Rentak Sejuta¡¯s Weekly Review: Episode 10 ¨C Top 10Yawn!!!
I don¡¯t know what it was this week, but I was completely bored with everything that went on in Episode 10. It seemed like something sucked all the juice out of the competition. All the contestants seemed drained and their overall performances lacklustre, even the judges seemed to have lost a little of their bite, and worst of all the atmosphere in the club was simply subdued as opposed to all the previous weeks. Even most of our crew and I seemed uninspired. Overall it was pretty bland, unspectacular and as gloomy as the weather outside Ruums.
Perhaps it was just plain inadvisable to subject the contestants to two performances immediately upon shuffling partners. Not only had they to master two routines within a short period of time, they also had to find synergy with their new partners. Pretty tall order this week. Even the very best may have been derailed.
Or was it the realisation that no one was really gonna be safe anymore, now that the bottom 6 puts more contestants at risk of elimination, have an adverse and demoralizing effect on them.
I guess we can speculate all we want but the bottom line is the contestants have to bite the bullet and bring their best game to the arena, every single week, no matter what happens. It is really up to them to shine and show us that they deserve the win, by giving us 100% every single time. It is way past the time to stand out from the rest and show us that they deserve it the most. But unfortunately no one really rose to the occasion this week, although there were some withering sparkles here and there.
It was a n unfortunate week for Firul, although he executed his routines commandingly, he was clearly over shadowed by the aura-matic Sue, who is continuously capturing our imagination and is clearly starting to blossom into the main contender, even with unavoidable slip ups in both routines. It was a ¡°walk¡± in the park for Sue this week, which easily kept her out of the bottom 6.
After an intense and trauma inducing Mambo performance by Brancy & Firul 2 weeks earlier, it was an absolute disappointment to witness the underpowered and rather mild Mambo showcase by Brancy & Dennis. Although adequately executed by both, the unusually uncharismatic Dennis seemed like he was counting steps throughout, while Brancy was so reserved and seemed like she had been just sanctioned by the censorship board. Even their simulated kissing hardly raised any eyebrows. Definitely not the boiling point I was expecting from the pairing of two tremendously unabashed showmen. A hapless, technically inadequate and disengaging routine further compounded their downfall when they also failed to shine in their hip hop number.
Two well executed routines albeit minor infractions, kept both Yuz & Noor out of the bottom 6 as well. Although lacking the raw energy of Kevin Bacon, their ¡°foot not so loose¡± but technically adequate performance in their first routine was sufficient to impress the judges, but it was their closing cartwheels and inverted flip in that routine that had the crowd cheering. A precise, sensual and engaging performance in their Javanese routine further ensured their safe passage to the next round. Song selection and costuming was spot on, which added a grander dimension to their display.
It was a combination not really made in heaven as the new pairing of Alam & Nikki took to the stage. Their cutesy hip hop routine looked like something out of a weekend Disney program, performed by a pair of mouseketeers. The R&B musically based routine itself was too simplistic and hardly did justice to their capabilities as breakers or even hip hoppers as it did not afford them the opportunity. Perhaps a more hip hop flavoured upbeat number would have been more suitable for them to showcase their ¡°makanan¡±. It was really ¡°salsa by numbers¡± in their second performance, when the two went through their coursework (as in elementary ¡°kursus¡±) without much ado. Although Nikki looked radiant and portrayed some evidence of sexiness in her moves, Alam seemed mostly shell shocked and unusually uninspiring. The only saving grace was the perfectly executed and impressive over the shoulder flip with a spot on landing, right at the end of their routine.
For the first time in weeks, Jimmy finally shone in his performance, when he attacked his lyrical contemporary routine with Becky, with vengeance, even though he may have struggled in the lifts. So much so that we hardly noticed Becky. It was a fluid and flowing display from him, but I was a little let down by the over the top dramatization in the end. As for the dancehall number, although they were both equally pumping it, they were not really feeling it and I certainly wasn¡¯t either. It was all just moves to me, and lacked the fun and feel good factor associated with dancehall, that both Vish & Orange brought to life many weeks back.
That pretty much sums up a flat and pretty mundane affair. It was no surprise as to who ended up in the bottom 6, but it could have easily been bottom 7 (I¡¯m including Jimmy to the mix too), as all of them in the bottom really failed to find their footing this week. I won¡¯t offer any dispute on those who have been eliminated as it is the voters¡¯ choice. As far as I am concerned they would have been eliminated sooner or later anyways, unless they had made an atomic level turnaround.
I hope that the remaining dancers will do some soul searching, revitalize themselves physically and mentally and come back stronger and better next week. It is already crunch time, and they really have to pull out all the stops to ensure that they make it to the very end. All reservations, inhibitions, even moans and groans, and all doubts, need to be cast away, and they need to completely focus on the task at hand. It¡¯s not going to get easier, and the last place they wanna be is in the bottom 6 where they are at the mercy of the voting public. Only 2 people are gonna be absolutely safe next week, and that will be your top 2. Who will it be? The only one who can answer that question is the one that wants it badly enough to do everything it needs to get there.
Everyone has their favourites (for whatsoever reason) but I hope in general, that the voting public are mature enough and sees fit to select the ones that have consistently demonstrated that they have what it really takes, and truly deserve to move on forward, based on their talent, and not just based on their popularity alone.
To our leaving finalists, good luck and good fortune.
This week's Rentak Rankings:
1. Noor/Yuz
2. Sue/Firul
3. Brancy/Dennis
4. Jimmy/Becky
5. Alam/Nikki
Look who we found: Orange and another top 40 contestant also dropped by to support their fellow contestants.