Top Fourteen Competition

Wow, we’re down to fourteen already? I don’t even feel like I really know them yet! Time flies. I also don’t have a favorite yet which is pretty unusual for me.

I see Cat found a comb and some conditioner. Took her long enough. Unfortunately, she also found the tinfoil... and turned it into a dress. Which would actually be pretty if it weren’t, you know, metallic.

No, I would not like to see a nine-year-old Nigel Lythgoe. She doesn’t care. Nor do I want to hear more Mary/Botox jokes, but Adam doesn’t care. His picture is kind of great, though.

Couple One: Latin ballroom dancer Ashleigh and contemporary dancer Jakob.
Hip Hop with Tabitha and Napoleon (they’re baaaack…)
Oh good, more “emotional” hip hop. This has been getting stale since “Bleeding Love” two years ago (my favorite piece ever, but you probably knew that), but this was pretty good! They were incredibly sharp. I felt like she was maybe a hair behind a couple times, but she was really good and (listen closely, because I may never say it again…) I agree with Nigel. She has improved vastly and I slightly regret disliking her so strongly at the beginning. The handstand-flip stunt was amazingly smooth. I’ve never seen it so good. There was one part with her on the floor that was a little awkward, but overall I’m impressed.

Couple Two: ballroom dancer Karen and hip hop dancer Kevin
Broadway with Spencer (what’s with all the new Broadway choreographers? Oh, he’s cute!)
Well, this dance gets a giant MEH from me. At first I thought he was doing better because he was sharper, but I’m pretty sure that was actually tension, and it was pretty unimpressive. She had pretty good emotion but that was about it. My measure with technique is pretty much “if I can do it, they’re not doing it well enough.” And, well, I could have done that (you know, two years ago when I was in shape). Neither one had any height in their kicks or jumps. And there were little choreographic differences that really should have been easy to figure out had they tried. On second thought, this was a little worse than “meh.” This was pretty bad.

Couple Three: Krumper Russell with contemporary dancer Noelle
Foxtrot with Edward
Huh. Foxtrot again. That sucks. Ahem. I really suck at critiquing ballroom. It all seemed pretty good to me! That stunt (the walkover into the lift) was super cool. I was impressed. I can see where that would be easy to mess up big time. I thought some her smile was erring on the side of ridiculously cheesy at parts (toward the end), but it was overall really good. I think.

Couple Four: contemporary dancer Channing and contemporary dancer Victor
Jazz with Tyce
OK, I went into this one with low expectations because of a text from my mother an hour previous that read “Weird Tyce routine. Hmmm.” And for her, weird usually equals not so good. BUT, I really liked this! Yes, it was weird. But the technique was incredible, particularly from Channing (I never thought I’d get to say that!) It definitely told a great story and was well-danced. But was anyone else afraid that bird cage would topple? Surely we can afford sturdier props.

Couple Five: contemporary/lyrical dancer Kathryn and b-boy Legacy
Paso Doble with Tony
OK, so, I hate the paso doble in general. No one’s ever strong or dramatic enough and the effects are always ridiculous. But in this case, only one of those things was true. Their dancing was actually pretty intense and sharp. OK, really intense. And Legacy was shirtless. That’s always all right by me. Kathryn’s flexibility was really impressive the entire time. The only bit I thought was a little awkward was the sitspin toward the end…I think maybe she didn’t have enough momentum. But I know nothing. Also, her dress made for a pretty sweet prop, but in those lights it nearly blinded me a couple times. Seriously.

I’m not even going to pretend I listened to the charity plug.

Couple Six: ballroom dancer Ryan and jazz dancer Ellenore
Contemporary with Travis. Cue another preteen girl freakout (although I got a heads up from my mom about this one)
Her extensions are absolutely incredible. I mean, wow. And those stunts were mind-blowing and the emotion was just SO there. Travis Wall is just a choreographic genius, which we all knew already. And look how adorable he is when Nigel tells him what an asset he is! Wow. I don’t even have more to say. That piece was just incredible.

Couple Eight (finally): contemporary dancer Nathan and jazz dancer Mollee
Pop jazz with Laurie Ann
Hmm OK. First, I strongly dislike Lady Gaga. So the music didn’t do it for me and neither did the choreography. I thought pop jazz would be perfect for Mollee and was disappointed to find it wasn’t a happy piece, but she did manage to look slightly more grown up than usual. I was actually impressed by her. Her dancing was really good and I didn’t think that Nathan was into it at all, but whatever. The choreography really just sucked for me and ruined a lot of it.

My bottom three couples:
Nathan and Mollee (just because of Nathan, really)
Karen and Kevin (only obvious one, although we all know how “obvious” played out last week)
Russell and Noelle (though this was a stretch)

And we end this with yet another text-quote from my mother (yeah, we talk a lot. We love each other.)
“Adam, you can’t promise them all top 10.”

See you tomorrow!