So, I don’t usually start blogging about Dance! Show! until we hit the top 10…well, maybe the top 12. Or top 14. Whatever.

This season is throwing me off though, so I have to talk it out. First of all, All Stars: good or bad? Discuss.

My own feeling so far is extremely mixed. On one hand, I squealed with excitment to see the likes of Mark and Kathryn back on the stage. On the other hand, don’t you think the thrill of seeing our old favourites is taking away from excitement and investment in the new dancers?

And on one hand, I think having an “expert” at each style in each number will create higher caliber performances, especially in the early weeks (did you SEE Comfort snapping it out? She was so awesome!). On the other hand, I will really miss seeing the chemistry bloom between certain couples that are given the chance to dance together week after week. I used to get so invested in the relationships between the couples — you could just see who had “it’ and who didn’t — and now, with a new partner every week, I think it will be very hit-or-miss as to who is good on any given week. It’ll just be so much harder for the new dancers to showcase their growth and development, and I fear they will constantly live in the shadow of the All Stars.

Hm.

Anyway, this week was our first chance to see it all in action, and it did seem to me that for a first week, the dancing was much better than average, so that’s a plus. Here’s how I’d rank the competing dancers.

1. Alex. Whenever I have an early favourite, one of two things is going to happen: they’re going to get voted off in the first two weeks, or they’re going to win. Since Alex is still around, I’m going to call him for the win. He’s SUCH an amazing dancer, and his number this week with Allison was just incredible. Plus, he seems to have genuinue modesty, charm, and a great back story. He’s the whole package. Can’t wait to see him hip hop – will it be good for a laugh, good for a thrill, or both?

2. Richard. Although he received no coverage at all during Vegas week (when Shankman was telling him he’d made the top 10, I was all, “Who the hell is that guy standing with Billy?”), Richard is a textbook example of how to make your mark on America super fast. He cracked some jokes in his 10-second first week interview that established his persona as “the wacky guy.” He found a touching story for this week so we could identify with his fondness for his father and his childhood dreams coming true. He showed plenty of personality when working with his choreographer (THE CHEESEMAN, LOVE LOVE LOVE), and I think he was the only new dancer who actually out-danced his All Star partner. He’ll go far.

3. Jose. America loves a B-Boy. America loves an untrained dancer who can grow every week, and continue to surprise and impress us. But America only loves a breaker so far. Jose is so cute and talented, but I predict he’ll follow in the footsteps of Legacy, Gev, and Dominic, and only last until the just before the top four. I still put him at number 3, though. I guess I deserved that “C” I got in Grade 4 Math.

4. Adechike. I thought the judges were unfairly harsh on Adechicke this week. His number with Kathryn was great — and some might say that was mostly due to Kathryn, who kind of stole the show. But Adechike was still impressive, and I think he will suprise us in the weeks to come. He seems so fragile, and hurt by the judges’ comments, that I think the voting public will rush to his side and protect him. Could he ride the mothering/sympathy wave all the way to the final? Russell did it last year, so…possibly yes.

5. Lauren. It’s a man’s world this season, and really, all the boys are much better than the girls. I think Lauren is the only one who shows potential, but MAN, does she ever need to learn to dance without a smile plastered on her face. Even an upbeat, happy number should show some range of emotion. I think she’s young, and she needs to grow up very, very fast if she’s going to dance with the big boys this season. Having the likes of Allison and Kathryn on the show is not doing her any favours, either.

6. Kent. I feel like the producers are trying to shove Kent down my throat, and I’m gagging. If we have to hear about his rural town ONE MORE TIME, NIGEL, I’m starting an I-hate-Ohio website. (It is Ohio, isn’t it? Whatever.) Kent himself is cute but so, so young, and his dancing this week with Anya was just awful – I felt kind of ashamed and dirty watching it. I feel like he’s got the goods in his own style, but if he doesn’t pick it up in the other styles, and, like Lauren, grow up really fast, he’s in trouble.

