SYTYCD: Injuries and Double Standards

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 8 Perform

• I missed the intro. I hope it wasn't as fascinating as last week's... (I say sarcastically.)
• Um, where's Alex Wong?
• There was a strange echo while Cat was trying to explain the format of tonight's show. She dealt with it like a pro.
• Oh NO! Alex was injured in practice! Eesh, after seeing the footage of his injury, I'd be stunned if Alex is back next week. That looked like a torn Achilles, actually. And Nigel finally says they think it is a ruptured Achilles! Oh noooooo! Oh dear, if that's what it is, that's going to take months of recovery (I know that thanks to Courtney Kupets). Poor Alex.
• Alex will be automatically in the bottom three and judged tomorrow. If he can't dance next week, he'll automatically be eliminated.
• I heard that Allison was also injured this week. Honestly, it's kind of amazing that more of these dancers don't sustain major injuries with all the dancing and different routines they have to do.
• Ashley and Robert pulled the quick step! Uh oh for them.
• Oh no! I'm even more bummed about Alex's injury after seeing his interview with AdeChicke, where AdeChicke was explaining that Alex can get too serious and intense in practice, and while he's talking, Alex is giving him a look of death and then ominously reached toward him. It was hilarious.
• Billy tells us that all Jose talks about is Lauren Gottlieb's butt.

Lauren with Pasha (Jean-Marc and Franz cha cha):

• The featurette: Part of Pasha's job this week is to be a hair dresser. I'll sign up for an appointment with him!
• The dance: Ok, I don't want to hear Mia saying that Lauren's not sexy anymore. This dance is entirely sex, and she's killing it. I don't know that she always had totally the proper cha cha technique (Mary Murphy would know), but she had the wiggling down. And Pasha got to look the best he's looked so far this season.
• The judging: Nigel feels the need to tell us that Lauren is a "full-bodied woman." Mia says it was "pure murderation." Not to be outdone, Adam says "Holy shampoosis." They're trying to sell us on Lauren being on an evolution. Which I guess is why they tried to convince us that she was having performance issues a few weeks ago when she really wasn't.

Jose with Lauren (Mandy Moore contemporary):

• The featurette: Oh dear, no wonder Jose's all worked up--it looks like the most of the routine is him grabbing Lauren's butt and boobs.
• The dance: Oh, hey, '80s music. I would have never seen that coming. Um, Jose isn't really doing much dancing here. Lauren's doing a lot of twisting and flipping around him, and he's helping, but as for him actually dancing, there's not much there. And when he does dance a bit, you can see why they tried to avoid it.
• The judging: Ok, Nigel clearly wasn't watching what I was watching, because he thinks Jose looked "amazing." I am clearly holding Jose to different standards than Nigel is. We're down to 8--or 7--dancers; it's time to get serious, people! Nigel just made Jose cry. Mia thinks more people--including her--should try to be more like Jose. That may well be, but this is a DANCING show. Mia thinks Jose "melted into" Lauren at the right places and "loved her." Adam says that Mandy Moore played to Jose's strengths. Adam says Jose is one of the most beloved people on this show.

Kent with Comfort (Dave Scott hip hop):

• The featurette: Kent with Comfort--this should be good times!
• The dance: In this outfit, Kent looks like he's in a boy band. Comfort looks hot in her skinny jeans and high-healed boots. Ok, other than giving me a bit of an unfortunate Will Schuester vibe, I think Kent's doing pretty darn well here. The moves looked good, and about 90% of the time his facial expressions were good and not ridiculous. This is a well choreographed routine too.
• The judging: Nigel says it was like a "soft hop" instead of a hip hop and it was a nice Justin Timberlake-style for Kent that worked well. Nigel liked Dave's routine. Mia says she wasn't mad at Kent at all and thought he kind of had a cool factor there. Cat says that Kent hit his nose twice on the bottom of her pool during the 4th of July picnic. The judges all liked Kent's waves, whatever that means. Adam says, "I love that we're sitting here talking about 'growth' and 'small,' and it sounds so disgusting!" and then gets annoyed that everyone is completely thrown off by that comment. Adam is kind of pushing the limits here tonight.

AdeChicke with Courtney (Mandy Moore jazz):

• The featurette: According to everyone involved, the dance is going to be hot.
• The dance: AdeChicke is a bartender. This is a first: we've had tables and benches and sofas and doors on SYTYCD, but never a bar. Courtney's not doing a lot of dancing; she's just crawling around on top of the bar. AdeChicke looks good through. Ok, they finally got Courtney off the bar and the dance really got started. But then they both go back to the bar, and it fizzles out a bit again. Overall, pretty good from AdeChicke. He remembered to use his personality again, which is a plus.
• The judging: Nigel thinks AdeChicke rose to the challenge of creating the character. He praises AdeChicke for dancing out of his style--but like, really, how out of his style was it? Oh dear, one of AdeChicke's contacts has fallen out. Mia disagrees with Nigel! She thinks the dancing and the style were "so not there" and at this point of the competition, we need better than that. Except from Jose. From Jose we just need joy and happiness and mediocre (at best) performances. I'm not the world's biggest AdeChicke supporter, but I think Mia was too harsh there. Adam says he thinks AdeChicke did the same character this week that he did last week, which is just stupid. As Nigel starts yelling, AdeChicke was a GEEK last week and a BARTENDER this week! Come on!

Billy with Allison/Katee (Spencer Liff jazz):

• The featurette: ACK!!! Why did Allison have to get hurt?! Billy and Allison are a dream team! KATEE!!! IT'S KATEE!!!!!!!!!!! KATEE!!!! Ok, I hope Allison feels better soon, but it's KATEE so I can't help but be excited. I love Katee. Dude, dude, dude! Does this mean that Twitch and Katee can do Mia's door routine tomorrow?!?! Pleeeeeeease!
• The dance: OMG, Katee is fantastic. Is this routine utilizing the awesomeness of either Katee or Billy though? I'm not sure. It's awfully slow in the beginning. Ok, the routine picks up some pace for the middle/end, which was better, but it still wasn't as amazing as I feel like it should have been, considering the combined merits of these two dancers.
• The judging: Nigel thinks that, outside of his solos, this was the best he's seen Billy dance. Uh, ok, whatevs. Mia also thinks that was the best she's seen Billy and calls him "fabulicious." Adam agrees and says Billy connected better with his partner than ever before. Ok, so all the judges have fallen in line to sell the story arc they invented: Billy didn't connect with his partners in other weeks and this week he did! I don't really get it. But I was also mostly watching Katee, so maybe I just missed Billy's resurgent awesomeness.

