So You Think You Can Dance: Cuttin’ Time

Cat’s happy that we’re getting closer and closer to the top ten for this season, but sad because we have to lose one more guy and one more girl. Poor Cat. These Thursdays really take their toll on her. I guess that explains her decision to fashion a pantsuit out of an old art deco couch. THIS Is So You Think You Can Dance (dance…..dance)!

The anemone print used to be very popular for couches and seat cushions 

WOWIE GAZOWIE!! This opening number kicks all kinds of ass. Okay, let’s see if I can do this any sort of justice. First, I will tell you it’s choreographed by Dmitry, Tabitha and Napoleon, and performed to “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” by Pitbull. 

We seem to be in a cabaret or juke joint of some sort. There’s a lot of touching going on along with a heavy dose of seductive head rolls. And then the music kicks it up, and so do the dancers. The girls are hitting it hard, obviously Dmitry has had a heavy hand in this first part – it feels very ballroom to me. In a good way.

So the ballroomish part goes on for a while, and I am really loving this. And then. Water. All of a sudden some of the girls are soaked in water and dancing on the tables. Very Flashdance-esque. 

I’m not sure how the whole water thing happened, but it looked so cool. I think Jeannine and Janette were the only ones that were wet. Oh wait! I see someone else. How’d I miss you?

From there the boys go into more of a hip hop style section, and they kill it too.

They end this number with more of the ballroom feel, and a lot of partnering work. I don’t think I can say enough how much I loved this number! What a great way to start the night! And then! Cat enters, popping up from one of the tables. Love it!

Cat goes through her normal spiel and re-introduces us to the judges, but before we move on to the show proper, Nigel has a couple of things he’d like to say. He wants to talk briefly about Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. Obviously by now you all know they died. 

Nigel starts out talking about Ed McMahon, the voice of the Johnny Carson show and promoter of talent via Star Search. I gotta tell you, Gasmi, I loved Star Search as a kid. I watched religiously, loved the dance category the most, but really? I loved all of it, even the stupid spokesmodel category. I always wished they would bring it back, but when they did, it totally sucked. Arsenio Hall is no Ed, and the judges on the new one sucked hairy monkey balls. 

Nigel moves on to talk about Farrah Fawcett. He got to meet her this past Christmas where Farrah tried to teach him how to make a pecan pie. He talks about her humor and strength, and how she fought to live.

And then, Michael Jackson. Nigel thinks we will not see his like again, he was a global superstar. He changed the face of music and dance in the world. Nigel talks about how the “Black and White” video was almost inspiration for this show, taking different genres of dance (Indian, Native American, African, and Russian) and bringing them all together in that one video. Nigel also talks about how so many people started dancing because of Michael Jackson. 

I’m not going to add a lot here. He was a sad troubled soul, his life was strange and bizarre and rife with scandal. No matter what you think of Michael as a person, there is no denying what he brought to the world of music and dance. J-Mo sent me a link to a blog entry that was written about Michael, that I’d like to share with you here.  Thanks again, J-Mo!

Nigel finally wraps it up saying that they’re going to show the “Thriller” video. Oh, I love that video! I remember what a big deal it was when it came out and I was right there with everyone else, sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to see. But Nigel’s a liar. They don’t show the video. They show a clip from the video; the same clip we’ve all seen a thousand times in the few hours after his death was announced. Phooey.

Okay, enough of this. Now that Nigel has talked and talked and talked for ten minutes we have to rush through some stuff to make up the time. Let’s get right to it, shall we? First five couples on the stage. They are Vitolio/Asuka, Brandon/Janette, Evan/Randi, Phillip/Jeanine, and Melissa/Ade.

I immediately think I may have been wrong about Phillip’s fans keeping him safe this week. I mean, there will be two couple from this group in the bottom, right? Sorry. I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let’s start with Asuka and Vitolio. Last night they danced a Mandy Moore jazz piece that Nigel thought was really good, but I think that was just his boner talking. Again. They are in the bottom.

