Well, let’s cut to it:
From the first group, I predicted Randi and Evan, but Karla and Vitolio (the Quickstep, again, is a style of doom) are in the bottom from the first group. Nigel is weirdly backhanded in saying that they are not strangers to the bottom three, so they will be okay. From the second group I was expecting Kayla and Kupono in the bottom, and was right there. I was disappointed, but I think their routine was just a little too out there, but they performed it well. And out of the last group, I had fingered Caitlin and Jason as our final victims, which was an easy call. It was also dead wrong, as, to my astonishment, Phillip and Jeanine are in the bottom.
Going into the solos with these six, I am thinking Phillip and Karla are in the most dire straits. Karla’s kooky style agrees with me, but we’ve seen it before. Vitolio’s solo didn’t amazes me, but I loved his shifty movements. Kayla is a little shaky at first, but her stuning leg lines and core movement should keep her in. Kupono’s performance seemed muted. Jeanine took a big risk dancing to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, but I feel like she paid it off. Phillip pulled out all the stops, clearly taking the phrase “dancing for his life” very literally.
As the deliberations begin I feel like the judges are going to be weighing Phillip’s lack of growth with Kupono’s inability to draw votes, and Karla will be staring down the barrell of being up against two stronger dancers. I feel like Phillip is on track for the Musa Cooper/Hokuto Kanishi Fast Hook for Struggling Street Dancers, but I can see the judges sparing him this week to send Karla and Vitolio home and avoid breaking up more couples, but we are splitting lots of hairs here already.
Nigel deems Jeanine’s solo clearly the strongest of the evening. After firing a stern shot at Kayla, he send Karla home. Nigel lets Phillip twist in the wind a bit, reminding him about how much work he has to do to manage other styles, then keeps him. I think that as Phillip’s last warning. Nigel demands more passion from Kupono in the future, and then cuts Vitolio.
It’s gotten really painful now on this show, and every cut feels brutal. We are seeing excellent dancers disappear every week now. The Quickstep claimed two more victims this week. We will see how everyone holds up on the last week of judges’ decisions. Going in to next week I am waiting for Evan to trip, and hoping that Phillip can get his act together and get out from under the bullseye over his head. I think Brandon and Janette have turned into this season’s Josh Allen and Katie Shean, and they will be around a long time. I think Caitlin and Jason are in a very precarius position.
July 2, 2009 at 10:00 pm |
First of all, the guest dancers were AH-MAZING. Sick amazing.
I LOVED Karla’s solo and Jeanine’s solo was fantastic. Kayla’s was meh. I would have sent her home, personally.
As for the guys, all the solos were good but I thought Kupono was the weakest. Philip was freaking crazy and Vitolio gave his best solo yet.
I think Kayla and Kupono’s performance last night saved them, because based on the solos alone, they deserved to be sent home.