Top 14 Perform
Updated 2009-07-02 09:30:21
We start off with a really dramatically-scored recap of the mass auditions up through last week -- reminding us, in case we'd forgotten, that they are desperately searching for content to fill this two hours since each couple is only doing one dance apiece. As they do their intro dances, Randi hasn't been able to resist going back to the unitard, accessorized tonight by a fedora. Dance, dance, dance, then Cat saunters out in an awesome pink satin prom dress with a studded belt. Look, I love Cat to what might be considered a mildly unhealthy level and I want nothing more than to be friends with her so we can go clothes shopping and get margaritas and gossip about boys. She looks amazing no matter what, but tonight she's especially rocking it. Man, it is painful how much they're letting people pause and talk and cheer to fill time. The judges this week are Nigel, Mary and Mia, who is already acting like a loon wearing shirt with a very tall a ruffled collar and with her hair styled into a little horn of sorts. Cat asks Mia who she likes this season and they take like, an entire freaking hour for her to laugh at the question, call it a setup, gasp, mug for the audience, etc. before she answers. Oh, I cannot wait until they get to more dancing and less mugging. Have her opinions changed about anybody? She calls it a setup. Everyone screams, and Mia doesn't name names but her opinion has changed for the better on Brandon. Nigel then actually asks if the person who she's talking about has the initials "Brandon," but Mia just calls it all enough said. Cat teases the dances that are coming as well as a special announcement.
Tonight's time filler is that the dancers are talking about how their last month on the show has been. You all have seen this before if you've, you know, watched the show. Brandon and Janette are up first. The foxtrot was gorgeous, next week was a fast disco and then they did hip-hop and she had to wear heels and boots. Seriously, this is all you could come up with? One of these two hours is entirely just recapping the previous shows. Brandon's dance teacher had 95 people over to her apparently giant house to watch last week's show and he claims she said she didn't know he could dance like that. As my friend said so succinctly: "Liar." This week they're doing a fast, sexy cha-cha with Jean-Marc and France. We have the necessary crotch-kick in rehearsal and a lot of shots of Janette falling, but seriously, this is her style so what do you want to bet it's going to be okay?
Oh lord, they are dancing to the Pussycat Dolls. I may have a lot of their songs, but let the record show that I put all of them on my iTunes with a deep sense of shame. Janette is in a sparkly pink barely-there dress and they shimmy, shake and gyrate their way through a fast routine. Nigel tries to fake-out but he quickly calls it the best cha-cha he's ever seen on the show, and that it would fit on a world championship stage. The best thing is that when they show Jean-Marc nod in agreement, there's a random kid in the audience with a lip ring and a giant furry hat nodding sagely behind him. Nigel can't seem to describe how great it is other than repeating how the two of them can actually walk on water. Oh good grief, I'm going to have to mute Mary -- they're talking about a train coming. But Mary first talks in a normal voice to give actual feedback and to tell Janette that salsa, her style, is so different like this (okay, so I was totally wrong earlier) and that yet Janette could do a ton of technical things totally right. She gets shrieky as she tells Brandon how he's a dance God, and then stands up to scream that they are on the train. Nigel, Mia and Cat all plug their ears, and Mia looks like she's not entirely joking about it. Mia says she knows she probably scared the crap out of Brandon to dance in front of her, but she claims that the dancers she is toughest on are the ones in whom she's seen talent and totally tries to cover her ass that she was only a jerk because she thought he could really make it. I call bull -- she thought he was a jerk because he was cocky and overrated and she should now just eat a tiny bit of crow, but oh well. Brandon cries, Jean-Marc stands up and cheers, and Mia promises him hell in the future but tells him he's amazing. Oh, and so is Janette.
