SYD #2

This week, the judges settled into their respective roles and catchphrases.

Nigel mentioned the choreographer first when he really liked a routine, in the middle when he kind of liked it (after a bit of critique), and not at all when he seemed to feel the routine wasn't very good.

Mary, as usual, screamed when she loved a routine, put one couple on the Hot Tamale train, and continually repeated herself in tag-question format when she really liked a performance. (Did this annoy me? This annoyed me, yes it did.)

Toni Basil, the guest judge, kept up Lil C's tradition of just saying a bunch of stuff, but with her own annoying additions of the words "street," "groove," "connection" and "tough" in gratuitous and random fashion.


Karla and Jonathan – “smooth” hip-hop

Nigel: "There’s no excitement in the routine…I can’t forgive you [Jonathan] then. Because you had no contact with your partner…There’s no great hip hop style in putting your hat back on your head together. Betcha they’re in the bottom three. Do you wanna take bets? You wanna take bets?"

Mary: They had no chemistry, no gangsterism.

Toni Basil: "Street has to have a groove and a funk."

Unfair! Karla’s wearing a bra and a string and she did better than Jonathan.

Note: Also, Cat’s dress doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out this week. (Could the wardrobe crew have been reading my blog?)


Vitolio and Asuka – “thrash rocker jazz” to Heartbreaker …out of sync, good lift, but nonsensical choreography on the whole by Mandy Moore.

Note: Boo Mandy Moores. Both of them. Also note that Nigel doesn't mention Mandy Moore's choreography, though he's clearly very pleased with this routine.

Nigel: “He’s strong, he’s macho, he’s throwing her around – I like that! Tonight, you did the work. Fantastic!”

Mary: “It wasn’t really together, and that should’ve been.”

Toni: “Watching that video clip of you caressing her when she was crying…” (Wow. I stopped transcribing here, because I just couldn't think of what might come next that wouldn't scare me or gross me out.)


Melissa and Ade – rumba (in which Melissa wears half a dress). Not bad for a ballroom routine. At least is was more interesting than Vitolio and Asuka’s.

Nigel compliments Melissa’s body rather than her dancing, giving special mentions to her hips and back. Ade was the star of the show, Nigel says. And as is the way with SYD, Nigel compliments the choreographer when he likes the routine.

Mary: “What you’re selling right now, I am buying, yes I am!” And she screams.

Toni Basil fans herself, compliments the choreographer in SYD fashion, and neglects to say anything at all about being “street.”


Brandon and Janette: hip-hop, wherein Brandon represents hip-hop and Janette represents a rocker that Brandon wishes he could be. The wardrobe conception of “rock” leaves something to be desired; it's like Cyndy Lauper-meets-dominatrix. Nice synchronization (finally). Brandon’s winning here.

Nigel: “This is like junior all-stars 50 cent and Cher…and you both worked it.”

Mary: “I think you guys really hit that, yes I do! And I am so proud of you tonight, yes I am.”

Toni: "I think that the juxtaposition of the rock and the hip hop that Dave laid on you guys was strategic on his part and good for you. Street is a really really tough thing to do…[something something] groove, [something something] connection.”


Kapono and Kayla: Viennese Waltz – to a Jewel song(???), which is very distracting (Jewel doesn't even have the faux majesty of Celine Dion, and majesty is necessary for Viennese Waltz), and neither of them are wearing any shoes, which is weird for a ballroom routine.

Nigel: “It’s not one of those routines where you’re going to get a hundred rounds of applause…I hope I’m wrong about that.”

Mary: “That was no nightmare, Jean Marc, no it wasn’t!...and you young lady, you’re just absolutely dead gorgeous to watch dance.” And they got on the Hot Tamale train, and Mary screamed.

Toni: “No shoes in a waltz? Jean Marc, you are pushing the envelope, with no shoes in a waltz!”


Evan and Randi: Mia Michaels' contemporary – “it’s all about the booty”

Nigel mentions Mia then goes on to compliment dancing and Randi’s butt.

Mary does some kind of weird voice, then screams. Then mentions Mia. Then says “…and we went down that path, yes we did!”

Toni talks almost exclusively about Mia Michaels for awhile, and I get bored and stop listening.


Caitlin and Jason: paso doble – Caitlin has hypnotic boobs, for some reason, meaning that she's been wardrobed into a bizarre boob-centric concoction that whirls around only those portions of her chest. (“It looks like something Jafar would make Jasmine wear,” says friend Liz.)

Nigel: “A lot of the things you were doing were exceptionally good in the time you had to do it.” But he didn’t mention choreographers.

Mary: “That was really a strong performance, yes it was.” Jason lost his posture, but “it was fearless, yes it was.”

Toni: says the lack of consistent form “didn’t get in the way of the performance.”


Philip and Jeanine: Broadway – Philip has to jump the couch…and he makes it. They also got to pillow fight, which hasn’t even happened in a Mia Michaels routine. Also, Philip's pants split.

Nigel: “Like so many vaudeville dancers that went before him, Philip now knows what it’s like to dance with his ass hanging out of his trousers. Many of us had to do that, believe me.” [Mary loves this.] He mentions choreography, but then also tells Philip to grow even more than he has.

Mary: “I wasn’t allergic to that routine, no I wasn’t….[to Jeanine] you were fabulous, yes you were!”

Toni: “I think you did better as a couple this week than last week.”

Note: Prince Certainpersonio loses a bet that Toni will mention "street" in her last chance in the show. (I thought she probably wouldn't, since it would have been so out of place in commenting on a Broadway routine, though Liz points out that Broadway is, in fact, a street.)