7. Cristina. I quite like Cristina. For some reason, I feel like her personality does not translate well to television – she seems a little ditzy but I don’t think that is really true. She’s got the moves, that’s for sure; she really wants this; and she’s worked really hard to be here. I’m worried about her landing in the bottom three this week – hers was a weaker number, but I didn’t think it was one of the worst three, really. I hope she can really wow us next week and stick around a while.

8. Billy. When Billy did his solo during Vegas week, I thought no one would be able to touch him. And yet, on the show so far I have been completely unimpressed. He is really, really young looking, which works against him — he suffers from Leonardo Di Caprio syndrome. I know I’m going to find it hard to buy him in a heavily dramatic piece – can you imagine him in one of Mia’s numbers, or doing what Alex did this week with his Sonya piece? I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, NO. Billy is a lovely dancer but I’m really not sure if there is anything he can do to succeed on this show — he is who he is, and trying to totally transform himself in just a couple of weeks is going to feel false. He’d really have to dazzle me next week to get any kind of support (and we all know it’s MY word that makes or breaks a dancer on this show!).

9. Melinda. Unlike the other girls, Melinda has the maturity and showmanship to rock it. What she is lacking is the technical skills, and this week, it really showed. Pasha is a strong (and HUNKY) partner, but she just did not have the snap or energy to keep up with him. I agree with the judges that she needs to show more warmth, and she needs to work on connecting with her partner – I’m sure she is more used to alternating tap solos than trying to work directly with another dancer. And, she needs to practice the hell out of every number so she doesn’t look as though she’s thinking so hard.

10. Ashley. I am not a fan of Ashley. We saw nothing of her during Vegas week, and given a very, very small window in which to introduce herself she gives us…funny robot voice. Holy cow, woman. Have you no dreams? No inspirational family? No life goals? No interesting hobbies? No past illnesses to milk? Give us SOMETHING. I see Ashley as being a mere clone of Lauren, only with even less personality. I did not like her number with Neil this week — I thought it was generic, forgettable, and I felt nothing at all from her — and why she did not end up eliminated (not even in the bottom three!) I do not understand.

Also, just let me add how sad I am that Alexie was eliminated. She actually managed to surprise me — she looks so small and slight, but when she dances, she PUNCHES IT. She’s got the snap, I thought she rocked it with Twitch, and I think she could have been great. Plus, more clips of Shankman on Star Search would make me a very, very, very happy woman. Oh my goodness, wasn’t his Blue Steel SO FABULOUS? Shankman, darling, call me!

* Many thanks to Julie for that kick-ass title.

So. Dance! Show! is all over for another few months and I have the usual burn out. I think what happens, after the finale, is that a huge chunk of my brain that was very busy keeping track of all things Dance Show at all times suddenly has nothing to do, and it’s like a physical withdrawal. I get all bitchy and cranky. Or maybe that’s just PMS.

Also, I always seem to declare the latest season as being the worst ever, and again, I find I was not as engrossed this season as I have been in the past. Of course, that could be because I watched most of the episodes in super-fast-forward with Little Miss Sunshine whining beside me that she waaaaants to waaaaatch Toooopy!

Proposed: Dance! Show! has jumped the shark due to the loss of critical choreographers and the lack of remaining mature talent in America to tap, and thus will never again see the heights that were Seasons 2, 3, and 4. Discuss.

In the meantime, let’s break down Season 6, shall we?

The Good

The best thing about this season was the addition of the specialty show — the extra episode in which each set of dancers got to do a number in their specialty. There’s no question that this show was specifically added so that tap dancing could be profiled on the show — Nigel makes no attempt to hide his affection for tap. Still, I hope they keep this format, because it led to some of the best numbers of the entire season (witness half of this program being re-shown in the finale).

Also good: the addition of Adam Shankman as a permanent judge. I thought I would miss the various guest judges, but Shankman really did me proud this season, offering up meaningful and hilarious commentary. In fact, dare I say that he has become the most relevant judge on the panel? I hope he’ll stick around for next season as well. The only real drawback is that we don’t get to see any of his fantastic choreography while he’s sitting at the judges’ table.