Kayla and Kupono are up next. First up was the crash test dummies for Kupono and then the samba for Kayla and her ticket on the hot tamale train. Man, you know what I was begging for? A replay of Mary screaming, because we don't see it enough. Next week was Kupono and Ashley's doomed hip-hop, and Kayla's neon chicken routine with Max. Both are sad that they lost their partners and they show the teary hugs. Then last week the new couple did a waltz that went well and Mary... screamed. This week, they've got Sonya for contemporary, and Kupono actually made a Sonya shirt in his excitement. Apparently this is a dark routine, "Vampire-esque." Well, that's an original idea in this day and age. But that said, I've so far loved Sonya's stuff, so I hope that holds.
And... they are dancing to "Eyes on Fire" by Blue Foundation, which was notably used in Twilight . That's subtle. They start with Kupono dragging Kayla across the stage by one leg, something I feel is a bit of a trademark for Sonya. Kayla writhes around and then jumps up into his arms and there's a lot of lifts and jerky slow, "I want you!" "I don't!" "Let's leap!" moves. Kayla is definitely a better dancer than he is, though I do still like him a lot. This quirky style is what he's made for, but she just does each movement bigger and more crisply than he does. It was very good, but unfortunately it feels a bit the same for me as some other stuff I've seen from Sonya. I get having a signature feel if you are a choreographer, but it needs to mix up a bit more than this. Nigel has his "I liked it but didn't love it" voice on. He says she must have been inspired by Interview With the Vampire and Twilight , and at that she stands up and fist-pumps, so we know what vampire she wishes watched her sleep at night like a stalker. He's going to talk about Kupono first because Kayla is always fantastic and he calls Kupono a new man. He shows a very cool and synchronized jump and then says they are reaching their true potential and are an excellent partnership. Mary shrieks about them and calls it tremendous, saying Sonya played to their strengths and didn't hold back, I guess like many times the choreographers must do depending on what dancers they get week-to-week. There are a lot of alive/dead jokes but she loved it -- to be fair, as I watch the replays there are spots I like more on a second go. They stay on the hot tamale train. Mia loves them as a couple, loves the costumes and makeup (Kayla is a dead bride and it is pretty awesome looking). Mia thinks it's the best thing Sonya has done on the show, and then does the weekly obligatory fawning over Kayla. Mia admits that they had been tough on Kupono but that he applied everything they said and he keeps getting better. Cat asks if they were worried when they became partners and Kupono immediately says no -- dude, of course you weren't -- she's clearly a favorite! Kayla looks happy as well, probably because she's awesome no matter who she is paired with.
Randi and Evan are up next. She thinks it's been a rollercoaster, and Evan's favorite part of the show is working with the choreographers. This has probably been also because they've done super well each week and everyone loves them -- it's just a guess. They did jazz, jive, and then contemporary with Mia. Basically, the two of them are pocket-sized and awesome. This week they're doing Broadway with a new choreographer, Joey Dowling. Joey tells us it's not traditional, but it's got power, and that they are going to be fighting through a toxic relationship. She looks like she's seven feet tall next to these two, which I think is a combo of them being miniature people and her height being made up 90% by her legs. They seem freaked out by the routine, but Joey thinks she was easy on them -- she seems like a tough customer.
They're dancing to "Rich Man's Frug" from Sweet Charity . He starts out at a table and chairs when she walks down the stairs in a little showgirl costume and seems totally uninterested. But yet maybe interested -- let's dance and have him chase her! She punches him! But she loves him! But she arm-wrestles him! It's actually not as fast as I'd thought from rehearsals, and while they dance it really well I can't help but wish I was seeing them in a different number. This one is leaving me cold. I don't think Joey did nearly as much as she could given the dancers she had to work with, especially Evan. But as the judges can't really insult the choreographers, I'm sure they won't. Nigel calls it a great homage to Bob Fosse, but I feel like I was missing something there. Dang, I wish I had a better dance vocabulary for figuring out what I didn't like. Totally opposite of what I feel, he thanks Joey for a fun routine. He thinks Randi did great but Evan was disappointing given how simplistic yet stylized the choreography was. I don't think that's quite fair -- I think Evan did what he could and could have done way better with different moves, but I don't think Nigel is really allowed to say that. Despite the criticism, they are still some of his favorite dancers. Mary says it's easy for the judges to go crazy when they see dancing this great. (I think Mary needs much less than that to go crazy.) But she's in a normal voice which gives away that she thinks it was done well but not great. She thinks it was entertaining, but it sounds kind of like an insult since she can't give a compliment without screeching. Mia then compliments Joey's six-foot tall frame and her pink cheeks and giggles give away her total crush. Mia says that these two should have taken it to the next level because of their (lack of) height, and they were given great choreography, but they didn't take it to the level Joey wanted. She actually then says "bravo to the choreographer" but just "good job" to them -- and I know I'm just the girl in pajamas watching the show but in my humble opinion, I disagree.