Ashley with Dominic (Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop):

• The featurette: The theme is ninja assassins and they're both trying to take each other out, which seems a bit familiar.
• The dance: Well, the ninja thing is rather literal in the costumes. There are moments where Ash looks pretty good, but there are other moments where she looks like she's in way over her head with the hip hop moves. Although I'm not sure the parachute pants are helping her any. Nor is the Ludacris/Alvin and the Chipmunks music. What the heck to chipmunks have to do with ninjas? The routine ends by the judging table, which just gives the judges an excuse to ham it up to epic proportions.
• The judging: Nigel seems not totally sold on Ashley's technique, but says that the routine was great. Mia thinks she danced that "so hard core" but there was "no kill" in her eyes. Adam thinks Ashley is a quiet contender. And, again, I'm not on the same page as the judges. I think Ash could be a contender too, but I didn't think that her hip hop was that great. Oh well.

Robert with Kathryn (Sean Cheesman jazz):

• The featurette: I missed what style this routine is supposed to be. Is it another jazz? Haven't we watched an awful lot of jazz tonight? In this dance, Robert and Kathryn are dolls who escape from their box.
• The dance: Ok, Robert as Ken doll is BRILLIANT. Props to Sean for coming up with that one. That is just an ideal utilization of his dancer. Kathryn and Robert start out the routine literally in two big boxes. The routine was really cool when they were in the boxes. The out-of-box stuff looks a little rough in places because they're twisting together and keep getting just a little tangled up. But overall the routine was pretty good. The choreo was great.
• The judging: Cat says it was "plastic fantastic." Nigel loved the concept and wished it had even more time to develop. Nigel says he went on an Internet mission to find out why Robert keeps getting put in the bottom three, and says people think he's arrogant, which Nigel says is not the case at all. Mia concurs that Robert is a very hard worker, etc., etc. I think Nigel missed the point; it's not that we think Robert is arrogant, it's that he mugs to the camera too, too, too much! Need I remind the judges of the old barf-into-the-hand-and-then-hold-up-the-number-of-fingers move? I mean, really. Anyway, Mia thinks this was a perfect piece for Robert's personality and movement. (That sounds like a backhanded compliment to me.) She does acknowledge that it "could have been tightened up a bit." Adam says Rob is so great and that he thought the routine was stellar.

Two routines a night: this is how people get injured, folks.

AdeChicke and Alex (Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood):

• The featurette: AdeChicke and Alex have a lovely rapport. AdeChicke relates better to Alex than most of the girls he has danced with.
• The dance: AdeChicke is dancing with Nakul's assistant Marla. Is she the same one who had to dance with Russell last year? AdeChicke looks pretty good here. I'm sure the judges won't love it nearly as much as they loved Jose's though. Because, you know, AdeChicke just isn't nearly as joyful. Ok, WOW! The last third of that routine was WICKED fast and AdeChicke killed it. And he charged through the series of straddle jumps that brought Alex down in the practice and just slaughtered them.
• The judging: Oh for goodness sake, now Nigel's complaining that AdeChicke put too much of his own personality in this one and needed to stick to the specific style. His plies weren't deep enough! Oh for crying out loud! How deep were Jose's plies?! Shut up. Brilliant Cat points out that there's a double standard here because the judges loved it when Jose put his own spin on Bollywood, and the crowd applauds her robustly. Mia agrees with Nigel and thinks AdeChicke's Bollywood looked more African than Bollywood. Adam starts pounding his hand and saying that AdeChicke (pound) will (pound) see it (pound) in the (pound) playback! Why do the judges seem so angry right now? Nigel cuts in to imply that AdeChicke is mad at them and he shouldn't be. Um, sorry, Nigel, he has every right to look at the three of you like you're a bunch of biased idiots, because that's what you are acting like. Seriously, I haven't liked AdeChicke much at all up until now, but after the way he's been treated tonight, I'm thinking about actually voting for him! Unbelievable. Are the judges purposely trying to be artificially mean (to inspire sympathy votes or something), or do they really think this is how to get him into the bottom three? [BTW, Courtney Galliano just tweeted: "Is anyone else in love with @catdeeley for that comment like I am?"]

Lauren and Kent (Travis Wall contemporary):

• The featurette: Lauren burps in Kent's face. Kent says she burps "like the man I'm supposed to be." The routine is about two kids saying goodbye after the prom. Travis is definitely playing to his dancers here.
• The dance: Wow, first 10 seconds were textbook Travis Wall choreo--I'd have instantly known who choreographed this even if they didn't tell me. Oh, this routine is beautiful. It includes some great lifts--Lauren can do some stunning mid-air lift splits. The end was a little frenzied, but the majority of the routine was stunning. Well danced too. In the style of the Jason/Jeanine routine, it ends with a big kiss.
• The judging: Nigel says it confirmed what a really good contemporary dancer Lauren is, what a really good contemporary dancer Kent is, and what a really good contemporary choreographer Travis is. Nigel says the pair is "really the ultimate in male and female dancers this year." Uh, Alex Wong?! Mia thought it was stunning and that Lauren was the ultimate in female dancing in that routine. Adam felt a little bit embarrassed because the connection was so honest and real and intimate. It made Adam feel weird (presumably like a creepy middle-aged man watching two teenagers make out).

Ashley and Robert (Jean-Marc and Franz quick step):

• The featurette: The piece is about a powerful man and a woman who wants to take that power. Ash and Rob are having a hard time picking up the steps in practice.
• The dance: They're using paso doble lighting for the quick step. I'm confused. Oh dear, first round of "quick stepping" wasn't too great. I think they're supposed to be bouncier. Ash looks ok; Robert looks heavy with his steps. Oh, making to contestants do the quick step with no all-stars is just mean. I've seen better quick steps on this show. And the dancers who did those better quick steps got sent home.
• The judging: Nigel thinks Robert's elbow dropped too low in the close-hold. Nigel says Robert was stiff-legged and his shape wasn't quite right, but his performance was right. Nigel thought Ashley looked absolutely lovely. Mia says they got through it and it wasn't a train wreck. Mia thought Robert's legs were too far apart (at least I think she was addressing Robert). Mia says,"It wasn't the kiss of death, it was just a really bad kiss." Lol. Adam says they got through it and were totally committed.

