"So You Think You Can Dance" Season 9 on FOXHD - Page 9

I agree. Some people can pull it off, but it doesn't suit face and complexion.

Imagine how big he'd be if he didn't do all that dancing!

I am thinking they are starting to go full on DWTS. DWTS pimps every week when Tom walks up to somebody in the front row with a new show. They just decided to give Zooey the chair spot instead. Not a good sign!

The guest judge on the first live show is apparently the baby from Raising Hope. Enjoy!

Similarly, I was surprised at how uncallused and perfect that Chenon's foot looked. Other than the burst blister on his big toe, it sure didn't look like a dancer's foot.

It is really good they have switched it to the America's favorite boy and girl otherwise the girls would be in trouble. This seems like the least diverse group of girls we have had in a long time. A lot of them look alike with similar style. The judges seemed to take the Noah approach to casting the girls this year. There shall be two of each except for the ballerina and belly dancer. You contrast that with the guys who look like they could star in a Benetton ad. Not only do they all have unique looks, but they vary in styles of dance.

I think this is partly why I like Eliana (see I learned). She's not the cookie cutter look that most of the others appear to be, which is why I hated when they removed her curls from all 3 performances. The girls are really going to have to separate themselves somehow during their dances and in the pre-dance montages, because right now you're right - they appear to mostly be the same person. Lots of diversity on the men's side though.

BTW, saw this on another site with regards to how voting will work this season:

On Wednesday, July 11th
1: The Top 20 will have their first partnered performances
2: After the show the public will be allowed vote for the dancers that want to keep on the show. All the dancers will be voted individually as opposed as by pairs

Then on Wednesday, July 18th (in order)
1: The judges will announce who are the bottom three guys and bottom three girls at the top of the episodes
2: The dancers (including all the bottom guys and girls) will dance their partnered routines
3: The judges will decide who will leave the show… if the judges are still unsure they would ask the bottom three guys and/or bottom three girls
4: The voting public will be allowed to phone in their votes for the following episode

Huh?

Where did you find this?

From an Insider Blog entry at the show's site:

I saw it at puresytycd.com (it was taken from a video interview with Nigel); it seems to agree with what you posted except the timing of when the bottom 3 guys/girls are revealed. I suspect the blog is more accurate than Nigel speaking extemporaneously, although I could see plusses and minuses to doing it both ways.

Definitely creates an interesting dynamic when only one of the partners is dancing for their life.

It's not entirely clear when during the show the bottom 3 boy and bottom 3 girls will be announced. If they do it before their couple dances it will change the dynamic somewhat (although I suspect that both members of a couple being in the bottom 3 of their sex will be fairly common). Should be interesting--I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays.

Last season couples weren't voted together into the bottom, but didn't it work out that way every single week? People at home voting for the dance and not the dancers maybe?

Whooo welcome back live shows. Thought they'd never get here with the seemingly endless audition slog, but damn it was worth the wait. I don't know all the names yet, but memorable bits for me of a great show:

- Loved that the guest judge actually knew what he was talking about. This is what guest judges should be.

- The opening number was fantastic, but for the love of good stop pimping Alexa. We get it, you want her around. Must she be front and center in everything? She still lacks something that makes me connect. Beautiful girl but the light is dim.

- Loved the Nappytabs alley-cat number. My wife rewatched 4 routines immediately upon their completion, and this was the first. A big part of it is that the guy is big. He's a bit of a loon, but his size makes his dances stand out. Something about seeing a big guy dancing with a girl is more enjoyable than the endless midgets dancing with little girls. Screw physical symmetry, I say.

- Cyrus teamed with Eliana produced the 2nd song we watched twice, but I wanted to watch it for all the wrong reasons. It reminded me of a Saturday Night Live bit called What's Up With That(not a compliment). I love Eliana, but she didn't shine in this. The energy she and Cyrus displayed was great though. The complete opposite of the boring jazz number Alexa and her partner put on, which had absolutely zero in the way of emotion or connection. I fear that Cyrus is going to put Eliana in a vulnerable position since so far he hasn't proven he can dance outside of his own genre.