Now, nearly an hour in, we're on to only our fourth dance, with Jason and Caitlin. First they did Bollywood, which the judges loved, and which I think Jason did great, Caitlin did okay, they were 90% coordinated, and the judges thought it was the second coming. Next week was their atrocious hip-hop, and last week was their okay paso doble. They didn't like being in the bottom three two weeks in a row, and Jason thinks he only squeaked by -- do you think he was tipped off by the fact that when there were only two guys left, Nigel admitted it wasn't even a unanimous vote as to who goes home? This week, they get Brian Friedman, who is not wearing nearly enough giant jewels for me, but then he saves it by telling Caitlin that... she is an alien blew up earth and is finding the last man that she can procreate with. Oh, how I missed Brian's flavor of crazy last season! Caitlin has to be dominant and make Jason fear for his life, so this should be interesting. I've found Caitlin a lot blander than the judges have found her, so I'm curious to see how she does here. According to Brian, wait until we see how she impregnates him!
My friend actually exclaimed, "She looks like a dominatrix Statue of Liberty!" and she does, wrapped in pleather with a sideways tinfoil hat. They are dancing to "creator" by Santigold. He's in tattered clothes -- a bit reminiscent of last week's dancing for his life costume, and she is jumping around and trying to kill him or something. I don't even know how to describe this. She seems to do some things to sort of kill him and then put him under her power. She then starts maybe controlling him and he winds up writhing on the floor. I have literally no way to describe it. I like weird -- I loved the crash test dummies -- but this seemed less creative and more straight-up weird. Nigel makes jokes about Brian's weirdness, and then says that since it was weird they to commit to it, and they did. That's... good? He actually makes a crack about how she's got on too many clothes to impregnate him -- oh Nigel.... I hate the costumes too, but if you stopped making so many comments about how much skin each of the girls show then you might not be thought of as such a pervert. He actually says she looks like a dancing condom. In Britain, they must use different, spikier versions then we do here, I'm just saying. Mary thought it didn't play to their strengths and gave them credit for trying but she didn't like it. The crowd boos her, but I can't argue. Then Mia is up, and Cat reminds Mia that she is also known for going "there," if "there" equals "Crazytown." Mia guesses that Brian didn't do this thinking it was going to be the best piece of his career -- but the look on his face says that he's going to cut her for assuming so. She thinks he was aiming to have fun! It's refreshing to have something out there and fun! Wow Mia, instead of being skilled? I think this is as close to a full-on insult from one choreographer to another as we've ever gotten on this show. She then hates the foil and thinks it's cartoonish and continues to say that basically she didn't like it and thinks it's dumb but they went for it. I hope she has Brian watched afterward in case he should come after her with Caitlin's pointy headpiece because the murderous glint in his eye says she's definitely not safe in any dark hallways backstage.