Billy and Jose (Sean Cheesman African jazz):

• The featurette: Billy to Jose: "What about you? What do you love about me?" Billy is worried that they might clash during rehearsal due to their very different backgrounds. For this dance, Billy is the prey (a jaguar), Jose is the hunter.
• The dance: Uh, playing to strengths here: Jose doesn't need pretty technique because he's a caveman-style hunter. Tell me, What about Billy's outfit says "jaguar"? Goth zebra maybe, but not jaguar. Hmm, there's a lot of tackling and rolling on the ground. Overall, I think it was ok. The end pose was cool. Billy's outfit is terrible. I liked the concept. I'd like to see the routine performed by like a Billy and an Alex Freaking Wong and see what we get.
• The judging: Nigel loved the concept. Nigel thought Billy's cat felt a little Broadway and not like an realistic animal. Nigel didn't think it was powerful enough from either of them. Mia doesn't really think Billy was a jaguar, but whatever animal he was, she loved it. Mia thought he was amazing. Mia thinks is was Jose's weakest performance. Adam gave some actual dancing critiques to both of them, which must have come as a shock to Jose, who has been led until now to believe that this is So You Think You Have A Joyful Personality.

They dedicate the during-the-credits final dance to Alex and he seems to love it. Oh, poor Alex. I'm also bummed that we never got to see Anya and Alex dance together.

Well, I'm exhausted. It's hard to pick favorites just due to the sheer number of routines we saw tonight.

My favorites:

• Kent and Lauren's contemporary
• Kent and Comfort's hip hop
• Billy and Katee's jazz / AdeChicke and Courtney's jazz

Overall, it seems like we saw a lot of decent routines tonight, but not very many exceptional ones.

And, again, memo to SYTYCD producers: Tomorrow. Katee. Twitch. Door. Make it happen.

SYTYCD: The Top 10 Dance

So You Think You Can Dance:
"Top Ten Performance Show"

• I was AFTV (away from TV) last night, so I'm just catching up on the performance show now.
• This "behind the scenes" intro is lame.
• Hey, looks like they figured out how to film their intro dances so that we can actually see them.
• Cat is wearing a knee-length white frock with feather embellishments on top and at the hem.
• Why doesn't Cat pronounce Mia's name "Mee-errrr"? I thought that's how Brits pronounced it.
• Oooh, we get to see the "random" draw.
• Kathryn's the all-star for Bollywood?
• Booo, no Neil or Twitch tonight. See you later, guys... (By the way, I flat-out refuse to write it "tWitch." Sorry, buddy.)

Christina with Pasha (Jean-Marc and France paso doble):

• The featurette: Whoa, the lift/toss/catches in this routine are scary.
• The dance: PASHA! Ok, it's out of my system. I don't really associate Pasha with the paso doble, personally, but I don't really know why. Christina looks good. Her dress is cool too. Wow, kind of a risque ending there (Pasha lying on the ground, Christina straddling him.)
• The judging: It's nice that they let the all-stars come over to stand with the contestant for the judging this week. It was very awkward how they made them slink off the stage last week. Mia "kinda thinks it was everything." Judges agree that it was a great start. Cat asks if Pasha is the perfect partner and Christina answers yes.

Adechike with Allison (Mandy Moore contemporary):

• The featurette: Oh no, Adechike's family had a fire several years ago so they don't have any pictures or video of his early years in dance. That's upsetting. Adechike pulled a good partner this week. Not sure why he got to do contemporary last week AND this week. That's a little bizarre--and a large gift. LOL, Mandy just said, "This week we are not doing a dance..." and I finished the sentence in my head with "that is set to a song from the '80s" and got all excited. She really said that it didn't have story. Allison and Mandy worked with Adechike to help connect him with his partner and not look angry.
• The dance: I like Allison's dress. She is exquisite. Well, I can't really even see Adechike's face because Allison is standing in front of him for a lot of the dance, so it's hard to say if he looks angry or what. Ok, sorry, Adechike, you're dancing nicely, but there's no way I can't be watching Allison during this routine.
• The judging: Nigel says he saw an improvement in Adechike's emoting this week. Nigel says he has film star looks and needs to smile. Mia says "Dance is an art form, but it's a heart form." He he, Adechike reminds us that when you're dancing, you can't see your face. Very true.

Alex with Lauren (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Aww, little Alex was cute. He used to be a lot more smiley back in the day too. Maybe ballet has sucked the smile out of him? Alex has to bring coolness and sexiness. I'm a little skeptical how well he'll be able to achieve this, but we'll see.
• The dance: Something about Alex's outfit is a little girly. Aside from that, I think he's doing a fine job with the choreo (which isn't the best Tyce has ever served up, in my opinion) and the style. And every time he does a leap, it's pure gold.
• The judging: Nigel thinks Alex needs to bring a little more power to his performance. He thinks Alex will really have to work hard with changing styles. Mia wanted it to be more "inside" and "sinewy" to nail the Fosse style. Adam didn't think it had many levels--it was all flash and no smolder.

Ashley with Mark (Travis Wall jazz):

• The featurette: Ashley's mom used to really curl Ashley's hair every day! Yikes, that's commitment. I think this is Travis' first foray into "non-contemporary" choreo on the show.
• The dance: Mark's rocking the open-shirt look. This is kind of like "smooth jazz" (or "lyrical jazz") or something. It's nice. I'm more impressed with Ashley in this than I was in the contemporary routine last week. Mad cool dive/flip thing in the middle. More personality is coming out of her than last week. Much less personality is coming out of Mark than usual though. But, boy, does Mark's chest/stomach look hot.
• The judging: Ha! Mark did a bizarre "birthday dance" for Ashley, and Cat responded, "It's not attractive, but..." Nigel didn't get the fact that this routine was "jazz" and thought it looked like a "contemporary" routine. Who cares? And how is that Ashley's problem? Don't the producers screen the routines before they go live on TV? Couldn't they have told Travis to "jazz it up" a bit if they wanted? Why is "lyrical hip hop" ok for the show but not this?

Side note: Do the judges realize how much they are sounding like a broken record this season? They say the exact same things over and over. It's ridiculous.

