Friday, September 24, 2010

SYTYCDC3 - A Whole New World

So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Season 3 - Top 14 Performance and Results, The Cut from 14 to 12 - Eps. 315-316
Judges: Jean-Marc Généreux, Tré Armstrong, Mia Michaels, Sean Cheesman

So I'm on the other side of the world right now, so I'm not sure why the couples have already switched, but they have already. Everything's turned upside down. What's going on?

The new partnerships almost seem to be fixing some of the couples that weren't working as well as originally hoped. I'm almost glad to see the new couples but I hope they remain the same for at least another week to utilize more time to build some chemistry before they constantly switch partners from the Top 10 and on.


Charlene Hart and Mackenzie Green
Style: Jive
Choreographed by: Danny Arbour
Song: "Magic" - B.o.B. feat. Rivers Cuomo
Grade - Dance: A
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: A

Wow. What an unfair pairing. They are my top girl and guy at this point, so putting these together sort of steamrolls everyone else? Doesn't it?

And they did. Wow. That was amazing. I actually got chills when they did that hoppy jive thing. Again, a dance that has messed up many-a-dancers before, but these two looked like they've been bouncing around together forever.

Mia called it near perfection. I totally agree. Makenzie and Charlene just made that look SO easy and SO fun! DAMN!

Seriously, pure MAGIC.

Here's the video of Charlene and Mackenzie's Jive (via CTV):



Amanda Cleghorn and Sebastian Mersch
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Stacey Tookey
Song: "Hyperballad" - Whitley
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: A

After the disaster of Sebastian's Hip-Hop, it was refreshing to see Sebastian back at the top of his game, and a reminder of why he is here.

And while Amanda is one of the best dancers in the competition, she was always slightly overshadowed by the surprising versatility and strength of Denys so her pairing here with the smaller Sebastian seems to fit her better and somehow she makes him seem less childlike.

Another great new pairing but I think Stacey has had better pieces, even though Mia gave it a standing ovation. Beautiful piece but there are a few others of Stacey's that I've loved more.

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



Claudia Primeau and Denys Drozdyuk
Style: Samba/Capoera
Choreographed by: Gustavo Vargas
Song: "Que Colsa Louca" - Samba Squad
Grade - Dance: A
Grade - Girl: B-
Grade - Boy: A

Didn't Claudia get Gustavo last week too? Seriously, what's with her that she seems to get so much special treatment? (Since she should have been kicked off weeks ago)

Wow. Denys was AMAZING. As always. Seriously, just amazing and energetic and just amazing. He's my other favorite guy. I'm basically split between Denys and Mackenzie.

Claudia looked okay but next to Denys? She showed far less pizzazz in comparison.

Here's the video of Claudia and Denys' Samba/Capoera (via CTV):



Kloe Schultz and Shavar Blackwood
Style: Theatre
Choreographed by: Melissa Williams
Song: "Your Song" - Elton John
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Girl: B-
Grade - Boy: B-

Wait, didn't Kloe get Melissa Williams last week too? What the?

I kept waiting for Sherlock Holmes to come out on the dance floor. The judges thought it the dancers did a weak job and Mia thought these two are the weakest dancers left.

While I still think Claudia is weaker, I won't really disagree. I found I concentrated more on the costumes than the actual dancing.

Here's the video of Kloe and Shavar's Theatre (via CTV):



Janick Arseneau and Jeff Mortensen
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographed by: Luther Brown
Song: "Gangsta Luv" - Snoop Dogg feat. The-Dream
Grade - Dance: B
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy:: B+

Well, I pictured it was going to be far worse. I don't love Luther's choreos but it was not bad.

Jeff managed to gangsta himself up a bit. Not enough, but more than I thought the cherub would.

Janick was totally down and low. She looked fab here and I thought she did a great job.

Here's the video of Janick and Jeff's Hip-Hop (via CTV):



Danielle Gardner and Edgar Gilbert-Reyes
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Sabrina Matthews
Song: "Whataya Want From Me" - Adam Lambert
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy: B+

It was good to split up Danielle and Sebastian. They were just too cute together but they kept themselves looking too young. With Edgar, Danielle seems far more mature and she makes use of it. Danielle, like Sebastian this week, finally got a chance to show her stuff and make us forget last week's Hip-Hop. There was one moment where I thought her lines could have been straighter and cleaner but it was such a relief to see her do her thing again.

