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I’ll Be the Judge of That! – So You Think You Can Dance 5, June 10by Terri Smith -- 06/11/2009
View Printable version of this article What an exciting episode we have before us! If you’re new to my articles, I will lovingly, yet firmly, put my two cents in on each of our dancers, judges, choreographers, and hostess. No one is safe from me! Before we begin, I’d like to briefly express my condolences to Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns’ family for their loss today. By now you’ve already read Jenn’s RealityNewsOnline recap, so without further ado… Let’s get it on! Jeanine & Phillip – Hip-Hop My expectations were immediately high for Phillip since this is his genre, and while my expectations were lower for Jeanine since this is so NOT her genre, she’s gotta keep up or it’s gonna look really bad. Phillip was brilliant, and not just with the execution, but he also got into the character really well. The camera makes his facial expressions really big, but it works great for the stage since the live audience and judges are farther away. This was a great start for him. I’m curious as to how he’ll do in other styles. 
I had planned on comparing Jeanine to someone on a high school dance team doing a hip-hop routine. You know, she was good, but she was “faking the funk.” I changed my mind almost immediately. I was really impressed with how she kept up. I agree with the judges that if she was unknown prior to this performance, she’ll be known now. Great for her! And how adorable are these two? This wasn’t one of those “sexy” routines, which is fine, but I could immediately pick up on their spark. Even from the cute little hand-waves while they were up on the balcony before the commercial break, they just seem like a really cute couple. A great start to the show, indeed! Asuka & Vitolio – Broadway I liked Asuka more than I liked Vitolio in this performance. Both executed steps well – very well, actually. Asuka was significantly better at capturing the Broadway energy than Vitolio. I agreed with the judges until the implication was that both of them didn’t capture the spirit of the routine. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Asuka. She had the right amount of cheese and animation to sell that performance. While Vitolio did what he needed to do where he needed to do it, he was very blah. Did you sense how underwhelmed the audience was? Karla & Jonathan – Cha-cha I was in a completely different universe than the judges. While they were “beeped up” and screaming, I actually said “meh” when this routine was over. I wasn’t wowed, I didn’t see anything explode. I will echo this when I comment on Tony Meredith’s choreography, below, but where I find issue with them is that the whole thing seemed too cute for me. Jonathan’s carriage was good (not great, but good) but he didn’t make it sexy enough for me. There should be an animalistic “do me now” vibe coming from Jonathan that I didn’t get. I thought Karla did well with portraying the sexiness and picking up on the style. It helps that she’s an exotic little fox. I don’t dislike these two or anything, I just wasn’t blown away like the judges were. The split was really cool, though! Randi & Evan – Jazz WOW. That was beautiful. The execution, gorgeous. The character interaction, spot-on. The chemistry, exquisite. We often think of chemistry along the lines of how badly someone wants to have sex with someone else, but this showed a much more tender side to that very same idea. I could tell they wanted each other, but it was filled with romance and holding and longing. With Evan being a Broadway dancer, I wasn’t concerned that he couldn’t portray any character thrown at him, but I was concerned with his ability to make that character real, to make it seem that he was really feeling that way instead of him playing a guy who really felt that way. I watched him closely and he was beautiful to watch. Did Randi look stunning or what? The hair and dress were a dream on her, but her lines were out of this world. I enjoyed these two. 
Paris & Tony – Hip-Hop I know these two had nothing to do with the costumes, but whoever did needs to be put on notice. How Rollerball were we? To the dancing. I dug it! It was a slow routine, which had a couple disadvantages: Mistakes are much easier to find and it can be difficult to give this kind of routine energy. They looked great together (and where did Paris come from?!) and they played well off each other. They flowed well, the staccato parts looked really tight, they were together, and the attitude was believable. I found myself bobbing my head up and down by the middle of the routine. The part where the music cut out but they still had choreography was really cool. It’s hard to stay together during those parts but they pulled it off really well. I have a feeling this won’t be as memorable as other routines we’ve seen tonight (and I said that before Mary), but I hope voters understand that this is just a different style of hip-hop. The faster part of the song looked cool! I understood where the judges came from with their comments that there was something that wasn’t there, but I thought they were a little tough on Tony. Caitlin & Jason – Bollywood Smooches! I thought these two did a great job. There were moments where it seemed too much like cheerleaders to me, but perhaps it was just the similar rigid arm movements. I loved their energy! That looked tough and I was worried they were going to run out of steam, and while I saw Jason dip a bit, overall, these two did a great job. The handstand at the beginning of the routine was so well controlled (again, I said that before Mary), and Jason really was mesmerizing (I also said that before Mary yelled it – see my comments on her, below). I love how the show and the contestants have really embraced this style in its short run on the show. Two questions: Is it just me or did Caitlin look like Taylor Swift in the make up? Does anyone know what Jai-Ho means? 1 2 3 Next-->View Printable version of this article
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