Jeanine and Philip are next. They think that the top 20 has been unreal and enlightening. First they got hip-hop and they were amazing. Then they got the tango, which was not good, and then Broadway, which was "so fun." I still think the show needs to stop trying to recreate super iconic Broadway numbers on this show so that there are fewer comparisons that are nearly impossible to live up to. Philip was embarrassed when his pants split last week, so just in case we didn't notice they show a close up of his pants and his undies and white thighs underneath. He apparently knew that it had happened and was mortified, so I give him major points for going for it since I absolutely couldn't tell. I might have felt less mortified on his behalf if I realized he was just going for it despite the offending hole. This week they get a Taboleon routine. This week the routine involves actual shackles, and it's about how the dancers get paired up on the show and locked into a partnership. Between this and the vampires we're not stretching very hard for interpretations this week. They keep tripping on the chain during rehearsal, and even Napoleon says it might not have been the best idea. We'll see how this goes.
Oh my, Philip then starts the dance by pulling a card out of a hat with their dance on it. We don't have to work for anything this week, do we? They're dancing to "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West. Thankfully they pull the chain up and hold it for part of the dance, lessening my fear of them tripping. Philip is naturally awesome at this and like their last hip-hop routine, Jeanine seems to be keeping up well. There's one moment I fear she got a bit off with the chain and nearly got tangled, but she held it together. At the end of the routine, Philip pulls a key out of his pocket but she glares at him and then pulls him over to judging. I don't think it will go down in history as a super memorable Taboleon routine, but it was really good. Nigel loved it, and compliments Jeanine on once again keeping up with Philip admirably. Mary both their dancing and the choreography, pointing out that things can go terribly wrong with a prop but they made it work, and agrees that Jeanine did awesome in keeping up. Mary then keeps shrieking but by now I can't understand anything else she's saying. Mia then says what a fan she is of Taboleon, but like Mary did earlier she refers to the pair as Nappy Tabs . Look, I know this is their company, but dudes. All of us viewers have deemed them Taboleon, so Nappy Tabs just isn't going to happen for us at this point. Sorry we didn't notice your website earlier, Taboleon! Mia loves Taboleon and thought the concept was there, but she was caught up in the "chainography" and since they couldn't control it, it got sloppy and it took away from the movements. I can see her point -- that might be why it wasn't a great routine for me, but they still danced it really well.
Next up are Melissa and Ade. Melissa's favorite day was the first day of filming, where she pulled out the move I loathe, the "naughty ballerina" finger in the mouth with the coy grin. I thought we were past that! I honestly couldn't stand her after all that at the beginning but she has won me over with her awesome dancing and become one of my favorites, so we'll see if she keeps up her streak. Their first week was contemporary which was awesome, then jazz with Sonya which was awesome and neon, and then the rumba, which was awesome and sparkly. This week, they get Thordal Christensen as choreographer, and they are doing a Pas de Deux from Romeo and Juliet that Melissa should kill, But how will Ade hold up? She's always dreamed of dancing Juliet. Thordal says they should not just play Romeo and Juliet, they should BE the doomed couple. Dude, that's going to be sad for Melissa's husband when she tragically accidentally kills herself for her dance partner. This is the first time someone is en pointe for a SYTYCD performance, so that should be cool.
They are dressed, well, like Romeo and Juliet. It is really cool that she can dance en pointe for this -- I do love watching that. Her moves, also, are INSANE. She does this thing where he holds her up and she has one leg out and another moving like she is running. It looks crazy hard but spectacular. Ade is pulling off his few solo moves with aplomb, and he can lift her amazingly. She is obviously knocking this sout of the park. Cat tells that now tons of little girls are asking to take ballet classes, and I don't think she's wrong. Nigel is up first, and he congratulates himself for the show now introducing America to ballet. Nigel, I love your show to a level some might call "obsession" but... while it's awesome that we just got to see this routine, you are not the reason America just learned about ballet. Clearly, we all know about it because of Center Stage. He says that Melissa was amazing and that Ade could have had slightly better feet but he kept up with everything else. He then again congratulates the show for showing the range from an alien impregnating a dancer and to Romeo and Juliet. I never caught that impregnation, by the way, but I guess this is the kind of "banter" you get when there's 33 minutes left in the show and only one couple left to dance. Mary loved it, and she's using her quiet, shaky ballet voice to show she's serious -- she also says Melissa was incredible and Ade's strength was amazing. What, no ballet tamale train? Mia then gushes about classical ballet, and how it's the real core of dancing, and these two danced it amazingly. In a million different ways, she repeatedly calls them brilliant.
