SYTYCD: Still Dropping Like Flies

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 6 Performance Show

• Deeley's finally bringing it fashion-wise tonight. It looks like she put on a beige slip dress and then kind of haphazardly tied a poofy red sheet around herself. It's awesome. She's balancing the strong look out with a smooth, low ponytail.
• ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! NOW WHERE'S BILLY!?! This is insanity.
• Guest judging tonight is Kenny Ortega of High School Musical fame.
• Billy has injured his knee and is sitting in the audience (wearing a very small pink tie). Doctors supposedly told him he could dance if he feels ok, but he doesn't feel ok today, so he's not dancing. They think he might be ok by next week, but they wouldn't tell us now anyway.
• Alex Wong's sitting in the audience, looking pretty cheerful.
• The SYTYCD costume designer has supposedly won an Emmy. Having seen some of the outfits on this show, I find that somewhat hard to believe.

Lauren with Twitch (Napoleon and Tabitha hip-hop):

• The featurette: It's a Wild West hip-hop routine. Ugh, I just cannot stand Napoleon and Tabitha. Them talking is even worse than them choreographing something.
• The dance: Twitch is wearing jean/chaps--it's really something. Ha ha, it looked like Twitch was trying to crawl through Lauren's legs and he couldn't fit. She's got some good hip-hop moves. And I liked the reverse somersault things she did (I don't really know what to call those.) The routine ends with Lauren riding Twitch across the stage.
• The judging: Adam: "Who are you?!" Didn't he ask someone that last week? Get a new catch phrase. I don't understand; how is she "not the same girl" who auditioned? Her attitude in this was similar to the attitude in the sexpot audition number. Mia thought she was good and says she needs to keep going hard because she's the only diva left. Kenny Ortega thinks it's an honor to be here and thinks that each season SYTYCD changes the field of dance. Kenny says, "Save a horse, ride a cowboy." Nigel tells Twitch that he really looks like he's been ridden hard and put away wet. Holy crap, Nigel, calm yourself. (Twitch is a little sweaty though, in all honesty.)

Jose with Allison (Sonya Tayeh contemporary):

• The featurette: Now we're going to see how good Allison really is. She used to make Ivan look pretty good, so I'm thinking she might be able to pull it off.
• The dance: I like Allison's dress, but the overall color scheme of their outfits is pretty drab. Ok, once again, we've got a choreographer going to bizarre lengths to cover up Jose's deficiencies. I could do a good contemporary routine too if 80% of it is sitting on the edge of the stage, moving my arms... That said, I did rather enjoy the routine and choreo. It was definitely something different.
• The judging: Adam thinks it was a beautifully conceived piece of material. But he recognizes that this routine made it hard to critique Jose's actual dancing. He thinks what Jose did do up there was perfect though. Mia thought the piece was conceptually genius. Mia says there's a difference between pedestrian contemporary (which most people can handle) and really "real contemporary." Mia says this was pedestrian contemporary. She thought it was really good, but would have liked to see more growth from the last time he did contemporary. Kenny thinks Allison is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful dancers. HIRE HER FOR SOMETHING, KENNY! Nigel thinks Jose was very committed to the piece. He knows, though, that Sonya covered up Jose's weaknesses. Nigel wants him to point his toes and straighten his legs. Uh, yeah, that does seem kind of important...

Robert with Lauren (Tyce Diorio jazz):

• The featurette: I'm getting uncomfortable with how much everyone's talking about Lauren's booty this season. This dance is all about seduction. They're trying to sell us on Robert and Lauren being all into each other... Really?
• The dance: Black S&M-inspired outfits. You know, Lauren's looking really good in this dance. Robert's doing ok too, but Lauren's kinda stealing the show. The routine's pretty cool too. Especially not bad considering it's coming from Tyce. It was a good routine because they were just up there flat-out dancing.
• The judging: Adam says Robert commands the stage and is started to lose himself more. Adam says Robert's "resting" hand position needs work. Mia says it's a breath of fresh air to see a strong, clean jazz routine with no concept and just good dancing. Kenny thinks this piece showed that Robert does "have bottom." Nigel loved the flow of movement.

AdeChike's solo: Shirtless. Oh no! He's dancing to "This Woman's Work." The Cancer Dance song. I can't handle it. If I never hear this song again, it's fine by me. Was so distracted by my distaste for the song that I kind of missed most of his dancing, but he did a nice series of karate-esque kicks.

Kent with Kathryn (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Kathryn: "Sonya at 8 a.m. should not be legal." This routine is very exhausting and intense.
• The dance: Kinda looks like a summer barbecue or a beach party. Kathryn is just sick sometimes. The routine was fun. The did a good job performing it as well. Will we remember it forever? Probably not.
• The judging: Kent apparently gave a monologue in Vegas about how putting him on the show would make it something special. Adam thinks Kent kicked ass. Mia says we all know Kent's a strong dancer. Mia thinks that sometimes his face gets so animated that it takes the choreography to an immature level. Dance-wise, though, she thinks it was great. Kenny thinks Kent is the guy to beat. Well, duh. The other guy to beat detached his Achilles a few weeks ago. Nigel thinks Kent's almost out-danced the All Stars two weeks in a row now. Sorry, Nigel, I don't think anyone really ever out-dances Kathryn.

Robert's solo: In the featurette, those were some rather tight jeans Robert wore to the batting cages... For the solo, Robert's wearing his third shirt in like 5 minutes! Some cool stuff in the solo, but it could have used a little more time to develop. And it's Robert's birthday!

Lauren's solo: Lots of back bends and quick turns and hair tosses. It pretty much worked though, I guess.