- The Titanic dance was the third dance we rewound. Beautiful dance. Just stunning.

- Finally the Paso Doble was the absolute best of the night. Great music combined with great choreography and beautiful dancing. That girl was stunning in those knee high boots, and Cole played the part amazingly.

With the exception of a couple not-so-memorable early numbers, the show really picked up and ended incredibly strong. The girls are really strong.

I haven't been through it a second time to comment on individual pieces. It was a shame that Cyrus was paired with Eliana--she deserved better. I like that number they did with its film version choreography in Hairspray (the film was directed by SYTYCD's Adam Shankman, who also had a choreography credit)--that choreography made use of a large ensemble with 3 or 4 principle characters up front singing the piece while dancing. The shame is that, appearance-wise, Cyrus is perfect for the character of Seaweed (though of course he couldn't have handled the choreography in this clip):

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Once again, Eliana's curls are disrespected. Will they ever be allowed to flow freely in the competition? (Which she might not survive very long dancing routines dumbed down to Cyrus' capability level).

Four people going home next week? What's up with that? At that rate we'll be through the competition in five episodes, fewer than the mediocre and seemingly interminable audition shows got. Truly epic fail. (Hopefully it's just next week and subsequent weeks will only have one boy and one girl cut).
Edited by michaeltscott - 7/11/12 at 11:27pm

So who looks like a lock for the bottom three? And who's staying?

That first girl is stunningly beautiful and an amazing dancer, she is going to go far.

Can anyone explain the voting again? I listened to Nigel and it sure sounded like America's vote doesn't mean anything and its up to the judges. Is this the case? Or is it like previous years that America's vote saves people and the bottom 4 are on the bubble???

+1000
It was refreshingly different for a Napoleon/Tabatha routine. It was definitely more jazz than hip-hop.

I thought the first two dances (ballroom and contemporary) were good, too. I was thoroughly disappointed in both dancers for the waltz.

Once again, Alexa failed to exhibit dancing prowess in anything other than solo contemporary. I actually watched her partner more.

Thank you, Nigel, for getting rid of the All Star stuff. We appreciate the previous contestants. However, it's nice to see an additional 10 newer dancers that wouldn't otherwise get a chance to be on the big stage.

Yep, it's pathetic that more camera time was given to some of these dancers during the audition phase than the actual competition. 4 people gone before they even get a chance to make an impression with professionally choreographed numbers. Just a terrible production decision.

As for how the voting works, I think it's the same as past years. The viewers vote for who they love, and the people with the fewest votes are in the bottom. The judges will then base the decision on who goes home on that night's dances in combination with how they've felt the dancer has done throughout the season.

That's a good point. I think of all the routines that this one was the "simplest" and probably didn't showcase what Eliana can do. Cyrus performed respectably, but the level of talent seems quite high and I don't think he has enough to keep up. (Although all his extra camera time vs. the other boys during Vegas/auditions might offset that).

All in all, no bad routines last night and I'm not sure at all who will be in the bottom. My guess might be the afro jazz pair because they didn't seem that memorable and the ballroom guy because he has had no camera time and had the curse of going first.

Let us not forget July 4th was last Wednesday, which would've been the first show.

Last night's paso doble, was good, but to say it topped this one from a few seasons ago is really stretching it. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaz79y_janine-and-brandon-s-matrix-inspire_shortfilms

In season 8 they had 20 contestants and brought the All Stars in when they were down to 10; in the top 10 performance show they each did a routine with an All Star and each did a solo; at top 8, they each did one routine with an All Star and one with a draw-of-the-week contestant partner; top 6 was the same as top 8 with a solo added.
Yeah--maybe that's why they're eliminating 4 next week.

