What the… Hey!

SYTYCD for 8/11: Season 8 Result August 12, 2011

Alright, boys and girls. Here it is. The end of another season (a great one).

First, the results:

4th place: Tadd
3rd place: Marko
2nd place: Sasha

The winner: Melanie

4th and 3rd went as I expected. I’d thought that Melanie and Sasha were too close to call, but I was apparently wrong about that. According to Cat, Melanie actually got 46% of the vote, almost half for a single contestant!  I’ll be watching to see if Melanie indeed ends up with a part in the Dirty Dancing remake, as Kenny Ortega implied this week.

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It’s time for me to roll back up into a ball and get some rest until 2012 when AI will be back.

SYTYCD for 8/10: Top 4 Perform August 11, 2011

Here it is, the final performances.  As I said last week, I was really looking forward to this night.

Melanie & Marko (Disco by Doriana Sanchez, danced to I Feel Love (12th Version) by Donna Summer) I wasn’t in love with  this. Unlike their earlier performances, there wasn’t a lot of emotion in Melanie & Marko’s performance, they seemed to just be going through the steps.

Sasha & Mark (Contemporary by Sonya Tayeh, danced to Raise Your Weapon by Deadmaus) This started out slow, but picked up and Sasha’s unique style started coming through.  Still, her performance didn’t have the emotional level that she usually brings, and I missed that.

Tadd & Joshua (Hip Hop by Lil C, danced to Hustle Hard by Ace Hood) I was great to see Joshua (The King) back onstage.  Tadd looked like a little boy next to him and never achieved Joshua’s level of commitment to the choreography. Tadd struggled with the style of the dance, often falling back to his own goofy style instead of the hyper-seriousness that the routine needed.

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At this point, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be the night of great performances that I was hoping for. sigh.
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Melanie & Robert (Contemporary by Stacey Tookey, danced to Sacrifice by Sinead O’Connor) Once again, there was something missing from Melanie’s performance; the emotion of the dance seemed subdued.  Still, her technique was flawless.

Sasha & Marko (Broadway by Spencer Liff, danced to Whatever Lola Wants by Ella Fitzgerald) Marko stole the show on this one, not an easy task when dancing with Sasha. But, Sasha never seemed to rise up to Marko’s level here.  Marko’s characterization through his expressions and style was fantastic to see, it looked right off the Broadway stage.

Sasha & Tadd (Cha Cha by Mark Ballas, danced to Raindrops by Basement Jaxx) This didn’t seem like a Cha Cha at all. For the level that these dancers should have been working at, it was a disaster.

Marko & Lauren (Contemporary by Tessandra Chavez, danced to Shirk by Me’shell Ndegeocello) This was probably Marko’s most emotionally challenging work of the season, and he nailed it while also meeting the challenge of the intense physicality of the choreography. This was what I’d been waiting for, a magnificent performance.

Melanie & Tadd (Jazz by Ray Leeper, danced to Show me What You’re Working With by Sista Monica) This was what I’d come to expect from Melanie; she was on fire!  She grabbed us at the start of the performance and pulled us through the whole thing.  Tadd was secondary, but still showed what he could do, providing his great characterization to the overall performance.

Sasha & Melanie (Contemporary by Stacey Tookey, danced to Heart Asks Pleasure First by Ahn Trio) This was a tremendously emotional piece that both dancers brought their best work into.  The last time they danced together, they brought an aggressive power; this time, it was a wistful grace, appropriate for the ’50s period of the piece.  These two ladies showed everyone why they’re the top of the heap this year.

Marko & Tadd (Gumboot Stepping by Chuck Maldonado, danced to B.O.B. by Outkast) This was not as strong as it should have been. The style is an aggressive one that required more technique than the two dancers brought to it.  All through the performance, both dancers kept falling short.

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Well, it didn’t turn out to be as good as I wanted (or as good as previous finals). I think Kenny Ortega had it right when he said that there was just too much to learn for the evening (four dances apiece, plus their solos). Including the dance with the All Star probably broke the camel’s back for the night.  It was too bad, and I don’t think it changed the outcome at all.  It’s still down to Melanie and Sasha, too close for me to call (though I’ll be rooting for Melanie, sorry Sasha).

SYTYCD for 8/4: Top 6 Results August 5, 2011

There’s not much to say here.

For the girls, Caitlynn is leaving.
For the guys, Ricky is leaving.

Caitlynn was a foregone conclusion; Sasha and Melanie are in a different class than her, so there was no way that she was going to make it past third among the girls. Still, I’m looking forward to possibly seeing Caitlynn returning in future seasons as an All Star.