Before the final couple is introduced, Cat reminds us that a bunch of people couldn't make the show but inspired something special. There's a cool montage of a bunch of the choreographers working, and some great dancing from people who both did and didn't make the show. Nigel tells us about the Dizzy Feet Foundation, started by him, Adam Shankman, Carrie Ann Inaba, and ... Katie Holmes? Oh happy day, did I luck into the Katie Holmes episode?? Cat interviews Katie about why she's involved, and Katie thinks it's important for kids to experience dancing, singing, and to grow and have access to the best. Through a number of different interviews we learn that the foundation awards scholarships to underprivileged dancers, and that they will pick ten kids from six studios for scholarships. Mary adds something but oh my goodness, this interview was done pre-Botox and it's utterly distracting, how different she looks -- is Botox your only "secret," Mary? You can learn more about the foundation at Dizzyfeetfoundation.org . Nigel then admits that they've been trying to deny what's coming up but as we all knew from the glorious Internet, Katie Holmes will be appearing on the 100th episode on July 23rd doing a Tyce-choreographed tribute to Judy Garland. I am filled with glee and now crossing off my calendar for July 23! But also, I kid because I love -- Katie will donate her performance fee to the foundation and it seems like a really great cause. I've become a complete and utter softie!
The last couple are Karla and Vitolio, doing the quickstep. Jonathan is looking cuter than ever as he cheers from the audience. Karla is the 35th person tonight to say that this experience has been a rollercoaster. We're taken through Vitolio and Asuka's sucky Broadway, great waltz, and doomed jazz and then through Karla and Jonathan's cha cha, amazing contemporary, and horrific hip-hop. Karla seems to really not be thrilled about her new partner, but she puts on a happier face in rehearsal with Jean-Marc and France. Vitolio is a statue and they will be dancing with top hats and canes, so again the dreaded props. Jean-Marc has a bunch of funny analogies to help them with their form, but so far things aren't going great. The only thing that is coordinated is that Karla's dress and Vitolio's shirt are colored just right to match France's hair.
They are dancing to "Puttin' on the Ritz" by Rufus Wainwright, and Karla comes out in a black and white polka-dot dress to charm her mannequin. Vitolio comes to life and tugs on her dress, which drops down to awesomely turn into a sparkly orange, pink and purple dress. They pull off this style way better than I thought -- they are coordinated, their jumps are good, and they move without looking terrified. I tend to always watch the quickstep in fear because it can go bad so quickly, but to untrained me they really do a great job to my happy surprise. Nigel loves the choreography, and when they show Jean-Marc, Furry Hat Guy behind him nods again in agreement. Nigel makes a comment about keeping a woman quiet with a snap, which I would have found totally tasteless if it weren't Mary that went quiet to illustrate his point. Heaven, if only for a moment! He has a few nitpicks about their lines actually being too good and taking away from the bounce, but he loves that their personalities came out. Mary loved it but also had a few technical critiques, which is something I wish she'd do more often because I like hearing what they actually did well and what they could improve on. That snapping worked! Mia then gives Jean-Marc all of the credit for the piece and only kind of gives the two dancers anything for how they performed it. She's confused by Vitolio being crazy one second and contained the next and doesn't understand him -- it's a bit unfair since he was totally contained during the performance, and isn't that what she's supposed to be talking about here? She tells Karla that she looked scared sometimes, but then admits she herself could never do this dance and gives credit where credit is due. It feels like a big step for Mia.
With that, we finish one of the most grossly bloated two hours of television yet this summer and tomorrow we'll see what America thought of it all.