Tuesday, October 12, 2010

SYTYCDC3 - Top 10

So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Season 3 - Top 10 Performance and Results, The Cut from 10 to 8 - Eps. 319-320
Judges: Jean-Marc Généreux, Tré Armstrong, Dan Karaty, Karen Kain

Ok, I know the Top 8 has already aired and I'm a bit behind on these post, but for posterity's sake, here's my thoughts on the Top 10.

Plus, Dan Karaty is back! I miss him as a judge. And how much do I love The National Ballet of Canada's Karen Kain as a judge here? So eloquent and regal! Plus she knows her sh!t!


Amanda Cleghorn and Edgar Gilbert-Reyes
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographed by: Luther Brown
Song: "Find Your Love" - Drake
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy: B+

I love Edgar. I think he's been underrated and underappreciated (by the voting audience) and it's been surprising at how versatile how he is. But Hip-Hoppers have a hard time competing with Contemporary dancers. When a contemporary dancer excels in other genre's, it's always seen as a huge achievement (even though contemporary is probably the middle ground to all the different styles and easier to get to), but hip-hoppers tend to get get labeled as overpraised when they do well. And then when hip-hoppers get to dance their own style, we tend to nitpick more. So I'm a little saddened that I'm going to fall under the same trap.

I thought Edgar was great, but Karen Kain was right, Amanda really brought it and my eyes were on her the whole time. (Also, how eloquent is Karen Kain? Love her!) Amanda just brought the bling, combining great technique with a star quality.

As I said above, Amanda, a contemporary dancer, surprised me at how amazing she was.

Edgar was great, but he should be here.

Here's the video of Amanda and Edgar's Hip-Hop (via CTV):



Nathalie Heath and Denys Drozdyuk
Style: Mambo
Choreographed by: Gustavo Vargas
Song: "Mambo de Bataan" - Joe Bataan
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy: A

I love Denys but he does seem to get a lot of ballroom styles. How convenient. Okay, so it's much faster and shakier than what he is used to, so it's actually quite different for him.

With the exception of a one momentary panicked look on Denys' face during a flip (which went smoother than his face would presume it to be), it looked great. Denys as always is confident and strong and great leading material.

Nathalie followed suit just as well as Denys and in any dance with Denys, that's the best you can ask for. I can't really pick her apart except for the lack of that extra little sparkle that Denys has. Karen Kain says Denys has that extra special charisma which is what helps set him apart.

Here's the video of Nathalie and Denys' Mambo (via CTV):



Charlene Hart and Mackenzie Green
Style: Contemporary
Choreographed by: Stacey Tookey
Song: "One Day Like This" - Elbow
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Girl: A-
Grade - Boy: A

New partner? Leah, wtf are you talking about?

Seriously, at this point, can you go wrong with Mackenzie and Charlene doing contemporary? And while Stacey has been inconsistent of lates, I liked this one. But again, it's hard to hate anything Mackenzie does at this point. He truly makes everything he does look so spectacular, and Charlene has this glow about her. I will agree with Tre that Charlene seemed a bit tight in her moves here and could have let loose more.

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



Janick Arseneau and Jeff Mortensen
Style: Jazz Funk
Choreographed by: Blake McGrath
Song: "Come on Girl" - Taio Cruz ft. Luciana Caporoso
Grade - Dance: B
Grade - Girl: B+
Grade - Boy: A-

Well so much for family hour. I usually love the extra sexiness we show here in the Canada edition but even I was a little surprised by this display of whips and a cage and all.

Shocking, but yet not the best actual dance piece. Take away the strutting and the whipping and there wasn't much to it except characters that Janick and Jeff had to get into.

Which they did. Usually Janick gets into these characters more but I thought Jeff actually got the right attitude more so than Janick here.

Here's the video of Janick and Jeff's Jazz Funk (via CTV):



Danielle Gardner and Sebastian Mersch
Style: Quickstep
Choreographed by: Pierre Allaire
Song: "Back in Town" - Matt Dusk
Grade - Dance: A
Grade - Girl: A
Grade - Boy: B-

That was a fun Quickstep routine, but I don't think Sebastian quite brought it enough to present Pierre's piece in the right light.

Danielle looked fabulous but Sebastian looked a bit out of his element. Looking from the waist up, he mostly sold it, but his feet and confidence gave him away.

Apparently all the judges thought Sebastian looked great. So apparently what do I know?

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



Solos

Sebastian Mersch
Style: Contemporary
Song: "99 Luftballoons" - Goldfinger
Grade: B-
Spent too much effort trying to pop those balloons and even with a central prop, the piece didn't feel unified which is what elevates a decent solo to a great one. Still love his quirkiness and dance style.

