‘So You Think You Can Dance’ video recap: Was the jammed-pack Top 8 episode too little or too much? [WATCH]
The Top 8 dancers became the Top 6 this week on a super-sized two-hour episode of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Each contestant participated in no less than five routines — two group numbers, two duets and a solo. While Gold Derby senior editors Daniel Montgomery and Susan Wloszczyna enjoyed some of the performances, other attempts came up short.
As Daniel notes, last week two couples were broken up when tapper Eddie Hoyt and ballroom whiz Stephanie Sosa were eliminated. But this week a pair had to say goodbye, contemporary dancer Benjamin Castro and hip-hop specialist Anna Linstruth. Meanwhile, Madison Jordan and Ezra Sosa, the other team in the bottom two guys and girls, were saved by the judges.
Susan thinks that Benjamin and Anna were handicapped by their first routine — an attempt at Tahitian-style dancing. “That was the kiss of death,” she says. “Unless you are a Tahitian, it really doesn’t look right. That’s true with Bollywood, too. It just looks like white people trying to be other people.” On top of that, “the costumes were stupid. All this red straw sticking out. … It’s so corny.”
Daniel agrees, adding, “Even when there is authenticity with the choreographer and choreography, it does feel costume-y on these dancers who are not of that culture and of that dance style. I did think Benjamin did OK with it. I agreed 100 percent with Nigel (Lythgoe, the judge in chief) when he said that Anna was coming off a little showgirl-y than Polynesian dance. She had this big smile plastered on her face — that’s not a comfortable fit. It just felt off for me. I’m not surprised at all that they were eliminated, especially after that.”
Daniel admits he was not expecting to see Madison as the other female in trouble. “I thought Sophie Pittman would be the other one in the bottom two. But I knew the judges would save Madison over Anna.”
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Susan, however, felt that contemporary dancer Madison and ballroom artist Ezra were in trouble, too, with their inter-galactic hip-hop number in which they were encased in white puffy astronaut costumes. “Coming down from the ceiling is your big move?,” says Susan, who thinks whoever handled the ropes holding the dancers should get credit for that.
However, Daniel thought it was charming that Ezra admitted being afraid of heights afterwards while Susan observes, “You want to see a dancer” as well as their movements, especially when it comes to hip hop. “It felt a little bit gimmicky,” Daniel noted while comparing it to the prince dance that Gino Cosculluella and Stephanie Sosa did on the first live show, which helped get her eliminated. “The concept feels a little bit forced.”
The editors go on to discuss 5-foot-tall b-boy Bailey Munoz‘s problems doing lifts with Mariah Russell during the cha cha but also praising their contemporary routine on a rooftop prop. Other topics include Madison and Ezra saving themselves with a terrific Argentine tango and sharing thoughts on Nigel calling out “Good Morning America” anchor Lara Spencer for recently mocking boys who dance.
Tune in to FOX on Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT for another two-hour live show featuring the Top 6 to see which male and female dancer is cut next.
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