So You Think You Can Dance (S5) - "The Top 18" (6/17-18/09)

[Goldberg74]

"The Top 18" - Wednesday, June 17 - 8/7c - 2 hours

The top 18 dancers perform on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, the series that has America on its feet. Dancers must impress the judges with their moves and rigorous routines in order to remain in the competition.

"Results Show" - Thursday, June 18 - 9/8c - 1 hour

It's elimination night on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and two dancers will be sent home.

Links for Season 5!:
So You Think You Can Dance (The 1&O Season 5 Auditions Thread - 5/21-22, 28/09)
So You Think You Can Dance - "Vegas Week / Top 20 Revealed" (6/3-4/09)
So You Think You Can Dance - "The Top 20" (6/10-11/09) - Eliminated: Tony & Paris

[Tommy Ceez]

I think Max will prove to be so one dimensional that he will drag Kayla into the Bottom 3 and the judges will dump him to keep her in the game.

But I will vote after the show

[Heat]

Max did pretty well. My favorites tonight were Caitlin Kinney & Jason Glover.

Worst performance was the tango (Jeanine Mason & Phillip Chbeeb), but I think their popularity will keep them out of the bottom three.

[Patman]

What a difference a week makes:

Showstoppers:
Karla and Jonathan - Really solid contemporary number, very surprised at Jonathan's performance.
Asuka and Vitolio - very elegant, and touching, almost haunting in spots.
Janette and Brandon - high energy disco with some outstanding flexibility on display.
Melissa and Ade - they could prove to be very versatile, nice combo of power and experience.

Solid and fun:
Kayla and Max - as long as Max can keep up, the pair will continue to entertain and impress. I don't know if they have an emotional number in them yet.
Randi and Evan - it's tough being first and not nailing the number all the way through, but they are entertaining to watch.

Bottom 3 for me:
Caitlin and Jason - loved the MJ/Britney hip-hop description, just lacked content for me.
Jeanine and Phillip - horribe luck of the draw for Phillip, but Jeanine was game.
Ashley and Kupono - I fear this is the end of the road, and it's mainly because Kupono is a weak dancer outside his genre.

[Heat]

Originally Posted by Patman

...
Jeanine and Phillip - horribe luck of the draw for Phillip, but Jeanine was game...

Did you see Philip's hand grab Jeanine's breast during rehearsals? "It was part of the choreography..."

And during Randi Evans & Evan Kasprzak's rehearsals, at one point Randi grabbed Evan's butt and Evan sort of slapped her lower back (avoiding her butt). Still a little standoffish. I'm reminded of something that Tea Leoni said during the audio commentary to "The Family Man" (2000) - that she liked acting because she had an excuse to make out with really hot guys (Nicholas Cage was the leading man in that movie) but that at the end of the day she was a happily married woman. And note that this week they never mentioned Randi's husband or even the fact that she's married.

[Patman]

Phillip's forearm also got a lot of J-crotch in rehearsals.

[magiccmom]

Anyone else thinks Little C is trying just a wee bit to hard to sound intelligent?

I thought Caitlin was the weak link in that hip hop. Jonathan and Karla were the dance of the night and really connected to me with that contemporary. It was really really good. Yes it was.

Max should thank his lucky stars he was paired with Kayla. Melissa and Ade are really good also. Their technique is of high caliber.

I would like to see Caitlin and Kupono be the ones to go.

[Doug Heffernan]

Originally Posted by magiccmom

Anyone else thinks Little C is trying just a wee bit to hard to sound intelligent?

Yup - we FF over him every time.

On another note, Mia has not been seen this season since the auditions when she "over the top" dissed Brandon. I can't say I miss her. I'd rather sit through "Professor C's" commentary than have to endure her.

[mdc3000]

I thought last night's ep was pretty boring... a few good numbers but a lot left to be desired...and Shane Sparks routines were brutal - not just that they weren't performed very well, but it was probably some of his worst choreography to date.

[Timber]

Am I the only one that got a sort of mean spirited vibe from Asuka saying she doesn't find Vitolio attractive?

I wasn't really blown away by any performance this week other then Brandon/Janette. I have no idea who's going tonight but I wouldn't be shocked if Asuka/Vitolio are in the bottom 3 because I just don't think they connect with the audience well at all.

Surprised at the dislike of Little C, I actually like the guy and it's a bonus that I don't have to listen to Shane Sparks anymore.

[mdc3000]

I was going to post that I thought Asuka/Vitolio were probably in trouble despite a good number because they just seem unlikeable - and I agree on the Lil' C comment, I like him and he is way better at critiques than Shane... Also, I guess we found out what Shane has been doing since he left SYTYCD: Eating.

