So you think we can get two consecutive episodes with the same format this season? If so, it won't start this week. For one thing, the dancers will be performing solos, which always tend to grind the performance shows down to a halt. For another, Cat's very dramatic intro says the dancers will be talking about who inspired them to dance. It may just seem like standard time-filler to you, but ... well, yeah. I appreciate the show's willingness to tinker with what continues to be a hit-and-miss foray into an all-star format, but right now, this is a show without a whole lot of confidence in its format. Come on out, Cat Deeley. Make it all better.
"Only three girls left!" Cat exclaims as she struts out. Which wasn't really necessary considering how glaring the gender imbalance was during the "these are the gulls ... are here are your guys" part. This week, the all-stars aren't around to see the dancers pull names out of the hat; instead the dancers open envelopes with their partner's face on them. Lauren thinks she and Neil will do well because "we're pretty." Truth. Billy grabs his Season 6 cast-mate Kathryn, which could be pretty amazeballs. A couple repeats, as Ashley gets contempo again (with Ade this time), and Robert pulls Courtney again. Maybe these pairings are random. Most notably, Alex opens his envelope to find Twitch's smiling face waiting for him. Alex make what is surely a producer-mandated crying face about it, and when we cut back to Cat, she tells us that Napoleon and Tabitha have created a special guy-guy hip-hop routine, and let's all join Cat in crossing our fingers for poor Alex. She's right, though. It must've been quite a challenge to choreograph for two guys in such a traditionally romantic genre like hip-hop. Sigh.
First up is Adechike, who drew hip-hop with Lauren. First, though, Adechike talks about looking up to the Alvin Ailey dancers, and particularly Desmond Richardson. "There was nothing feminine about him," raves Adechike, because apparently this is going to be one of those nights where the show insists upon making me belligerent about gender roles. Whatever. I love Dave Scott and I love Lauren, so this had better be good. ...Okay, it really is. Not quite on the level of Dave's caveman routine for Legacy and Kathryn last year, but still. Lauren's a blast doing hip-hop, as usual. You can even see in the rehearsal footage that Lauren's brought out a lot more of Adechike's personality. He's fun and flirty and young and energetic -- all that stuff that's been missing the last two weeks. Lucky for him, he brings it to the routine, which seems to be about a pair of buttoned-down co-workers who cut loose and get down after hours. Dave Scott, once again, brings the fun and humor back to hip-hop. Why don't they use him more? The judges all flip for Adechike, love the personality, love that he's finally arrived after three weeks. Adam stands up, hoots, and applauds; guys, I really hope he's not becoming the Mary Murphy.
Ashley is , with first-time choreographer Dee Casparay directing her and Ade through a contemporary routine about Ade dancing as Ashley's backbone because she can't walk. Or something. You know I've loved Ashley since week 1, but believe me: this is the best she's danced so far. It's a great, flowy routine, with lots of leaps and smooth, swirly motion. If you like contemporary the best, like I do, this is the stuff, right here. She really does pull off the conceit -- lots of Ade carrying her and supporting her -- but she retains all her control so she's still full of movement and energy even when she's collapsed against him. Also, much like last week, it's so great to see Ade do his contemporary thing. I feel like he was forever trapped in ballroom in his season. The judges are crazy impressed, with Nigel and Adam going on and on about what a leap she's made this week. Mia, I think, has been impressed with her all along, so instead she talks about how Ashley was a purple breeze up on the stage. Sometimes these judges just don't say anything at all, do they?
I'm going to deal with all the solos at once, at the end of the recap, so is Robert. He and Courtney are going jazz with Courtney. Man, Sonya's gonna have a time with Robert. And he calls the routine "powerful, intense, creepy, and crazy," which is as good a descriptor for Sonya herself as I could come up with. The routine is very similar to the Sonya routine Melissa and Ade did a couple seasons ago. I still generally like her, but Sonya's routines have developed a real sameiness, where only a handful ("The Garden"; Jakob and Ellenore last year) really stand out. Nigel even acknowledges this, albeit in a vague, backhanded way. But Robert and Courtney dance it well, particularly getting a lot of details right, including gnarled fingers and a choke motion that understandably got Mia all tingly. Nigel thought Robert was a great fit, because he's so reminiscent of Mark. Then he compliments Robert's broad torso, which is goddamned right. Did I mention Robert was shirtless through this whole dance? Well he was, and that thing looks like a football field. And after my snarking on Mia and Adam's content-free critiques in the last segment, they both delivered really insightful suggestions. Mia loved Robert but wants him to take ballet so he can learn to be more grounded. And Adam warns him to make sure he's not staying "down" when he jumps. Do those pieces of advice seem to contradict each other? Maybe! But they were honest-to-God pieces of criticism, so I'm good.