Danielle Gardner
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Stupid (Mark Bell mix)" - Sarah McLachlan
Grade: B-
Felt a little frenetic and in trying to put too much into her solo, I felt like she didn't quite finish each move as it should have been.

Jeff Mortensen
Style: Ukrainian Folk Dance
Song: "Bukovynian Rhythm" - Ukranian Shumka Dancers
Grade: A-
That was actually kinda cool and his cherubic face still makes me laugh/grin.

Janick Arseneau
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Gotta Get Thru This (Acoustic Version)" - Daniel Beddingfield
Grade: B
It started off great, but when whatever fell out (what was that?), it seemed to throw her off and I felt the moves in the 2nd half didn't seem quite complete or as tight.

Edgar Gilbert-Reyes
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "She Don't Know" - Usher feat. Ludacris
Grade: B
I love his style and his mojo, though as a solo, he's done better.

Amanda Cleghorn
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Love" - Anouk
Grade: B+
Typical contemporary solo but a very good one at that.

Mackenzie Green
Style: Contemporary
Song: "In My Place" - Coldplay
Grade: A
You can tell he WANTS this.

Charlene Hart
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Machine Gun" - Portishead
Grade: B+
Now this is the Charlene we know and love! It still seems like she's hurting on one of her feet and she's had to curtail her solo to avoid further injury, so I can only wish to see her in full strength, but she really gave it all her gusto here.

Denys Drozdyuk
Style: Ballroom
Song: "Balao Destemperado" - Barbatuques
Grade: A
Wow, totally different than we've seen him before. Light and whimsical with a touch of humour.

Nathalie Heath
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Gravity" - Sara Bareilles
Grade: B+




- - - - - - - - - - - - -
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 Contemporary
2nd: Nathalie and Denys' Mambo
3rd: Amanda and Edgar's Hip-hop
4th: Danielle and Sebastian's Quickstep
5th - Worst of the Night: Janick and Jeff's Jazz-Funk

Best Solos:
1st: Denys
2nd: Mackenzie
3rd: Jeff
4th: Charlene
5th: Amanda

Should Go Home: Janick and Sebastian? It's more by default than actually wanting anybody to go. And Sebastian only because I thought he didn't have a good week this week, but usually I love him. And Janick is always good, I just thought the other girls were better this week.

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), Denys (1)
3. Amanda (3)
4. Charlene (4)
5. Nathalie (9)
6. Danielle (10)
7. Sebastian (5)
8. Edgar (8)
9. Jeff (11)
10. Janick (7)

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

Top 10 Group Dance
Choreographed by: Maria Torres
Style: Disco
Song: "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" - Jimmy Castor Bunch and "Disco Inferno" - The Trammps
Grade:

With now only 10 dancers, it's a little easier to take a look at the group and see which dancers standout and without consciously trying, I found my eye drawn to my top faves Denys, Mackenzie, and Charlene and actually Danielle. Amanda is great but to be honest, I can still easily confuse her with Nathalie.




The Actual Bottom 4 Dancers Are:
Charlene
Edgar
Nathalie
Sebastian

Basically the same bottom as the week before without the already eliminated Jonathan and Claudia.
Guess they just don't have a fanbase as big as the others.


Dance for Your Life

Nathalie Heath
Style: Contemporary
Song: "I'd Do It All Again" - Corinne Bailey Rae
Grade: B+

Charlene Hart
Style: Contemporary
Song: "I Dare You" - Ali Milner
Grade: A-


Edgar Gilbert-Reyes
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "I Get It In" - Omarion feat. Gucci Mane
Grade: B+

Sebastian Mersch
Style:Contemporary
Song: "To Build A Home" - The Cinematic Orchestra
Grade: A-





So since it's the Top 10, the elimination is purely based on votes now, and sadly, two of the better dancers are cut. Charlene Hart and Edgar Gilbert-Reyes are the first casualty from the audience based vote. Edgar never seemed to get the love from the votes, but I'm quite sad that Charlene, who is so strong and still my vote for the best girl left, didn't manage to get the votes right when it really counts.


- - - - - - - - - - - - -
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1 comment:

mathyoo2003 said...

Not a fan at all of the sudden unannounced drop from top 8 to top 4. Something like that should be announced in advance, otherwise it's the producers'favorite dancer who wins, not "Canada's favorite dancer".
Also Karen Kain for 3rd and final permanent judge! Best judge ever for this show! No more 4th or 5th guest judges, please!!