Is it me, or is this show made up of so much filler there”s really only about fifteen minutes of actual show? Anyway, we”re down to the top six, so I”m guessing there will be even less show and more timewasting shambling than we”ve seen previously. Hopefully some of that will involve Paula Abdul acting all hella crazy. She”s been far too pulled together on this show, really.
[Full recap of Wednesday’s (Feb. 2) “Live to Dance” after the break…]
Wow, the judges are already seated! They aren”t walking out holding hands and waving to the huddled masses!
Oh, goody, let”s look at last week”s finalists in an endless montage of performances we”ve already seen and which we can no longer vote for. Finally, Andrew reveals that America voted for… Kendall Glover! Really? Even Travis said she wasn”t one of the better performers last week due to her leg extensions. But she is cute and bouncy, so that counts for something.
First up, we see Twitch. They”ve been dancing together for ten years, and because they”re seniors this is the last time they”ll be dancing together. Aw, come on guys! Screw college, take your act to Broadway! Rent a one bedroom apartment, work at one of the million Starbucks in Manhattan and audition all day, you can do it!
And really, they could. This is a visually stunning performance. The choreography is truly spot on, and they have some fun with the paparazzi concept. They”re very well synchronized and they combine contemporary style with gymnastic elements pretty flawlessly. The show”s off to a good start!
Travis thought it was amazing. Gold star. Kimberly thought they showed diversity and training. Gold star. Paula thought they were wonderful and challenges Anthony to always try new turns. Which she”s quick to point out is not a criticism, since she”s in full fluffy marshmallow mode this week. Gold star.
White Tree Fine Art is up next. They live to dance. They got married outside their art studio! They”re going to be dancing to their wedding song! They love dance!
Their first dance was to “Somewhere over the Rainbow”? I hope it was a cover version, because otherwise you run the risk of people thinking of flying monkeys and munchkins while you”re slow dancing. Anyway, the dance itself is beautiful – the distaff half of WTFA just has exceptional lines. This is a beautiful dance, though I doubt they”ll win simply because ballet is just a hard sell (though hey, America voted them through before).
Kimberly loves them and thinks they”re magic. Gold star. Paula feels privileged to welcome them onto the stage. Gold star. Uh-oh, Travis, who usually finds them boring. He tells them the audience loves them, but more importantly he”s now a believer. Gold star. Yay!
Next we have The Vibe, which has more members than the Duggar family. They don”t have a really good sob story, but they”re all super nice and they”re mostly related. You know, some of these little intros are not doing the dancers any favors. Thirty-eight people and the producers couldn”t find one aw-shucks inspirational story among them? Bad producers, bad!
This is like watching a Busby Berkeley musical. Trampolines, I love it! But I think I”m going to have an aneurysm trying to keep track of it all. Still, great job.
Andrew asks them if they know how much each member will get if they win. And yes, they”ve sorted that out, and the number is a little over $13,000. What a drag. That should pay for half of a minute at a private university or a used Kia Soul. Um, yay?
Paula thinks they”re hugely talented in many arenas. Still, she thinks less and more. But still, she loves them. Gold star. Travis thinks it started wonderfully but became too busy, which I have to agree with. Red star. Kimberly thinks their ability to put it all together overcomes the busyness of it all. Gold star.
Kendall Glover has a fauxhawk. She is so excited! She”s had tendonitis. She is so excited! She”s just a little girl from Phoenix. And she”s so excited!
I cannot see a damn thing, as she”s dancing in a black outfit against a black background. If you squint, she looks like a double amputee hurling around the stage, which is actually even more impressive, but I suspect that wasn”t the intention. Still, from what I can tell this is a better performance than the one she delivered last week, and she is a little powerhouse, there”s no denying it. If she wins, she”d like to go to college, redecorate her room and take her family on vacation. Hopefully not in that order.
Kimberly thinks she can muscle through any trick. Gold star. Paula thinks she”s a daydream to work with (really, Paula? Daydream?) and thinks she nailed it. Gold star. Travis calls her a bright, shining star. Gold star.
Oh, yay, Dance Town Chaos and their “Miami masculinity.” They”re very diverse but joined in their belief that dancing is girly. Okay, that”s a dig at last week”s performance. Yes, they may have been lassoed into saying that by the producers, but still, they didn”t need to agree so readily that it was their job to butch up modern dance. Oh, and one guy used to be fat. Again, producers, you couldn”t come up with a better inspirational story?
Okay, I didn”t want to like this routine, but this is stunning. They”re truly dancing their asses off, and the choreography is inspired. I even dig the drumming. Standing O from the judges, so I guess I”m not alone on this one.
Paula thinks they”re authentic and relevant. Gold star. Travis stands up and makes weird noises, which is his way of saying he liked it. He thinks they deserve their own show. Gold star. Kimberly loves them. She starts screaming and shaking a fist and generally appears to be in heat. Gold star. I smell a winner here.
But wait! We haven”t seen D”Angelo and Amanda, the cutest little ballroom dancers ever. D”Angelo says that if they win, he deserves more money because he has to lift Amanda. I”m telling you, they deserve their own variety show. Amanda has an early Cher, pre-plastic surgery vibe.
There may have been a few little, teensy glitches in this performance, but I don”t care. I love these kids. I”m more impressed by their level of technique than Kendall”s, which seems to largely be gymnastics with some hand flair. I hope they don”t get buried because of this awful song, which is just too funereal after a Kanye West mash-up.
Travis thinks they”re the future of ballroom dance, though he didn”t like the music. No kidding! Gold star. Kimberly thinks they perform with winners” mentality. And D”Angelo keeps Patrick Swayze”s passion alive. Wha? Anyway, gold star. Paula thinks D”Angelo has grown into a strong, debonair man. Gold star.
Though it”s impossible to guess how America might vote, for sheer explosive stage presence Dance Town Chaos definitely stands out. But I have a soft spot for D”Angelo and Amanda as well as White Tree Fine Art simply because of how demanding their chosen forms of dance are. Really, though, any of these acts proved themselves deserving of the win tonight. God, am I having a Paula moment or what?
Which act do you think deserves to win? Which act had the best choreography? And do you think the intros mostly sucked?