SYTYCD: Eliminations on a Sad Night

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 16 Results Show

My predictions: Asuka and Jonathan are going home tonight.

Play-by-play recap:

• Cat's wearing a full-length halter top jump suit with a black and white palm tree pattern. This get-up certainly isn't boring (like her dress last night). It's also kind of Farrah Fawcett/Charlie's Angels-esque, which is an appropriate tribute in light of Farrah's passing today.
• The group performs a sexy Latin-inspired number. Whoa, I actually liked a Napoleon and Tabitha group number? Bizarre. It must have been Dmitry's influence that won me over. That was quite a hot performance, but I'm not sure it was necessary to hose down a few of the girls and have them dancing in pools of water though.
• Nigel has a tall order here tonight. He has to eulogize Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. MJ especially ties right into SYTYCD. Hopefully they'll be able to do a Michael Jackson tribute group number sometime in the near future. (Obviously they didn't have time to whip one together for tonight.) Actually, what would be awesome would be if they did a performance show theme night where all the couples dance to Michael Jackson songs. Get on that, Nigel.
• BTW, here's a video of the Season 4 contestants doing "Thriller" on tour for Halloween last year (thanks to SYTYCDism for calling my attention to this clip). And just for good measure, here's Jennifer Garner's version in 13 Going on 30 (Doesn't it seem strange that so many people in publishing turned out to be such good dancers? I digress...)
• Wow, they brought five couples on the stage for results all at once! That might be a record.
• As I suspected, Asuka and Vitolio are in the bottom three.
• I wonder if Ade's heard the "What a difference Ade makes"/"It was Ade to remember" puns before. I'm thinking he has.
• Also as I suspected, Jonathan and Karla and Caitlin and Jason are in the bottom three. So I correctly predicted all three. Go me. I might actually get one right on the EW prediction competition this week.
• We're treated to a performance by a large group of young b-boys/hip hoppers. I love how they all look like they are having so much fun! And, holy cow, they just launched the little guy with big hair across the stage! Cat was pretty much beside herself over these kids. They definitely gave the most entertaining "superstars from the world of dance" performance on SYTYCD this season.

The solos:

Asuka: Well, it's gotta be either her of Caitlin going home tonight for the girls... And this solo probably isn't doing much to plead her case. Even taking into account that ballroom solos are usually not too fantastic, this one was not impressive. The best part was Cat's "She's got fringe, and she's not afraid to shake it."

Vitolio: He's wearing no shirt (crap, I got that question wrong on the EW prediction game). Dancing to Coldplay, doing lots of jumps and arm/leg flailing. Not bad/not great. Ended with some strange butt wiggling.

Karla: Ok, she just won me over for good, because she's dacing to Radiohead's "15 Step," which is a flipping fantastic song. I think that automatically makes her my official favorite girl in this competition. Unfortunately, her time runs out right as the song gets really good. (Her dancing seemed good enough, but I was definitely so distracted by the song that I missed some of the finer points.)

Jonathan: Began with what looked like a martial arts display then did some flips and some "Latin steps" that I'm not impressed with. I'd be shocked if he doesn't get the boot this week.

Caitlin: Dancing to a slow version of "Que Sera Sera" and it's actually rather lovely. She ends it with a round-off, layout back flip, I guess to prove to Jon that she can tumble too.

Jason: Definitely a follower of the Travis Wall School of Dancing: his choreo here is very Travis and he's even wearing cargo shorts, which Travis was so fond of. But, seriously, I've got no probably with Travis Wall impressions. Jason's solo was the best of the boys tonight. (I bet Jason's having a rough day, since he was such a Michael Jackson devotee as a child.)

More play-by-play:

• I was actually not totally hating the musical performance (by the Veronicas) for one of the few times in SYTYCD history, until the song devolved into a repeat chorus of "I want to kiss a girl...I want to kiss a girl...I want to kiss a boy...I want to kiss a boy..." That was kind of ridiculous.
• And then the blond Veronica let out a horrifying scream at the end (worse even then Danny Gokey at the end of "Dream On," I'd say).

The results:

The girls: Nigel says Caitlin gave the best solo tonight and she's save. And Caitlin's literally just as shocked as the rest of us about that, LOL. Nigel says that Karla looked a little "desperate" tonight. Nigel is still infatuated with Asuka, but she's going home anyway. (I finally got one right on the EW prediction game! Yea!) I wonder if Asuka made that necklace she's wearing. If she did, I'm not convinced that she has a future in jewelry design...