As for Edgar, a hip-hop dancer, this was an extremely impressive foray into contemporary. He managed to get into that emotional centre needed. I would push it a bit more but he's going the right way. His lines could have been a tiny bit cleaner and a bit more loose, but while he's not as perfectly versatile as Mackenzie or Denys, he's almost there, and for a hip-hop dancer, he has farther to go and so it's all the more impressive.

Here's the video of Danielle and Edgar's Contemporary (via CTV):



Nathalie Heath and Jonathan Arsenault
Style: Jazz
Choreographed by: Blake McGrath
Song: "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy: A-

Didn't Jonathan get Blake and a Katy Perry song already?

I thought it was a lot of fun and Jonathan is good at the fun stuff, especially with his big charming smile and lovable personality. Unfair maybe that he keeps getting fun routines? Maybe, but for what he was given, I think Jonathan is always so into it.

Nathalie was just as great by Jonathan's side.

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


- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Final Roundup:

So the choreographers here really like to have the guys shirtless (or almost) in the dances, don't they? Not complaining. Just mentioning!

Ranking the Couples:
Best of the Night: Charlene and Mackenzie's Jive
2nd: Amanda and Sebastian's Contemporary
3rd: Clauda and Denys' Samba/Capoera
4th: Nathalie and Jonathan's Jazz
5th: Danielle and Edgar's Contemporary
6th: Janick and Jeff's Hip-Hop
7th - Worst of the Night: Kloe and Shavar's Theatre

Should Go Home: Claudia and Shavar

Here's the current unfair ranking of the remaining dancers at this point, based on everything so far (last week's ranking in Parentheses):

1. (tie) Mackenzie (1), Charlene (2), Denys (3)
4. Amanda (6)
5. Sebastian (12)
6. Danielle (11)
7. Janick (7)
8. Edgar (5)
9. Jonathan (8)
10. Nathalie (9)
11. Jeff (10)
12. Kloe (14)
13. Shavar (15)
14. Claudia (16)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Top 14 Group Dance
Choreographed by: Luther Brown
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "Hello Good Morning" - Diddy-Dirty Money
Grade: B+



The Actual Bottom 3 Couples Are:
Nathalie and Jonathan
Kloe and Shavar
Danielle and Edgar

Dance for Your Life

Nathalie Heath
Style: Jazz
Song: "" -
Grade: B+

Kloe Schultz
Style: Jazz
Song: "Haters" - Various
Grade: C

Danielle Gardner
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Swans" - Unkle Bob
Grade: B+



Jonathan Arsenault
Style: Contemporary
Song: "The Scientist" - Coldplay
Grade: A-

Shavar Blackwood
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "Music for Love" - Mario
Grade: B+

Edgar Gilbert-Reyes
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "So Dope" - New Boyz
Grade: A-



In the end, Kloe Schultz and Shavar Blackwood were eliminated. Which with the exception of Claudia (who was luckily saved by her partner Denys), this was essentially the only possibility.

From this point on, it basically comes down to luck of the dance style draw and personality.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

TIFF10worthy - My Reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival

I managed to see 10 movies at TIFF10 this year. 11 if you count Easy A which showed at the Toronto International Film Festival but I saw when it then opened wide during the 2nd weekend of the festival.


Buried = A-
Written by Chris Sparling, Directed by Rodrigo Cortés
Official Website
Starring: Ryan Reynolds

Twitter review: "Tho considering Ryan Reynolds doesn't take his shirt off, I still really thought "Buried" was great. Very well made"

It really is just Ryan Reynolds trapped in a box. A horrific set up that would almost be perfect in some horror-film-with-a-psycho killer, but Sparling tries to deepen the story more by setting it up as a realistic result of the Iraq War.

Without giving too much away, Sparling's attempt to explain the situation as something real both heightens the fear and the anger, and partly cheapens the awful experiences from real Western foreigners in Iraq. There are a few groaners in the plot twists but the frustrations felt along the ride within the buried box are simply suffocating (pun intended), but not without some surprisingly humorous breather moments.

