<p>I didn’t like Mary until we had to endure Mia a couple of seasons ago. Now I pray for Mary to come back every season, and she’s really grown on me.</p>
<p>Thoughts on last night’s show?</p>
<p>I come in from leading rehearsals and watch it on a bit of a delay–I’m not my most alert at the time, but it’s so great!</p>
<p>Once again, I was struck by how dependent those dancers are upon the choreography they are given and who their partners are. I am afraid for one of my very favorite dancers, Eliana (I think), because she is paired with Cyrus. They all love Cyrus but have to simplify the choreography SO MUCH for him that Eliana is not allowed to shine. However, the judges did go out of their way to point that out last night, so that is good…</p>
<p>I LOVED the two pieces that (crazy tattoos and piercings choreographer–what is her name???–oh, yeah:) Sonya Tayeh choreographed. Those pieces were breath-taking. </p>
<p>Oh, and the opening number was FANTASTIC!!! Must watch that again!</p>
<p>When can we give spoilers?</p>
<p>You are right about the choreography…the difference in what and how much the dancers are expected to do is just jarring.</p>
<p>I wish Nigel wouldn’t talk so much. He seems a very nice man but he goes on and on and on.</p>
<p>I really like the super tall blonde kid. I think all the choreography looks fantastic on that great big body of his. </p>
<p>I think the belly dancer is just a gorgeous creature. She needs to be put into films, not dance.</p>
<p>Sonja is a good choreographer but I felt as if her second number was kind of derivative. They risk overexposing her.</p>
<p>^ agree about Sonja. I don’t want it to get to the point where weirder=better. </p>
<p>spoilers ahead</p>
<p>I agreed about the eliminations, though sorry to see the girl J go and the “other ballet dancer” go. I agreed with the save (though— “Witney”??? No ‘h’??? Yikes.)</p>
<p>Amelia’s cankles bother me. Her lines are weird. </p>
<p>Agree about choreo. Get the jive or Broadway, you are likey in trouble. Get Sonya or Travis, likely okay. Cyrus is not long for the show, which is good imo. He’s lovable, but he’s putting Eliana in danger. What I wouldn’t give to watch Eliana dance with Cheon.</p>
<p>I just worry that people will keep voting for Cyrus. I hated to see Nick go when Cyrus was safe, but it is America’s FAVORITE dancer, as they love to tell us. </p>
<p>Last night was the first time that I liked Amelia, though. Sonya brought out something I hadn’t seen from her before.</p>
<p>Fave couples so far are Audrey and Matthew, Tiffany and George.</p>
<p>Spoiler below</p>
<p>So…Alexa was constantly criticized during auditions for not showing any emotion but they let her in anyway…then in her two dances, the judges said they were technically great, but there was no emotional connection. I feel sorry for Daniel - I think the lack of connection was on her.</p>
<p>Although not technically challenging, I thought Dareian and Janelle’s dance was adorable. I hate when Nigel says “I don’t know if people are going to vote for you.”</p>
<p>Brandon was given virtually nothing to do, but the judges praised him. Dareian really sold it, and the judges criticized him.</p>
<p>Have they announced how many weeks these couples will stay together? Because Aliana (? Cyrus’ partner) has got to be given something challenging soon!</p>
<p>Will they be eliminating 4 dancers each week? </p>
<p>I agree about Cyrus and the negative impact he’s having on Eliana. I wonder if they’ll switch partners sooner rather than later if Cyrus stays on the show. The choreographer’s needing to dumb things down for him will have an impact on any partner he has.</p>
<p>I don’t remember the choreographers dumbing anything down for Twitch in his year. He struggled through ballroom and had to save himself by dancing for his life. I guess it helps his partner to have an easier routine rather than having a problem on stage that could put both of them on the bottom, but it still bothers me.</p>
<p>I think that dancing with Cyrus is plenty challenging. ;)</p>
<p>I think Twitch was an overall better dancer than Cyrus. I think he’s charismatic, and I love his smile— but he needs to be gone.</p>
<p>They have made it plain, I think, that Cyrus is their golden child—they WANT him to do well. I can understand to a point: he stuck it out knowing full well how out of his league he would be, even when all his friends from his crew just quit. They WANT him to do well, so they keep giving him features in group numbers that highlight what he already excels in. He was the center piece of the opening number last night, for example. </p>
<p>I hope he IS gone soon, though. I just don’t think he has the ability that twitch has. But he HAS gotten a lot of exposure, which will be great for his career. And that is awesome. </p>
<p>Come to think of it, I bet Nigel wants him to stick around long enough to make the cut for the tour. People will want to see him live…</p>
<p>And about the double eliminations:I read on Nigel’s twitter that they are shortening the season due to the olympics. Sad. Guess that means they will take a big break in the middle of their run??</p>
<p>It might not be bad for the dancers’ bodies to have a couple of weeks to rest.</p>
<p>oooh – is it a double elimination each week? I thought that was just for the first elimination so that it would follow the new format.</p>
<p>^ It seems so. The whole thing feels so rushed to me. They spent so much time last night promoting the Step Up movie that Nigel just said, you’re all great and we’re keeping you and you, now goodbye. One night a week instead of two, 4 eliminations per night, no tribute reel for those leaving. </p>
<p>It’s hard to get invested in the outcome under these new rules. People are gone in a flash.</p>
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<p>My D cannot stand the fact that Amelia’s skin is whiter than her teeth.</p>
<p>I also hate the way Nigel games the outcome and the favoritism. They had it in for Alexis from the get go, and Cyrus can do no wrong.</p>
<p>I think Cyrus gets credit no so much for how well he does things, but that he does them at all – and with full commitment and a great attitude. </p>
<p>I doubt he’ll make it as far as Twitch did, but I can certainly see his appeal.</p>
<p>I seem to forget Amelia’s cankles when she starts dancing. She and Will were my favorites last night. A difficult dance beautifully executed, and it drew me in.</p>
<p>I agree that a great choreographer can make or break who goes home. Are they switching partners each week? If they stay together are there any new pairings given who left? </p>
<p>I don’t mind the elimination, but this season is a bit of a ripoff for everyone with all the disruptions of baseball, then the olympics.</p>
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<p>Absolutely. I have never noticed anything like “cankles” on that girl. Her look is certainly distinctive and, in the big group of amazing dancers, that is a plus for her! She has also gotten two great dances and has done them very, very well…</p>