Melinda is . We hear a little bit more about the old people with whom Melinda is friends. She and Pasha are doing salsa with choreographer Fabian Sanchez. I keep wanting to give Melinda the benefit of the doubt, but she just moves so awkwardly! Fluctuating wildly from heavy, clompy steps to listless moments of flair, it's just one mini-disaster after another. She gets her dress stuck under her heel right at the beginning, a la Ellenore from last season. She manages to snatch it off without breaking much of her stride, to her credit; but I'm pretty sure she only stepped on it in the first place was because she awkwarded up a move at the beginning. On the bright side, this is the first time I haven't paid attention exclusively to Pasha. Not exactly for the reasons Melinda would want me to, though. Nigel notes her lack of fluidity (yes). Mia says she had "bricks on [her] legs" at times (yes), and she and Adam BOTH say that they made a mistake dumping Christina instead of her last week. Man. I'd feel angrier about that if I thought Christina was headed anywhere in this competition, but she wasn't. And the crowd doesn't even boo that much! Ooof. The judges do appreciate her chutzpah, noting the heel save, but the technique isn't there. Cannot disagree.
Neil! Neil! Back again with another Lauren. They're doing Broadway with the fearsome Joey Dowling. The routine's set up to be some 1940's daydream thing. Lauren pretty clearly thinks Neil is The Hotness, which is just another reason I like Lauren. Another reason to like Joey Dowling is that the dance is set to Debbie Gibson from some Gypsy cast recording or another. Amazing. Lauren's dressed like Roxie Hart doing the "Hot Honey Rag," and there are a couple of moments that really pop, including the opening gambit where she announces her presence to Neil by slinking a leg over his shoulder from behind. The second moment, a slide across the stage where Neil holds on to her arms and pulls her back, actually pops one of Lauren's straps, and she spends the rest of the dance trying to keep a boob from popping out. She does a good job of it, too. I'm not sure if the connective tissue of the routine is all there, but it's danced well, all things considered. And it was an actual dance with a story for once in a Broadway routine, so that's something. Nigel talks almost exclusively about the "wardrobe malfunction" (yes, he does seem awfully impressed at that seven-year-old hackneyed phrase), and of course he's a creepy oldster about it. Mia wants a smidge more sexiness and femininity out of her, but Adam thought she was a young Cyd Charisse out there.
Billy Bell is , and his dancing inspiration is LEGACY! From, like, way before they ever met on this show. Billy saw Legacy do a breaking exhibition at a mall or whatever. Because Legacy is mad old, as you recall. That's pretty excellent. And now he gets to dance a Stacey Tookey contempo with Legacy's secret lover Kathryn! The choreo is all about a feuding couple, and the movements suit Billy and Kathryn pretty perfectly. The best moment is when they're both sitting on the stage, back-to-back, and he pushes back, lifting her up, then she swings back and propels him to his feet. Really striking. Nigel thought the connection was lacking, though, and says he's a better soloist than a partner. Aw, Legacy's in the crowd. Looking foxy as ever. Mia says the same thing, and Adam says Billy will see it when he watches it back. Oh, you guys, it's hard to see Billy take this in. He's taking it hard. I think he held onto it through Nigel, because who respects Nigel? But Mia got to him.
Jose wanted to be Bruce Lee growing up. Hence the track suits, I guess. He and Anya will be doing a samba, choreographed by Dmitry and Dmitry's Ever-Present Chest. There's a table that gets a lot of use in the choreography, and of course Anya is amazing and magnetic and about a billion times better than she ever was on this show. But damned if Jose doesn't keep up pretty well. His legs look a bit sluggish at times, but the form is most definitely there. Are we sure he's never had any dance training? Nigel, in talking up Jose's charisma against his talent, ends up writing a few freeverse love poems to the power of Jose's smile. He says he and Kent are clearly the most charismatic dancers this season. Truth. Mia's in love with Jose, and why not?
