Comfort Fedoke and Will Wingfield are Eliminated Tonight - VIDEO VIDEO
Personality trumps technique tonight, as Will, arguably the best technical dancer in this year’s competition is sent packing. He had the chops, but his stiff personality didn’t win the voters hearts. That James Brown routine with the wig–an example of trying way to hard–exemplified his inability to connect. All I can say about Comfort going home–It’s about time. Now, let’s hope she doesn’t have some sort of Carrie-rising-from-the-dead moment. At this point, I swear she could. Stay healthy, girls!
Group Dance - by Chuck Maldonado - Song: “Universal Mind Control (UMC)” by Common - VIDEO
Nigel asks the viewing audience to “please educate yourself” and vote in the presidential election this year. That’s funny to me. Americans love to vote for their favorite reality show contestants. President of the United States? Maybe not so much. I vote for both! He pimps the website declareyourself.com.
The Bottom 2 Girls/Guys
- Cat begins calling the contestants out to the center stage one by one. Katee is first. She is SAFE, of course. Will takes center stage, and learns he is the first of the BOTTOM 2 GUYS. - VIDEO
- Comfort is next. She learns she is the first of the BOTTOM 2 GIRLS. Next is Mark. HOLEE CRAP MARK IS SAFE!!! There go my points. Mark is totally shocked, “Oh my GOD WHAT? WHAT?” He says. The look on his face is priceless. - VIDEO
- Chelsie takes center stage. She is SAFE. The dancers left backstage look REAL nervous. Next, is Twitch. Cat informs him he’s in the BOTTOM 2 guys. He turns his back to the audience, clearly upset. He probably thinks he’s going home, but I don’t think so. Joshua is next. He (and we) already know that he’s SAFE. Courtney, left backstage by herself, is called to center stage. But, as the last girl standing, and with a B2 spot to fill, she already knows she’s in the BOTTOM 2 GIRLS. - VIDEO
In the Bottom, and dancing solo later in the show are: Will, Comfort, Twitch and Courtney.
Dancers from the Los Angeles Ballet - A duo from the company dance a Pas de deux. Song: “The Man I Love” from the ballet Who Cares? - VIDEO
Solos:
- Comfort - Song: “Like This” by Mims, Will - “Closer” by Goapele - VIDEO
- Courtney - Song “Passion” by Kreesha Turner, Twitch - Song: “Hollywood Swinging” by Kool and the Gang - VIDEO
LL Cool J feat The Dream performs his new single, “Baby” - VIDEO
Elimination:
Comfort and Courtney take center stage: Comfort is ELIMINATED. Will and Twitch take center stage. Will is ELIMINATED. - VIDEO VIDEO
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No worries, Bobbi! This campaign has already gone on it seems like forever. It’s hard to imagine that it will actually be over in just over 3 months.
Wow, now Mark is being called the dancing Sanjaya? My favorite is Joshua but I have really admired all of Marks performances in the past. I never heard him referred to badly really until recently. I am going to have to watch him more closely but I dont see a Sanjaya performance with him. I am one of the few that got the Ghost dance with Will and Courtney. I think I related due to personal circumstances and I drive my family and friends crazy on myspace asking them to send pictures or put up pics of all the years of my life and my kids. A very bad person burned all of my most prized possessions, my photo albums and videos of my kids. So, I saw myself in Courtney pouring over photos searching for faces of those you lost or havent seen in years and want so badly to feel and see again.
That’s how I saw this myself, so I wasn’t understanding so many of the comments I’ve been seeing online about how she’s all over her new partners and treated Gev cold. Everyone always raved about their chemistry together and I can’t imagine how anyone who watched the two of them interacting together (not only while performing but in the backstage clips and while receiving their critiques) could ever say they both were anything other than affectionate to each other. Courtney always seemed very touchy-feely to me. And here is a clip of Courtney touching Gev’s chest (while they discussed him shaving the hair off) - seems like she’s an equal opportunity chest feeler, LOL.
Oh sumidol, that is so sad. My pics of my kids are my most prized possessions too–I would be devastated if they were all gone.
And calling Mark the dancing Sanjaya. Wow. Again, since I am Mark biased, this is all subjective, but I think of the top 4 guys, Will is the most technically skilled, Mark is 2nd, Josh 3rd and Twitch is the least technically skilled. And when I say “technically skilled” I mean actual training in different styles, because I think Twitch is unbelievable “technically skilled” in his genre.
