SYTYCD: Performances

Our first live show opens with all kinds of horrid camerawork and missed close-ups. Oh - this show is directed by a woman now, right? That explains a lot.

OK, so Mary Murphy's NOT going to be a judge this season? At all? I forget, but I guess Mia replaced her and Adam's permanent too. It's OK, I can live without her Hot Tamale Train. Adam's hella orange though.

1. Billy and Lauren - Broadway by Tyce, set to "Footloose". I loved Lauren; it was hard to take my eyes off her. It's kind of depressing how you don't really hear from the All-Star either before or after. :( In his opening bit, we saw that Billy's dad is a general contractor. I hope he loves his gay son! Billy's great, but this new format is throwing me off - I want to hear from Lauren!!

2. Cristina and Mark - Jazz by Sonya. Mark is MADE for Sonya routines - can't wait! I think Cristina was good. I don't know. Here's my problem so far - I'm focusing on the dancers I know instead of watching the new ones. Especially here where I really wanted to see Mark dance Sonya's stuff. This is going to be all about the All Stars for me, I can tell. Also, Cristina's clear braces bother me.

3. Jose and Comfort - Hip hop by Tabitha & Napoleon. Comfort pwns hip hop and it was a kickass routine. Jose lucked out starting out with hip hop. He was great. They partnered really well together.

4. Adechike and Kathryn - Jazz by Travis. Cool routine. Once again, I focused on Kathryn. The judges were kind of harsh with him because they expect so much. Mia slammed him for having no chemistry or emotion.

5. Melinda and Pasha - Jive by Tony & Melanie. Words can't describe the douchechills Pasha gives me, especially when people call him hot and he has a shirt open to his navel. Puke. In this case, I was actually watching Melinda, and thought she was good. The judges didn't like her legs and Mia called her pigeon-toed. But Melinda's personality didn't bother me, and kind of helped her in this performance, so I consider it a win.

6. Alex and Allison - Contemporary by Sonya. Well, I don't know Allison, so I suppose I'll be watching the new kid for once. It was really amazing, and gave everyone all kinds of goosebumps. Allison was great too, and I didn't know what to expect from her. Even Nigel was getting all choked up, and that's usually Mia and Adam's job. Mia said it was the best piece ever on the show!!

7. Alexie and Twitch - Hip hop by Tabitha & Napoleon. They showed clips from her performance on Star Search as a kid and ADAM JUDGED HER THEN TOO! OMG! Young Adam! It's hysterical! I was underwhelmed by the performance. Didn't think the choreography was all that, and didn't think Alexie had a lot to work with. Twitch was the one I watched cuz I love him, and I thought she was too stiff or something. She's wrong for hip hop.

8. Lauren and Ade - Pop jazz by Mandy Moore. The routine was really cute and it was great to see Ade again. She held her own, considering it was with Ade, and the choreography kind of fit her because it was cheerleader-esque. It was a bit robotic, but that seemed to be the point of the routine. Mia criticized her for not "filling the spaces" and I could totally see that - technically precise, but not emotional.

9. Kent and Anya - Cha cha by Tony & Melanie. Anya's kind of mature for this little twerp, isn't she? He's going to do a strong cha cha? Oh lord. It was what I expected. He's pulling faces and he looks 12 and he's too weak to lift Anya's fat ass. (Seriously, Anya was unexpectedly curvy. You know, for this show.) He clearly had a great time, which was cute, but the whole farm-boy-makes-good thing is getting old already.

10. Ashley and Neil - Contemporary by Tyce. Well, I'm pretty much just watching my BF Neil. Screw Ashley. I don't know, the routine kind of bored me and I didn't feel chemistry between them. It's probably because Neil was thinking of me the whole time, and who can blame him.

11. Robert and Courtney - African Jazz by Some Dude. Love the African Jazz! The choreography was awesome and they were amazing. Something about Robert bothers me. But he IS hot, so I need to get over that and just appreciate. You know what it is? His personality. And the melodramatic false modesty and gratitude. Die. You'll make a cute corpse.