The guys: How could the judges not be unanimous about this decision? It's obvious Jon needs to go. Nigel says that Vitolio needs to not hold back anymore. Nigel now says that Jon hasn't been good enough repeatedly this season (duh). Nigel says that Jason looked "desperate" tonight too--and insults his outfit! Ouch! Nigel apparently doesn't like Travis impersonations as much as I do. Nigel lectures Jon and Vitolio some more about not being strong enough, but says that Vitolio gets to stay. Jon getting the boot is apparently not going to break that many hearts, Nigel, because it sure doesn't seem like a lot of people are voting for him. (And, yea! I got another prediction right! I'm kicking ass and taking names this week!)

SYTYCD: 12 Dancers Dancing

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 12 Dance

Last week's eliminations: Well, I guess it's been established that I'd have shown Thayne and Comfort the door in a hot minute, so obviously I was annoyed that they escaped elimination again. Kourtni Lind and Matt were my favorites of the bottom six, but I can understand why they were eliminated. No matter how they danced, America never seemed to vote for them, so they were just going to keep ending up in the bottom three week after week after week. I think the judges should be regretting how many contemporary dancers they put in the Top 20.

I like Cat's dress tonight.

Yea, Mia's on the judging panel tonight! As much as I enjoy her choreography, I appreciate her being on the judging panel just as much. She tends to add some honesty and sanity to the proceedings. And how scary is it that Mia Michaels is the sanest one at the table?

The first ever SYTYCD Bollywood routine?! Bring it on.

Chelsie and Mark--Dance 1 (salsa): Hot little outfit Chelsie's got there, and Mark fits the Latin role well. I'm liking this a lot; see why you should put ballroom dancers on this show? The lift at the end was great--but how he put her down was even cooler!! I think that was the coolest move if seen on SYTYCD all year!

Mia (to Chelsie): "You're so gorgeous, I want to stab you." Eesh, I guess my sanity comment was premature.

Comfort and Thayne--Dance 1 (hip hop): By giving them hip hop, SYTYCD is definitely trying to show us why Comfort is here. Major props to Napoleon and Tabitha for trying to get Thayne to stop smiling--that earns them some major brownie points in my book. Well, as far as softer hip hop goes, this routine was all right, and "all right" is the highest praise these two are ever going to get from me. The best part was Cat namechecking Days of Our Lives. (Hmm, yeah, guess what, SYTYCD? We still don't know why these people are still here.)

Jessica and Will--Dance 1 (contemporary from Tyce): Wow, Will's got some seriously short shorts on! It took me so long to get over that, that I think I missed half of the dance. Well, this is nice; I'm sure the judges and the pre-teen girls are going to go gaga over it. Gotta say, though, that it still looks like Jessica is just a prop Will's dancing with. Ha, Mary's "You Tarzan, me Jane" comment was actually amusing. Mary seems slightly toned down tonight--it's nice, and I wonder how long it will last. Tyce and Mia hang out together at her house?

Courntey and Gev--Dance 1 (cha cha): PASHA AND ANYA!!!! Ok, I'm confused, because last time I checked, Kazakhstan was not Russia. Ooh, they started with a nice lift. Courtney always looks like she's having so much fun when she's dancing. Honestly, I can't even concentrate on the dance and whether it's good or not, because I'm so excited to see Pasha. Pasha's sooooooo freaking adorable.

Kherington and Twitch--Dance 1 (krump): Didn't they already krump? I guess that was someone else...apparently my krump recall is not what it could be. Kherington's got some seriously tight, seriously shiny pants. Kherington might actually have been overdoing the gangster attitude, but I thought her dancing was pretty good. Twitch was good too, as expected. That was possibly my favorite SYTYCD krump routine ever, but I guess that's not saying all that much. Ouch, Nigel just compared Kherington to Miley Cyrus--that's uncalled for.

***Wow, I just switched over to 13 Going On 30 just in time to see the "Thriller" dance! Yea! Violet's got the coolest mom ever...***

Katee and Joshua--Dance 1 (Viennese waltz): Josh is playing a ghost. Shouldn't he be wearing white? Or a big sheet? If they hadn't told me he was a ghost, I'd have never picked up on it. In any event, this wasn't a bad waltz. Katee's leg kicks were gorgeous, and the "snake" lift thing was stunning. Waltz expert Mary says it didn't glide enough, and I'll buy into that.

Chelsie and Mark--Dance 2 (Broadway): I tried to guess what style they were dancing based on their outfits, and couldn't come up with anything. Mark looks kind of mime-ish, but I don't know what style of dance that translates into. Broadway, apparently. I guess that fits--suspenders definitely say "Broadway" or "jazz." Who knew Mark could do turns and splits? These two do dance very well together, considering how they seem to merely begrudgingly tolerate each other in the practices ;-)

Nigel: "You'd never go into a kitchen dressed like that, would you?"
Cat: "Not to cook."