Maybe the judges comments regarding Mark lately have made some start to believe them–that’s a shame, cuz he should have the same opportunities on the show as the others, and the judge manipulation is pretty cruel.
>And here is a clip of Courtney touching Gev’s chest (while they discussed him shaving the hair off) - seems like she’s an equal opportunity chest feeler
LOL! Sounds like a girl after my own heart!
I think a lot of people (in general) confuse the (purported) purpose of AI with the purpose of SYTYCD. AI is marketed as the search for America’s best singer (at least that’s how I interpret it, although that’s not REALLY what they’re looking for). The folks at SYTYCD don’t even bother to try to fake us out, they flat out say they’re looking for “America’s Favorite Dancer.” Therefore, it IS, by definition, a popularity contest. Although I think America has enough sense not to let a horrible dancer win.
I’m so glad Mark got to stay because the last 2 weeks, he’s drawn the short straw when it comes to partners AND dance styles. He was fabulous with Chelsie. At least next week he’ll have a good partner, and hopefully some better dances. Honestly, I think he’s a better technical dancer than Twitch (although I love me some Twitch!). That foxtrot really wasn’t bad until Comfort entered the dance. And he did a nice job on the two-step, but with Kherington missing all over the place, the dance as a whole didn’t work.
/off soapbox
The comparison of Will to Syesha is a reasonable one, but I actually HAVE been incredibly moved by Will’s performances, probably because I do find him rather understated. Syesha always struck me as trying to pull off the OTT diva routine, and I don’t think she was anywhere near as talented a singer as Will is a dancer. I feel bad for both of them though because I think they both did try too hard to “connect” with the audience in a forced manner, and it really backfired in the end–although neither has anything to feel ashamed about going as far as they did in their respective competitions.
I can see where some might make the same argument about Will that the guest judge (Toni?) made about the “Broadway dancers” who dance from the outside in as opposed to the inside out (like Twitch), but I was blown away emotionally by a few of Will’s performances. Syesha never really impressed me with anything besides her beauty and boobies, with the exception of her performance of “One Rock and Roll Too Many”on ALW week. She definitely belongs on the Great White Way.
And for the record, I think Mark is a lovely dancer. Love, love, love his lines, but I also loved Thayne. I also found Chesea’s chemistry with Gev delightful, at least while dancing, especially on their last night together.
BootStar, I agree with just about everything you said. I agree that Will is a better dancer than Syesha is a singer, but I also loved “One Rock & Roll Too Many” from her–it was the only performance of hers I enjoyed.
And I definitely don’t think that Will didn’t touch anyone, he just never touched me. Like KrazeeK said, it is a popularity/dance contest–people vote for the person who grabs them, with their dancing skills, their personality & their stage presence. So each dancer brings a different mix of those qualities, and since every viewer is different, everyone takes something different from each dancer.
None of them are horrible, or even bad for that matter–they’re all awesome dancers, and in the end it just depends on who “touches” more voters.
And I also loved Courtney & Gev together–I guess that’s why her “he’s a MAN” with Josh bugged me. I think Courtney doesn’t know what to do with herself when they’re with the judges, so she hams it up and makes goofy faces, just like Mark. I am always yelling at him on the tv–stop doing that! Yes, people like the quirkiness, but you’re dangerously close to the “weirdo” line–chill with the faces Mark! :)
I actually quit watching this show a few weeks back. You can only disrespect your audience for so long before they quit taking it. Anyway. my daughter’s friend talked about Will being voted off during carpool.
Will was done no service by being pimped by the judges from week 1 auditions to the minute he was voted off. It became a big joke with people I know that watch it how Will was canonized constantly. Will also didn’t help himself in that he continually threw “Debbie Allen” in our faces.
He could have easily walked away the winner if he wasn’t so pompously acclaimed the Messiah of dance.
I happen to like weirdos. LOL. Granted, it is quite possible that I am a weirdo myself…
I am most definitely a weirdo, and I’m sure that’s one of the reasons I love Mark. But I know that not everyone loves a weirdo–goofy, yes, strange, not so much. While on national TV, Mark needs to keep his feet firmly planted in goofy-town. :)
mtm wrote:
Will was done no service by being pimped by the judges from week 1 auditions to the minute he was voted off. It became a big joke with people I know that watch it how Will was canonized constantly. Will also didn’t help himself in that he continually threw “Debbie Allen” in our faces.