In other good news, I really enjoyed most of the group numbers this season. In the past couple of seasons they’ve been kind of hit-or-miss for me, but this year there were several I really loved. Of course, Wade Robson’s Top 20 number — the dance-off to the fantastic song Comanche — is my favourite group number of all time. So if nothing else, there’s the beauty of Wade.

The Bad

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m a little disappointed in the winner. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly about who should win the show — usually by the time the top 4 roll around, I have a personal favourite but would be happy to see any of them take the title. This year, though, I was on Team Jakob all the way. He was seriously a cut above every else this season — and possibly ever, the only person I think who could match him for talent is Season 3’s Danny — and he deserved to win. I hope he goes on to have a fabulous dancing career, because I’d totally pay to see him on Broadway or in his own show or wherever.

It’s funny, but way back in Season 2 there was a similar showdown between Benji and Travis (Travis Wall, now a choreographer on the show). Travis was the more skilled dancer but Benji, who was a ballroom dancer, had this amazing charisma and made every number he ever danced into something fun and powerful. Back then, although I recognized Travis as being the better dancer (and lordy, the judges were totally cramming him down the throats of the voting public with their effusive praise), I really wanted Benji to win (and he did). This season, my sympathies were totally reversed. Interesting.

The Ugly

Oh my heavens. That finale SUCKED.

First of all, THREE musical guests? And TWO numbers by J.Lo? I understand that this is Prime Time and you have to goose the ratings however you can. But it is Dance! Show! after all! All that craptastic singing left precious little time for, you know, DANCING. Traditionally the finale is my favourite episode of the season, because all my favourite numbers get repeated and I just swoon and swoon over the glory of the movement. This time there were, what, like six numbers?

And almost half of them were just the pre-taped version?

And like, 80% were either from the specialty show, or the Top 6 show that had aired just the very night before?

SUCKS.

Speaking of the penultimate episode, I felt there were few standouts. The best part of the whole show was when Ashleigh danced with Ryan (mushy contemporary, I totally called it!). I thought they were actually pretty good — it was maybe the best I’d ever seen Ryan dance a non-ballroom number — and I liked it fine. But the judges! They were so hilariously careful in their comments. They didn’t want to say that it was terrible, so it was all softball crap like, “You’ll always remember this special night,” and “What a wonderful moment for you,” and “That must have felt so wonderful for you.” The whole undertone was, “We’re so glad it was good FOR YOU, because it was rotten for us!” Poor poor married couple.

And to add insult to injury, they even had them throw together a last-minute jive for the finale because, apparently, their professionally choreographed number was just TOO GROSS to repeat air. Seriously, Nigel, was it that awful?

Overall, I do feel that this season was low on the big numbers, the ones that will live on in memory, but here are a few of my favourites that I wish they had found time for:

• Karen and Kevin hip hop to Ice Cream Paint Job, where Kevin is the mechanic and Karen his muse, by Taboleon, Week 2
• Ellenore and Ryan tango by Miriam and Leonardo, Week 2
• Mollee and Nathan Bollywood routine, by Nakul, Week 2 (shown in the finale)
• Ashleigh and Jakob jazz routine to Relax, with the cane prop, by Mandy Moore, Week 3
• Noelle and Russell african jazz (shown in the finale), by THE CHEESEMAN (so awesome!), Week 3
• Channing and Victor blackbird number (with the birdcage), by Tyce Diorio, Week 4
• Kathryn and Legacy jazz with Sonya from week 5 – this is the one where they wore the red costumes and Legacy entered with a crab walk and it was SO COOL
• Mollee and Jakob Broadway routine to Easy Street from Annie, by Joey FREAKING Dowling, in Week 8
• Ellenore and Legacy contemporary routine to Machine Gun, with the table prop, by Travis Wall (shown in the finale)
• Kathryn and Ryan samba from the top 6 show, by Jason Gilkison — this was practically the only ballroom number from the season that I thought was truly outstanding, and I hope we see a lot more of Jason next season

And that’s a wrap! See you in the summer.

