Oh, I missed this little show so much. I tried to fill the void with Step Up Revolution which is awesome and that little high talker dances her butt off and doesn't completely embarrass herself as an actress and it has Peter Gallagher and his eyebrows (though they don't dance) and Twitch who does kinda embarrass himself as an actor but he's such a cutiepie and he, too, dances his butt off and it will make you insanely mad at what passes for hip hop on this show but I digress . . . I missed this show. Clearly, not enough to catch it on the night it actually aired, but still. Unvarnished thoughts incoming as I did manage to take notes tonight. I found myself really unable to comment intelligently on the dancing because the whole tribute just really didn't click for me, but here's what I was thinking at the time. (I reserve the right to completely change my mind later on) What were y'all thinking? Rather be watching Peanut's show (which I still haven't seen but it's waiting for me on my DVR, too!)

Notes

Cat in glittery rags and Heidi braids? Oh, no, Cat. No. Not even you can pull that look off.

George and Audrey are adorable in the intro dances. Boo to the kids who did not put together a little routine (I’m looking at you Janelle and Bad Feet)

Mia tribute. I don’t know how I feel about this. On the one hand, this is what companies do . . . dance established pieces. On the other hand, I doubt they’ve chosen the ones that I would’ve chosen. Also, too, I’ll probably just wind up wanting to see the original dancers anyway.

Michael Nunn. What!!! I am kind of in awe. Billy Trevitt, I don’t know.

Group Dance/Mia Michaels – Hanging On. Too tricksy with all the rope work and Cyrus sidelining (hanging off the side railing, Mia? Really?) I didn't find it one of her stronger group dances. S2 Group dance with Benji, Travis, Heidi, Natalie, Donyelle. Find it. Love it. It's amazing.

Cyrus and Eliana/Mercy – AKA the Door Dance. Of course. This is really the only Mia piece he is capable of dancing and he won’t do near as well with it as Twitch did because Twitch was dead sexy and twice the dancer that Cyrus is (and that even though he was criminally underused in this dance) Eliana can likely turn it out in the Katee role, but this still won’t show her to her full advantage. How frustrating. This is a partnership I cannot wait to see ended. It wasn’t half as good as the first time and the first time it wasn’t good. Eliana overacted something awful and to say that Cyrus paled in comparison to Twitch would be a huge understatement. Bleagh.

Tiffany and George/Hometown Glory – Wow. These two have got a lot to live up to because this routine was just tremendous. Katee and Joshua really brought it and this piece packs an emotional wallop. I love George, but he is a totally different dancer than Joshua. Joshua had a raw quality to his work (that had nothing to do with the totally fabricated “He had no training ever” storyline Nigel was trying to sell) that George just does not have. George is all smooth and polish and light as a feather. And Tiffany is a lovely dancer but she’s not Katee. Katee was so grounded and just . . . gah. Hmmm. Once again, I think these two will come up lacking. George loves Ramalama. Me, too, peaches! Oh, Tiffany. Ellen? Really? You disappoint. Damn. They killed it. Murder. Totally different feel than Josh and Katee but my word. George is a miracle. He’s just . . . I can’t. So quick, so precise. And Tiffany. Man, I didn’t know she had that much power. But this routine belonged to George. Agreed with Nigel that those first eight counts or so after the walks forward were just out of this world. Killed it. Shut up, kids. Y’all turned it out.

Amelia and Will/Koop’s Island Blues – Butt dance. Well, I’d never have picked this one. Evan and Randy. This was a cute routine, but . . . really? Mia doesn’t have any better dances? Really? As I recall, this wasn’t that technically demanding and these two have great (continued...)

( continues...) technique. They can do much more than what they’ll be asked. Plus, twee Amelie is my least favorite Amelie ever. And Will is a giant next to wee Evan. I think they’ll do fine with this and it’s hardly iconic so I’m not worried about comparing them to a standard never to be achieved. I think it will underwhelm, though, especially coming on the heels of George and Tiffany blowing the doors off. Will blew my whole entire mind in this dance. Who is this kid? He was amazing! So lithe. So fun. Just wow. I can see what Nigel and Mary are saying about the faces being a little bit over the top with Will. He did send it all the way out there, but I enjoyed it. I still won’t remember this dance tomorrow, but I’m always shocked by how Will moves because he doesn’t look like he should be able to move like that. Damn.

