SYTYCD Season 4 Week 4

I wasn't feeling it from the West Side story routine from Thayne and Comfort. Judges seemed to like it at least. (well guess not Nigel)

Often when Nigel is this harsh on a couple, they get a strong anti-judge vote. Wonder if that'll happen this time.

Hmm... this may be a bit harsh, but if the entire season was like the first 3 performances, I'd probably lose interest in the show. Does it feel rushed to any of the rest of you? It seems like since they're trying to cram in so many performances, it feels rushed to me.

I've enjoyed performances 4-6 a lot more than the first 3. Don't think I understood the Mia Michaels routine (by Josh & Katee), but I found it enjoyable. The Twitchington Paso Doble was good. And while Chelsea and Mark's routine wasn't their strongest of the season, I still liked it.

Matt and Kortknee's mambo was pretty good - especially given the history of mambo/salsa on the show. And also given that they're not salsa dancers, plus their timing was good. Styling was sorta off, but not bad (again especially considering how it's been butchered in the past).

Wow, I was actually disappointed with the WCS unlike the judges. Maybe my expectations for those two + Benji are too high? And maybe like Nigel says - it was because it wasn't their style.

Thoughts so far:
Don't understand the judges' Kourtnee love, but whatever.
Feeling bad for Jessica, with the constant "Will is the most wonderful dancer in the history of dance and isn't he just perfect....Jessica....well, you're ok." Was glad Mary and Nigel finally gave her a bit of a boost. I think if she can hang in there until partners switch, she'll do better. I don't think she's holding Will back, I think it's just there's no girl that CAN hold their own with him! Get her with a guy that's not Will, and she might be able to shine.
Disagree on the paso, thought Twitch had a better "look" than Kherrington, she was just too happy with her anger.
Still loving Joshua, his "more than just dance" was so great, like we're really getting to see this guy really grow as a dancer. And still loving Comfort, I just love how she's growing as a dancer too.
And have to say, the eye candy has been nice tonight too. No Dmitry ripping of the shirts off, but hey, I'll take an entire number shirtless.

WCS- It was cute. (Benji's assistant, was her name Penny? too cute, love old dogs with grey snoots!!) Not off the chain like last year's, but I didn't expect it to be. Last year having Pasha doing it, who was such a strong partner dancer, was a huge help to the routine. But this year was cute. It lacked in the partnering, but they coped pretty well.

No real love for the Broadway routines tonight, they just didn't do much for me. Nor did the hiphop tonight. (And sorry, but why on earth would one wear an Eli Manning jersey to dance hiphop? Sure, Eli is definitely more ghetto than Peyton, but still...)

I agree with tj--the show started off with 3 or so less than memorable numbers. It did pick up as it went along, though.

My favorites of the night.
Twitch/Kherrington--paso. Yeah, okay, his shoulders could be lowered, but drama and intensity.

Twitch/Kherrington--contemporary. Good story, good acting, good dancing.

Joshua/Kaytee--contemporary. I didn't care for the music, but the piece was well choreographed and well executed.

Twayne/Comfort--waltz. That impressed me. I did not thing they would be that smooth.

Mark/Chelsea--foxtrot. Maybe a little less glid-y than one would hope at first, but after that, I felt like he stepped up and they pulled off a really nice American foxtrot (not that I know much about smooth).

Will/Jessica--The one with the shirt. I liked it, and I often don't like numbers with props and gimmicks. Did I like it for the right reasons? I don't know!

Middle group:
Joshua/Kaytee--WCS. I really liked it, but I wanted to love it. I felt like they could have used each other's body weight more to sling back and forth.

Gev/Courtney--hip-hop. I liked it, but I wouldn't quite put it in the top group.

Mark/Chelsea--jazz. It was cute, but it wouldn't go down in my mind as one of the top 25 numbers I've ever seen.

Twayne/Comfort--Broadway to West Side Story. Liked him more than her. She had the sultry, but I could have seen more dancing. I do think it is hard to come out and do something memorable when the movie with the Jerome Robbins choreography is SOOOO memorable. (I have to admit I have seen that movie WAY more times than I can count.)

