I didn’t quite realize that the last post was so late until I realized that I am already watching a new episode of SYTYCD. Hur hur… And I actually watched this with my project mate in the office because that single day was a slow day. *Oops*
First up, introducing a new couple…
Jessica King & Will Wingfield
Contemporary
to the song Silence from the album Unfaithful (soundtrack)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
As I was watching the episode secretively in the office, I didn’t watch the dance number with the introduction video at the beginning of each item. However, the story and style of this number was strong enough for me to understand without the introduction. Good stuff… And Will is a really strong dancer (in the physical sense) to be able to execute all the different lifts, and recovering from a low position. There are just too many instances for all of them to be listed out.
- 0:07+ – This, I think, is quite a challenging lift. The girl has to contract her abdominal muscles and her back to ensure that her body remains erected throughout the lift.
- 0:21+ – Wow… The sequence is like a gymnastic routine.
- 0:46 – The leaning by the side position is very difficult to balance~! This is based on experience… Hur hur~
- 0:47+ – Example of Will’s strength when he managed this weight-transfer thing effortlessly.
- 1:23+ – Interesting pair work. The coming together and separating apart…
- 1:26+ – This portion wouldn’t be as good as it looked if the couple wasn’t executing it in sync.
Courtney Galiano & Gev Manoukian
Cha-cha
to the song “Don’t Stop The Music” by Rhianna
Vodpod videos no longer available.
- 0:04 – I don’t know how this lift is executed, but I’d love to learn this. Ho ho ho~
- 0:07 – Gev’s jump was so high that his legs were higher than his body.
- 1:01+ – Courtney looked superb here. Sexy…
- 1:10+ – Very cute lift. One that I’d like to learn too. How to actually handle the weight of the partner with the strength of one arm only? And she’s “struggling” some more… Hmm…
- 1:28+ – Interesting body wave action. Hahaha…
- When the judges were giving their opinions, Mia Micheals commented, “You guys are not the best dancers on the show, that’s very clear…” Ouch…
Jazz
to the song “Standing There” by The Creatures
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Gev and Courtney rocked the house with another entertaining number. Even my project mate who was watching SYTYCD for the first time was impressed by Gev’s strength. Heh~
- 0:11 – Smoking hot Courtney fanning herself.
- 0:18+ – WHOA~ Clapping the feet to the beat of the music…
- 0:35+, 0:55+ – I wonder how difficult it is to execute this with all the weight of the girl supported by the guy…
- 1:03+ – I liked the way they covered the whole stage so quickly.
- 1:16+ – Arm lock lift… Seem to see a lot of this lift in this season.
- 1:24 – If you observed carefully, Gev stopped himself before Courtney grabbed him by his leg. This, by my last choreographer, is unacceptable because it looked too staged. Hur hur~
- 1:31 – I used to do this flip on the grass patch as part of an unarmed combat display routine. I wonder if the landing would hurt since Gev was doing it on the solid ground. :S
The following weren’t one of the best performances, but since somehow I have become a fanboy of Joshua and Katee, I shall post them up too. The Bollywood dance was fresh and it got really hyper fast near the end of the dance. And only Joshua and Katee could do it as synchronized as they have always done. And the best moment was the execution of the “snake” at the end of the piece. Hur hur~ This got the attention of my project mate too.
Katee Shean & Joshua Allen
Bollywood
to the song Dhoom Taana from Om Shanti Om (soundtrack)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Waltz
to the song Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
Vodpod videos no longer available.
And finally… Welcome back Anya and Pasha~!!! I was so excited when I saw that Anya was the choreographer for the Cha-cha routine for Courtney and Gev. Anya left an extremely deep impression when she did Jive with Danny in one of the past season. The performance was mind-blowing. *BOOM* You may just skip past the introduction video to ~2:35 for the dance itself.
Thoughts of a Diurnal 
Will is amazing! His solo is mindblowing too. Drums beats~ WOW. His muscle definition~fwah. Somehow I think he’s being somewhat let down by Jessica all this while.
Gev and Courtney are like the cutest couple on the show. They look like they are genuinely having a blast of a time. I like the ‘message’ part during the show – both of them are so playful. Think they are really the underdogs where personality triumphs over technique ability.
Katee and Joshua another amazing couple. They have been consistently good every week. WOW. They always seem to get it and get it crisp and precise in their performances.Think Katee will definitely be one of the top 2 gals.
I think Chelsia’s great too. She’s really pretty to watch. 😛
The lifts in the Gev and Courtney cha cha number – I can break it down for you when u are back. Not difficult but Gev does have a lot of upper body strength being a bboy, so start working on upper body strength first hehehee 😛
So glad you’re feeling better. Thanks for all the great video and reviews.
Does it seem to anyone else that the season is being packed for who will sell the most seats on the tour? All the classically trained/contemporary boys were picked off very systematically. I’m not saying at all that the final 10 doesn’t belong there (well, except for Jessica…), but Nigel gunned the others down one at a time. It’s very clear this year who has the most marketability and that seems to be who Nigel wants to keep around and win. His comments have seemed a bit homophobic, too.
Sp@rrow: Will is technically and physically amazing. But somehow I don’t think he shines very much on the stage. I wouldn’t be as excited to see him dance as compared to Gev or Katee. Katee… I’ve never thought of her as being one of the top two girls, but I do hope that it’d be true. And I believe it’s more encouraging for her now that the judges are finally giving her more attention other than smothering Joshua with their love. And as for body strength. *Ahem* I’ve not been working out for a long time… 😦
johno98: If this comment was heard by Nigel, I believe he’d say “this is the search for America’s favorite dancer, not the most technical dancer.” And therefore it’s no surprise that dancers are chosen based on their entertainment value and how much they can build up a rapport with the live audience and/or viewers at home.
I think for some odd reason, Will doesn’t suit the upclose and personal studio stage, but will probably shine on a theatre stage. Personalitywise, Gev probably stands out more. Yah I wonder why the judges seem to favour Joshua more. Perhaps he’s a hiphop dancer so when he takes on other genres and does them well enough, they are fascinated by it. I would think that Katee is more consistently versatile vs Joshua but they rub off each other during performances and this is a good thing.
I suppose this is the search for American’s most popular dancer which means whoever who resonates with the audience with his performance and personality gets to stay on. It’s unfortunate that the contemp boys aren’t so endearing to the audiences this time round. 😦