Brandon and Janette killed the Dave Scott hip hop number; they’re not going anywhere. Safe. Randi and Evan performed a cheeky Mia Michaels routine and Cat tells them, “The butt made the cut.” Another safe couple.

Moving right along to Phillip and Jeanine. They had Broadway with Tyce and Phillip struggled a bit, but Jeanine was fantastic. Did Phillip’s fans rally round him once more? Yep. They are also safe. Does this mean Melissa and Ade are in the bottom? I will fuck someone up if that happens!! Oh, never mind, no need for me to kick anyone’s ass, they’re safe too. Whew! 

So that means that two of the three remaining couples will be in the bottom three. This group includes Jonathan/Karla, Jason/Caitlin, and Kupono/Kayla.

OBVIOUSLY Jonathan and Karla are in the bottom. What they did to that hip hop routine was criminal. Get it? Criminal?? Oh, I crack myself up sometimes. But who will join them? It’s gonna be Jason and Caitlin. I love it when I get the call right. Now they just need to send home the two that are drowning. But first! The solos.

Actually, before the solos we have our weekly performance from the world of dance. Cat is just dying over how cute they are, and the audience is awwwing before we even get to see who it is. 

I’m awwwwing over how cute Cat is. 

Cat says they’ve always have great b-boys on this show using Dominic, Hok and Ryan as examples. She says maybe some of these guys will be on the show in a few years. They are the Rage Boys Crew. 

They’re pretty darn good. The little one reminds me of the little guy in the movie Honey. Yes, I watch that movie, but only for the dancing. I swear! I love the part where they launch him into the air and one of the older kids catches him.

Solo time. First up is Asuka. She sexes it up as much as possible, hoping that Nigel will have a huge boner and vote to keep her.

I get that it’s hard to do a solo when ballroom is your specialty, but other people in the same boat have done really good solos. Let’s move on to Vitolio.

He opens with the same leap he did the last time, but throws some other stuff in there as well. He may have been in trouble if he was up against stronger dancers, but I think we all know there’s going to be someone weaker than him tonight.

Time for Karla. I’m not really all that impressed by her. She has a couple of good moves in there, but she hops coming out of some of her pirouettes, and just seems sort of sloppy in general. She also does the standing split move AGAIN. Find another move Karla. She could be in trouble if Mary fights hard enough (or Nigel is hard enough) for the ballroom girl to stay.

Jonathan’s next, and it is not good. You know, he seems like a sweetheart, a real nice kid, but he is so out of his depth in this competition. It’s pretty close to the inclusion of Tony for me. He’s not quite as bad as that, but I think they should have told him to come back after he had a couple more years under his belt. It might have made a world of difference

Time for Caitlin. You know, it’s a funny thing about Caitlin. Both last week and this week I really thought she was too vanilla in her dances with Jason. The Bollywood number didn’t do it for me, but that was because they were out of sync during almost the entire thing. But this girl can dance when it comes to her solos. 

I love the way she choreographs herself. She has such a great style of movement and musicality, and even though she’s still throwing acro in there, it’s not as much as it was, so I can deal with it. There is no way in hell Nigel is sending this girl home. I just wish she could bring this out when she dances with Jason.

Speaking of Jason, it’s time for his solo. 

There’s no denying that this kid can dance, but this solo had the same feel for me that Kayla’s did last week. Way too much going on as far as tricks, not enough dance in it. Does that make sense? It felt so rushed; as if he was trying to throw everything in there, but there was no connection from step to step and beat to beat. I don’t think he’s going to go anywhere; he’s too good for them to let him go right now, but he may want to ease up a little.

So. Before the show “treats” us to the musical performance of the night, I thought I’d go back through my video archives and share another great performance with you all. This time it’s a solo. By Danny. We had so much talk last week about how great he was in his season, that I was inspired to go back and rewatch some more of his dances. This solo is from the Top 6 show. Enjoy.