Gev/Courtney--Broadway. I wanted more expressiveness. It felt a little dance by numbers to me.

Will/Jessica--jive. It needed to be more bouncy. Then again, I would say the same thing of my jive!

Weakest of the night:
Matt/Kourtni (sp?)--mambo. The feet may have been going in the right places, but not a lot of hip action from him. I like my mambo a little more grind-y.

Matt/Kourtni--smooth-ish hip-hop. It was okay, but only okay. Not sure it's really fair to blame it on the dancers, as some of the problem might have been with the choreography.

tj said:

Wow, I was actually disappointed with the WCS unlike the judges. Maybe my expectations for those two + Benji are too high? And maybe like Nigel says - it was because it wasn't their style.

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I thought the routine itself was really good! The music choice just underwhelmed.

ChaChaMama said:

Will/Jessica--The one with the shirt. I liked it, and I often don't like numbers with props and gimmicks. Did I like it for the right reasons? I don't know!

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I flinched a little at that routine. I thought it was a bit too sexually intense for a PG audience.


And that Twitch and Kherington bed routine? Didn't love it as much as the judges at all. The whole concept seemed too forced.

And a general comment re: Matt and Kourtni, their lifts always look lumbered and lack grace. It just dawned on me that it's because Kourtni probably weighs too much for Matt. At 5'9, she's probably 145-150lbs. Though he's got the height for her, he's a string bean and is likely only 170lbs himself. The choreographers might want to consider not encumbering them/him with so many lifts. I can't imagine his back not hurting.

I especially liked the waltz and Mia's bed number. I didn't like Mia's first number at all.
I wasn't into the first few dances, either. I liked the foxtrot and the paso, and the shirt number.

wooh said:

Feeling bad for Jessica, with the constant "Will is the most wonderful dancer in the history of dance and isn't he just perfect....Jessica....well, you're ok." Was glad Mary and Nigel finally gave her a bit of a boost. I think if she can hang in there until partners switch, she'll do better. I don't think she's holding Will back, I think it's just there's no girl that CAN hold their own with him! Get her with a guy that's not Will, and she might be able to shine.

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Yes, it is getting a little old in that the judges aren't exactly giving her advice on how to fix the situation. And yeah, provided she makes it to the top 10, I bet she'll seem a lot better with another partner.

Disagree on the paso, thought Twitch had a better "look" than Kherrington, she was just too happy with her anger.

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I can see that.

Still loving Joshua, his "more than just dance" was so great, like we're really getting to see this guy really grow as a dancer.

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I didn't feel it was his best night (he's been one of the top 2-3 couples in most of the other weeks IMHO), but yeah, he's very talented and fun to watch.

And have to say, the eye candy has been nice tonight too. No Dmitry ripping of the shirts off, but hey, I'll take an entire number shirtless.

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You and the tweens! :wink: Quite a few six packs being shown off last night.

ChaChaMama said:

Twayne/Comfort--Broadway to West Side Story. Liked him more than her. She had the sultry, but I could have seen more dancing. I do think it is hard to come out and do something memorable when the movie with the Jerome Robbins choreography is SOOOO memorable. (I have to admit I have seen that movie WAY more times than I can count.)

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Good point. It's been many years since I last saw WSS, but even then, I think I was comparing their dance last night to what I remembered of the movie.

BrownSkin818 said:

I thought the routine itself was really good! The music choice just underwhelmed.

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After reading your (and the others) posts about the WCS routine - I'm pretty sure my disappointment is that my expectations were too high - especially with Pasha's expertise in partner dancing and how he aced Benji's choreography last season.

And a general comment re: Matt and Kourtni, their lifts always look lumbered and lack grace. It just dawned on me that it's because Kourtni probably weighs too much for Matt. At 5'9, she's probably 145-150lbs. Though he's got the height for her, he's a string bean and is likely only 170lbs himself. The choreographers might want to consider not encumbering them/him with so many lifts. I can't imagine his back not hurting.

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Sounds likely.

I just wanted to say a huge thanks to everybody who posts their observations on the show. I always record it so the highlights of my mornings are to read everyone's thoughts. It is also fun to watch the show with everybody's opinions in mind. Thanks again.