Sunday, April 13, 2008

So You Think You Can Dance Australia - The final six show.

With only a few weeks to go until the end of the series has Natalie Bassingthwaite finally mastered the autocue? Tonight was definitely her best night as host she looked relaxed, attempted a few jokes and had no weird eye movements.

Where the hell was Jason Gilkison? I thought Bonnie was not meant to be on the show tonight due to a family commitment.

Also what was Jason Coleman’s shirt like, for all those readers who google Jason Coleman Gay normally you would get to my previous blog here on this issue however for those who cannot be bothered to read it the answer is in the shirt.

The drawing of the couples were supposedly random - however the conspiracy theory part of me thought I bet Graeme and Vanessa are coupled together, and low and behold that was the case. I would be very surprised if either of them make the top four.

First couple of the night Kate and Rhys danced the Rumba to a Jason Gilkison routine. It was about man in love with a woman. How many times has Rhys had to man up in this competition? More then the other dancers, but to his credit he has always done it very convincingly.

It was beautiful routine and Kate was beautiful and Rhys was a good partner.

Matt Lee said “I totally bought that you were in love,” and “Rhys each week you just step up and up and up”

Jason Coleman said “Jason Gilkison is the master of this world,”, “Kate just exquisite” and “As this competition is about versatility it shows why you two are still here.”

Bonnie Lythgoe said “It cannot be faulted from the beginning”

Tonight they appeared to mix up which judge spoke first which was the first time they had done this, and I wondered what the rationale was and it did not really add anything and I prefer it when Jason goes last as his are the best comments.

Next were Demi and Jack dancing a Contemporary Garry Stewart. Demi had a bit of drama with her ankle twisting in rehearsals this resulted in her getting upset. I am not sure if it was because of the pain, or just because she was so tired and overwhelmed.

The routine was ok I have seen similar dancing in ‘80’s video clips. A bit Thomas Dolbyish. Jack was sensational . Demi was good. The only criticism of the routine was that it was all pretty static, not much movement around the stage.

Bonnie said “Very clever routine”, “Demi executed it brilliantly”

Jason said “Abstract routine”, “You guys took complete ownership over the abstract of the nature of the routine,” and “Jack you are good at everything you do.”

Matt Lee said “It was so strong, a little bit of unison issue, but great job.”

The last couple were Vanessa and Graeme dancing Broadway by Adam Williams to Money from the musical Cabaret. It was meant to be a slapstick and I thought this may not be so great as this pair who have the two smaller personalities left in the competition are going to dance it.

I thought Vanessa started out strongly but then faded and Graeme was good but it was not a stand out performance.

Jason said “Great routine, congrats to Adam” , “ Vanessa I feel that in the second verse you need more staccato (short and sharp).” and “Graeme another great routine for you.”

Matt lee said “ Vanessa needed you to stick it harder at the end.”

Bonnie said “I didn’t mind that it was not as staccato as the guys”

Then Natalie had a big surprise .

Alls the girls were going to be dancing together and Nacho Pop had choreographed a west coast g funk mid nineties hip hop routine. I am sure if you are a hip hop junkie you will know what that means. Quite frankly I don't have a frigging clue.

Vanessa had to go sexy and gangsta - Nacho Pop was not convinced she could do this.

Personally I find Nacho Pop routines overrated, and this one was no exception.

Vanessa opened the routine by taking off her sunglasses and then did the startled bunny in headlights look. This was not the sexy pose Mr Pop was hoping for.

Demi was the strongest but it was not fabulous.

Matt said “Vanessa this was not so great, trying to be sexy sometimes you just have to be it” and
“Unison Vanessa you were out.”

Bonnie said “What I loved that the three girls danced together”, “I really enjoyed it.”

Jason said “I did not see three girls dancing together.”, “Nacho left Vanessa exposed”, “ Demi I did buy the gangstga chick from you.”, “Kate I bought the gangsta chick in an east side sort of way.” “Slightly difficult routine for us to comment on.” Was Jason having a go at Nacho about the fairly ordinary choreography?

The guys had Supple routine to dance to which was the concept was Madagascar meets the three stooges.

This was a much better routine- it was funny in parts. I was wondering if Graeme was going for the New Zealand vote in his last pose as he looked like he was channelling the maori haka at the end.

Matt said “Supple such a clever concept and executed so well.” , “Rhys I saw no fear with backward tumbling,” and “This routine showed the strength you guys have got..”

Bonnie said “ All individually extremely good at what you did.”