Okay. Now I may be able to stomach the musical guest they have planned for us. This week, it’s The Veronicas. Ummmm, I have a question. Is it really that hard to clap with the beat of the song? The audience is clapping like a million miles a minute and the song pace starts slow. Are they deaf? 

Edgy by FOX 

Well at least there’s no doubt they’re doing their owning singing this week; you can barely hear the one, while the other is really loud. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. I still don’t understand why we can’t have more dance performances every week instead of this stuff. And YES, I probably will mention it each week, so get over it. Because I refuse to.

Alright, we’ve barely anytime left, and two people’s hopes and dreams to squash. Let’s get to it, shall we? Ladies first.

Nigel tells us they are unanimous in their decision. Caitlin, please step forward. Nigel says they can all see she is growing in confidence each week. They also thought she gave the best solo tonight, and I do agree with that. He tells her she’s safe, she can leave the stage, and she steps back in line. Dope. Cat tells her to get off the stage before they change their minds. Oh silly Cat, you can be a dope and still be a great dancer. 

So Asuka and Karla are left. I really want Asuka to go home, but honestly, I wouldn’t really care if Karla did. Karla step forward. The judges felt like she was a little desperate tonight. He calls her out for falling out of her pirouettes, and says she never really found her center. She wasn’t as strong as she can be. Step back.

Asuka, please step forward. Nigel says she is such an exciting performer. (ewwwww) She’s beautiful, and she gives a little bit of herself with everything that she does. Like which bits, Nigel? Does she leave behind toe nail clippings or something? They feel as if she is not growing enough in the competition. Buh-bye.

We do the farewell montage, and then Cat asks her what she will remember most about being on the show. “Working with Vitolio.” She gets a little choked up as she’s saying it, and it’s funny because I think that this is probably the only time I really liked her at all, and it’s when she’s headed out the door. I do love Cat in these moments though, she’s so sweet and comforting to these guys.

Time for the guys. The judges are NOT unanimous in their decision this time.  Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of that. We’re starting with Vitolio. Nigel says he always shows a great deal of promise but then he doesn’t always deliver. He takes these huge preparations, and you think he’s going to do a double tour or a grand jete but he delivers a single tour and just a jete.

Nigel tells him he can’t hold back in this competition, especially since he’s been landing in the bottom week after week. Uh, it’s only three weeks into the performances Nigel. Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic? Vitolio is warned to bring it, and sent back to the line.

Jonathan, step forward. They continually also find Jonathan in this bottom three. Nigel acknowledges that he had a wonderful week last week, but last night really was not good. No kidding. The solo tonight….the gymnastics were fantastic, but this is a dance competition, not a tumbling one. Step back.

Your turn Jason. They loved his solo last week. Not so much this week. Nigel says it was full of desperation. To the point that he didn’t even really dance. Nigel wants him to be fully aware that when you dance for your life in this competition, that is what you are doing.

♫♪ Drama Queen! ♪♫ 

“That was not strong enough to get you through…….had you been against better boys.” Having received his light spanking, Jason is told he’s safe and that he can leave the stage. 

That leaves us with Vitolio and Jonathan. Nigel says neither one of them are strong enough at this time. Whoever they’ve decided to keep really needs to bring it. And the person they’ve decided to keep for one more week, and it WILL be one more week if they don’t bring it next week is Vitolio. So Jonathan is getting the axe. Good decision judges.

We see Jonathan’s good-bye montage, but Cat doesn’t bother to ask him what he will remember most. That doesn’t really seem fair. Ah well, such is life, I guess.

So what did you all think? I’m happy with the judges’ decision. The right people went home. I really really hope we seem some super strong performances next week. I hope they’re working their little butts off preparing for the show. As usual, I’m excited to see what next week’s show will bring.

In the meantime, I’m just gonna curl up on my couch, get a bowl of popcorn, and watch a movie. With a friend.

It could happen! 

See ya next week!

SWAK, PottyMouth