Just Dance: SYTYCD Season 8 – Week 7, Top 8, Laurieann Gibson
Week 7 post-performance interviews with the top 8, and Laurieann Gibson of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 8! Video below ๐
Week 7 post-performance interviews with the top 8, and Laurieann Gibson of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 8! Video below ๐
Even though I’m running late tonight, I wanted to be sure I posted this so you have a place for all your thoughts and any discussion that comes up during the episode. I’ll add my thoughts in later, when I get a chance, so for now, this is YOUR space!
UPDATE:
I’ve only seen half the show at this point, but I’ll go ahead and throw some of my thoughts out.
-I really loved Sasha’s quickstep with Pasha (“easy to remember!”).
-Wish I loved Caitlynn’s hip hop with Ivan. It was really cute, but not my favorite routine and that sucks cause I love her and love him and thought they were really cute together.
-Wonder what it was like with Allison and Ivan both backstage. ๐
-Jordan is really not good at connecting with her partners. I think she had her best chemistry yet with Ade (Ade! How can you not have chemistry with Ade?! *I* had chemistry with Ade the two times I met him during on tour!), but she was still glamming for the camera. Just not digging it. I can see that she’s athletic and gorgeous and a talented dancer, but I’m getting sick of her getting raved about for being sexy since she’s sexy all on her own. I don’t know that she knows how to build chemistry with a partner at all.
-Melanie and Neil’s Mandy Moore was hands down my favorite of the night, one of my favorites of the season. I love all the components, so how could I not love it. Love Melanie, looooove Neil, love Mandy Moore. That leap! And Rob Marshall was right about her acting at the end. And I looooved that Cat asked if we wanted to see the move again and Melanie leaped into Neil’s arms back stage. I’ve never wanted to be backstage more in my life than when Cat said they were still smooching back there. Another SYTYCD cross-season couple, hmmm? (I’ve watched this routine like a dozen times now and I still want more!)
-I thought Rickey’s was one of the better jives we’ve seen on the shows and he was great with Anya. But I actually thought the quickstep was better, had more flare and life.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten at the moment! I haven’t been reading your comments till I can see the show, but please continue the conversation! Power Rankings will be delayed till tomorrow, but I can definitely give you a poll in the meantime. Maybe you’d like to give power rankings a go yourselves?
UPDATE:
-So I just watched Tadd’s heist routine with LoFro. It was really entertaining and I can totally see the MJ references. And I agree that I was really proud of Tadd for dealing with lost hat and the accidental face punch and keeping going. It was a lot of fun.
-I was really surprised and pleased with Jess’s performance with Lauren G. I thought it would be a disaster when I saw they were dancing together, but he really stepped up to her. There weren’t any lifts of course, but he matched her really well and I think he worked on having a connection with her and the intention of the piece. He didn’t overplay it, I agree.
-LOVED the Marko/Allison routine. He does really well when partnered with technical girls and I think Allison was the perfect match for him. She brought out a lot in him, but also they were must well-matched.
-This is a good time for me to say I’m generally liking Lady Gaga as a judge. Sometimes I think he reactions are a bit contrived, but I’m usually in agreement with them anyway, so that’s okay. And she’s being calmer and quieter than I expected and really respectful of the judges, which is really good.
-I hated the Jess/Jordan rhumba. Jordan’s pursed lips and “sexy” faces were pissing me off the whole time. I thought Jess did an alright jobs, though he occasionally had a crazy “sexy” face too. They had that one great lift, but I couldn’t help wishing it were different dancers. Agree with Nigel that there was no chemistry between them.
-Really loved Caitlynn and Tadd’s foxtrot. Rob Marshall was right to call it “sparkling.” They had the right attitude the whole way through and looked so classy and gorgeous the whole way through. It really made me miss the old stage, though. This big stage swallows up some routines, like this one.
-The Marko/Rickey hip hop was cute, but not as good as I would’ve liked. I have to agree that Marko carried it better than Rickey did unfortunately. Tabitha looked really worried when they cut to her and Napoleon right after the routine.
-Lady Gaga kinda dissed the props on both of Nappytabs’s routines. Anybody else notice that?
-I liked the Melanie/Sasha jazz, but I actually didn’t think it was as good as it could’ve been. I was THRILLED to see these two were dancing together and they’re pretty well matched, I think. My disconnect with the routine was more the music (blech) and the choreography – it felt kinda empty and unfulfilled. Whenever the girls made connection, it seemed kinda pointless. They could have actually done lifts, both of them, so I wanted that instead of the weird unnecessary assists. I don’t think it was the best choreography that Sonya’s done – I disagree. But then, I’m not a dancer or a choreographer. But I did agree that it reminded me of the “Two Princes” routine, which I liked. AND, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Final 2 came down to these girls
Here’s another poll:
Hi everybody! I will be at a meeting tonight and might miss the beginning of tonight’s episode, so I need your help. If you’ll let me know the music in the comments, I’ll make sure it gets put into a pretty list with links as soon as I possibly can. We have such a great community here and I love knowing I can count on y’all for help whenever I’m running late! Thanks!
