SYTYCD - another not review
Posted: Thursday, May 28, 2009 by Travis Cody inDisclaimer: The words you are about to read may resemble a standard review, however don't be fooled. I'm not actually reviewing this program until Top 20.
I have not cued theme music, nor are we live from Hollywood.
The first hour is from Miami. Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy are on the judging panel, along with Tyce Diorio.
You have to be confident in your technique and your talent to dance with your back to the audience. This one gal named Priscilla had that. And even with her back to the judges for a good portion of her audition, she was so stunningly good that she cruised through to Vegas.
There was a ballroom couple that did some great tricks. I thought what dancing they did was ok. They seem to have made it straight through to Vegas on the strength of those tricks.
I liked a young tap dancer named Erik Moore. He showed some ability to move beyond tap as well. Based on his demonstrated versatility, he went straight through to Vegas.
Another montage of contemporary/lyrical excellence, boys and girls, moving straight through to Vegas. And then a young man dancing an ethnic African style, as well as a young widow with a high energy club style. They earned tickets to Vegas by mastering the choreography.
And so 32 moved on to Vegas from Miami, many without much screen time.
Nigel and Mary head to Memphis during the next hour, meeting up with guest judge, dancer and choreographer Lil C. He has actually made Krumping accessible for me. And his notes to the dancers are always well thought out and useful. He also watches attentively, and is rarely rude.
Right off the top, a young man named Marico caught my intention with something I've never seen before. His footwork was outstanding. It's a native Memphis style, and he had performance and personality to go with technically excellent footwork. He went straight through to Vegas.
Kaitlin Kinney...sublime. And she's only had 5 years of ballet training, on top of gymnastics training. And she's had a hip reconstruction. Straight on to Vegas. Oh my.
Another very interesting girl...Anna. She had an unfortunate tendency to throw her head around a bit too much, but other than that she was wonderful. She did the choreography and made it to Vegas.
Evan is back! He made it to top 40 last year before getting cut. He's a fantastic jazz dancer and a great entertainer. He's off to Vegas and I just hope he's worked on some of the other styles, because he is marvelous...yes I used that word because it fits.
Evan's older brother Ryan is also taking a shot. He threw down a tap routine that was heavy on the comedy and solid technically. When you tap with no musical accompaniment, you better be talented because the tapping is the music. He nailed it. Another fantastic entertainer. He communicates the joy of dance. Nigel wanted him to do choreography, but Mary and Lil C said straight to Vegas. I'm looking forward to seeing more from both brothers. I hope they get some screen time.
I didn't catch how many total went to Vegas from Memphis. It was more than 20 but I think less than 30.
There were a few too many "don't put that on tv" moments for my liking. But there was also a lot of talent.
Tune in tonight for auditions from LA and Seattle.
Speaking of LA, I have been decidedly unhappy with the effort of my Lakers throughout these playoffs. They have been inconsistent and seemingly unfocused. I think that when they play like they give a damn, then there isn't a team in this league that can beat them in a 7 game series.
They came with sustained effort last night, and beat Denver to take a 3 games to 2 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Kobe continued to trust his teammates, and they came through. Now we'll see if they can bring the same intensity to game 6 in Denver with a chance to close out the Nuggets and advance to the Finals against either Orlando or Cleveland.
Orlando leads the Eastern Conference Finals 3 games to 1 over the Cavaliers, with a chance to close out tonight in Cleveland.
can you provide those of us uninitiated...the difference between SYTYCD and DWTS...thanks.
GO LAKERS