Tapeworthy: August 2010

So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Season 3 - Top 20 Performance Night - Ep. 309
Judges: Jean-Marc Généreux, Tré Armstrong, Luther Brown, Mia Michaels

So technically this is the TOP 20 and the start of the real competition. Which is too bad because I still insist that Hani should be here this week. What an amazing dancer, who will now join Romina D'Ugo as great dancers that somehow got eliminated WAY too early.

Anyways, Mia Michaels is back as a judge. I know a lot of people were annoyed of her as a judge in SYTYCD Season 7, but if it's any indication, I basically agreed with her all night here, and was the only coherent judge on the panel. Our choreographers and our dancers may be top notch, but the rest of the show could use some help from Nigel and Cat Deeley.

Seriously, can Leah Miller stop saying the word "genre"? It just sounds wrong for some reason when she says it.

But, at least our dancers are awesome, and there's still no one I dislike in this Top 20, while I find myself rooting for each set of dancers that comes up next. So I'm not sure who I'd want to eliminate this week. Usually there's a few in the Top 20 that needs to obviously be cut but it's not as easy to determine this year.

Bree Wasylenko and Edgar Gilbert-Reyes
Style: Dancehall
Choreographed by: Jae Blaze
Song: "Clarks" - Vybz Kartel feat. Popcaan & Gaza Slim
Grade - Dance: B
Grade - Girl: B+
Grade - Boy: B+

Um, didn't Bree and Edgar work with Jae Blaze last week too?

Mia Michaels loved it but I thought it could have been snappier and a bit tighter. I love the style and I thought Bree does a great job again being totally different than her cute good-girl self but while she does a good job, it needed just a bit more oomph in her steps and groove.

Edgar does a nice job with it but again, I wish it were just a tiny bit harder.

Here's the video of Bree and Edgar's Dancehall (via CTV):

Amanda Cleghorn and Denys Drozdyuk
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Sabrina Matthews
Song: "Perfect" - Hedley
Grade - Dance: A
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: A-

First off, that's probably gonna be my favorite song of the year. After all the radio overplay, I still love it and listen to it everytime I hear it and I think Jacob Hogar (Canadian Idol S2 3rd placer) is sounding better than ever.

Ok, Amanda does a great job in her genre.

Denys is so tight. That body. Holy cow! Loved him last week but usually the Euro Ballroom guy can be the first one to fall (so I worried for him), but now that he survived the first round, I'm hoping he'll last until the end (which seems to be the other option for the Euro Ballroom guys in these competitions). I still think he needs to loosen up a bit but the rigidity and intensity helped with the story for this piece, and he does a wonderful job with it. I was very impressed and he got the "role" down.

Here's the video of Amanda and Denys' Contemporary (via CTV):

Kirsten Wicklund and Jera Wolfe
Style: Paso Doble
Choreographed by: Natalli Reznik & Francis Lafrenière
Song: "Iron Might/Mind Control" - Position Music
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: B+
Grade - Boy: B+

That felt like some sort of weird Twilight dance. Especially with Jera's slicked back hair and lighting that made him looked Edward white.

Mia liked it immensely after criticizing the dancing (but loving the aesthetic of the piece). I have to totally agree.
It thought it looked great because of the theatrics of it, and Jera and Kirsten try as they might, but upon closer inspection, they could have stomped harder, been more secure in their steps and their lifts, and brought more confidence into the actual dancing.

But they covered it well and still made it enjoyable to watch.

Here's the video of Kirsten and Jera's Paso Doble (via CTV):

Nathalie Heath and Mackenzie Green
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographed by: Sho-Tyme
Song: "All I Do Is Win" - DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg & Rick Ross
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy: A

Wow. I totally believed Mackenzie was some sort of white rapper. I didn't think the pretty boy could pull it off but he hit it hard and fast and got all the quick steps down and dirty AND looked the part and held the attitude.

Nathalie mostly held up except went a bit softer on a few of those quick steps, but the rest of the time, looked just as down as Mackenzie.

And those fast steps were NOT easy to hit, so Mackenzie really impressed me by getting them so into the ground!