I agree. I think they pushed him too hard, and then, in the past few weeks, it seemed that they kind of pushed him *solely* in relation to Mark, making it clear that they wanted Mark kicked off, and not Joshua or Twitch, whose technique also pales beside Will’s. (Or that’s how it seemed to me, anyway.)
And I think that set up a backlash.
I really think that there were a lot of great guys this season (both Will and Mark included) and that each of them has major strengths but also fairly significant deficiencies (Will included, his deficiency being that his dancing often didn’t “read” emotionally through the tv screen to some of us). In the end, I can’t see that it is much but a matter of taste who stays on to the end, in a season where many of the guys are quite good.
I don’t think we could ever have come up with the “perfect” dancer, out of this crowd because, although I know Will is that to some, it’s clear that there’s something about him that doesn’t project emotion and meaning adequately to too big a portion of the tv audience to say that he’s actually perfect. (and that doesn’t include just people who don’t know dance or don’t like technical dance or who vote mainly on personality, because I, at least, found Will a bit lacking and I don’t fall into any of those categories.)
I literally choked and laughed at this comment. I enjoyed all the dancers, but do wonder if Twitch will be given a more difficult dance next week?
One day, these judges will realize the over praising sometimes works against the dancer. I still don’t believe that Katee is the best girl dancer to appear on the show.
sumidol, how sad that someone would be that cruel.
I have already sent in my absentee ballot.
First time commenter here. Have enjoyed reading MJ’s blog all throughout AI and am a major Cooktard.
But with SYTYCD, I am a big Mark fan. Mark started out very strong and gained a lot of goodwill in the process. He has the longest fan threads on other internet forums (by a mile) so don’t be surprised he has a lot of fans.
Now with regards to his recent performances, I agree they may not be as “up to par” as the other dancers out there. But I see it more as him being “thrown under the bus” with the partners he’s been getting and the dance styles he’s had to perform. Plus when he does well, the lukewarm response from judges only stoke the fans to vote harder.
He gets the bum rap over styles like the Two Step and Foxtrot and really, I noticed I was enjoying him less because he was made to dance more of these types of dances. Now with other dancers, I don’t seem to be noticing them doing as much ballroom stuff. I’ve seen Will without his shirt so many times and it frankly has irritated me.
Honestly? I was happy to see Will leave. I felt he was overly favored and I also felt that he expected to win or at least outlast most others.
I see Mark being treated unjustly. His group dances are fantastic (I think Mark was the best with the group Bollywood) and shows that he’s a fantastic dancer. Maybe not as technically strong as others, but definitely oozing with personality and entertainment.
lala and lucy,
You both raise really good points.
Maybe because I only watched the very first of the auditions (which I couldn’t bear) and then started watching regularly several weeks later, I missed a lot of the pimping of Will. He didn’t really catch my attention the first few weeks the way Joshua and Twitch did, but I think that may have had as much to do with Will’s partner (Jessica?) than him.
A lot of what put me on the Will Train was watching him in the group numbers; I just thought that, for the most part, he stood out by a mile among the other guys. Really, I loved all the guys, but he was the only one who I could see going straight from the stage and dancing with a dance company of the stature of Ailey.
Clearly, though, he was lacking something or he wouldn’t have gotten voted off so early. I just hope it wasn’t because the judges over-pimped him, because that isn’t Will’s fault.
I told my DH (who knows nothing about dance but thought it was “obvious” Will was going to win the whole thing from the few dances he caught him do), that I felt ashamed about being bitter over Will’s loss, because David Cook’s winning AI was absolute bliss for me and I had no right to be so greedy!
LOL! That’s exactly what I was thinking yesterday when I thought Mark might be going. After 7 seasons of idol, my fave from auditions finally won it, so I should be happy with that, because really, what do these poor dancers get from being on this show, as far as fame & money? Besides the winner’s money, not much. So I am just gonna be super happy with my David Cook album, and just hope that Mark gets a fair shake on this show. :)
And I truly think that part of Will’s early elimination was a result of the judges over pimping, and Mark not being in the bottom 2 last night was probably a case of people who don’t normally vote, but thought Mark was getting a bum deal, so they rallied.
Maybe one day they will learn to just give honest praise and critiques to each dancer and let the cards fall, and they might get a closer semblance of the ending they would like.
Definitely not. I would actually say that it can be argued, but for me, the best all-around female dancer has been Allison Holker from s2. She was eliminated at the top 8 in a “shock” elimination.