Janelle and Darien/Dreaming with a Broken Heart (Bed Dance) – Hated this dance. Hated it. I think I didn’t mind it when I saw it live for the first time, but it has not worn well in my memory. Probably due in part to all the Kherington hate. But also because this was Mia yet again protecting Twitch from having to dance too much by having him fiddle around with a prop. Eh. Another one I wouldn’t have picked. Janelle does have a chance to finally bring it, if she can. Bad Feet has totally fallen in my estimation since the season started, so . . . not excited for this reprise at all. Aw, Bad Feet picked one of my favorite dances from the Wapokeneta kid. He won me back a teeny tiny percent there. Bad feet was gorgeous. Janelle was there making ugly cry faces. I was underwhelmed. Mary was totally right with Janelle’s overacting. The ugly cry face was out of control. She just did not bring it like I thought she might coming out of the audition rounds. I’m ready for these two to go home.

Audrey and Matthew/Fucking Dead Daddy Dance – God damn it! I’m sorry, y’all, but I refuse. Hate. Everything I hate about this show, about the fake ass genre of contemporary, ugh. Props to Audrey for picking an S1 dance, though. Matt has terrible taste in dances, clearly. Toothy Blonde Cheerleader’s jazz to Oh Yeah with Ade? Really? So yeah, anyway. About the dance. . . I still refuse.

Witney and Chehon/Calling You (The Bench) – Well, this makes sense except that Witney is much better at contemporary than was Heidi so it’s kind of a shame that she’s not going to have that much to do. Chehon is more in the Danny mold than in the Travis mold. It will be interesting to see how this style of movement sits on him. It fit Peanut like a glove. Not even close. That was so far below the original. Now I’m just mad and I wanna see Peanut. Technically, it was fine, I suppose, but . . . eh. I didn’t feel it.

Lindsey and Cole/Gravity – Addiction dance. Now we are talking, people. Kayla and Kupono slayed this beast and put it in its grave. I don’t wanna see anyone else dance it, least of all Lindsey. She ain’t no Kayla and that’s for damn sure. Bleagh. I already hate it. I did not enjoy Cole’s choices at all there. Kupono was menacing, so dark and yet there was still some emotion for Kayla in the piece as he danced it. You could tell that he enjoyed keeping her down. Cole was so vacant. I just . . . it didn’t work for me even though I understand the choice. But it was beautifully danced by both of them. Best Lindsey has ever danced ever! She put it down.

Bottom Kids

George – What the fuck, America? Bitches be trippin’

Amelia – What the fuck, America? Bitches be trippin’

Janelle – Obvi

Darien – Obvi

Matthew – What the fuck, America? Bitches be trippin’

Lindsey – Obvi

Good god, these boys are just killing me. George or Matthew? Matthew or George? It’s just wrong that Cyrus is not here to go home with Bad Feet. Arrrgghhh. The girls are a lot easier (at least for me) as I’d be fine to let go of both Janelle and Lindsey. I think Nigel and Mary might conspire to keep Lindsey around which would vex me, but Amelie was never going (continued...)

( continues...) to win SYTYCD anyway and she was bound to wear thin. But the boys? Cruel and unusual punishment. Dammit. Cyrus should be going home.

Solos

Amelia/Falling Slowly – A choreographed solo. Well shut my mouth.

Janelle/Inta Omri – Yeah, she’s going home.

Lindsey/Hip Hip Chin Chin – Poor ballroom kids. It really is so hard for them. She should’ve done a contemporary solo.

George/So Long Lonsesome – Heaven. He cannot go home. As Miss Debbie Allen said, born to dance.

Darien/It’s a Man’s World – Bad feet kill.

Matthew/Delicate – Lots of competition kid tricks, but seriously? This kid is also heaven. He cannot go home. These boys are killing me. Killing me.