Sasha danced a Jonathan Roberts quickstep with Pasha to: Terry Snyder’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz” –
Caitlynn danced a Marty Kudelka hip hop with Ivan to: Mario’s “Let Me Love You” –
Jordan danced a Tyce Diorio jazz with Ade to: Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limit” –
Melanie danced a Mandy Moore contemporary with Neil to: Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” –
Rickey danced a Jason Gilkisonย jive with Anya to: Celine Dion’s “River Deep, Mountain High” –
Jess danced a Nappytabs hip hop with Lauren G. to: Rihanna’s “Take A Bow” –
Tadd danced a Mandy Moore jazz with Lauren F. to: Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” –
Marko danced a Sonya Tayeh contemporary with Allison to: Jeff Buckley’s “I Know It’s Over” –
Caitlynn and Tadd danced a Jonathan Roberts foxtrot to: Ella Fitzgerald’s “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” –
Marko and Rickey danced a Nappytabs hip hop to: Diddy ft. Black Rob and Mark Curry’s “Bad Boy for Life” –
Jordan and Jess danced a Jason Gilkison rhumba to: Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” –
Melanie and Sasha danced a Sonya Tayeh jazz to: District 78’s “Game On” –
This is a silly post I got the idea for last week (Sasha and Twitch made me think of it). It occurred to me that while routines with props can go either way, there are A LOT of routines choreographed around a table that seem to be highly memorable. So, I thought it’d be fun to look at some of those.
First, probably the most memorable table routine, the one that people generally think of when you say “the table routine” is from Season 3. Sabra and this week’s All-Star Neil dancing a Mandy Moore jazz routine.
Next memorable I’d say is the Travis Wall contemporary routine danced by Ellenore and Legacy in Season 6, the “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” routine.
Then, there’s the super-hot crossbreed of samba and hip hop that Dmitry and Nappytabs choreographed for Season 5’s Top 16, which featured several tables (and water!).
I also couldn’t help thinking of this Tyce Diorio-choreographed jazz routine with Season 7’s Kent and All-Star Courtney featuring one of my favorite Amy Winehouse tunes, “Amy, Amy, Amy” .
Season 7 also had a phenomenally memorable Top 6 group routine which featured a table. Choreographed by Mia Michaels, it should’ve shown off eventual winner (and this week’s All-Star) LoFro, who was injured, but instead All-Star Allison (then and last week) took her place.
Here’s a video of LoFro performing it on tour:
Which brings us to the inspiration for this post, last week’s “Misty Blue” , choreographed by Christopher Scott and danced so fabulously by Season 8’s Sasha and All-Star (of all time) Twitch.
All of this “evidence” that tables make for great routines *almost* makes me wish that Caitlynn and Mitchell’s Stacey Tookey choreography to “Turning Tables” had had a table in it instead of two armchairs and lamps. Except, it’s just so memorable on its own. I’ll include it anyway.
Can y’all think of any other great table routines I’ve forgotten? Can you think of a bad table routine ever in SYTYCD history? And you’re not limited to the American version of the show. Go for it!
UPDATE:
Thanks for commenter Anne who reminded me about Wade Robson’s Season 6 Top 20 routine, “Comanche.” I miss Wade so much. This is such a good one, check it out:
Here are my live thoughts on tonight’s Top 10/All-Star results episode. I hope you’ll join the discussion, too!
The Top 10 group Broadway routine was cool in some parts, but felt kinda loose and empty in some places. I’m not familiar with the choreographer’s work, so I don’t know if this is typical of his style. Anybody? Was it just me or was there a lot of little wobbles and out of unison moments? Was that Clarice off the the right in the back and really off in the beginning? I really liked the Chorus Line-esque gold hats and unison bits at the end, though.
I’m bummed that they’re still cutting 1 guy and 1 girl and Amanda is confused that the judges are still apparently in control of the fates of the Bottom 4 (got that wrong in the Power Rankings, yesterday).
Here’s a spoiler space as I start to talk about the results…
We’ll see the first individual cuts tonight and (most likely) the reveal of next week’s All-Star’s. I’m excited to see what music goes along with all of that.
The music list will be updated here live…
Top 10 Broadway group routine choreographed by Josh Berebus (sp?): “Act I: On Broadway” – from “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”
Daniil Simpkin danced to: Jacques Brel’s “Les Bourgeois” –
Spoiler space for the solos…
Week 6 post-performance interviews with the top 10, and all stars Robert and Comfort of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 8!โจโจโจ Video Below ๐
SOOOOOO extremely happy to see Neil Patrick Harris as the guest judge. I adore him and I’m not surprised he’s a fan of the show or of Cat Deely. She cracked me up when she said, “You’re not popular at all,” after all the cheering for Neil and then told Nigel the audience didn’t have any energy left for him. Lol.