Billy with Comfort (Lil' C krump):

• The featurette: Billy grew up "on the mean streets of Palm Beach, Florida." Yea, it's Lil' C! I still have residual warm feelings toward Lil' C from back when I used to like him before he got on my nerves with his verbosity. Comfort: "Billy's biggest challenge is being tough. Because he's a little 'He-aaay!'" LOL! By the way, when you're krumping, you should feel like an assassin.
• The dance: Good device making Billy a little wimpy in the beginning and then having the krump kick in. Billy has just a nice, lovely balletic quality to his krumping! I'm not feeling a ton of energy and krump passion from Billy here, but I'm not really feeling it from Comfort either. It seems slow, but I guess I'm just now used to Russell's krumping, where he'd walk on stage and flat-out have a fit (sometimes while dressed in a Santa suit).
• The judging: Nigel hated the music; not sure if he was serious or just joking about being old. Nigel doesn't think Billy found the warrior in him yet, but celebrates that he put himself through it and that he gave everything he could. Mia thinks Billy knocked on the warrior's door, but was afraid to open it. Adam says that Billy was trying so hard out there. Comfort says she thought Billy was buck. Adam says it was a failed experiment. There was not enough hit, rebound and suspension.

Robert with Anya (Jean-Marc and France Argentine tango):

• The featurette: Robert was always the kid on the dance floor at weddings. Okay... Is Anya going to eat this boy alive too? Looks like Robert was creeping Anya out during the practice.
• The dance: Oooh, some very hot moments in this routine. The hotness is mostly coming from Anya, I guess, but at least Robert is keeping up and getting all the steps right. And he didn't do anything to make an idiot of himself, which is a big plus.
• The judging: Nigel thinks Robert looked magnificent up there, and says the choreo/lighting/direction were fantastic. Mia thought Robert's carriage and groundedness weren't quite right and thinks that Anya gobbled him up. Anya interrupts to come to Robert's defense. Adam sees both sides. Adam thinks Robert looked stressed out. It's times like these, I wish we had a ballroom expert on the freaking judging panel--like, I don't know, Mary Murphy--so that someone could give us a definitive verdict. OMG, Robert has taking his obsessive camera-mugging to a whole new level by doing the strangest number-plug gesture I have EVER seen. He hunched over as if to vomit and then straighted up and displayed six fingers. I'm speechless.

Melinda with Ade (Stacey Tookey contemporary):

• The featurette: Hey, as a child, Melinda was quirky! Never would have guessed. The story of the routine is exploring the relationship between Mother Earth and mankind. Melissa accidentally got hit in the face during practice.
• The dance: Why is mankind wearing such a bizarrely cut tank top? Again, I feel like I'm seeing more of Ade than I ever did when he was actually competing on this show. Melinda is doing ok, but the technique you see from the contemporary dancers isn't there for her. Could have been a lot worse though.
• The judging: Nigel editorializes about the earth message. Nigel really thought Melinda did a good job. Mia doesn't like the dress, but then again she admits that she's wearing a bedspread. Mia thought Melinda's lines (feet and legs) were very good and not what she'd expect from a tapper. Adam says she was great.

Jose with Kathryn (Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood):

• The featurette: Jose was a super cute baby/kid. He also used to have a big 'fro, which I like better than the cornrows he has now. Jose didn't even know how to spell Bollywood. Sound it out, Jose; it's not that hard. Kathryn says Jose has a really positive energy.
• The dance: I was a little nervous at first, but he's not that bad. It's so fast and there are so many steps and this is so not what Jose is used to doing. But he is really managing to include his own personality and look like he's having fun, which is very impressive, all things considered.
• The judging: Cat asks if this is the first time Jose's worn a headband (it is). Nigel doesn't think Jose got the whole way to India, and now he's babbling about the World Cup. Nigel says Jose's performance, however, was great. Mia says he was so wrong, but so right. She thought the groove he added to it was hilarious. Adam thinks Jose would have won the prize for the brightest light on the show...and Adam has apparently forgotten about Kent? Basically, the moral here is that if you're doing a style you're not used to, it doesn't matter so much that you don't know what you're doing as long as you attack it like it's the most fun thing you've ever done in your life.

Lauren with Dominic (Tessandra Chavez lyrical hip hop):

• The featurette: This routine is about women in abusive relationships. Geez, poor Dominic: last week he didn't even get to dance, and now this week he's an abusive boyfriend.
• The dance: Lauren's got a nice hip hop swagger. Hey, look! This is "lyrical hip hop" and I don't hate it! So the problem really is NappyTabs! This routine I rather like. The "abuser/abused" theme was there, but it wasn't so over-the-top that it became too literal, which was nice. Long hug at the end between Dom and Lauren.
• The judging: Nigel believed the performance. Lauren looks shaken up. Nigel says she needs a stronger base (needs her feet further apart). I'm impressed with Dom's restraint so far, in that he's not trying to be all over Cat yet. Mia liked it, but thought the "abuse" should have been more literal and disturbing. Mia thought it was one of the best of the night. Adam appreciates that Lauren listened to what the judges said last week and says she turned into an actor this week. Lauren says she really tried to get to a deeper place. Cat responds with, "Dom, do you want to get to a deeper place?" and everyone--including Dominic--is shocked.

Kent with Courtney (Tyce Diorio jazz):

• The featurette: Kent still is a kid; no flashback necessary. Seems like there's a lot of jazz this week. The dance is about an on-again/off-again couple, who want each other, but don't. Kent says this can kind of transfer into his life somewhat, but not really. Kent: "I get to work with Courtney for the first time and she doesn't even care--you can touch her all you want, and that's new." Hahahahahaha!
• The dance: The outfits are a tad strange--and the choreo is rather Sonya-esque. Overall, I liked it. I think they danced it very well, and I think Kent did throw some sexiness into it. I think the choreo could have been a little bit cooler, and then the dance would have been awesome.
• The judging: Nigel asks about Kent's strange outfit and Kent says, "I think a lot of people, when you say 'Kent,' picture me in this." Nigel enjoyed it, and confirms that it was "jazz" in his opinion. That's for nailing that down for us, Nigel. Nigel didn't think Kent had as much fun with this jazz as he did with last week's cha cha. Mia thinks Kent has such a big personality that he stays in "Kent World" instead of fitting the character of the routine.