Rodrigo Cortés manages to build the twists and turns in such a (pun intended again) tight way, I managed to forgive some of the unlikeliness inherent in the set-up. Much of it from the simplicity of the film managing to remain completely in the box with practical lighting from within the buried box.

Ryan Reynolds, so winning and versatile in every genre, is simply riveting here as Paul Conroy, in a sweat-inducing gut churning dramatic role. He literally is the whole movie here, all glowingly lit under a haunting zippo lighter and a cellphone, and Reynolds and Cortés make it work to profound effect.


Girlfriend = A-
Written and Directed by Justin Lerner
Official Website
Starring: Evan Sneider, Shannon Woodward, Jackson Rathbone, Amanda Plummer

Twitter review: "Saw a great little movie called "Girlfriend" at #TIFF10. Shannon Woodward was superb. Jackson Rathbone (Twilight?) was great. Great cast"

Evan (newcomer Evan Sneider) has Down Syndrome and lives with his loving mother (a dear Amanda Plummer), and has a crush on his former high school classmate Candy (Shannon Woodward), who is a single mother struggling to survive in the small shanty town they all live in. When Evan comes into a large amount of money, he tries to help Candy out, only to stir up already shaky relations between Candy and the father of her child, Russ (Jackson Rathbone).

It's a sweet and dear little film that stays far from the saccharine and avoids over-sentimentalizing Evan's situation and simply lets Evan Sneider's natural charisma shine through. Keeping the balance, Shannon Woodward manages to portray Candy as a faulted woman struggling to survive, and who fully understands the manipulative situation she's been offered. Despite her characters flaws, Woodward never paints her as a caricature and manages to remain likable. Jackson Rathbone turns what could easily have been a hillbilly stock character and plays it with depth and some sly humour, but ultimately feels real and a man hurt from his own stereotyping.

Lerner does a wonderous job keeping the simple movie in balance and letting it breathe on its own accord. I love these little slice-of-life movies in "real" America and while at points I wondered where it was going, and their are a some film-school cliches (this is Lerner's first full-length feature after 4 shorts done in film school), it's a wonderful and honest debut.


Easy A = A-
Written by Burt. V. Royal, Directed by Will Gluck
Official Website
Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Aly Michalka, Stanley Tucci, Dan Byrd

Twitter review: "Easy A was great. LOVED the cast. Forgot about the excellent adult cast they have."

A great teen comedy with a great teen cast but the bonus is a great adult cast as well. Amanda Bynes (Hairspray) and Cam Gigandet (Twilight) are hysterical as uber-Christian goody-two-shoes nemesis. Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl) is charmingly studly without being a jock. Dan Byrd (Cougar Town) is adorable as the closeted sap. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci are the wonderfully oddball parents, and Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow as kooky but lovable teachers. Tucci, Clarkson, Church and Kudrow could be making an oddball indie dramedy (or even a serious award-baiting drama), but instead, they use their expertise to mainstream perfection here.

But even with a superb ensemble cast, the movie belongs to Emma Stone (Zombieland) as the teenage girl who becomes her own Scarlett Letter story. It may be a mainstream movie but Stone and director Will Gluck keep it fresh, funny and heartfelt in all the right places, and save for a too-tiddy-of-an-ending-without-the-right-amount-of-comeuppance, Royal's script has just the right amount of smarts and sass to make this a winning comedy. Not quite the easy A, but an Easy A- from me.


127 Hours = B+
Written by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy based on the book by Aron Ralston, Directed by Danny Boyle
Official Website
Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara

Twitter review: "So decided on seeing Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. Mainly cause they let in 1st and I only had rush tix so I want the sure thing. But it's good."

Aron Ralston was that hiker that went hiking alone on the beautiful terrains of Utah and got himself trapped under a boulder for 127 hours, before he finally escaped by sawing his arm off. We know the ending, so it's to Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy's credit that they manage to flush out an exhilarating film that manages to not idolize the silly and cocky young man who stupidly got himself into the life-threatening position to begin with.

James Franco plays it out perfectly, making him likable enough for us to care, but selfish enough to shake our heads. And when he begins to go into delirium (and thus flashbacks for us), Franco pulls us back in.

