I love this show. I started watching at the very end of the second season, but it was really the third season when I became a fan. I have had long conversations with my mom and with friends about who we like and who we think deserves to win in various seasons. I remember being at a Purdue tailgate one year and randomly beginning to talk about with my friend Kyra about the season. Before we knew it practically everyone had an opinion. Even some of the future husbands had favorites although they were loath to admit they even watched it.
I have had many favorite dances and dancers through the years. My favorite all-time dance was Season 4's Chelsea and Mark doing Bleeding Love. Other dances I remember loving were No Air (Season 4--Josh and Katee), Addiction (Season 5--Kayla and Kupono), Hip Hip Chin Chin (Season 3--Danny and Lacey), The Door* (Season 4--Twitch and Katee), The Hummingbird (Season 3--Hok and Jamie), The Boardroom* (Season 3--Neil and Sabra), among others. Season 4 has been my favorite!
This season has been quite different. I was extremely sceptical about the whole all-star premise initially. However, I have LOVED seeing some of my old favorites again. I think the show does miss a little bit of the current competitors bonding together. That's what set Josh/Katee apart in season 4 and Kathryn/Legacy apart in Season 6. While that might be a small draw-back, it's a small price to pay to get to see some of these amazing dancers again. So far there are three dances that have stood out to me. My favorite was Alex and Twitch's hip-hop, my second favorite was Lauren and Dominic's lyrical hip-hop to "If I Were a Boy", and Alex and Allison's contemporary to "Hallelujah." I watched these three over and over. I'm also thankful to have this show on during the summer. Ben hates it, and since he's in the field most weeks, I get to watch it in peace AND it gives me something to look forward to two nights of the week.
However, my biggest disappointment of the season came from Alex's injury. He was the best, and I think he would have won. It's been a shame not to get to see him dance every week. Then last night, Billy got hurt. Alex and Billy have been my favorite two dancers this season. I looked forward to them dancing every week. Billy still has a chance to go on if the judges don't send him home and he's healed enough to dance next all week so my fingers are crossed! When they announced Billy was hurt at the beginning of the show, it already made me look forward to the rest a little less. I know if he's sent home I'll look forward to all the other episodes a little less.
Here are some of my thoughts about last night's show. First of all, I think the judges are often way off base. It's like they are afraid to criticize at all now, and when they do criticize it seems to be totally nit-picky on the better dancers and not at all on the ones that could use the advice. In Robert and Lauren's samba, although they danced well, it definitely seemed like they botched several lifts. I was sure one of the four judges would mention that, but there was only deafening silence there. The judges also said that Kent almost outdanced Kathryn. No way I say. I watched Kathryn way more in that dance. I actually think that Kathryn and Allison always outshine their dance partners. They are just so good. Speaking of Kent, I was totally annoyed with the screams coming during his Step routine with Twitch. Are they putting mics on the crowd? Those screaming girls are super annoying and draw away from the routine. Please don't mic them! I also think the judges WAY overpraised his Step. It was good, but not great. In Jose and Allison's contemporary, there was hardly any dancing. The concept was cute, but it did Jose no favors. Or maybe it did him a lot of favors since he can't look weak if he's not really dancing or proving himself much.
Here are my rankings of the eight dances with 1 being my favorite and 8 being my least favorite.
1) Adechike with Comfort hip-hop
2) Kent with Kathryn jazz
3) Lauren with Twitch hip-hop
4) Robert with Lauren G. jazz
5) Kent with Twitch step
6) Jose with Allison contemporary
7) Robert with Lauren samba
8) Jose with Adechike Pase Doble
I like all the dancers right now even though I'm rooting for Billy. My choice to go home is Jose.
*I don't know if those are the actual names.
