SYTYCD - Meet the Top 8!
So You Think You Can Dance has been a staple on American television for 10 years and 12 amazing seasons. I myself, have been a fan since the orgininal series aired on The Series Channel and America crowned their first favourite dancer Nick Lazzarini. Since then I have been an avid watcher and couldnt wait to sink my teeth into this season's new premise: Stage Vs Street with show favourites Travis Wall and Twitch each coaching their respective sides.
This is not our only change on our household favourite reality dance show. The series' long time executive producer Nigel Lythgoe decided to shake up the judging panel abit by setting a firm set of judges for the entire season. So You Think You Can Dance Season 12 welcomes Paula Abdul, a previous Idols judge and excellent choreographer in her own right a long with the ever popular Jason Derulo. Sadly though we wave goodye to our Hot Tamale and will miss her fondly.
This fan was glued to her screen every week from the first audition straight through to this weeks Top Ten performance and couldnt wait to share the amazing top 8 with you. So without further ado, and in no particular order, America's Top 8 dancers:
Virgil Gadson - an amazing hip hop dancer that joined Team Street when he blew away the judges with his fun, energetic audition in New York. He first auditioned in Season 8 where he made it to Vegas but sadly couldn't make it passed the Top 30. Luckily for us he decided to give it another go this year and has been nothing but phenominal throughout this season.
His huge smile and shining personality has done him wonders in all his performances blinding out any flaws he might have otherwise shown. His best performance so far is a tos up between the Top 18 performance and Top 14 performance, both of which he did with Hailee (I am sorry - can I just add here that the two of them were MADE to dance toghether).
In Virgil and Hailee's top 18 performance hip-hop choreographers Pharside & Phoenix had them dress up as a bunch of robot's and the two of them emersed themselves so far into the characters that they were stuck as robot's right through the judges critiques all the way off the stage. They were genius. In the Top 14 performance they took on a more serious Contemporary routine by my favourite choreographer Tyce Diorio. Their emotions were so easy to follow that you kind of just drowned in the performance with them.
Virgil has proven himself to be one of America's favourites as he has yet to be in danger.
Next up we have Eddie 'Neptune' Eskridge, a bit of a crumper that has ried aout a lot of street dance styles. He has auditioned for the show twice before, both times making it to Vegas but unfortunately never quite making the cut. Another reason why I am loving this season's new Street vs Stage premise...
His best performance by far was this week's Top Ten performance where he rocked it with All Star Jasmine to another Pharside and Phoenix Hip Hop number in which he rocked it as Frankenstein. This performance let him showcase a bit more of his dirtier crump which we have been missing throughout the season so far. As team captain Twitch said he got to show his Beast.
Hopefully this performance will be enough to keep him out of next weeks bottom 4.
Filling in the female side on Team Street we have Dzajna 'Jaja' Vankova, all the way from the Czech Republic showing us some of the sickest crumping, and crump faces So You Think You Can Dance has seen in a long time. This razzing read head is an expert in her choice of style having won America's Best Dance Crew in 2011. She first auditioned for SYTYCD Season 11 but unfortunately did not make it to the Top 20 with her one time crew member Emilio Dosal.
Am I ever so glad she decided to try out again this year as she has just risen to new heights with each weeks performances taking on Contemporary, Jazz, Hip-Hop and the ever dreaded Bollywood.
I am not sure if I would call it Jaja's best performance so far as she excells in what she does so well, but her most beautiful performance was her Top 20 Performance with Ballet dancer Jim. They took on a slightly more nostalgic Hip-Hop number by the fantastic Christopher Scott and nailed it. Well she did anyway...
Rounding off Team Street for out Top 8 we have Megan 'Megz' Alfonso a bit of a dance legacy that didn't quite follow in her Ballroom parents' footsteps and took on the less conventional Hip Hop. Megz is another one of those amazingly fun personalities that shines through her performances, but personally I would love to see a bit more 'girl'. Megan made it all the way to the Top 30 in Season 6, but luckily for us didn't make it then. Now we get to see her shine in a format of the show that let's The Street dancers show us what their really made of.
Megz doesn't always have the audience on her side as we have seen her in the bottom 4 recently. However her best performance by far overshadows this. Megz, Virgil and Alexia Meyer took on a Contemporary routine choreographed by Dee Caspary and showed that she is more than just a Hip Hop dancer. Showcasing a much softer side of her I believed helped her image with the public.
First up for Team Stage we have Gaby Diaz, a tapper from Miami. But please let's not be fooled. This girl is so much more than just a tapper. Trained in other dance styles Gaby's is this season's ringer. First shown away by the judges in her Dallas for a poor choice of music and basically just not performing as well as she should. She took their critisism to heart and came back for the Detroit auditions and blew the judges away.
Gaby's best performance would definitely have to be the Contemporary routine she took on with Neptune in the Top 14 performance. The routine was choreographed by Stacey Tookey and seriously took my breath away.
Jim Nowakowski, a Korean adoptee crawls into your heart from his audition in LA and kind of just sits there. A Ballet dancer that has shown time and time again that he has amazing technique, he hasn't really managed to have his moment for me. He is a really sweet, kind guy but lacking the personality that most of the other contestants seem to have in spades. I love him, I do, but I really don't see him going very far unless he finds himself some spunk.
Jim's best performance for me was his Ballet routine with Darion Flores in the Meet The Top 20 performance. It showcased his technique and didn't require the amount of personality that most of the other routines on the show normally do.
Derek Piquette is a young contemporary dancer whom I firmly believe hasn't quite grown into his dancing shoes yet. He is constantly praised by the judges for his great technique but at the same time berated for not being strong enough when it comes to connecting with his partners and the audience. Derek is another softer personality, and unfortunately SYTYCD isn't really a show about the best technique as Nigel likes to keep reminding us.
Derek's best performance for the season would be this weeks Top Ten performance. Derek was partnered with All Star Kayla Radomski for a Jazz routine by RJ Durell and Nick Florez. He finally showed us a sexier, stronger side of him but I am not a 100% sure if this wasn't just due to Kayla's great performance. Hopefully Derek get's to stick around after this weeks vote and proves me wrong.
Last, but most certainly not least we have the ever bubbly Hailee Payne. Honestly all I ever see when I look at her is her smile. She is another one of those huge personalities that will surely make it far because her smile, charisma and joy shines through whenever she dances letting the audience enjoy every moment of it.
Once again I am stuck between Hailee's Top 18 and Top 14 performances with Virgil. Maybe I am just trying to play Dance Cupid or something but the two of them were meant to dance togher.
So there you have it, So You Think You Can Dance Season 12's top 8. Who's your favourite? Which team do you think will be the over all winner?
*All images are courtesy of fox.com*