This is it! The Dance! Show! finale is coming early this year, like a special Christmas gift that arrives in the mail from your super organized faraway aunt. Six dancers left, and just one show to decide their fate. Who will win?

You KNOW that there’s going to be pain if America messes this one up. I can’t remember the last time I cared so much about the overall winner. BE GOOD, America. Santa is watching you!

Here’s my final rankings of the remaining six.

1. Russell. His Santa solo this past week was SO CUTE. He’s just such a squisher. However, he is not the best dancer. I suppose there is a reason that they call the winner “America’s Most POPULAR Dancer” instead of “America’s Best Dancer,” but just one time, ONE TIME, could we vote for the dancer who is actually the best? As a present for me? Russell is cute, but please consider…

2. Jakob. Oh my, do I ever love Jakob. He is not only incredibly talented and a great actor, but he’s the rare dancer who can elevate his partners to greatness. Last week he showed that Ellenore was capable of connecting with a partner and she looked amazing. This week, he turned Mollee into magic. Watch his numbers with Mollee — you’ll see he is constantly looking at her, to make sure that he’s completely in sync with her at all times. That’s generosity; that’s a dancer who cares more about the overall performance and the audience’s experience than himself. And, he even made a Joey Dowling Broadway number into something great. JOEY DOWLING. GREAT. If that isn’t sheer dancing brilliance, I don’t know what is.

3. Kathryn. What up, America? Last week she’s in the bottom two, this week, the Safest of the Safe. I don’t get it. All I know is, I like her a lot, and like Jakob, I think she manages to click with every partner she’s given (except perhaps Nathan). This coming week she’ll be Jakob’s partner, so I expect WOW BAM SHAZAM from these two.

4. Ellenore. This week, I felt she was back in the mode of fantastic dancing, weak partner chemistry. I don’t know what it is about her — I love her solos, but she just doesn’t seem good at the pair-dancing thing. This week she should be paired with Russell, who I also think lacks chemistry with a lot of his partners, so I’m worried for her. Still love her, though.

5. Ashleigh. I like Ashleigh, and I really like her dancing. But you KNOW how I feel about free passes given to dancers who are injured — NO. At least she was included in the voting process, and not given a total free pass like Noelle earlier this season, and I did really appreciate the way she came on stage and talked about how eager and willing she was to get out there and how it was killing her to have the doctors bench her. Also, the footage of her dress rehearsal showed that she was ready and on point before the shoulder thing. STILL. I thought Mollee was just brilliant this past week (did I mention the Joey Dowling? And how it was actually GREAT?) and she totally deserved to stay. That makes Ashleigh the lowest ranked woman in my book.

6. Ryan. Dudes, how many times do I have to rank this guy last before you start listening to me? He’s a great partner for the women but he’s so stiff at non-ballroom styles. His solos are lame and he does not have the sparkle of Legacy (HUGE mistake, America). However, keeping him around does set him up for the Ryan-Ashleigh pairing, and I expect lots of super romantic numbers for them (a Samba or a Waltz, perhaps, along with a Contemporary piece in which they can spend the whole song staring into each others’ eyes). So they both might end up moving ahead of some of the other dancers. But that would be wrong.

Is there another Dance! Show! season coming in January? Or will we have to wait until summer again? Just wondering so I can warn Sir Monkeypants — he likes to be prepared for the onslaught.

See you at the finale!

Well well well! What a difference a week makes. Many couples struggled to find chemistry with their new partners this week, leading to some major shake ups in the top 8 handicapping.

1. Jakob. No surprise that he totally rocked this week — if anything, he was even better with Ellenore than Ashleigh. Jakob is an amazing dancer, and yet seems to lack the arrogance of Season 3 Danny and the blandness of Season 5 Brandon. Could this be the rare season when the actual best dancer takes the trophy? The screaming girls in the front row say, “YES.”

