Top 20 show - part 1

*** This is just the first part of the recap which is already horrendously late. I've had a shocker of a week, sorry.****

Super Excitement!

Major girly squealing!

The culmination of all my hopes and dreams! OK, maybe not, but this moment, when we have our Top 20 doing their patented bouncey-dance out onto the stage to that signature tune... priceless!

and.... it's all downhill from here.

Bugger.

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Nat scrubs up ok, but she's channeling Our Libby - from the massive puffy hair to the zoned out expression and the weird squishing-effect eye make-up. I'm not digging it. I know there's a pretty and vaguely personable host under there, but she seems to be MIA.

and so we cross to The Judges - no playful take on a random Brummie accent, just The Judges. And I really hope at some point during this show I'll stop comparing it to the US version, but it's not looking good... There is a forcedness about the banter between Nat and The Judges - Nat's affectation in calling Bonnie 'Miss Bonnie' and 'Miss Bonnie Bling' is a case in point.

Although to be fair, Bonnie is all blinged out in a horrible bronze glomesh kinda way... and displaying her tuck shops arms for all the world to see - sending me scurrying for the weight machine.

Eh - It's early days yet...

First couple is Rhiannon and JD and they're doing Hip Hop. We get the usual background story and discover she's 18 and from Minto - so the 'hamster dancing' shots are filmed in front of a heavily graffitied wall. Coz things are tough down in the SW.

But not as tough as in Manilla, where JD woke up one morning, 4 years old and abandoned by his parents - now that's a sob story! He's now 26 and based in Melbs...

They turn up for their choreo and MY GOD! The 'v' on Rhiannon is even more pronounced. It's just... so wrong. I'm watching the screen through my fingers, positive that we're about to stray into totally non-family-friendly territory.

The dance itself - to Kiss Kiss - is OK - bouncey and energetic - JD is awesome, so laid back and really hitting it - Rhiannon just seems to be waving her hair around in an overly aggressive manner.

The judges start as they obvious mean to continue:

Matt reckons it was a great way to start the show, all positive and woohoo! go us!
Bonnie is still relishing her place in the limelight - overly and annoyingly upbeat - with just a dash of inappropriate maternalism
Jason apparently actually watched the dance, so was able to critique it effectively - commenting on their issues with unison.

And then the mugging - we never got to see this aspect of the US show and My Goodness it's painful... why can't they just smile sweetly at the camera while the voting number is displayed, what's with the shoe phone and the finger phone and the damn amateur dramatics?! Grrr....

Next up is Courtney who is extremely excited to be paired with Hilton, and also to be doing some Lyrical Jazz. How this is different from normal Jazz, I have no idea.
Courtney's 23 and from St Kidla and considers herself an extremist - because she gets so very emotional about things dontcha know!
Hilton is 18 and we heard all about his sob story in the auditions.. but we get it rehashed for us again. And we also learn that his parents are from Haiti. And that he loves to dance. At Bondi.

At choreo, they learn that it's all about Romeo and Juliet and then we get lovely random shots of Hilton being cranky and then compaining about Courtney's technique being somewhat lacking... hee!

I have no idea what they're dancing to - for some reason Channel 10 feels we need not to know - but whatever it is, I ain't digging Hilton's Harry High (GOLDEN!) Pants... they're somewhat of a distraction and for all the wrong reasons.
It's all very tortured, as you'd expect with a Romeo and Juliet theme... it looks like contemp to me, but that's because I am not versed in the finer details of Dance Classification. According to me, If they spend a large proportion of the dance writhing on the floor, it's contemp. You ain't fooling anyone with this 'lyrical' malarky.

And then Hilton stuffs up the Big Lift. Oh No!
Now Matt reckons that Courtney's likeable, which can only mean that he's not watching the same show as me... but then in a sublime backhanded compliment tells her she's very good at faking her technique...
Bonnie blathers. I've tuned her out already.

Vanessa's next. She's 23. She's beautiful, as we keep being told. She also has a voice that does the whole fingernails-on-a-chalkboard thing to me. Plus it's mostly delivered at a whine too, which makes it even worse.
Henry is 22 and has a propensity for dancing in the middle of zebra crossings, irritating Sydney drivers in the process - not something I'd recommend.

Their salsa is very good - Henry is an incredibly strong salsa dancer, and he is able to partner Vanessa really well. She looks a little lost, and kinda clunky and lumpy. She doesn't go with the flow of the music so much. Matt thinks it was a very exciting routine and then gets a gold star in stating the obvious, pointing out that Henry is actually a salsa dancer...

Camilla gets matched with Sermsah to do some Musical Theatre, which I'm guessing is 'Broadway' for the ignorant Aussie audience...

I'm going to skip their intros because they were boring: Camilla taps, Sermsah sits on a rock.

But they are both super ultra excited about doing an Adam Williams routine to Big Spender!

I really loved this routine, even with the stuffed-up lift - Camilla just rocked it. She was so confident in a cat suit, strutting around, all her movements exaggerated... and the narrative was cute too. And they danced well together.
During the judge's critiques I realise that the dancers here on the aus version are so damn back chatty - they have to have their 2 cents worth - no yes ma'am, no ma'am like in the US. I think I miss that... even though Camilla is surprisingly articulate in support of her partner.

Jemma draws her 'random' dance style from the hat to find that she'll be doing the waltz - with Rhys.

And what a waltz it is! So amazing that I am quite prepared to forgive the Celine Bloody Dion... It starts off with no music at all, then slowly builds till they're floating around the floor, barefoot. It's just beautiful, and Rhys is such a fresh-faced cutie when he loses the green eye make-up! He muscles up the waltz, partnering really well, and with such a connection with Jemma. Just gorgeous.

Jason agrees, declaring it his fave routine so far..