Here's the video of Nathalie and Mackenzie's Hip-Hop (via CTV):

Claudia Primeau and Yonni Fournier
Style: Foxtrot
Choreographed by: Danny Quilliam
Song: "Telephone" - Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé
Grade - Dance: C+
Grade - Girl: C
Grade - Boy: C

I appreciate what Danny Quilliam was trying to do but it felt kind of weird and boring to me. Mia Michaels got it right on again. She got what the choreographer was trying to do but there was a lot of space and the dancers didn't fill it.

And as Luther said, I pictured the dance to be much quicker than it was, between it being a foxtrot and set to the quick beats of "Telephone".

It was just kinda odd and awkward and boring and while I blame it partly on Quilliam, the dancers should still bring some life to whatever they do.

Here's the video of Claudia and Yonni's Salsa (via CTV):

Charlene Hart and Jeff Mortensen
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Stacey Tookey
Song: "Breathing" - Alisa Turner
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: B

I love Stacey Tookey but she really likes to use slow songs that have fast moments to excel the dramatic structure of her dance pieces doesn't she? On the other hand, it works everytime so why fix it if it isn't broken?

I loved Jeff from last years auditions but I was less impressed this year and I'm glad he got to showcase his contemporary skills this week after last week's weak Jive but I still felt he was missing something.

Probably because he was dancing next to Charlene who I thought was absolute perfection here and danced it so beautifully with such nuance and subtlety.

Here's the video of Charlene and Jeff's Contemporary (via CTV):

Julia Harnett and Jesse Weafer
Style: Samba
Choreographed by: Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin
Song: "Cuban Pete" - iSweat Music
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: A-

This is Julia's genre and it shows. That footwork and shaking seemed like a how-to display.

I was surprised at how well Jesse kept up, and looked very comfortable keeping up with Julia.

I was a little surprised that these two were in the bottom 3 last week so I hope that doesn't happen again, because I really enjoy these two. I also need to rewatch Hairspray to spot Jesse who apparently had a minor role in it.

Here's the video of Julia and Jesse's Samba (via CTV):

Danielle Gardner and Sebastian Mersch
Style: Theatre
Choreographed by: Sean Cheesman
Song: "No Good Deed" - Idina Menzel from Wicked (Original Broadway Cast)
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: A-

A fun piece that fits well with the song. I used to hate Wicked but have come around on the show and the all the solo and duet songs (though I still think the ensemble songs are ridiculous), but this was fun!

And I loved watching Danielle and Sebastian do this piece. Danielle was fantastic and managed to make all those twists and intertwining moves with Sebastian so smoothly.

Sebastian reminds me of a mini version of Robert Roldan. Especially with that hair this week, he's got the same awkward and quirky dancing style and some great contemporary technique. And if you read my SYTYCD7 posts, you know how much I loved Robert (and sooooo wanted him to win).

Here's the video of Danielle and Sebastian's Theatre (via CTV):

Janick Arseneau and Shavar Blackwood
Style: Krump
Choreographed by: Lil C
Song: "Whatever" - Buckmouth
Grade - Dance: C-
Grade - Girl: C-
Grade - Boy: C+

I thought Janick was AMAZING last week so I'm sad to see her not buck it enough here. I appreciate her effort but it just didn't feel like it was enough buck or strength. I mean, she is a skinny little white girl so she has that disadvantage, but we've now seen enough little white girls do some dances hard that way.

On the other hand, I didn't think Lil C's choreo was all that interesting. And the pop can costume certainly didn't help. Somehow this Krump looked slow and boring.

Shavar fared a bit better but again, wasn't helped by choreo he was given, but in the end, again, the dancers should still have enough skills to bring something to the dance and I didn't feel that here. Which is too bad because I know they can after last week's African Jazz.

Here's the video of Janick and Shavar's Krump (via CTV):

Kloe Schultz and Jonathan Arsenault
Style: Jazz
Choreographed by: Blake McGrath
Song: "California Gurls" - Katy Perry
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Girl: B+
Grade - Boy: B+

I love this couple and I still think Jonathan may be my favorite person in this competition so their personalities help this fun choreography a LOT.

I agree with Mia in that it could have been less cheerleady and more in the groove, but I still really enjoyed it, despite the flaws in the attitude.

Also, while the butt lift looked really easy for Jonathan, the second lift at the end looked a bit more troublesome. Still, their bright attitudes saved the spirit of the piece.

Here's the video of Kloe and Jonathan's Jazz (via CTV):

Tapeworthy

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

SYTYCDC3 - The Real Top 20