2. Russell. Second only to Jakob in girl-screams, Russell confirmed his status with the fans and the judges this week. I have to admit I really liked him a lot with Mollee, and felt they had by far the best chemistry of any of the new couples. I totally agree with Nigel — had they been paired from the start, it could have made a big difference to both of them. As it is, his solos are fantastic, the people love him, and he’s a sweetie pie — a recipe for triumph.

3. Ellenore. How silly of me to think the people did not love her as I love her! She was great this week with Jakob. Since she’s unlikely to be paired with Ryan again, she’ll be with either Russell or Legacy this week — both good omens for her status.

4. Legacy. I still think the people love Legacy…but it certainly was a shock to see him standing with Nathan in contention for one of the bottom two slots. Perhaps that jolt will motivate the voting public to support him. Perhaps he’ll be just like Season 3 Dominic — super popular, but going out in fifth/sixth spot, just shy of the top four (as do all my favourite dancers, it seems). In any case, he was not that great this week, although I didn’t really like his choreographers, so next week I think he has a good chance of rebounding.

5. Mollee. Mollee really did what she needed to do this week — break free of her cutsy-cutsy partnership with Nathan and do some serious dancing with a serious partner. She’s still on probation but her quick bump to safety on results show night does bode well for her, if she can keep the good dancing coming.

6. Ashleigh. Again, some love her, some hate her, but DAMN, what a good back story. I totally skipped over most of the backstory montages (snooze!) but I was glued to the screen for any news of Ashleigh’s history. At last, some juicy info about her “illness” and a whole “triumph over adversity” story that brings a tear to the eye. She could really work it if she dances well and gives some warmer interviews.

7. Kathryn. Oh, how it saddens me to see Kathryn down here. Love her, love her dancing, but being paired with Nathan did her no favours. Let’s hope she pulls Jakob this week and really blows our socks off, or — oh dear, I don’t even like to think about it. In fact, let’s analyse the remaining couples:

Jakob must be with Kathryn or Mollee (to avoid past partnerships)
Russell must be with anyone but Mollee
Legacy must be with Ellenore or Mollee
Ryan must be with anyone but Ellenore, and I don’t think they will put him with Ashleigh, more because they are the same style than because they are husband and wife.

So I’m going to predict:
Jakob with Kathryn (only because I really HOPE for this matchup)
Russell with Ashleigh
Legacy with Ellenore
Ryan with Mollee (warning: MISMATCH.)

Hm. I am absolutely terrible at predicting the couples like this, and looking this list over, I have to admit, poor Kathryn will probably be put with Ryan, in order to avoid the dreadful horror of the Ryan/Mollee pairing. (Don’t let the “pull names out of a hat” garbage fool you. There’s a very small subset of names in that hat available to be pulled, I know it.)

8. Ryan. Definitely the weakest man left, and likely the least popular — he’s a sure bet to go home this week unless he really pulls a rabbit out of a hat.

In other news, did you see The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers on the results show last week? That was so awesome, I’m going to have to get all street on you and say it was SICK. My love knows no bounds. You want to go to there!

It’s down to the top 10 on Dance! Show!, and I must admit, I am a wee bit excited. This past week’s top 12 show was — dare I say it? — really entertaining. There were some great numbers, some good dancing, and some quality chemistry. Either the cameramen are getting better at working with the new stage, or the dancing was so much better that I didn’t notice the crap filming — either way, the set didn’t bother me much this week.

Sonya was back, and rocking it with two incredible numbers, both of which I adored. And Jean-Marc was back too, not quite as rocking, but it was good to see him. And Tyce did a can-can! An actual can-can! Man, I could not stop laughing during that one — it was just impossibly entertaining. Gal Smiley asked to see it three times over, because she didn’t know that her mother could laugh that hard. In a good way.

Also, another great group number to start the results show — the hop-hop Alice In Wonderland one by Taboleon. The group numbers have really been outstanding this season, haven’t they?

Oh, I can’t wait for next week!

So in classic Turtlehead tradition, it’s time to rank the top 10. Remember, this is not the order that I think they fall according to quality of dancing; rather, it’s the order of their popularity, the way I think the audience will vote. Or should vote. If they listened to me. Okay, so it’s sort of somewhere in the middle.