For me too.
Allison is such a beautiful dancer. Definitely one of my all-time favorites of the girls. I always loved watching her dance her solos, or with Ivan.
Is it just me or is it becoming harder and harder to watch this show outside of the US?
The two torrents for this week haven’t turned up, a large part of people who posted perfomances on YT have been suspended, and those that haven’t need the torrent to put up clips.
And now Redlasso has banned blogs from using their services due to a Fox lawsuit. Fox really cracked down, didn’t they?
I had to laugh here even though I don’t completely agree…Mark isn’t very good and is relying on goofiness and “charm” and building a fan base on this quirkiness, but I don’t think he is the Sanjaya of the programme….he does need to go home next week, tho’.
I just got the news about this. I’m really upset. Ugh. I’m going to have to upload my own video now, which sucks. And if I do that, it will probably be taken down in a minute. I’ve also been looking for the torrents, and they haven’t surfaced. Double suck. :(.
OH NO!!! That really sucks about Red Lasso..really really sucks! How am I going to get my fix with my morning coffee?????
When does this take affect?
Been reading for a long time to follow David Cook, just registered to comment on Mark. Anyway, I voted for Mark, and not because he got a “bum deal” but because his performance in the hip hop this week was, for me, the single best performance of the night. He was buck LOL. A lot of people don’t pay much attention to the weaker performances, and there was a lot of them this week (Josh’s disco being the worst- he fell out of a turn! and the judges said nothing!, Will in the samba was very stiff and had the wrong carriage, Courtney in the hip hop showed little emmotion, Twitch basically acting as a prop for Katee in the contemporary, and of course Comfort and Mark’s foxtrot) and vote based on their favorite performance of the night. Also, I love Mark’s solos. He is the best choreographer in the competition. So, there’s one possible explanation…Mark had one amazing performance and one meh performance, while Will had one okay performance and one meh, which doesn’t prompt casual voters to vote.
I think Mark is the best all-around dancer left in the competition. Yep. I said it. I admit I’m not an expert, but I’ve been watching this show every week since season 2, and I know what’s right and what’s not.
sunchick, ITA about the mistakes that were being made right and left in the performances on Wednesday. Mark (and Comfort) alone were singled out to have mistakes pointed out to the “dumb” masses (lest they have the temerity to actually vote for these two losers). I saw Josh stumble, Twitch not really doing much dancing in the Contemporary, Chelsie’s not entirely graceful splits, poor holds all around, etc. I also saw Mark doing quite well in the few seconds of the Foxtrot before Comfort “joined” him. If it had been Will she’d been dancing with, it would have been pointed out that Comfort was an albatross.
(I guess we know Comfort really didn’t have the desire to be an all-around dancer when she admitted she’d had classical dance instructions - ballet, etc. - and she … I don’t remember the term she used, but she in effect “ghetto-ized” them.)
So I can blame Fox for not being able to find good quality youtubes of this week’s performances then, huh? Ugh. Why are they doing that??? WHY??? I know nothing about torrents, or anything like that, but it really sucks that they are starting this kind of crap right now. I love having embedded vids of the performances in my blog.
As a long-time lurker here, as well as a former dancer (injuries suck), I feel that Mark is getting a bit of the short-end of the stick with the technique argument. While I like Mark, I favor Twitch, but I still think Mark is a better all-around dancer. I think he has just drawn the short end of the stick with some dance styles and partners (and I was one of the few who liked Comfort on the show, even if she was awful at ballroom). He has technique. He also has an interesting style, and I like his artistry. As someone who danced, I think that counts for quite a lot (which is probably why I favor Twitch as well — I enjoy his style). In a way, the stressing over “technical” dancing reminds me of when I was dancing at college and how people viewed contemporary as “the dance” to contrast all other styles. It’s the measure, and part of the reason why people are coming hard down on Mark since his style is easier to compare to Will’s, even though I feel Mark’s style seems to not fall into one style that easily.
Even with your bias, it’s a fair assesment. Twitch is clearly the least classically trained. But, of those 4, for me he’s first in musicality and innate rhythm. And, from my own personal perspective, that’s what I really like. I’m a huge fan of the natural ability to dance - with or without ballet class. (That’s my bias).
Will had the best all around training. Mark is probably best at inhabiting the character of the dance. Twitch has the best musicality. And, Joshua is versatile, skilled, rhythmically gifted as well and works his ass off.