My favorites:

• Lauren and Dom's lyrical hip hop
• Ashley and Mark's jazz
• Kent and Courtney's jazz
• Robert and Anya's Argentine tango

Guilty pleasure:

• Jose and Kathryn's Bollywood

In trouble:

• Christina
• Melinda
• Adechike

SYTYCD: Now We're Talking!

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 14 Performance Show"

The play-by-play:

• Is it just me or did Victor do literally nothing in his intro dance?
• Almost all of the girls are wearing hot pants. Except for Karen, who has on sort of a wrap dress. I guess she's trying to be a little more frumpy since we're not voting for her because we're intimidated by her sexuality, according to Nigel. Couldn't be because we just don't like her, huh?
• Cat is wearing a sparkly silver-ish Grecian strapless dress.
• No, we don't want to see a 9-year-old Nigel! Stop wasting my time! Just bring out the dancers!
• Adam makes a botox joke about Mary.
• Mary does look gorgeous tonight.
• Ha! Adam's child pic is pretty funny.
• I know Travis choreographed a routine for this episode, and I'm guesses it's for either Mollee and Nathan (redemption for last week) or Russell and Noelle (further proof of the awesomeness of Russell).

Ashleigh and Jakob (Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop): I was guessing that these two were headed for a hip hop. They will, at least, probably be better served with a NappyTabs hip hop routine than they would have been by a more hardcore Dave Scott, Shane Sparks, or Lil C number.

• The featurette: It is cool that we get to see videos of the dancer's favorite childhood performances. Jakob used to be a little "chunky." Awww! Jakob's doing the "Bye, Bye, Bye" dance in his archive footage! Haha!
• The dance: Wow, Jakob is good at this--not sure why I'm even remotely surprised by that. Ash is doing pretty well too--eons better than her husband did at hip hop last week. Half this dance looks like the same moves that were in "Bleeding Love" but without the briefcase. Nevertheless, I'd say it was one of the better NappyTabs routines in a while.
• The judging: Nigel knows so many people who have suffered due to the wrong people seeing their texts. Nigel has no doubt that Jakob's going to make it into the Top 10. Nigel thinks Ashleigh's style was really good tonight as well. Mary: "What a shocker...another bad relationship on So You Think You Can Dance." Adam thinks that Jakob is about as sure of a bet for the Top 10 as ever there was on SYTYCD.

Karen and Kevin (Spencer Liff Broadway): Eesh! These two were in the Bottom 3 couples last week, and this week they have to do Broadway? That's a bit harsh.

• The featurette: Ha at the video of little Kevin dancing. One of Kevin's most memorable dance performances was a Michael Jackson tribute number, during which he broke down and really thought he was Michael Jackson. Karen and Kevin had a much harder time with the routine than Spencer expected.
• The dance: Well, it's not the most dynamic or engaging routine, but I rather like both of them in this. Some of Kevin's facial expression choices are confusing me though. I definitely like Karen a lot better in this than I do when she's relying so heavily on being sexy.
• The judging: Nigel didn't like Karen's performance as much as usual because she didn't get to bring the sexiness to it (Nigel and I are on opposite pages). He thought Kevin's performance was worse. Mary thinks Kevin looked awkward in the in-between transitions. Adam points out that it's amazing that Kevin can even get through it, being a hip hopper. Adam enjoyed watching Karen dance without pulling out the tigress. So Adam agrees with me, and is thus back in my good graces.

Noelle and Russell (Eddie Simon fox trot): Are you kidding me? Russell has to do another fox trot?! That's what he did with Melanie in the first week! Boooooo! What's the boy have to do to get a Travis Wall contemporary routine? (So this means Mollee and Nathan get Travis' routine tonight, if my calculations are correct.) If they're going to make him do more ballroom, at least change up the style: samba, cha cha, jive, mambo, rumba, tango, paso doble, whatever.

• The featurette: Vintage video of Russell singing!! Awww! Aww, and there he is doing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"! So cute!
• The dance: Russell looks a little stiff maybe, but that might be what you're supposed to do in a fox trot for all I know. They did some really flashy turns there in the middle; very nice. The routine looked like it kind of ran out of steam in the middle-end part, but, overall, it was rather entertaining.
• The judging: Nigel says Russell's vastly improved at the fox trot over the past few weeks. Nigel says his "rise and fall" was really there and he commends his fouette pirouette, which I also loved. Mary says that Russell didn't look worried, and there's a lot to be worried about in a fox trot because it is so slow. Mary says Noelle's footwork and knees and feet were absolutely correct. Adam says the fox trot is the second most deadly dance aside from the quick step.

Channing and Victor (Tyce Diorio jazz): I thought we'd been getting away without much Tyce lately...

• The featurette: Victor: "I was a brat. I was the kid who would get lost in a department store." Victor's turns in the old routine don't look that bad to me. The routine is about two curious blackbirds coming out to play. Arg--Tyce is acting even Tyce-ier than usual.
• The dance: Wow, there's a big bird cage made of rope on the set. That thing is cool. Channing's looking good tonight. Parts of this routine are really cool; other parts aren't as exciting. Overall, I rather liked it, and thought they danced it quite nicely.
• The judging: In practice Channing pecked Victor in the head and he had to get 5 stitches above his eye! Nigel says this is the first routine where Channing looked like she was enjoying herself, and that made it a lot more interesting to watch. Nigel says Victor's always been at a high level, but he's kind of stagnant so he needs to push it a bit. Adam says the weirdness of this rendition of the song kept him out of the number a bit, but that it was well danced and well choreographed.

Kathryn and Legacy (Tony and Meredith paso doble):

• The featurette: Kathryn's mom owned a dance studio. Legacy was a rebellious child. Legacy's dad bribed him with $5 to do a '70s dance at a house party. In this dance, Legacy is an admiral in the navy who comes into port to see his Kathryn, his concubine, who is angry with him.
• The dance: Um, why isn't the navy admiral wearing a shirt? What kind of navy is this? Kathryn looks very good. Her flowy skirt is helping. I thought Legacy is handling this routine well too. Ooh, very nice! I quite liked that routine/performance! It was dramatic, but not quite as over-the-top dramatic as the paso Jeanine and Brandon did in last season's finale.
• The judging: What? Now we have to wait until after another commercial break to hear what the judges think? Nonsense! Nigel: "How many admirals do you know who are walking around like that?!" Adam: "If he's an admiral, I know a lot of people who want to join that navy!" Nigel says Kathryn certainly wasn't being juvenile in her dancing this week and says that she was "absolutely magnificent." Mary says Kathryn played that just right. Mary says some of the technical aspects weren't there for Legacy, but he nailed the character of the paso perfectly. Adam says Kathryn "killed it" and "just destroyed out there." Adam says that Legacy's stamina has grown a lot since Vegas. Adam: "You are no longer a break dancer; you're a dancer."