1. Legacy. America loves the B-Boy tricks, and Legacy does not disappoint. And although he seems a little flaky in his interviews, his dancing has been great. He’s grown a lot, and the voters love a dancer that shows progress. If he can keep impressing every week, he’ll go far.

2. Russell. I KNOW. Russell really has shown a lot of growth. But come on America, he is NO JAKOB. However, the viewers of this show seem to have no end of love for this guy; ever since the judges put him in potential danger in the very first week, his fans seemed to have mobilized into an impenetrable phone-dialing army. His numbers with Noelle last week were weak, weak, weak, and yet, no bottom three for them. Noelle better hope she gets hooked up with Legacy next week or she’s in trouble.

3. Jakob. Okay, so he’s my personal favourite. My good vibes totally worked for Jeanine, didn’t they? Jakob is beautiful to watch and fantastic at getting into character. He rocks and deserves to be on top. AMERICA.

4. Kathryn. Although there are some good female dancers this season, I feel as though they are being overshadowed by the men. I’m ranking Kathryn here as the top girl dancer although I know a lot of people aren’t even aware she’s on the stage when she’s dancing with Legacy. I really feel like she’s special and has a sparkle about her; I hope that next week she’ll step away from Legacy’s spotlight a bit and show off her own shine.

5. Ashleigh. Probably the most divisive dancer this season; some love her, some hate her. Like Legacy, though, she has shown real growth and America sure does love that. She also has a great back story and could go far if she manages to warm up to the audience a bit. Don’t you hate it when Cat is giving the results on the results show, and Ashleigh never looks the least bit nervous, nor surprised when she finds out they are safe? More humility — real or fake — is required to sway the voters, girl.

6. Nathan. Although he and Mollee have landed in the bottom three a few times now, I still feel like the teenage viewing audience is squarely behind Nathan. I know that if Gal Smiley had access to the telephone, and lived in America, he’d have about three million votes by now. That girl is devoted, let me tell you. He’ll have to use next week to prove he can properly partner a real woman — not just a girl — if he’s going to win over the Soccer Moms, though.

7. Mollee. I actually think Mollee is a really good dancer. I hope that the teenage girls aren’t bitter at her for touching Nathan all the time. If she can put in a mature performance next week with a manly man, it’ll go a long way to changing everyone’s opinion of her.

8. Ellenore. Oh, how I love Ellenore. FameThrowa does too. She’s so beautiful, and her dancing is so cool. I never really felt that she clicked with Ryan, though, and the fact that she seems to be weak in the vote-getting department is a concern. The show itself seems to be doing her no favours by saddling her with both the Lindy Hop (SO impossible to learn in one week!) and Broadway (KISS. OF. DEATH.) last week. I worry that her personality is too offbeat to mesh properly with any of the men, which means something will always be missing from her performances on this show. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see her in the bottom two girls next week, unless she really blows us away (come back, Sean Cheeseman! Ellenore is a good cause!).

9. Ryan. Ryan is beefy and a good partner, but I feel that he hasn’t shown enough versatility. It could be just because he isn’t making it happen with Ellenore, but in any case, he seems like the weakest man to me. And yes, Nigel, he certainly does need to work on his solos.

10. Noelle. I admit I have lingering dislike of her due to her flaking out in the first week (injury, sminjury!). Mollee has a twisted ankle and Ryan has a back injury and they’re still carrying on like troopers. No free pass for you! In actual dancing commentary, I do like how Noelle uses her face during her numbers — she’s so bright and expressive. But it’s not enough to make her stand out in the crowd — she always seems like a lesser version of Kathryn to me.

Who will win the partnership lottery next week? Can’t wait to find out!

I’m off to World Trivia Night tonight and the lovely and hilarious Bibliomama will be joining me! I’m awfully excited. And I’m sure the six bags of candy I bought are really going to help with that.

In the meantime, let’s take my mind off of trivia night with a little Dance! Show! Update!