[Patman]

The C in Lil' C stands for Caricature. It's so easy to mimic his comments because he does try too hard to toss in 4-6 syllable words when 2-3 syllable words would suffice.

[the_dude8]

Originally Posted by mdc3000

I was going to post that I thought Asuka/Vitolio were probably in trouble despite a good number because they just seem unlikeable - and I agree on the Lil' C comment, I like him and he is way better at critiques than Shane... Also, I guess we found out what Shane has been doing since he left SYTYCD: Eating.

is shane stills on MTV america best dance crew?

[fujishig]

Originally Posted by Doug Heffernan

Yup - we FF over him every time.

On another note, Mia has not been seen this season since the auditions when she "over the top" dissed Brandon. I can't say I miss her. I'd rather sit through "Professor C's" commentary than have to endure her.

She's doing the choreography for the group thing tonight, right?

And yeah, Asuka does seem unlikeable, but I wonder how much of that is colored by the way she acted before the top 20 show. I think Vitolio is likable, though.

At least Nigel admitted he had no idea what Lil C was talking about. I also thought Shane Sparks looked ticked, though they again watered down criticism of the choreographers.

[DRG]

I don't mind Lil C's personality, but he's becoming a bit like the Paula Abdul of this show with some of his comments... right down to the generic platitudes and rambling 'wtf is he talking about' detours. It's clear that he doesn't have as wide a knowledge of dance as the other judges, which is fine - and understandable. But the problem is instead of keeping his impressions simple when he doesn't know a style well, he tries to fake it and act like an expert, and in the process comes off a bit foolish at times.

That being said, I give him props for having the balls to call out those Shane Sparks routines... and his (and Mary's) comments there were right on the mark.

[DRG]

Originally Posted by fujishig

And yeah, Asuka does seem unlikeable, but I wonder how much of that is colored by the way she acted before the top 20 show. I think Vitolio is likable, though.

My thoughts on this... Asuka definitely seems like the least 'bubbly' one out there, and on a show like this that tends to come off negatively even when she's not actively being bitchy or snobby or whatever. This show always seems to magnify certain traits... someone with a focused stoic expression will be perceived as an unfriendly asshole, and someone who exhibits too much confidence will come off as an arrogant dick.

[Flave]

The Shane Sparks "choreography" stank to high heaven last night. I pity the two couples that had to dance to his dreck. Why didn't they keep that other couple to do hip-hop? They make Sparks look like a rank amateur.

And I too think that Lil C is a poseur. The guy couldn't compose an intelligible sentence if his life depended on it.

[zuffy]

Dancing with the Stars' choreographers >>>>>>>>>>>> SYTYCD's choreographers

[mdc3000]

^Fucking never. DWTS is like frickin' amateur hour compared to some of the choreographers on SYTYCD... just not last night's ep.

[Timber]

Originally Posted by mdc3000

^Fucking never. DWTS is like frickin' amateur hour compared to some of the choreographers on SYTYCD... just not last night's ep.

Yeah, I definitely don't agree with that either. There are so many different styles and choreographers on SYTYCD that it's not even close.

[Flave]

Originally Posted by zuffy

Dancing with the Stars' choreographers >>>>>>>>>>>> SYTYCD's choreographers

There are choreographers on Dancing With The Stumps? Why? Most of the contestants are lucky to master the art of walking while chewing gum.

[RoboDad]

I have nothing against the pros on DWTS. After all, many of them are now SYTYCD alums . But the comparison is apples and oranges anyway. Even if they were of the same caliber, the restrictions placed on the choreography for DWTS (no lifts, limiting the technique to the capabilities of the celebs, and so forth) make comparing the two impossible.

[Ranger]

Who's the oldest dancer?
edit- found it. Melissa's 29. Couple other girls are 25. Vito's 26.
http://fox.com/blogs/dance/2009/06/0...you-can-dance/

[Heat]

Eliminated:

Ashley Valerio and Max Kapitannikov


Which means that their partners, Kayla Radomski and Kupono Aweau, will be teamed up starting next week:

[Goldberg74]

I wonder how the judges voted this week with both selections being "not unanimous". This is my guess for the guys...

Guys
C - Max (wanting to preserve the Hip-Hop guy)
M - Kupono (wanting to preserve the Ballroom guy)
N - Max (sees that he won't grow as much... or emote as much as the others)

... can't see how they came to that conclusion with the girls.

Sad to see Max go.