They interrupt the show to give us an update about the Dizzy Feet Foundation.

• Can you imagine how pumped SYTYCD is going to be when one of these Dizzy Feet kids makes the show?!
• Debbie Allen! I miss Debbie Allen. And Mia! I kinda miss Mia too!
• We meet the nine kids with Dizzy Feet scholarships and then see some other cute kids as well.
• Dude, I can't go to this Dizzy Feet gala! I don't live in L.A.! If it's really the "can't miss dance event of the year," televise it, darn you!

Ellenore and Ryan (Travis Wall contemporary): Ack, I was foiled! These two "pulled" the Travis routine. I guess the producers don't want Ryan in the Bottom 3 anymore because they'll have an increasingly hard time justifying keeping him around? (Ballroom solos typically don't play that well on elimination night.)

• The featurette: Ryan's grandparents were professional ballroom dancers. In his first dance performance, he was a bunny, ha! Look--Travis' helper is Season 3's Jaimie (of the Hummingbird Routine)!! Travis is flipping out during the practice.
• The dance: Aww, it's to "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" by the Stars (which was featured on The O.C. back in the day). I'm hooked already; this song is great! Loved the routine (as followers of my Travis love would expect). I adored the "surprise meeting" aspect to it. Ellenore looked great. Ryan was good, but he looked a little ballroom-stiff (his extension was a bit lacking at times).
• The judging: Nigel says they benefited from a brilliant Travis Wall routine. Nigel says this routine was his favorite of the night. Nigel says Ryan was the best ballroom dancer who has ever done contemporary (on the show). Uh, I'm going to have to consider that claim. Mary says Travis just hasn't taken a wrong step in this season (which is good since I think he's only choreographed two routines so far). Mary and Nigel say that Ellenore can transform into any character she's given. Mary says Ryan has broken so many barriers for ballroom dancers in this competition. Adam says SYTYCD has "just kicked in right now." Adam says Ellenore was ridiculous.

Mollee and Nathan (Laurie Ann Gibson pop jazz): Is it just me, or do Nathan and Mollee always get to close the show or go near the end, while Karen and Kevin and Ashleigh and Jakob always have to go first or at least early?

• The featurette: I think we've already met the "kiddie versions" of Nathan and Mollee. Mollee was wearing a lot of makeup for a child--she looks awful child pageanty in the footage. Oh, Laurie Ann is going to eat these two for lunch!
• The dance: Lady Gaga. The routine/dancing is good, but I'm not totally blown away. That probably has more to do with how good so many of the other routines have been tonight and less to do with this one. I'm a little burnt out. The first 10 seconds of this routine when they jazz sprinted across the stage were easily the best part.
• The judging: Nigel commends their commitment to this dance. Uh, did Nigel just say that "only in dancing" are you "underpaid, underappreciated, and overworked"? Seriously, Nigel? I know there are a lot of people in a lot of other professions who would beg to differ. Nigel says Nathan needs to start to grow some more because other (less technically proficient) dancers are rising to his level. Mary said Mollee was "just perfection" and so was Nathan, but the performance didn't give her chills. In the future, Adam wants them to find more nuance to their chemistry, and that point makes a lot of sense to me. We like these guys, but we haven't really been given much reason to like them other than the fact that they're cute.

Overall, tonight's performances were muuuuuuuuuuuuch better than the ones we saw last week. There literally wasn't a routine tonight that I didn't at least like, and it's hard to pick just three favorites. I'll go with:

Kathryn and Legacy's paso doble
Ellenore and Ryan's contemporary
Channing and Victor's jazz

but I can't rank them amongst those three. And I also really liked Jakob and Ash's hip hop and Russell and Noelle's fox trot. Eesh! Who is going to be in the Bottom 3 this week? Looks like Kevin and Karen, but aside from them, I don't know. The judges don't seem to know which other couples are headed for the Bottom 3 either.

In any event, bravo to SYTYCD tonight! In my opinion, this was easily the best performance show of the season so far.

SYTYCD: The Top 20 (Kind Of) Compete

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20 Performance/Elimination Show

I don't really appreciate that America doesn't get any kind of say in who goes home this week. I know the World Series messes up the schedule, but they could have done the regular competition last night and the results tonight. The judges just picked the Top 20--if America wasn't going to get a say until next week, the judges might as well have just picked the Top 18 right off the bat.

The play-by-play:

• Cat is wearing an Asian-inspired red mini dress with 1940s hair and red lips.
• Billy Bell became very ill so he's out of the competition. (I heard he broke his hand, but Nigel's really hitting the word "ill" hard here.)
• Additionally, Noelle had an accident and her leg is in a massive brace thing. And apparently she gets a free pass this week. Interesting. In Season 3, when Jessie didn't dance during the performance show, she still had to dance for her life the next night (even though Pasha, her partner, received enough votes to be safe) and ultimately went home. They are employing entirely different rules now.
• So choreographer Melanie has to sub in again! She's the only person who has ever had to do that on SYTYCD, and she's had to do it twice now!

Channing and Phillip (Jason Gilkison jive):

• The featurette: This is not the most dynamic pairing ever. Oh dear, Phillip does spoken word.
• The dance: Well, SYTYCD couldn't do its Michael Jackson tribute, but they do get to use "Rockin' Robbin" by The Jackson 5. Channing looks hot in her feathery outfit. This performance was not bad. It didn't look entirely effortless though; they looked like they were thinking pretty hard about everything.
• The judging: Adam liked it, Mary says it was "not bad" (I think that's the exact phrase I just used) but SHE. WANTS. MORE. Nigel wants Channing to get her weight over her toes more so she can bounce.