My live thoughts follow, so I guess I’ll put in a spoiler space here…
I’m so excited to see the routines tonight – Top 10 is always a great moment in the season and I’m excited to see what the All-Stars bring to the table. Many of them were All-Stars last season, we we already know they’re great, but it will be nice to see them interact with new dancers. And oh yes, I’m sure the music will be incredible. ๐ Here we go…
Marko danced a Jason Gilkison samba with Chelsie to: Kate Hudson’s “Cinema Italiano” –
Sasha danced her solo to: Duffy’s “Syrup & Honey” –
Jordan danced a Desmond & Dwight contemporary with Brandon to: Jessie J’s “Who You Are” –
Jess danced his solo to: Harry Connick, Jr.’s “Come By Me” –
Tadd danced a Chuck Maldanado hip hop with Comfort to: Chris Brown ft Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes’s “Look At Me Now” –
Melanie danced her solo to: Angus & Julia Stone’s “You’re the One that I Want” –
Mitchelle danced a Tyce Diorio Broadway with Melody to: “Take Off With Us” – from “All That Jazz”
Rickey danced his solo to: Cassidy Haley’s “Daylight Breaks” –
Clarice danced her solo to: Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” –
Caitlynn danced a Miriam & Leonardo Argentine tango to: Orquesta Color Tango’s “Malajunta” –
Mitchell danced his solo to: John Legend’s “This Time” –
Sasha danced a Christopher Scott hip hop to: Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue” –
Jordan danced her solo to: Lykke Li’s “Tonight” –
Jess danced a Stacey Tookey contemporary with Kathryn to: Christina Perri’s “The Lonely” –
Tadd danced his solo to: Robin Thicke’s “Everything I Can’t Have” –
Melanie danced a Jason Gilkison Viennese waltz with Pasha to: Tina Arena’s “Everybody Hurts” –
Caitlynn danced her solo to: Florence & the Machine’s “Cosmic Love” –
Rickey danced a Tyce Diorio jazz with Allison to: Tori Amos’s “Precious Things” –
Marko danced his solo to: Gavin DeGraw’s “More Than Anyone” –
Clarice danced a Nakul dev Mahajan Bollywood with Robert to: “Aila re Aila” – from the “Khatta Meetha” soundtrack
Tonight’s Top 10 episode is going to rock, not least of which because it’s the first time we’ll see the Top 10 dance with the All-Stars.
First, we have Melody Lacayanga, the Season 1 runner-up. I chose her disco with SYTYCD Canada judge/choreographer Blake McGrath because I don’t normally go for disco and this Doriana Sanchez disco was fun. I didn’t watch Season 1, but looking back over the season, it seems like Melody’s partners tended to get eliminated a lot. I hope this doesn’t happen to her Season 8 partners!
Allison Holker from Season 2 was an All-Star last season and had some phenomenal routines. I’m going to resist my urge to find videos from last season and instead give you something from her original season. Here is her Alex da Silva Argentine tango with her original partner Ivan Koumaev.
Pasha Kovalev was also an All-Star from last season and I am NOT going to show you the phenomenal tango he did with winner Lauren Froderman. No, I am NOT. I’m going to stick with first seasons and show you him “out of his element,” dancing Mandy Moore jazz with Sara von Gillem.
Yet another All-Star from last season, Twitch Boss was originally the runner-up from Season 4. Chelsie Hightower, who was also from Season 4, was scooped up by DWTS along with Lacey Schwimmer, danced this fun Nappytabs hip hop with Twitch during their season.
Comfort Fedoke, also from Season 4 and also an All-Star last season, also danced with Twitch. Instead of showing you that video, I’m going to show you dancing with Mark Kanemura, Chelsie’s partner for most of the season, in another awesome Nappytabs hip hop.
Brandon Bryant was the runner-up of Season 5. I so want to show you his Wade Robson jazz with Janette, but Margaret showed that video in her All-Star post (same reason I didn’t show Pasha & Sara’s West Coast Swing). So instead, I’ll show you their Dave Scott hip hop, where they were both “out of their comfort zones.”
As an All-Star last season, Kathryn McCormick danced so much with Robert that I could just give you one video for both of them. However, let me show you Kathryn in her Season 6 glory (she came in 3rd), especially since her season didn’t get their own tour. So here she is, with runner-up Jakob Carr in a contemporary routine choreographed by Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden.
Season 7’s Robert Roldan (3rd in his season) has already danced once in Season 8, with Caitlynn Lawson, so he was already an All-Star as far as I was concerned. Because the All-Stars started at Top 20 last season, most of his dances are with Kathryn or another All-Star. I wanted to show you his Dee Caspary contemporary with winner Lauren Froderman, but it wouldn’t embed. Instead, I’ll show you their Dmitri Chaplin (Season 2 and DWTS) samba because it’s fun and they were both out of their element.
Chelsie’s only going to be an All-Star for tonight’s episode and it sounds like they may switch up the All-Stars from week to week. It’ll be interesting to see who else they bring on board and all of the great routines that result. Also, I haven’t ever seen it confirmed, but Allison and Twitch may be dating and it’ll be interesting to see them together as All-Stars again. Also, I’m dying to see our Georgia peaches, Kathryn and Season 8’s Melanie Moore dance together. You know what else I’d love to see? I’d love to see a current contestant dancing with an All-Star and choreographed by another SYTYCD alumni. That would be awesome. ๐
Are they any Season 8 contestant/All-Star pairings you’re dying to see?