' aesthetic appearances and destroy muscle flexibility.”

And then:

“The aim of this brief review is to discuss relevant information from both dance and sport, to discuss the significance of strength for the dance student and professional dancer, and to correct some of the misunderstandings around strength training.”

The significance of muscular strength in dance | Journal of Dance Medicine & Science | Find Articles at BNET

[Marlena_M]

{snip} wondering when dancers and pairs skaters finally realized they need strength training in the form of weight lifting to do those lifts {snip}

I can tell you with the pairs skaters it was when the lifts grew more complicated and you had to execute them well in order to win and in order to execute them well you had to have some serious upper body strength.

With dancers, especially the males, I think there's a balancing point and fine line between very strong and just-too-big-to-move-super-fluidly (like Billy who seems to have no bones as another poster said!)