I'm not going to lie, I did a google image search on Tanisha just to see, and most of the pictures are Tanisha Singh and Tanisha Mukherjee, which I thought was interesting.

Also, they've really abandoned the "random choice of genre" idea, haven't they?

This week was "in your own style" -- they'll mix it up next time.

White Tanisha is one of the Utah Mormon ballroom girls, right? There is a strong tradition of unusual names among Utah Mormons. [link]

I watched clips on herky-jerky online, and so far my favorites are Stanley and Marquet. I had trouble telling most of the women apart.

Yes, since they went to the All Stars format, they've been doing the opening Top 20 night with the kids dancing in their own styles. They've usually done group routines, though. This is the first time (I think) that they've done opening paired routines in your own style. Maybe because of the double ballerinas? Or maybe because there's really only one true hip hop boy. And can we just stop and marvel at the fact that there is only one hip hop kid in the top 20 this year? That is just insane.

White Tanisha is one of the Utah Mormon ballroom girls, right?

Yep.

And can we just stop and marvel at the fact that there is only one hip hop kid in the top 20 this year? That is just insane.

Yeah, that's terrible.

OK, reading Kat's comments now...

Sonya seems to have expanded her movement vocabulary in interesting ways. It’s still her, but more varied

Yes, I thought so too--I was like "I think this is Sonya, but maybe it's not, it's a little less cray than her usual..."

And what is on her butt? Is it paper? Is it a bandage? It’s super distracting.

I didn't say it but I wondered the same thing. Tape that wasn't working?? WHY?

Crazy. And he seemed to be dealing with the stairs much better than Valerie. She kept looking down like she was afraid she was about to fall which I would have totally been doing, too, but it kinda defeated the purpose of making it look effortless!

Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed!

It’s fun to hear Nigel talk about tap since he so clearly knows his shit. And Jason DeRulo was a tapper. Huh. Who knew?

Yes, and he really kinda cracked me up with the later "well, you know I come from a pointe background..." HAH.

I secretly think that Jourdan’s technique is a little bit stronger than Jacque’s but Jourdan seriously lacked the stamina to get through this routine

Ooh, really? What made you think that? I think I need to rewatch that one because mostly I was like "FOUETTE! Oh, dang, don't fall over, girl"

m confused about where the “R” sound is coming from in this girl’s name.

Is it just Cat's accent, or is there actually an R sound in it?

man who hears The Commodores come on and yells out “Aww, sookie sookie now!”

Dude. Where is the sookie sookie from? We used to do that as a warmup before drag shows!

Didn't make notes, but LOVED the Sonya "Vow" number. HATED Tanisha's ugly outfit on the last chacha. Also, why two chachas??? And I was surprised they didn't call him out on his mugging.

hite Tanisha is one of the Utah Mormon ballroom girls, right?

I was explaining to my coworker who I just watched the last two numbers with that there's lots of Mormon ballroom dancers, and then Tanisha said she had 11 brothers and sisters and I was like 'MORMON!"

IIRC, Teddy auditioned in Hip hop in Philly or wherever his initial audition this year was, though he's auditioned as a tapper before. I wonder what he'll do for solos.

I'm generally liking the boys more than the girls this season. Ricky and Stanley I love and Emilio is growing on me. Valerie's general resemblance to Tina Majorino (and her fantastic shoes) is making me want to cut her a lot of slack.

And can we just stop and marvel at the fact that there is only one hip hop kid in the top 20 this year?

Good thing he's good. Though now I'm mad again that Jaja didn't make it through.

Is it just Cat's accent, or is there actually an R sound in it?

I think it's just Cat's accent.

I'm not going to lie, I did a google image search on Tanisha just to see

I love us. IJS.

Tape that wasn't working?? WHY?

For the love of all that's holy, why? I will never not see that white stuff on her butt now. Shudder.

Ooh, really? What made you think that? I think I need to rewatch that one because mostly I was like "FOUETTE! Oh, dang, don't fall over, girl"

Nigel nailed it, actually. Jacque's turn out needs a little work. She's turning out from the thighs and knees and not from the pelvis, so when she does moves, in attitude especially, the alignment gets off. Her hips come up to compensate and then her knees and ankles drop. She talked about how Russian balletomane kept stopping them and re-aligning their bodies and I bet this was driving him crazy. It's not terrible and totally fixable. But Jourdin's turn out is just much stronger and her placement is more...right. I really think it was mainly a stamina thing that kept Jourdin from really shining in that piece. And I think...well, I don't know how to say this without coming off sounding 100% crazy, but for the ballet world, she is a little bit out of shape. She is not toned like she should be and that makes it harder to work it in a really fast, demanding pas de deux like the one they had last night, for instance. I do not think she is in any way fat or even heavy in real world terms. But in the ballet terms, she's a little loose.

IIRC, Teddy auditioned in Hip hop in Philly or wherever his initial audition this year was, though he's auditioned as a tapper before. I wonder what he'll do for solos.

I have no memory of his audition! I hope he's a better tapper than he is a hip hop dancer, because as a hip hop dancer, he's just OK.

Maybe they wound up with fewer hip hop kids in the Top 20 because they all did the crew competition? If so, yet another reason to hate the Biebs!