April Marie where are you???
I'm here
provencal. I apologize for not posting last night guys, but I was so exhausted after the show and it was pretty late after eating dinner & getting home. Since the pairs & daances have been posted already, I'll just give my thoughts and any other details I can remember. Although I don't think the order of dances is correct, I can't remember the exact order so I'll leave it the way it is. (For example, I could've sworn Josh & Katee were in the 1st half of the show-like #3 or 4-and Mark & Chelsie were #2.) I may have to break this up into 2 posts because I have a lot to say.
*Thayne & Chelsea T. (Mandy Moore Jazz) - This was a character piece-a king and his forbidden/secret love. I liked it. It wasn't my favorite of the night, but I really enjoyed it. Nigel really didn't like the costumes, but he said it WASN'T THEIR FAULT. It makes me wonder if he's said that before and that part of the comment just was cut out. One of the judges (Mia I think) said that they didn't play their roles fully enough: Thayne wasn't regal enough & Chelsea wasn't sexy enough, or something like that. Mia didn't really believe the roles they were playing. All of the judges really liked the choreo, they just thought that Thayne & Chelsea didn't perform it well. (This statement could have been the theme of the night since it was said a few times.) I disagreed with the judges. I thought that they did a really good job and had great technique. Unless Mandy herself wants to show me how it was supposed to be done, or says that they didn't execute what she choreo'd, I'm going to continue to believe they did well.
*William & Jessica (hip-hop) - Again, I liked it, didn't love it. Will really embodied (to use a Mia-like word) the dance more than Jessica. He was loads better her and my eye kept going to him in the dance. Honestly I'm not surprised William did well because he's probably taken some hip-hop classes, being a student at Debbie Allen's academy. It definitely showed that he was more comfortabele in the routine than Jessica was. Sesame & Olestra (I honestly can't remember their real names. In the studio I thought of them as what we call them.) used chairs in this routine and used them in quite a bit in the choreo. I thought it was interesting that both this week & last, Will & Jess have had chairs in their routine. Like one of the posts said, the judges pimped Will a lot, and had negative critiques for Jess. Mia said that she agreed with what Nigel said last week about Will being in the Final 4. I hate when they say that this early, but if he keeps doing well across other genres, I think he'll last a long time.
*Mark & Chelsie H. (Argentine tango) - Love, love, LOVED it!!! In my opinion, one of the best of the night. This is Chelsie's genre, so I expected her to at least be good, but Mark was a revelation. I didn't think he'd be bad since he's a great dancer & I think he can pick up choreo very well, but I didn't think he'd be as fantastic as he was. Mark didn't look like a contemp-dancer-doing-tango, he looked like a tango dancer, someone who may not be an expert, but has had experience doing it. In their video package, Chelsie said that it was hard to get the intense, sexy emotion that they are supposed to have down since they have more of a brother-sister relationship, but they had the right emotion during their performance. I fully believed everything they were trying to convey and their technique was fabulous. The judges all loved it, everyone in the studio loved it. The judges were all surprised Mark did so well; they seem to really like him, so I'm not sure what was up with last week's comments. Mia said Mark looked very handsome, very Hollywood (or something like that) and he did. They both looked very good. The only negative thing that was said was Nigel thought Chelsie should have been "more sleazy"-whatever the hell that means. He said that when you see "old people" dancing it, they "have a cigarette in one hand and a glass of Jack Daniels in the other". Nigel said that the Argentine tango is supposed to be sleazier than the regular tango, and Chelsie wasn't sleazy enough. Now I completely disagree with Nigel, and am wondering what he was smoking before the taping. I would be VERY surprised if this couple ended up in the bottom 3.
*Matt & Kourtni (Foxtrot) - I thought they did a really good job. Another liked it but didn't love it. They did look very nice while dancing. Kourtni's dress was lovely-long, light green, very pretty. Jean-Marc did very good choreo and I thought they had good technique, but I'm not an expert in the foxtrot, so I could be wrong. They looked like 2 contemp dancers doing the foxtrot, albeit a pretty good one. When compared to the tango, though, it was not as good. I know they are 2 totally different dances, but I am talking about the level of technique and performance of that the 2 couples had, not the actual dances. (I hope you guys get what I'm saying.) They had a great lift at the end that made the audience gasp & cheer. There was also a cool trick in the middle of the dance, but I don't want to give it away. Mary said that the technique wasn't great, and aside from the lifts and tricks, they didn't do a great job. Mia said that she expected better lines from Kourtni because she is so tall. She also said that while Kourtni is strong/has confidence/takes pride in her legs (ie, her develope, etc), she needs to be strong everywhere (or something like that). I think it makes more sense when you hear Mia say it in context because I'm not getting it exactly right. I actually kind of agreed with Mia about Kourtni. I don't recall any greatly negative things the judges said about Matt. This couple could be in the bottom 3 depending on how America likes it and the other dances.
*Gev & Courtney (Contemporary) - I loved this routine, so beautiful. It was one of my top 3 of the show. Mandy choreo'd a simple story about 2 lovers but it wasn't a simple dance; there were some difficult parts to the routine and it required good technique. I thought that they did a great job, and was surprised by how well Gev did. I think he must have taken some contemp classes (which I think he said in his audition) because his movement and lines were very good, like he had some training in dancing lyrically. He didn't look like a hip-hopper doing contemp. There were some great lifts in this routine, esp the one at the beginning. It's too hard to describe in words so you'll just have to wait to see it. Courtney did very well, but I would expect that of her. Gev is very strong and was a very good partner for Courtney. The judges all agreed with me about that and that it was a good performance(YAY for me!). Mia did say that Courtney was "too jazz" and Nigel (I think) said that it seemed like Courtney was the man in this dance, but I didn't agree with either of them. I think this was the couple that Mia said that she was nitpicking, but after 9 dances and 27 critiques, I can't be sure. All night, it seemed like the judges were overly critical of the girls, because I didn't agree with most of what they said. Gev got a lot of the comments Kam got last year after the contemp: you were a good partner, always there for her, etc. I would be very surprised if Gev & Courtney are in the bottom 3, esp. if they weren't after last week.
I'm going to break here because this is getting to be very long. Stay tuned for the 2nd half.
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