Again - this is the reason why I can’t be pissed about Will leaving, or so and so outlasting him. Any of those 4 guys leaving was going to be a disappointment. A case can be made for any of them, based on their individual abilities, to stay in the game. And, this is why next week, when Twitch (dead man walking) meets his inevitable end, and I’m sad - I won’t be mad at either Joshua or Mark. Dance is art. It aint a science. I cannot measure their gifts against each other and come up with the proper formula to dictate who should leave when.
ETA:
Glad to be of servie Grammie :)
Yes, it’s always been a popularity contest. If America really did vote for the best dancer (that’s obviously subjective, as these are just my opinions of the “best” technical dancers each season), then the winners would have been Blake (but of course, even with his talent, he left early because he was a huge, arrogant git who insulted Dan Karaty), Travis (runner-up to Benji), and Danny (runner-up to Sabra), in that order. Again, that’s JMO.
I think Donyelle Jones from the same season was the best all-around the show’s had, but that’s just what I think (seeing as she was my ultimate favorite that season, lol). Allison was pretty amazing as well, though.
Re: Mark = Dancing Sanjaya; I disagree. I think Mark’s proven himself a very capable dancer in at least half the dance styles he’s picked out of the hat. IMO, he was just brought down by having Kherington and Comfort as dance partners the last two weeks, and freaking TWO-STEP (!) and the foxtrot aren’t really dances you get too excited about (screw you, hat). In fact, I don’t think the show’s had any “moment” dances that were either two-step or foxtrot.
Whew, kerfuffle, I’m glad i’m not the only one who thinks Mark is the best all around male dancer. Of the guys that are left, I think Twitch is the worst partner dancer, Josh is the worst soloist, and Mark’s aptitudes are the most evenly distributed. The only week I didn’t vote for Mark was the week of the two step. I voted for Katee that week. I actually think Mark’s musicality is off the chain, which makes his solos so awesome. Twitch is up there, too, great musicality and great solos. Both of them have Josh beat in that respect. Josh’s biggest strength is the chemistry he generates with partners. Seems like he could generate chemistry with a broom handle, but as a solo dancer he’s a lot less interesting to watch than Mark and Twitch.
Sunchick–get outta my head. That is the exact same way I feel about the 3 of ‘em.
The only one of Mark’s solos that I’ve liked was the one in Vegas. Didn’t love last week’s, didn’t love this week’s. I’ve liked several of his partner routines (and think that this week’s hip hop was one of the best hip hop routines of the season - which is saying a lot, because there have been some damn good hip hop routines.). I agree that he was a good partner with Chelsie (though the fact that her style of dance requires her to be a good partner cannot be ignored), and I agree that he is pretty versatile.
But the best all around, most versatile dancer, even breaking it down to only male dancers? Not from my point of view.
Did you hear Nigel’s shout-out?
http://www.declareyourself.com/multimedia/multimedia.html
REGISTER TO VOTE!
register. vote. declare yourself.
http://www.declareyourself.com
Um… so we won’t be able to see the performances here anymore? Poopy pants.
Our TV isn’t hooked up to anything other than the dvd and vcr. This was my manna from heaven! Lame!
Poor Will. Well, it is a popularity contest so that does explain it. I enjoyed Hisaki’s post because she named the best dancers I remember from the show and of course they all lost. I only remember one winner - Benjy. I’m just happy winning this show is completely meaningless for their careers. I’m still wondering why someone as accomplished as Will would be on this show. Anyway, while all the rest of the dancers are lovely, none is that amazing or full of personality so I kind of hope Katee wins the whole thing. (She’ll probably get the boot next week instead.)
lala, I viewed Will’s farewell tape and he really is a talented (gymnastic) dancer. He also showed some genuine personality. I believe what you say to be true. It might have been better if we did not know he was a student of Debbie Allen’s. However, it is possible TPTB wanted some drama.
B, I do remember Allison Holker as being a wonderfully talented young lady.
I’m still going to cut and upload video, it’s just going to take a little longer…
:).
“I am most definitely a weirdo, and I’m sure that’s one of the reasons I love Mark. ”
LaLa - I am proud to say I am a weirdo too and love goofy “weirdos”. Awww and even though Joshua still comes first to me I sure do enjoy Mark. From here on out is when it gets really tough to lose any of them. Thanks for your kind words & Grammies - if you come back here anymore to even see this, I am a few days behind? You all might be long gone, off to defend another “weirdo” somewhere else, heh?