SYTYCD s16: the Final Cut - part 2, Guys
Had a busy week, recorded the show and saw it on Tuesday but hadn’t had time to sit down and sort out my notes. Anyway, this episode was really exciting because they had a really good group of guys.
Before we go, some thoughts about prior rounds - Sad to see Jay go. I figured he would never make it to the live shows even competing as himself and not as Estranja, just because this show is stuck in its cis binary gender world. I’m glad he came out here for two years to make a statement
Same as last week, I’ll include the contestant’s home style in brackets and score each dance out of ten.
Bailey Munoz (b-boy) with Lauren Froderman, contemporary - I’m rooting HARD for Bailey. He is so cute and his talent is off the charts!!! I’m curious as to why he was given contemporary in this round, since it seems (at least for the ladies) they were given styles they struggled with but his contemporary round was good. If that was still his weakest style, he’s gonna take this show by storm. Now for his dance with Lauren - wow!! D-trix reps me with his response. Bailey is really powerful and he knows how to use his strengths. He had a great connection with Lauren. Nice to see him taking care of details like pointing his toes. 10/10
Ezra Sosa (ballroom) with Comfort Fedoke, hip-hop - Stephanie’s little brother. He says he isn’t saucy...but I think Latin ballroom has got to have some of the sauciest styles out there. Maybe he’s thinking more swagger? In any case, I liked his performance a lot! Only thing is he might have been in his head a little bit. The judges gave him good comments but didn’t look very enthused which confused me. 9/10
Vlad Kvartin (ballroom) with Melanie Moore, contemporary - So we barely glimpsed Vlad up till this point. I remember at the end of Academy, the judges mentioned his solo was offputting. But he is still here. This dance was a good effort and Vlad made each movement effortless, but he was stuck in his head and so the dance felt very unfeeling. Also didn’t really help that the choreo makes him scarcely more than a prop for Melanie. There was a moment where he smiled at Melanie and I thought he was finally getting into the dance, but it was an isolated event. 7/10
Aleksander Ostanin (tap) with Lindsay Arnold, cha cha cha - Choreo by Sharna. Aye DWTS ladies! from what I’m seeing, Aleksander has been on (won?) SYTYCD Ukraine. So, this was a hard routine and for the most part he looked very sharp. His downfall was the tricks because he’s not as strong upper body wise (not surprising since he’s a tap specialist). Some transitions also looked slow. He looked like he was enjoying himself, but I wanted him to project more energy. At this point I think he is stronger than Eddie if Nigel wants a tap dancer. He’s really charismatic too. 7/10
Benjamin Castro (contemporary) with Koine Iwasaki, salsa - Interesting partner assignment, but in the end Koine looked like she has been doing salsa all her life. This dance was fire. Benji’s footwork was so sharp. If only he wasn’t flat footed. He also needs to be careful not to let his butt stick out, being tall, but even that happened only 1.5 times. Unfortunately for Aleksander this was a better ballroom routine, and right after him too. 8/10
Bryan “Clocks” Volozanin (animation) with Jasmine Harper, jazz - This guy has a great positive attitude and approach, it’s a shame this dance wasn’t stronger. It was honestly kinda basic save for some jumps that Clocks didn’t pull off great (but at least we got a throwback to some of Dominic’s less than stellar ones too). 6/10
Brandon Talbott (contemporary ballet) with Lindsay, cha cha cha - choreo-ed by Emma and Sasha. Shoutout to my DWTS squad today!! I loved the choreography here, especially that cartwheel move at the end. He tried to channel his inner saucy persona, “Brando”, but sadly “Brando” didn’t come through. He still looked very ballet and pulled-up. Lacked hip action. There were some moves he was obviously pushing through. Shame, he looked good in that black jacket. 6/10
Nathan Cherry (hip-hop) with Melanie, contemporary - Haven’t seen him until now, so there ya go. Cheating storyline for an 18-year-old? I feel like that’s setting him up in a bad way. Uh anyway, this dance really really confused me. The performance itself blew hot and cold. Sometimes he was too gangly. Sometimes it almost seemed like he made a connection but the next moment it would be flat and unfeeling. Choreo didn’t give Nathan much to show either. I felt disconnected from this piece. But the judges seemed to really like it. Hence my confusion. 5/10
Gino Cosculluela (contemporary) with Lauren, jazz - first of all, it took me multiple tries to spell his last name. I think Gino’s biggest downfall will be the high expectations people have of him. Like, in this piece he wobbled once and flicked his hands weird once, which for most people would be passable, but I was thinking, this shouldn’t happen for someone of his caliber and background. Gino is very technical. I wanted more sass. The judges were stern in their comments, but Nigel made it sound like it was pretty much given he’d be in the live shows. Or I guess they are calling it studio shows. Don’t get me wrong, I think he deserves a spot. It’s just he still has room to grow and will have to fight greater expectations. 8/10
Eddie Hoyt (tap) with Comfort, hip-hop - Oh, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. I wanted to root for him but the guy’s ballroom routine was really rough and he should have gone home there and then. But Nigel gave him a chance. Then, I actually kinda liked his last solo. It was different, and I liked the way he played with the music/sound. Was it the smartest choice given the stakes? No. In any case, I feel like he has a shot just because Nigel always needs a tap dancer. (And Aleksander hadn’t been shown until this week if that says anything about his chances of making the live shows.) I was sure Eddie would get ballroom in this round, but apparently he was assigned to it during the big Academy group number (which Mandy totally fudged, by the way. Cutting and pasting all your other dances? How original is that? /s) and did better then. Now, I had doubts for this round, but Eddie might have just done it. This was a great dance. He was in the groove. He still had that cute boy face at times but because the theme wasn’t too serious or swaggy I think he got away with this one. He probably had the roughest Academy of the ten remaining guys, but pulled this performance out at just the right time. 9/10
So, before I watched my recording I got spoiled on Twitter about Bailey and Benji getting in. Based on the judges’ reactions and previous rounds, my guesses for the other 3 were:
Eddie
Gino
Nathan
Man, this was hard! I really waffled between Nathan and Ezra for that last spot, because I thought one was good today but the judges seemed unconvinced while the other was meh to me but the judges were positive about. In the end, it’s Ezra, Gino and Eddie joining Bailey and Benji in the live shows.
Lol Mary really pulled one on Ezra. He had convinced himself they were sending him off and was already saying his thanks and goodbyes before Mary even finished what she was saying.
The male talent pool was undoubtedly outrageous this season, though. I feel like a handful of those who didn’t get in could have displaced the top ladies in a mixed pool.
Who’s your favourite going into the top 10?