The choice between Ricky and Tadd was less sure. As I’ve said before, Ricky has the technique, but Tadd has the characterization and better non-technique performance skills. Ultimately, it was Tadd’s skills that carried the day.

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Next week, we finally find out What it Was All About and crown a winner. And get to see the triumphant return of two of my favorites as All Stars: Mark Kanemura and Joshua Allen.  As a bonus, Lauren Froderman will be back, along with Robert Roldan.  This is going to be good.

SYTYCD for 8/3: Top 6 Perform August 4, 2011

This time around, there were three performances per contestant: with All Star, solo, and with another contestant.

All Star Performances

Melanie & tWitch (Hip Hop by Tabitha and Napoleon, danced to Roman’s Revenge by Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Wayne) Well, there had to be something that Melanie wasn’t great at; this was it.  The acrobatics were great, but the Hip Hop wasn’t.  She just didn’t hit hard enough, and her movement was too pulled in, not expressive enough. Still, the judges (including Lil C) gave her raves.

Sasha & Kent (Contemporary by Tyce DiOrio, danced to Fool of Me by Me’shell Ndegeocello) This was a hugely emotional performance, and Sasha hit all the high notes.  While I wasn’t particularly happy with the choreography, there was no denying that Sasha danced it superbly; she left the judges in tears.

Marko and Janette (Paso Doble by Dmitry Chaplin, danced to Zorongo (traditional) by Antonia Gomez, Eli “La Gambita”, Guillermo Basillisco, and Paco Pena)  I thought that Marko was too stiff. He was trying to express that machismo required for the Paso Doble, but didn’t achieve it. It was okay at best.

Tadd & Ellenore (Contemporary by Sonya Tayeh, danced to The Gulag Orkestar by Beirut) This was one of Sonya’s freaky dances, perfect for Ellenore, but Tadd had issues with it.  He never seemed to really commit to the performance and didn’t show enough emotion.

Ricky & Jamie (Contemporary by Dee Caspary, danced to Inside These Lines by Trent Dabbs) Those sticks confused me; they didn’t seem to serve any real purpose other than to distract the audience.  Once again, there seemed to be a lack of emotion by the contestant, Ricky this time.  This seemed more a collection of dance steps than an actual performance.

Caitlynn & Pasha (Samba by Dmitry Chaplin, danced to Drop it Low (District 7 Remix) by Kat DeLuna) I wanted a bit more hip from Caitlynn in the beginning, but she warmed up to it by the middle of the performance.  Overall, it was a great performance, with Caitlynn’s signature heat well represented. The judges had some comments about her facial expressions, but I didn’t notice it at all. I chalk it up to the required criticism of Caitlynn that’s been going on all season.

Solos

I’m not going to go into depth here, I’d expected them to be just more of the same that we’ve been seeing all along.  However, there were a couple of treats, one surprising:  First, Tadd was his usual best with a level of musicality that most of the other dancers didn’t come close to meeting.  Second was a huge surprise: Melanie did a marvelously choreographed solo that even beat out Tadd. It was so good that the judges were compelled to comment on it.

Contestant Partners

Sasha & Ricky (Waack by Kumari Surai, danced to Schoolin’ Life by Beyonce) This was interesting to watch, sort of the inverse of Contemporary dancing where the emphasis is on hand motion instead of leg oriented leaps and spins.  It was a fun dance, and both contestants handled it well.  There probably could have been an even higher challenge level to the dance, which would have stood the contestants in better position with the judges.

Melanie & Tadd (Broadway by Spencer Liff, danced to Love Story by Shirley Bassey) She’s back!  Melanie redeemed herself with this dance (as if her solo weren’t enough).  This was both an amazing story and dance at the same time. Both dancers brought a level of characterization and performance that should have been on the Broadway stage. It was easily my favorite performance of the night.

Caitlynn & Marko (Jazz by Sonya Tayeh, danced to Heavy in your Arms by Florence + The Machine) This was another explosive dance from Sonya. It was terrific to watch, both dancers were completely committed to the performance. The characterization was so different from what we’d seen either Caitlynn and Marko do that it made an even greater impression. It was right up there with Melanie & Tadd’s performance.

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As I said last week, this was probably Caitlynn’s swan song.  It would be a huge upset for either Sasha or Melanie to go home instead of Caitlynn. As good as Caitlynn is, and as good as she was this week, both Sasha and Melanie are just better dancers.

Regarding the guys, I have absolutely no idea who is going and who is staying, at least between Ricky and Tadd.  Both dancers had similar highs and lows in their performances, so it’ll come down to what the voters want: Ricky has the better classic technique and Tadd has the better characterization.