Sort of like the dreaded 'double elimination' week on DWTS.

Did I miss when Nigel talked about All stars? I assumed they'd show up when there were 5 guys/girls left like last season. If Eliana is teamed with Cyrus for the entire season, she's at a huge disadvantage.

This is similar to Season 5 when Jeanine was paired with the popper Phillip for the first part of the competition. As entertaining as Phillip was, the choreographers had to dumb down the routines for him. It wasn't until Phillip got the boot that we truly saw what Jeanine was capable of. Jeanine still managed to win that year though, so you never know.

Some decent stuff last night, but nothing worth writing home about. The two Utah girls are stunning in every way. Nice way to both start and end the night. Still, the judges were over the top on alot of their comments, ala the Paso at the end. Certainly good, but absolutely not the "best ever by a male" by a country mile.

Eliana appeared silly so far from her comfort zone in that uninspired Tyce number. (And no, it wasn't because her hair did or did not have curls. ) Even if Baryshnikov were her partner it would have been horrible. If the judges think she's that good, they did her a HUGE favor by pairing her with the favorite male in the competition. Remember, this is about the "favorite" dancer, not the best.

Do you actually think that he's the favorite male, or even one of the audience favorites? For some reason, the female studio audience members go crazy when they see Daniel Baker, the Aussie ballet dancer, Dareian Kujawa. contemporary dancer from Michigan and Nick Bloxom-Carter, ballroom guy from California.

They seemingly have to have an "untrained street dancer" among the contestants and this time the guy really does seem to be completely untrained. They coddle him because at this point he really needs it and they probably want him for the tour so they may protect him into the top 10. He reminds me of Robert Taylor Jr from last season, whose overall mediocre performances (even in Hip-Hop, his supposed specialty) I believe dragged Miranda Maleski off the show with him. In Cyrus' case, I think he's the only street-style specialist, which gives him an advantage because the judges will want to keep him if at all possible.

Not that it would make any difference, but I can't understand why they don't let Eliana effect the look that she had at her audition and throughout Vegas. It's far more appealing to me than the buns that they've styling her hair in. On second thought I think that it does make a difference--this is "America's Favorite Dancer" and a cute female is going to have a higher appeal than an equally skilled less attractive one and the schoolteacher/librarian look is not helping Eliana's appeal.

TO YOU. That's the key right there. Other people might not like curly hair. Others might not think she's all that attractive in the first place, particularly when placed anywhere near the two smokin' hot ballroom girls from Utah. Looks aside, I'd venture that either she or the stylists secure her hair as a safety precaution or simply because it fits the theme of the performance. Every girl that has ever been on the show has had countless hairstyles, she's no different.

As far as Cyrus being a fan favorite, I can say with absolute certainty that he most definitely is one, if not THE one for the males. Just because a live audience goes nuts over one of the younger or less mature males, doesn't mean that all of America is full of like-minded preteen girls with raging hormones that are enamoured with the little boys on the show, rather than one of the only men. I also think that many pull for someone like Cyrus, not only because he has a charming personality, but because he is untrained and a bit raw, and therefore, an underdog of sorts.

As a serious belly dance fan, I'm rooting hard for Janelle to do well. Seriously, how far do you think she'll go in this competition?

You're not the only one that loves her curls. I think she looks her best when she's at her most natural. My wife feels similarly and is disappointed every time a stylist removes them. She's clearly a great dancer with or without them, but she's easier to spot in the crowd with them at this point. Again, I hope she overcomes her weak partner and makes it into the top 10, where hopefully she's paired with better dancers. I think she's safe this week simply because the judges have acknowledged that she's one of, if not, the best on the show. You're right about Cyrus not being a favorite. Listening to the women react in the audience really showed who is, though. I wouldn't have expected it to be Daniel, but it sure seemed to be.

I liked her and her partner last night. They looked great together. She seemed a lot bigger in the leg/butt region than I remembered, which was kinda nice.