Ashleigh and Jakob (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Oh no, Jakob got saddled with Ashleigh! BTW, Ash couldn't dance for 6 years due to illness and injury. Oh no, Jakob got saddled with Tyce! Tyce says Ash and Jakob need "to find that man/woman thing."
• The dance: Why is Ashleigh's dress looking navy when Jakob's wearing a lot of black? Wow, Jakob can leap like nobody's business. Well, I liked Jakob, but I could take or leave Ashleigh on that one.
• The judging: Jakob is sweating up a storm. Adam says that Jakob is amazing and it will be hard for Ashleigh to keep up with him. Mary thinks Ashleigh was phenomenal and that she didn't think Ashleigh was capable of dancing as well as she just did. Mary to Jakob: "Everything you do is just kind of perfect!" Nigel calls Jakob one of the most gifted dancers ever on the show (and he adds that Billy Bell was too). Nigel goes so far as to say that Jakob will go very far in the competition and will take Ashleigh "to the finals as well" is she continues to dance well. Um, I hope not?

Ariana and Peter (Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop):

• The featurette: Napoleon and Tabitha are sooooooo annoying. The dance is about androids.
• The dance: Peter can to some b-boy style tricks. There is an awful lot of head banging in this routine. Too much, I'd say. Apparently, androids act as though they're at a grunge rock concert in the early '90s? The dancing also wasn't really the best display of hip hop ever.
• The judging: Adam says they weren't dancing similarly. Then he does a Lil C impression. Mary loved the beginning but thought it was sloppy in the middle. Nigel was disappointed by these two for the first time. Could it be because this was the first time he's had to watch them do a NappyTabs routine (not counting the group routine in Vegas)?

Noelle and Russell (Tony and Melanie fox trot):

• The featurette: Hahahahaha! Melanie has to dance with Russell! This is going to be classic! It's not every day you see a krumper try the fox trot...
• The dance: Melanie looks hot, and Russell is so debonair! I loved it! I think they should make Melanie dance with someone every week.
• The judging: Adam can't believe how fantastic Russell is. Mary takes her hair off to Russell. She says he did a respectable job. Nigel says Russell's rise and fall wasn't good, but his lines were.

Bianca and Victor (Travis Wall contemporary):

• The featurette: Bianca's living in L.A., and the only family she has with her is her little dog. Victor says he is very colorful. It's Travis!!!!!! YEEEEEEAAAaaa!
• The dance: Victor's got really nice lines. Very cool lifts and, uh, tanglings. Travis has done it again! Awesome, awesome routine. What was interesting is that the male/female dynamic in this was very reminiscent of the relationship in the Bench Dance that Travis performed with Heidi.
• The judging: Adam says Bianca's head and knees are good, but her shoulders and toes need work. He loved Victor. Mary loved them both. Nigel says that they were the most connected partners so far. And, of course, everyone loves Travis. (Let's do a SYTYCD: All-Stars, folks!)

Karen and Kevin (Tony and Melanie cha cha):

• The featurette: Karen is from Venezuela. Kevin is a model.
• The dance: Ha ha ha! they're dancing to the Glee version of "Push It." Karen's outfit is very skimpy. I don't think Kevin quite has this down. He looks uncomfortable. Karen did ok, but I was distracted by her dress. The dance seemed slow.
• The judging: Adam says Karen looks "aaaRUUUgaaa!" and those who know him know that's not really his thing. Mary said Kevin was rhythmical and sexy but not sharp enough. Shocker, Nigel's "gaga" over Karen. He thinks Kevin danced it quite well.

Ellenore and Ryan (Sonya Tayeh contemporary jazz):

• The featurette: Ryan likes to work out. Ellenore's parents were dancers. The dance is about two angelic creatures: a bad one (Ryan) and a good one (Ellenore).
• The dance: The style of movement in this is very prototypical Sonya. Ellenore is good. I wouldn't say that was one of the best routines in SYTYCD history, though. I think Ellenore oversold it in the featurette a bit. It wasn't as good as "The Garden."
• The judging: Adam says they just became two of the most exciting dancers on the show. Mary thought the chemistry was crazy. Nigel says Ryan totally took him by surprise.

Well, that was ominous. Cat just said the judges are going to have to send two dancers home tonight and they cut straight to Pauline and Brandon, who appear to be dressed for a waltz.

Pauline and Brandon (Jason Gilkison smooth waltz):

• The featurette: Pauline likes photography. Brandon is a hip hop dancer who just showed up. Ugh, poor Brandon: he's a hip hopper who just got called in and now he's got to do a waltz.
• The dance: I'm not a waltz expert, but Pauline looks gorgeous when she turns in that flowy dress. The part where they were actually in a hold and waltzing looked a little rough, but everything else looked lovely.
• The dance: Brandon's only been here for a day and a half!!! Adam thinks they did a great job in a difficult situation. Mary liked their chemistry, considering how little time they had to work on it. Mary begins a sentence to Brandon with "if you continue on..." so that sure doesn't bode well for him. Nigel says it wasn't strong enough in his opinion.

We are just tearing through these performances tonight!

Kathryn and Legacy (Dave Scott hip hop):

• The featurette: Goofy caveman hip hop.
• The dance: This is good. And a very strong argument for sending NappyTabs packing. Kathryn was rather good for a non-hip hopper.
• The judging: Adam loved it. Mary screams "Yabba dabba do!" and the continues to shriek for quite a while. All three judges heartily commend Dave Scott. Yes, that's what good hip hop choreography looks like, folks.

Mollee and Nathan (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: Did they seriously pair up Nathan and Mollee?! Whyyyyyy? There's no reason to isolate the two young ones--Chelsie Hightower was young when she was on the show and she did fine dancing with Mark. But my real reluctance about this pairing stems the fact that I like Nathan but am annoyed by Mollee. And to make it worse, they're making them do disco! Nathan looks ridiculous in that white outfit. Nathan plays the piano and the trumpet.
• The dance: Something looks off to me about Mollee's arm movements. Nathan's still great. They pulled off some very cool lifts quite well. I liked her doing splits while Nathan pulled her across the floor.
• The judging: The judges commend them both for their energy and spirit.

My favorite dances of the night:

• Bianca and Victor's contemporary
• Russell and Melanie's fox trot
• Kathryn and Legacy's hip hop

Now the judges are going to pick two guys and two guys to dance solos. They will be judged on everything the judges know about them from all season.

