Tuesday the 17th

SYTYCD!

• I was feeling rather ambivalent about coming home to make dinner and then realized 2 awesome (and unrelated) things: I had everything I needed to make burritos, and it's SYTYCD night. Aw yeah.
  
  
• Intro dances: Nathan impressed. And did you catch the Legacy-Russell bro hug on their way offstage? I'm going to ship them.
  
  
• Judge opening: ENOUGH with the Botox jokes. It was funny the VERY first time, and even then? Not as funny as they seem to think. Notice how Cat escaped posting her picture. That's why she is the consummate host - it ain't about her, she's there to facilitate. Give Cat an Emmy!
  
  
• Ashleigh and Jakob: Hip hop. OK, you just KNOW Jakob and his buddies were dancing to "Bye Bye Bye" in their talent show. Awesome. So the screens were used to good advantage here in this number - the text message was a little silly, but established the scene well. And - I liked Ashleigh in this one. There, I said it. I liked her. I even paid more attention to what she was doing than Jakob. While I usually find her over-emoting annoying, it worked in this piece. I don't know that either of them was great at hip hop, but they weren't distracting. And the lift - flip was fantastic. The quibbles I had were more with some of the choreography looking goofy (specifically, coming out of the threading section with the leg pumping and downturned heads - kinda hip-hop-sad-Charlie-Brown dancing), but not the dancers. This was good.
  
  
• Kevin and Karen: Broadway. All right, these kid pix are making me soft. I'm going to end up liking everyone tonight. But - still don't care much for Kevin's dancing. He looked so stiff, poor thing. And the rehearsal clip package did them NO FAVORS bc it basically showed all the things they couldn't nail. Karen is still really good, and was very cute (as opposed to sexy), but the whole piece just seemed - tentative.
  
  
• Noelle and Russell: Foxtrot (oh dear). Hey, I forgot they pulled this before. That doesn't seem quite fair. But I actually LIKED him the first time, so maybe... hmm. He looks more awkward this time, and their opening seemed realllllyyy off. It didn't look like he lacked confidence, he just took a long time to find a groove, and always looked like - a novice. She looked good. I loved her little kicks as she slid down his back after the lift. I give them credit for selling this, but I think it fell short.
  
  
• Victor and Channing: Jazz. I am confused by Channing bc she SEEMS like she should be more fun (her kid pix were charming) and yet... she comes off as dull. Competent, but not much fun. (This season's Kayla?) The music was rather distracting for this one - not bc I didn't like it, I did - but it was so much more staccato than their movements were. And I found the staging at the end very strange - she runs all the way back to the cage while he stays front and center? I give it a meh.
  
  
• Kathryn and Legay: Paso Doble. I could almost be over the Paso Doble, bc it can be so cliche and dull. But when it is good, it is VERY good. (e.g. Sabra's donut drop down Neil's body.) HOLD THE PHONE. I am all for shirtless Legacy (six-pack - WOW), but is THAT how a Naval Admiral would dress? I think not. He handled the chest-puffing parts well, but everything in close hold looked awkward. And the lift at the end was kind of a mess. She was fine. I think this was their weakest performance to date. I still love them, but this showed they are certainly still vincible.
  
  
• Ryan and Ellenore: Contemporary. Ryan's bunny costume pix? Most humbling so far. Heehee. Travis Wall? Sooo gooood. Picking the right music? Key. This piece? My favorite tonight. Next sentence? Just as short. They were both fantastic.
  
  
• Mollee and Nathan: Pop Jazz. OK, first kid pix that made me like them a little less. Nathan was a brat, and Mollee was a creepy pageant kid. I still think this pairing did neither of them any favors. As for the dance, it felt like it could have been really good, except they got out of sync so many times. They both had the right intensity, they just didn't have their timing down.
  
  
• Why was I more hung up on actual dancing while the judges' were more hung up on selling personality this week? My vote: Ryan and Ellenore. My bottom 3 prediction: Kevin and Karen, Noelle and Russell, Victor and Channing.