Kent's older brother might be as cute as Kent is, even if he is becoming a youth pastor. He and Allison are doing jazz with Mandy Moore. "Kent's biggest challenge is being a man, not acting like a man," says Allison. True and hilariously drill-sergeanty from a dancer who is quickly becoming the season's standout. Side note: shouldn't there have been a competition among the all-stars as well? If only for charity? Because right now, Allison and Anya would be locked in quite the race for the top. To Kent's credit, I think the boyish goofiness is honestly irrepressible, so I can't hate on him for it. And honestly, I'm not sure he should be repressing it; not entirely, at least. If his whole appeal is his personality, tamping it down for the sake of some grown-up manly ideal won't be doing him any favors. He just needs routines that capitalize on what he does bring to the table. Tonight, Allison steals the show, as she has been all season. Kent keeps up with her, but it frequently looks like he's the one there to make her the star, and not the other way around. Nigel tells him to watch out for a certain fakeiness in his presentation, which is good advice (and something last season's Nathan could have used). He tells him not to play to the audience at the expense of his connection with his partner. Mia agrees and says the performance felt "green." Adam calls Kent extremely hire-able, but tells him to lose the "hungry jazz face." Cat wants an example, but it either gets lost to the vagaries of live TV, or Adam doesn't want to do it. He did it last season, though, right? It's basically that "Look at what I just did!" expression. Kent takes the notes in stride, which is a good sign.
So: Alex and Twitch. I'm going to try to put aside my annoyance at what a big honking deal this show is making out of a guy-guy pairing. And how Alex is yet another dancer to rave about his mentor teaching him that dance could be "masculine." Does Nigel get how defensive this sounds when the show gets so fidgety about asserting its manliness? Anyway, the bigger hurdle than the guy-guy thing seems to be that Alex is a really odd fit for hip-hop. NapTab have to re-correct his posture, for example. The routine itself starts off, rather hilariously, with Twitch playing the shrink and Alex his patient. Then it becomes AWESOME. You guys, Alex is PHENOMENAL! How did that happen? He's a beast out there, hitting everything hard, nailing the timing, rocking isos like he's been rocking a street corner for years. I am frankly astounded. ALEX! Where did that come from??
The judges, the audience, everybody is on their feet. I hope the judges all feel stupid for wasting all that hyperbole on Alex in Week 1, because THIS is the shit to lose your minds over. Cat says it's the biggest crowd reaction she's heard. Nigel gives props to the choreo, which...okay. It was good, but I think the lion's share of that dance came from the performance of it. In so many way that could have underwhelmed. And then Nigel takes the opportunity to crow about how this proves the naysayers wrong about the all-star format being a success. Whatever you say, dude, I hope you're right. The important thing is you're handling this but of criticism with class and di-- oh, is that your fingers in your ears? And the "nyah, nyah, nyah"? Super. I'm much more enchanted by Mia's "Who the hell are you?" Love. Adam bows down. And cries. Over a HIP-HOP routine. I love it. The best part is watching Twitch look at Alex all wide-eyed and amazed.
Solos: Billy's is very Sonya-like, with lots of crouched positions and freeze-framed kicks. Jose spins on his head for a good half of his solo, but it's really impressive. Kent's emphasizes his little-boy nature, but the skill and technique is flawless as ever. Alex's is expansive, covering the whole stage with some massive leaps. Ashley's is pretty standard contempo fare. Robert's features some great musicality and more of those insane long lines of his. Plus he's dressed like the Daisy Duke fantasy if yours and my dreams. Melinda taps to the bloodless Alicia Keys solo version of "Empire State of Mind," which somehow says it all, doesn't it? Adechike's feels very controlled and consciously "strong." Lauren's was probably my favorite, even if it didn't push the boundaries of her style very far.
Order of preference this week?
Alex and Twitch's hip-hop
Ashley and Ade's contemporary
Adechike and Lauren's hip-hop
Jose and Anya's samba
Robert and Courtney's jazz
Lauren and Neil's Broadway
Kent and Allison's jazz
Billy and Kathryn's contemporary
Melinda and Pasha's salsa
Results tomorrow! Surely Melinda is gone. Can Kent and Billy escape the Bottom 3? (Yes, and...maybe?) See you then.
Joe R danced the Chicken Dance with his grandpa one time. Is that groundbreaking too? Questions, comments, and unadulterated love can be sent to him at joseph.reid21@gmail.com.
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