This week I was all about the love. And the hate. The love-hate. Oh dance show, you do play with my emotions!

Loved It

Ashleigh and Jakob are totally clicking for me. I can see why some people really don’t like Ashleigh — there is something wooden about her in her everyday life. But I like her dancing, and I adore Jakob (he’s my fave right now), and they continue to get better every week. I loved their hip-hop and thought they kicked ass. Nat didn’t like it, though, so I may have some Jakob-love bias here. When I get that job as a judge on SYTYCD Canada, I better bring Nat along with me to provide counterpoint.

I also loved Legacy and Kathryn’s Paso Doble. The Paso is my favourite ballroom dance, if done well, and only the most committed dancers can do it well. I watched this one twice — the first time I was totally transfixed by Legacy, so I had to watch a second time to see Kathryn, but she was fantastic as well. This couple is strong and have The Chemistry and I hope they will go far.

I really enjoyed the Channing and Victor bird number — I think this may be my favourite Tyce choreography ever. I agreed with the judges that this was the first time I really felt I could see what Channing had to offer. I don’t think they deserved to be in the bottom three at all, and it’s a shame that Channing’s spark of personality came a little too late.

Lastly, I think I liked the contemporary by Ryan and Ellenore. This couple is still lacking some sort of magic for me — they need to work on The Chemistry, I think. But they both danced this piece well, and man, do I ever love Travis Wall as a choreographer. Often times, you go to the movies and you are struck by an actor’s great performance, or maybe the beauty of the cinematography. But it’s rare that you notice, during viewing, how awesome the writing is — I basically only ever feel the power of pure writing when I’m watching a Charlie Kaufman movie. I feel the same way about Travis — usually dance performances rest solely on the shoulders of the dancers, or maybe you’ll notice a great costume. It’s rare to feel the raw power of the choreography — to appreciate the originality of the movement and the idea of the choreographer himself, during the actual number. I feel that with Travis — I’m always blown away by the beauty of his ideas. So this number, while perhaps missing a little something, still blew me away.

Man, am I ever rambling today, eh?

Hated It

Mollee and Nathan are really going downhill. I understand why the judges gave them a second chance this week, but they just don’t seem to have the maturity and discipline to put together a powerful, moving performance. I love Laurieann Gibson as a choreographer so I put the blame on their crappy jazz number squarely on the shoulders of Mollee and Nathan. Nathan, in particular, I see as one of the weakest men and he’s on my hit list.

And what was up with the judges slobbering all over Noelle and Russell’s foxtrot? Noelle did show a lot of sparkle in her face and I like that they both seemed very confident and relaxed. But still, the movement was messy at times, they didn’t always seem to click as a couple, and I don’t know, it was just blah overall. They should have been in the bottom three for sure.

Lastly, Karen and Kevin…oh how sad you have made me. Their Broadway routine was the only one I really had no interest at all in watching twice. I think the Broadway style in general is quite impossible to hit — people always groan about the quickstep. but I can think of exactly one Broadway-style number that I have enjoyed, and that is Kayla and Jason’s from last season (she wore a gold dress and they danced around a stool — it was a Tyce, I think). I don’t know, something just isn’t working for this style, and the show needs to do something about it.

Anyway. I’m so very, very happy the judges decided to keep Karen this week, but Karen and Victor together does not seem like a good match, so I’m worried for them for next week. I think they should have kept Kevin, really — Victor is just a low-rent version of Jakob, and Jakob is AWESOME.

In any case, things are definitely heating up on dance show. I enjoyed this week’s dancing much more (also loved the Wade Robson group number, but that’s just obvious, isn’t it?), and I felt that the camera work was greatly improved. Keep going, Nigel!

Time for our weekly Dance! Show! update!

This week’s rising stars include Jakob and Ashleigh — loved, loved, loved their Choreographer Mandy Moore routine, it’s right up there with the famous table routine for me. Jakob in particular I thought was amazing — I loved his hunched shoulders and amazing leaps. He’s really growing on me.