AdeChike with Comfort (Tabitha and Napoleon lyrical hip-hop):

• The featurette: AdeChike's going back to hip hop. He's not going to be a nerd this time, though. And it's NappyTabs again. Ugh, what do we have to do to get Dave Scott around here?
• The dance: Comfort's packing a suitcase...not to be confused with the briefcase Mark carried around in "Bleeding Love." I don't think AdeChike's hitting his moves quite as hard as Comfort. Oh, and she just smacked him for it. Lol, it's not that big of a deal, Comfort.
• The judging: Wow, Comfort--and AdeChike--are both rather shook up. There are tears. Did she actually really hit him? Just kidding. Adam says they really made him feel the story and the emotions. Mia says that felt more real that any contemporary piece because it came from such a raw place. Mia thinks AdeChike let so much out on that floor and just gave us a really big taste of who he is. He really seems to get better reviews on hip-hop than he does on contemporary. Kenny Ortega says it was like if Wesley Snipes could dance (presumably not the Wesley Snipes who wants to marry Liz Lemon). Nigel says it's hard to critique the dancing because the routine moved to another level and compares it to "Bleeding Love" and "No Air." Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Jose's solo: Starts his solo with kind of a groovy on-his-feet dancing section. Then lies on the ground for a little while. Does a little breaking, then stands back up. Then goes back down to break for another second. Then seems very pleased with himself.

Kent's solo: Kent's bringing out the wife-beater tank top and the old-school Boys to Men. I really think he needs some help with figuring out what he should do during solos though. That seemed a bit disorganized to me.

Robert and Lauren (Dmitry Chaplin samba):

• The featurette: DMITRY!!! I love Dmitry. This routine is about a beach party too. This is the first ballroom routine done by two non-ballroomers this season, so it should be interesting.
• The dance: That's what Lauren's wearing to a beach party? It looks like a cocktail dress with the middle ripped off. Robert's made a few slight awkward stumbles. Lauren looks pretty good with the technique though. Their side-by-side "shaking it" was good. Ok, Rob just barely got her off the ground when he was supposed to be swinging her around in a circle. Uh, she can't be that heavy, dude.
• The judging: Adam, however, thinks that Robert's lines were "so crisp and clean" and he did good partnering. Ok... He thinks Lauren's retractions, etc. were great. Mia thinks Rob actually looked like a samba dancer. Mia thinks Lauren's in plie a lot, which brings a heaviness to her dancing. KENNY, HIRE DMITRY FOR SOMETHING! Kenny thinks Rob's partnering was "amazing." What was I watching then? Nigel says Robert's upper body reminded him of Dmitry. Maybe they just don't want to be mean to Robert on his birthday. Nigel thought Lauren was very good, but he's sure "people will attack her" for her technique. Well, whatever. I miss Mary Murphy.

AdeChike and Jose (Dmitry paso doble with assistant Legacy):

• The featurette: Legacy! Hey, maybe Legacy can show Jose some breaking moves while he's at it... If ever there were a time for a hip hop, it would be this pairing. There are two matadors in this paso. Why is Jose always fighting/hunting people?
• The dance: Uh, how long are we going to stand here swinging our capes, boys? Once they actually started doing stuff, Jose had moments where he actually looked pretty good, and then had moments where he looked pretty horrible. Actually, this whole dance had moments were it looked pretty terrible. I say this was a bad experiment. It would have gone better if Dmitry and Legacy had just danced it themselves.
• The judging: Adam loves how committed they were. Technically, they put their strength into it, but Jose needs to stretch his legs. Adam thinks AdeChike needs more abandon. Mia says she thinks they did ok in a very unhappy sounding tone. She says their focus was great, but their technique wasn't. Kenny thinks it was a valiant effort, and it was an interesting exercise. Lol. Nigel calls the other judges "diplomatic." Nigel thinks if you look at how ballroom guys do the paso, AdeChike have a lot to learn. Again, I miss Mary Murphy. I'd love to hear her kick somebody's ass over ballroom technique.

Kent and Billy/Twitch (Chuck Maldonado step routine):

• The featurette: Oops, no, Kent, you don't get to dance with Billy Freaking Bell. HA HA HA HA HA HA! SYTYCD does its first stepping routine and they give it to Billy Bell and Kent! That is too funny. Kent keeps hitting himself in the face.
• The dance: Stepping in for Billy is Twitch. Aww, I love their collegiate cardigans. Ok, Kent is definitely not out-dancing his All Star in this one. He's doing ok, but Twitch is good. Twitch is even doing the grunts and yelling. Kent looks like he's trying really hard, while Twitch looks like he's stepping.
• The judging: Adam pats SYTYCD to the back for introducing "new and different" dance styles to the world. Um, stepping is not new to me; I just saw some this past weekend. Booyah, Adam! Adam thinks Kent kicked the routine's ass. Mia didn't know Kent had it in him and she lives for the chemistry between Twitch and Kent. Mia confirms that Kent is the one to beat. Kenny says 12 years ago he and Chuck brought stepping to the Olympic Opening Ceremonies for the first time. In Nagano? Huh? I'm thinking he did his math a little wrong there. 2010 - 12 = 1998 = Nagano. Did I mishear him? I really don't think there was stepping in the Opening Ceremonies in Japan. Nigel says his "Five Guys Named Mo" routine was stepping and Chuck helped him choreograph it. Nigel says he would have loved to have seen Billy do the routine because he knows he would have nailed it and it would have been fun to see the two white boys kill it.

My favorites:

Robert and Lauren's jazz; Kent and Kathryn's jazz; Kent and Twitch's stepping

The dancers dance around a cake commemorating the 150th episode of the show. Twitch does some paso doble moves that totally school Jose and AdeChike.