Comfort and Thayne--Dance 2 (contemporary): First Comfort's style, now Thayne's. Hmm, someone's getting tonight handed to them on a platter. Or, more likely, someone's getting set up to fail and is about to have the hammer dropped on them. That's a frumpy dress Comfort's got on, especially considering the get-ups that Chelsie, Jessica, and Courtney have had on. Again, I'm going to say that this routine was better than usual for these two purely because Thayne wasn't smiling. I didn't think it was as bad as the judges did; this couple is getting a little low-balled tonight, but I'm not about to become a Comfort and Thayne defender here.

Jessica and Will--Dance 2 (quick step): The quick step: AHHHHHHH! Wow, Will just did a lot of back handsprings. Hey, a dance where Jessica's forced, omnipresent smile is almost appropriate! If this is a quick step, shouldn't they have been stepping more quickly? Most times, it seemed more like swing or a jive. I'm not sure that the quick step would be such a kiss of death if someone would just come out and do a good routine that was actually a quick step. It seems like it could be kind of cool.

Mia: "Will, you look tired of carrying her. ...You need a new partner." HA! Holy crap, Mia!

Courtney and Gev--Dance 2 (jazz): Ha, an Indiana Jones jazz number--that's interesting. This routine makes spelunking seem quite sexy! And I'm impressed that Gev could do that whole routine while wearing a man-purse. I loved this routine! Definitely one of my favorites of the night--and perhaps the season. Very good performance. And they do act like an old married couple.

Kherington and Twitch--Dance 2 (smooth tango): Tango dance fighting, huh? The lighting in the beginning was so dark that I could barely see them. Ok, the music was demanding a passion that I just didn't see. It seemed like they were so preoccupied with what they had to do that they lost the performance. And I didn't see much fighting. This wasn't great at all (it was so bad that the judges even admitted it, despite their overzealous love for this couple). Again, ladies and gentlemen, this is why we need more ballroom dancers on this show.

Katee and Joshua--Dance 2 (Bollywood): Finally, the fabled Bollywood routine. Not sure I would have picked Katee and Josh to do it, but whatever. New choreographers! (Good, I was worried they'd have some non-Indian person choreograph a "Bollywood" routine.) Well, at least Josh looks amused with himself... Ok, I'm pretty amused with him too; he's selling it. That was fun. I can't really judge how authentic it was, but it was super fun. Let's have more cultural dancing. Maybe some polka next week? That Russian dance where they do the squats?

My Favorite Routines:
Courtney and Gev's jazz
Katee and Joshua's Bollywood
Chelise and Mark's salsa

The Bottom Three Should Be:
Comfort and Thayne
Kherington and Twitch
Jessica and Will

So, who is not going to make the Top 10? Based on the judges comments tonight, Comfort and Thayne may finally be in trouble. Comfort seems to have shown us all she can do. The boys who are left are all pretty strong, and I don't see anyone other than Thayne getting the boot. If something weird happens and Jessica ends up in the bottom three with girls other than Comfort, she's going to go.

Premiere Watch '07: Samantha Who?

Samantha Who?

Well, this is my last premiere review of the fall season, unless I blog Viva Laughlin for some evil fun tomorrow...which, face it, I'm totally going to do.

Anyway, Samantha Who? was a pretty darn delightful show, which is much more than anyone can say for ABC's other new comedies (Cavemen, Carpoolers), which I couldn't even sit through. I enjoy seeing Christina Applegate back on television, as I was a bit of a Jessie fan back in the day. At times, Christina seemed just a little over-the-top in her portrayal of Sam, but I guess she was going for the always-on-the-verge-of-a-freak-out thing that is popular among female TV characters (and Chuck from Chuck).

After the first episode, I feel pretty sorry for "new" Sam since she's stuck with "old" Sam's scary parents and friends. I love Gilmore Girls' Sookie, but her character was pretty freaky on this show. And, let's just say, if that's how Jennifer Esposito acts in real life (I assume it's not), then I can see why Bradley Cooper divorced her.

I did love Barry Watson in this show. I think he's becoming one of those people who just get cuter and cuter all the time (or maybe he just seems cuter since I don't have to be watching 7th Heaven to see him). It was a nice twist that Todd had already tried to break up with pre-coma Sam. That revelation made a lot of sense because he didn't really seem all that into having her around. I also liked how all the messages on his answering machine were his friends bad-mouthing Sam.

I hope we get to see more flashbacks to pre-coma Sam, because she seems pretty entertaining in her horribleness.

Funniest Part:

Sam: "You raised me. You made me who I am!"

Sam's mom: "What a horrible thing to say!"

Sam's dad: "Apologize to your mother."

What I liked most about this pilot is that it made it seem like there's plenty more material to cover in this story. So hopefully the show won't peter out in the next few episodes, like I think Reaper sadly has.

But I would be remiss not to mention that this show is almost exactly 13 Going On 30 without the fairy dust and the "Thriller" dance sequence.

Premiere Rating: 7 / 10

(photo: abc.com)