Jason said “Routine brilliant…. Congratulations Supple“.
“It was hard to judge as there was no unison” Which I took to mean it was hard to compare who was the better dancer because everyone was dancing different steps. “ All brilliant.”

Tomorrow night is the last live elimination show and next week will be the final four show. The series has almost finished.

Graeme and Vanessa will be the ones to go this week.

10 comments:

Sue B said...

I suspected as much (as they were nearly eliminated last week). I also want to point out that I called for Kate, Jack, Demi, and Rhys two weeks ago (so smart, heh heh), with Rhys or Jack winning (though I love Kate).

RR, please post the results post haste, once you know them. Thanks! :)

Sue, sadly not watching in Boston

Gabriel said...

I love Rhys and Kate but I do not think their routine was perfect from start to finish as Bonnie said - Kate did little hops to regain her balance on quite few occasions - and not just during the turns when, as Jason pointed out, Rhys was to blame, as he was in the driver's seat (so the speak). I really liked Demi and Jack's routine; I thought Nacho Pop's routine was pretty lame and looked really bad next to Supple's, who so far has come up with consistently clever entertaining routines. It's really too bad the girls didn't something more to work with. Vanessa looks to me like she wants to get out of competition. Did you see how she hung onto Matt's praise - about all she got this week and last. I thought she was OK with Graeme. Better than last week.
I was sorry to see the show down to one hour but I guess there isn't much they can do about that.

Anonymous said...

I'm kind of annoyed that we only got one partner dance. I would have preferred two partner dances, or one partner dance and solos, than the female trio and male trio routines.

Kate and Rhys were the stand-outs, for me, in their partner work and in the groups. Even though there were a couple of small, tiny mistakes in the Rhumba, they still sold it to me, and I thought it was freaking gorgeous.

I find Graeme quite bland and will be shocked if he makes it into the top four. I think Demi and Vanessa have an equal chance of making it in. If Kate/Rhys/Jack don't get in, I think it'll be due to complacency!

Anonymous said...

I didn't know there was only one partner routine for each couple this week, I guess I am only missing the girls' group routines then.

I enjoyed the guys' group piece so losing the three partner pieces is okay with me. The three guys are in similar genres so it really was fun to see them all dance together. I agree with the judges that no one stood out/outshone another in that piece. Just all around fun, energy, and entertainment.

There is so much genre cross-over in the pieces that sometimes I am unsure which styles the dances are supposed to be (if I watch the performance without the intro). It is not an issue in the real-world; good dancing is good dancing. But for a competition where versatility is supposed to be an important factor, I find the genre blend gives certain dancers advantages.

Reality Raver said...

Yemaya - I am glad someone else agrees with me about Nacho Pop. I thought I was going to be flamed by saying that.

I doubt he would be rated at all as a hip hop choreographer in the US.

Anon: you are not missing much by not seeing the girls routine it was fairly ordinary.

Sue B said...

From what I've read (NOT SEEN), Demi did not have a great week (nor did Graeme, but that's to be expected; he's been fairly week on a predictable basis, I think). That's too bad, b/c I would like to have her in the final four.

I love Nacho Pop, but I have to agree that his routines have pretty blah. Supple's have been much better.

I'm surprised that there were group dances, since they waited until the final four in S3 US.

I'm still pulling for Kate, Rhys, Jack, and Demi, and now it looks like Rhys might take it all (I wouldn't be unhappy about that).

I hope there was no complacency about Kate, Rhys, or Jack. Considering how Michael Johns was eliminated at number 8 (EIGHT!!!), one must be careful of complacency. I'm eager to hear the results (and, at some point, see them myself).

Anonymous said...

soobee, Ms A over at BloggingSYTYCD has posted a link to the videos for this week. that woman always has her finger on the pulse, haha.

Sue B said...

Booyah. Thanks! I will have to go there and thank her. :)

Anonymous said...

I think the problem is that Nacho Pop's style is more suitable for battle/freestyle than choreography. Also, popping and ticking are not really something that the dancers out of genre can pick up in two days. (I like the animation hip hop choreography but it was more like 'stopping' than 'popping')

Ok, I just watched the girls' piece. There wasn't much there (perhaps watered down for the dancers?) and the overall effort (lighting/costume/choreography) is not comparable to the guys' piece. And asking Kate to be 'gangster' and Vanessa to be 'sexy' is not really the best thing to do.

Contented Single said...

I agree withyou that Vanessa and Graeme will be out. I am so glad Kate has stayed in. She wasn't very popular initially, but she has shown how consistent she is. She also makes any guy look great. I loved her rumba with Rhys.
I didn't think much of the all boy, all girl routines.