Going home

Fuck. They saved Lindsey. Ah, well. I did enjoy that Amelie, but that’s life. Janelle just never popped.

Yay. They saved George. He is seriously everything, kittens. Everything. Poor Matthew, though. Should’ve been Cyrus.

Poor kids. They made me cry tonight. Awww, noodles. They didn’t even try to dance out. Just sat around hugging each other. Will and Ameila at the end just about did me in. This episode was largely a failed experiment but the kids never disappoint. All Stars next week? Yes, please.

Hahaha I just figured out that I kept hearing/reading Mia Michaels but picturing Mandy Moore dances before the show started. No wonder I was unprepared!

We pulled off the group watch at megan walker's! And that was fantastic, though a whole night of contemporary was a bit lackluster. I really do not like seeing dances we have seen before, so I don't know that I have anything to say about the dancing. Glad George made it through.

Am I the only one disappointed that we lost Amber in the last cull?

Nope, I am really disappointed not to see more of her. I don't think she got choreography that let her show us what she could do before she was gone, and that's a shame. Most of the remaining girls are such a blur to me. Maybe some of them will shine more with all star partners.

Do we know who the All Stars are for this season? I feel like I haven't been paying enough attention. I would love to see Mark and Kathryn again, but I think they may be too big for the show now which is hi-larious. We'll probably wind up with Mischa Chan again. Boo. Hiss. Oooh, maybe we could get some of the kids from last season. Melanie and Marco and Sasha. That would be divine!

Catching up on my dance-related shows. I'm only up to the intro of the top 20 on SYTYCD but all done with Breaking Pointe and I so want another season with a different company and better editing. Like, not replaying the exact. same. clip. of Beckanne saying "it's such a big deal that I'm only 19 and already getting solo roles..." in what feels like a cheap attempt to heighten the drama. There's really no need, dance troupes are rife with drama, you really don't need to edit in even more! And yes, I think Allison really is like that (tho she's clearly been edited to seem even more diva-esqe) but ballet totally breeds an environment where that is expected and coddled in the upper eschelon. I would have liked to have seen far far less of her train wreck of a personal life. More dancing, less emo'ing.

eta. I was wondering while watching SYTYCD, is there not any kind of rule against professional dancers? Seems like already being a dancer for Cirque de Soleil or a major ballet company would be a pretty clear indicator that person can, indeed, Dance, and is already getting paid to do so. I get that it helps their careers to be on national TV, but why allow them in the competition? Seems like a slightly unfair field to start with.

Random Project Runway note: I'm so charmed by Ballroom Dancer Snape I can't even say. All the Eastern Europeanness of Elena, 99% less mean and crazy. And I'm completely in love with "one-way monkey" as a malapropism for "one-trick pony."

His designs are pretty okay, too, but mostly I just want a little Dmitry action figure to join my imaginary playset alongside the Firefly pilot ep Simon and Kaylee figures and the My Dinner With Andre set.

And I'm completely in love with "one-way monkey" as a malapropism for "one-trick pony."

That was fantastic.

Yes it was.

I am fascinated by how Dimitri saying " No one likes Elena. If you say you like Elena, you are lying" and Raul saying " I think she's a good designer but I can't stand her" come across so differently. Maybe it's the accent.

Clothes, I should say something about the clothes. They were mostly really pretty but I didn't love any of them. I thought it was kind of sad that Gunnar defended his dress with "it isn't my favorite but it has my name on it". I might've fet bad fr him for a minute, but then he comes out with "Thanks for the heart attack" while he's walking past Raul who is actually going home (and I'm not at all sorry about that, I don't think he made a single garment I liked).

"One-way monkey" was priceless.

They gave Elena the total bitch edit, but I think it was earned. She seemed like a nightmare in that episode.

I thought Team 5's designs were nice but really sort of '80s. And I didn't like that everything was that made of one kind of fabric. For work especially, I feel like that's the kind of stuff that's going to get snags or pulls really easily, as well as being a bitch to clean.