Slickly directed, the film about a man trapped under a boulder, never manages to bore, but compared to Buried, another movie about a man trapped alone, it doesn't have quite the level of intensity or emotionally shattering experience quite as much. Plus, you know the Ralston lives to write a book about it, that gets made into a film.


Never Let Me Go = B
Written by Alex Garland, based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, Directed by Mark Romanek
Official Website
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling

Twitter review: "Parts bored me, but overall, I enjoyed Never Let Me Go, but if Keira Knightly's character was cut out, it would be better (and I heart her)"

A beautifully haunting sci-fi story set in the pretty Merchant-Ivory-ish cinematography of England in the 2nd half of the last century. Too bad what starts off seductively and mysteriously, soon languishes in its own self-beauty which is boring for the rest of us. While I'm actually a Keira Knightely fan, and I think she does a wonderful job here, her character seems completely frivolous and unnecessary and the film as a whole would have worked better without her character, since the emotional core and resonance really works around Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield (both stars of the future. Mulligan so excellent in the underwhelming An Education and Garfield simply stunning in the superb Boy A).



Rio Sex Comedy = B-
Written and Directed by Jonathan Nossiter
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Bill Pullman, Irène Jacob, Fisher Stevens, Daniela Dams, Jérôme Kircher, Jean-Marc Roulot

Twitter review: "Saw "Rio Sex Comedy" at #TIFF10. Like a Woody Allen film in Rio. Amusing tho too long. Great international cast. Charlotte Rampling < 3"

Rio Sex Comedy is kind of like a Woody Allen comedy, right down to the humour, the music and the multiple meandering story threads, except this time set in Rio de Janeiro.

What's wonderful to watch is an excellent international cast flaunter around the real Rio as a beautiful backdrop. From the famous beaches, to the Jesus Christ statue, and all the way into the dangerous favelas, it's an amazing tour around the Brazilian town.

While the stories about Charlotte Rampling's plastic surgeon, returning to do some charity work; Fisher Stevens as an enterprising American setting up tours of the flavelas; Irène Jacob and Jérôme Kircher as battling French documentarians; and Bill Pullman as the American Embassador looking for an escape, are all amusing in their own ways. But Nossiter lets each story ramble on far too long and by the end, the sexscapades no longer feel sexy but just tiresome, and you're just waiting for the climax to come.

There's still hope with some editing and cutting, although sometimes I'm not sure if I just enjoyed what I did from the film because it was kind of neat watching people like Charlotte Rampling and Bill Pullman being around Rio in an elaborate travel show.


Little White Lies (Les Petits mouchoirs) = B-
Written and Directed by Guillaume Canet
Starring: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Jean Dujardin

Twitter review: "Little White Lies: Or Beautiful French Ppl have inconsequential problems too. Lots of them, discussed over wine, for a longlong time"

Like Rio, what is a nice concept becomes tedious with an overlong film that runs far too long for its own good.

When a group of friends decide to continue with their vacation plans, despite a friends motorcycle accident, we follow along with them as they live the good life at François Cluzet's vacation home, with beautiful scenes of the French beaches and watching the beautiful cast sailing and eating delicious looking food and drinking a lot of wine. All while whining about all their insignificant little problems, all while they forget that their friend is in critical care back in a hospital in Paris.

The long stretches of the vacations and the little lies each person in habitats is nicely set against the harsh reality back in Paris, but director Canet practically forgets about the deeper meaning on the film while he's having fun with his vacationing friends. Then again, with folks like Marion Cotillard and Benoît Magimel, who wouldn't have the camera stare adoringly at his cast, but in the end, a good 30-40 min cut in the editing room will improve the exhausting film.


Ceremony = B-
Written and Directed by Henry Winkler
Starring: Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Reece Thompson, Lee Pace, Jake Johnson

Twitter review: "Saw "Ceremony". New Max Winkler movie (son of Henry). Ok, but mostly saved by Michael Angarano (and Lee Pace)."

I practically squealed when I saw Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) show up on screen, forgetting he was playing Uma Thurman's British douche of a fiance. And Jake Johnson is a delight as Uma's drunkard brother, the black sheep at a classy seaside resort for his sister's wedding.