Also on the upswing: Noelle and Russell, who were great this week. Although, it’s so easy to be great when you’ve got SEAN CHEESEMAN as your choreographer. Sean! I love you! Call me!

Actually I’m kind of divided about Sean’s recruitment to the American show. It’s just like when you have a small, alternative band and you go see them in secret clubs with your friends and lament about what geniuses they are and how they should totally be famous, and then they finally get a big record deal and get a song on the Billboard Hot 100 and then you spend all your time lamenting about how much cooler they were before they sold out to the man. You know? I just hope America doesn’t change you, Sean!

And I just remembered, they also stole Canadian Gustavo Vargas. I love him too. I hope he gets better dancers this week than Mollee and Nathan, who were SO AWFUL I just could not believe it. As expected, however, their cuteness and general popularity meant people voted for them anyway, and actually, they probably got a ton of extra votes just because the judges singled them out as being the worst. People afraid of their elimination were motivated to rush to the phone. Don’t do that, jidges!

On the wane this week: Karen and Kevin. I loved their hustle, I thought they were both outstanding, and in general they are two of my favourites. I hope the fact that they landed in the bottom two has more to do with the fact that they pulled first draw, than that America is stupid. I predict the show will give them the coveted pimp spot (i.e. going last) this week to encourage America to re-think its position.

Also down: Ellenore and Ryan, who were just SO very terrible. They absolutely deserved bottom three. Pauline and Pee-tah were also pretty bad — they’re both adorable and charming, but I thought they did deserve to go home.

In the meh category: Legacy and Kathryn, still two of my favourites but the Broadway style is so impossibly hard to succeed at; and Channing and Victor, who were performing in their own style and still made me yawn. I predict bottom three for Channing and Victor next week, unless Victor has some crazy teen girl following I don’t know about.

So far this season, I feel like the show is struggling to find a niche. The dancing has been okay, with a couple great numbers, but there are so many new choreographers and the new set is so terrible that I have yet to be really wowed. I miss the guest judges, too, I hope they start adding a few to the panel some weeks for new perspectives. A lot of the dancers this year are very, very young — I think almost half of them are only 18, the bare minimum age to be on the show — and I think it shows in the quality and maturity of their dancing.

Not that it’ll stop me from watching or anything. Dance! Show! Rocks!

Dance! Show! America! has been weird so far this season. Last week’s show featured the top 20 in their pairings, but there was no results show and no voting — instead, the judges just chose someone to boot. Although sometimes the voting part makes me angry, this judges-rule thing was worse — it seemed that they just chose the two that they thought were weakest from the audition rounds, and the actual top-20 performances had nothing to do with it. SHITTY.

And it was SO unfair that Noelle gets a free pass due to an injured knee, when she didn’t even dance! If you can’t dance on dance day, then you’re out. It should be that simple. There’s no way she should get to stay on the show for another week while Ariana goes home. And how much will it suck if Noelle can’t dance at all and has to drop out, and then they have to tell Ariana, oh sorry, big mistake, you can come back for one more week, and try to ignore that GIANT TARGET on your back?

NICE.

And while I’m being a whiny curmudgeon, let me just say that I really hate the new set. They have lost something by going with a traditional picture-frame stage, instead of the old format where the audience surrounded the whole thing. The connection between the performers and audience is missing, and it feels more like a high school musical than a semi-professional show. It just seems like no one watching is having any fun.

Plus, the new stage is a dark little cave — they need to up the lighting a whole lot — and the camera angles need work, too. They always seem to be too low (no more nostrils!) or too high (this isn’t a Busby Berkeley film) or too close or too far. Dance Show, you disappoint me!

It’s too early to talk about individual dancers (Phillip) or to pick out any favourites (Phillip) but overall, I felt that most of the dancers did a pretty good job (Phillip). It was nice to hear some actual constructive criticism from the judges (Shankman is being so much more useful this season!), and some of the dancers show real potential (Phillip).

I hope things settle down into a more familiar flow very soon, though. It’s good to have change but maybe there’s been a little too much change this fall so far.