But the movie centers on, and belongs to Michael Angarano (Jack's son in Will & Grace), who forces his friend Reece Thompson (Rocket Science) to drive them up to crash the wedding. Hilarity ensues, or so it's supposed to be, but the concept feels a little tired, and what holds up the film is Reece Thompson's lovable performance and especially Michael Angarano's mannered cockeyed hipster cool loser performance. Angarano has grown up well and he manages to un-Michael Cera himself and moving away from the naive doe-eyed youngun and into a naive but cocky young man (with a stubble and moustache that makes him look like a young Colin Farrell more and more).

It's a cute if unnecessary film but completely held together by Angarano's performance.


Score: A Hockey Musical = B-
Written and Directed by Michael McGowan
Official Site
Starring: Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald, Olivia Newton-John, Stephen McHattie, Marc Jordan, John Pyper-Ferguson

Review twitter: "Score: A Hockey Musical is as odd as it sounds. Weird. Cringeworthy. Laughable. Funny. Amusing. Awesome. Delightful. Winning. Still Odd."

A movie musical. About hockey. Yes, it is as odd as it sounds. And yes, it's very weird, and very cringeworthy, and the songs have lyrics that barely hold together, if at all, and partly on purpose. Like McGowan's previous film, the excellent One Week, this is an ode, though a very different one, to Canada and this time, particularly and ode to Toronto. But singing AND dancing hockey players (one being my fave Miles Faber from SYTYCDCanada) is weird to watch, even for a musical lover like me.

With cameos from tons of Canadians (from Nelly Furtado in essentially a glorified extra part, to CBC's Strombo and Evan Solomon), and jokes and references to all things Red, White and Maple Leaf, this is a film for Canada, because I'm not sure if anybody else will get it.

Again, like Ceremony, leave it to the lead male to hold it all together, with Toronto theatre actor Noah Reid (Jitters, Stratford Fest), as the naive home-schooled-by-hippies (Marc Jordan and Olivia Newton-John (who seems to enjoy appearing in bad movie musicals)) lovable boy-next-door (who is loved by the girl-next-door, a delightful Allie MacDonald) whose love for hockey is only surpassed by his undiscovered skills. When Stephen McHattie finally sees him on a neighbourhood rink, he's brought on to save the Blades, coached by John Pyper-Ferguson (Brothers & Sisters) and is slowly thrust into the spotlight. Pyper-Ferguson is terrific (and with his creepy appearance on Rookie Blue, and great stagework on Glengarry Glen Ross in Vancouver this summer, he's becoming a favorite despite barely registering on B&S).

Noah Reid is totally winning and the sweet moments between him and Allie ground the movie from the absurdity of the musical structure and bad lyrics, and Reid reminded me of a smarter version of Cory Monteith's Finn on Glee.

And in all it's badness and oddness, I still found myself strangely won over by the end of the film.


Silent Souls (Ovsyanki) = C
Written by Denis Osokin, based on his short story "The Buntings", Directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko
Starring: Igor Sergeyev, Yuriy Tsurilo, Yuliya Aug, Viktor Sukhorukov

In a grey Russian town, a monotone narrator takes us on a strange and slow journey when his boss asks for help when the boss' wife dies. It's a poetic journey and it's a haunting tale, but it's also incredibly boring and long, and for a film that clocks under 90 min., it felt like a miserably lifetime. Just because it's foreign, it's slow, it's grey, it shows a lower class life (which was kind of fascinating), does not automatically make it a good art film. Just a really dry one.


Our Day Will Come (Notre jour viendra) = D
Written by Romain Gavras and Karim Boukercha, Directed by Romain Gavras
Official Site
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Olivier Barthelemy

Twitter review: "Just saw Our Day Will Come w/ Vincent Cassel. Um. What the hell? Can I hate a movie if I morally disagree with it?"

Vincent Cassel, a psychologist (or something like that), and a redhead, picks up an angry and fellow redhead Olivier Barthelemy, and enact their revenge on France as they attempt to escape to Ireland where redheads prevail.

An interesting and controversial journey but while being ostracized as redheads is probably horrible, it's still hard to really feel any true compassion for the two vengeful redheads as they progress on an odd, and ultimately violent road trip.

I just found no reason to make or watch this movie and while I hate criticizing a film not based on its filmmaking elements, I just could not see what the point really was. I could go on and elaborate but I'm exhausted just thinking about the film.


Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com


More After the Jump...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

SYTYCDC3 - Sigh Sigh Sigh

So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Season 3 - Top 16 Results Night - The Cut from 16 to 14 - Ep. 314
Judges: Jean-Marc Généreux, Tré Armstrong, Rex Harrington, Stacey Tookey

Sorry for this late post. I'm still mourning the loss of the male dancer (see below).

Top 16 Group Dance
Choreographed by: Sergio Trujillo
Style: Broadway
Song: "Sing Sing Sing Part 1 (81neutronz and Sergio Trujillo remix)" - Louis Prima from Dancin'
Grade: B+

This is a fun piece and I think Sergio Trujillo generally does nice understated work (his choreo in Jersey Boys and Memphis is really fun), but after last week's stellar and surprising Mia Michael's 60's inspired Jazz piece, this didn't feel as clean or as fresh.

Doesn't help that I'm sort of getting sick of this song as the go-to-flappers music.

And the costumes, along with splitting up the large group of dancers into smaller teams, seemed messy this week. And what's with Mackenzie's weird suit? I'm all for seeing some skin on that guy but that's a fugly looking suit. Almost is anti-sexy. Plus Denys looks like he's swimming in his red suit.

Still, the dance moves themselves are always fun to watch.




My Predictions from the Top 16 Performances
Predicted Bottom 3 Couples:
Claudia and Edgar
Janick and Shavar
Amanda and Denys

Should Go Home: Claudia and Shavar

Will Go Home: Claudia and Shavar


The Actual Bottom 3 Couples Are:
Amanda and Denys - sadly I was right.
Charlene and Jeff - wha??
Kirsten and Jesse - what again?

Okay, 3 of the stronger pairs are in the bottom. WHAT THE? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU CANADA?

Ok, I know this year, they're essentially all pretty strong but these three had a great night last night and should not be in the bottom 3. In fact, have Amanda and Denys really had a bad week ever?
And Charlene is my top girl. Denys is in the running for my top guy! (With Jesse close up there).


Dance for Your Life

Amanda Cleghorn
Style: Contemporary
Song: "You Run Away" - Barenaked Ladies
Grade: B

Charlene Hart
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Drumming Song" - Florence + the machine
Grade: B+

Kirsten Wicklund
Style: Contemporary Ballet
Song: "Tonight" - Lykke Li
Grade: B+

The girls do good solos but still haven't perfected the art of creating a moving and thrilling piece in that short span, all by themselves. Amanda, a great partner dancer with Denys, has the weakest solo here but not by much. Still amazing dancers, but they need to figure out that solos are not the same as partnered dancing.


Denys Drozdyuk
Style: Jive
Song: "Proud Mary" - Ike & Tina Turner
Grade: A

Jeff Mortensen
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Aha!" - Imogen Heap
Grade: A-

Jesse Weafer
Style: Contemporary
Song: "That Home" - The Cinematic Orchestra
Grade: A

The ballroom guys in Canada manage to make ballroom solos exciting. Like Vincent last year, Denys nicely picks a fast song and never lets up with his fancy footwork, and despite his always serious look, reminds me of Pasha when he dances. Jesse is simply a stunning dancer. Jeff has amazing moves. AMAZING moves, though maybe it's because he has that cheesy smile and cherubic face but it seems to lack some depth and emotion to it, but nonetheless, still impressive.



Going Home

Since it's essentially all three girls and guys in the bottom 3 are some of the best dancers they have, any choice will be a bad choice.

The judges lecture Canada on their voting, (for once I agree with Jean-Marc and Tre) and they cut Kirsten Wicklund mainly because she's been in the bottom 3 the most before (can't that be blamed on her partners?). On the other hand, Charlene and Amanda are my top girls so Kirsten gets the boot by default.

Even worse, the judges finally cut Jesse Weafer who surprisingly still seems shocked by the news and ends in tears. Making it all even sadder. Especially since he's one of the better dancers they've had on this show. I still think if he left his hair back to his more natural lighter colour, he may have gotten farther. I just had this feeling about that.


I will be away for the next 2 weeks so my posts will be delayed. Even more delayed than this one.

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