Dancing will be: Ariana, Brandon, Pauline and Russell.

RUSSELL?!?! WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS?!? So, theoretically, he could be sent home tonight for his fox trot, while his partner (Noelle) got injured and gets to go straight through to next week without even having to dance! Perhaps if Russell had known about this loophole, he would have faked an injury! Hell, if I were a dancer on this show, I'd plan to develop some sort of "injury" as soon as I drew the quick step.

Also, Ashleigh doesn't have to dance for her life tonight? I think Pauline is getting a little screwed over.

Ariana's solo: Wearing kind of a frilly purple dress. She did a nice, powerful solo.

Russell's solo: Russell has one heck of a buck krump face. He dances with such aggression and passion. If the judges kick him off tonight, they won't be able to make it out of the building.

Pauline's solo: Opens with some nice pirouettes. It had nice energy, but there wasn't too much else going on. It kind of looked like a ballroomer's solo.

Brandon's solo: I think he's hip hopping to a John Mayer track Interesting choice. It was pretty but rather low-key. After the sheer force of nature that was Russell's solo, poor Brandon doesn't have a chance.

This group seems really big on making little heart shapes with their hands.

The girls: Ariana is cut. Nigel says she's a remarkable dancer but that they'd like to see more love in her eyes. If I were her, I wouldn't be looking at the judges with love in my eyes right now.

The guys: Holy crap! Nigel just scared the crap out of me when he told Russell they hope he will keep learning new styles of dance. What a dumbass thing to say--of course Russell will continue to learn new styles since he's staying in the competition. What else is he supposed to do? Pull "contemporary" out of the hat and flat out refuse to do it? Krump while his partner is doing a mambo?

But, anyway, Brandon is going home. Nigel says he'll talk to FOX and the powers that be and try to get a rule exception so that Brandon can try out for the show again next year. (Typically, once you make the Top 20, you can't try again in another season.) That's really only fair, because Brandon really didn't make the Top 20 and only stepped in a the last minute to help out. His experience wasn't a typical Top 20 experience; he didn't have the opportunities to prepare and practice that everyone else did, so it would really suck if this 2-day experience precluded him from having the chance to participate more fully in the future.

Seriously, why did they put Russell in the bottom two? Based on tonight's performances, in addition to Brandon, I would have ranked Peter, Kevin and probably Phillip all below Russell. Aside from the stupid comment about hoping he'll continue to learn new styles, Nigel didn't even give Russell any actual constructive criticism or advice. He certainly didn't get the "show more passion" line. I'm guessing the judges just wanted to see him krump? Or rally his supporters for the future? I don't know.

Let's hope that SYTYCD will get a handle on what they're doing after the World Series is over. These fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rule/format alterations aren't working very well.

SYTYCD: Finale Disappointments

So You Think You Can Dance: "Finale Performance Show"

In my four seasons of watching SYTYCD, I don't think I've ever been so unexcited about a season finale performance show. Oh well, let's see how it goes:

• They are taping the finale in the Kodak Theater, and the stage/set is gorgeous. It's going to be kind of strange to not have a bunch of teenage girls standing right smack-up against the stage though. It seems like the dancers are so far away from the people.
• Was that Pono I just saw in the audience?
• BTW, Deeley is sporting a rather sack-like shimmery, shiny gold mini dress with sleeves. I'm not loving the frock. Her loose, wavy hair, however, is awesome.
• It's Shankers (Adam Shankman)!!! I thought he might show up for the finale. It seems like the less frequently he comes around to judge, the more I like him. Last year, he annoyed me, but this year I love him. I don't really get it.
• Finally, we've found a space big enough to handle Mary's boisterous shrieking.

Wade Robson group number:

• The featurette: Two jocks hit on two cheerleaders. Um, in the practice Wade was way out-dancing all four of these people...
• The dance: Hey, what a shock, Evan can't catch a football. Ok, the camera edits bother me even more in this space than in they do in the normal venue. Maybe Jeanine's facial expressions translate better to the 3,000-person live audience, but they were not made for television close-ups. Ugh, why do I feel like I'm watching a knockoff version of Bring It On?

We take a break from the season five action to watch an epic promo for the new fall season featuring flashbacks from previous seasons and some new audition footage. Hey, I think I saw that tapper girl (Bianca) who they keep not putting through to the top 20. (She must be a glutton for punishment--or they were saving her for season six or something.) Tyce: "Season six is here, hel-LOOOO!!!" Um, here's a suggestion for Tyce: when you are judging a popular reality competition show, you probably should try to avoid sounding like Kate Gosselin yelling at Jon in Toys 'R Us. Just a thought.

Jeanine and Evan (Sonya Tayeh jazz):

• The featurette: Jeanine gets to kick and punch Evan a lot.
• The dance: The routine was not poorly danced, but I just wish I could see season four's Mark and Courtney Galiano give this routine a go. Evan is doing a pretty good job of falling though. This stage is ginormous, and because of that I think it might be difficult to do a really good job of selling the routines tonight.
• The judging: Shankers says he never saw Jeanine coming (perhaps because she was so minimally featured in the pre-Top 20 episodes?) and that he didn't think Evan would make the Top 4 either. He says that Sonya did a good job of choreographing to the strengths of the dancers (Evan's exceptional ability to fall, I guess). Nigel roots Evan on like he actually wants him to win. Ha.

Brandon's solo:

• The featurette: Brandon slips into a Southern accent sometimes. Brandon says that his favorite routine was his tango with Janette. He says that he doesn't see his dancing brilliance in himself sometimes.
• The solo: I think he's wearing the same board shorts that Matthew McConaughey wore to film that surfer movie. (Example A. Btw, why is McConaughey is in a freaking tree? Ha!) Anyway, Brandon's solo was one long, uninterrupted steam of powerful movements. It was impressive, but he certainly wasn't relaxing and just letting his brilliance flow.
• The judging: So they're judging the solos now? We must have a lot of time to kill tonight. Shankers says that he doesn't get the board shorts and that the solo was great but a bit on the frantic side.

Kayla and Brandon (Tyce Dioria Broadway)

• The featurette: Uh oh, Brandon and Kayle are about to get Tyced. Kayla promises us that this will be Tyce's last routine of the season. Tyce asked Brandon to do a "rose plop," I think.
• The dance: Why does Brandon have to dance twice in a row? That seems unfair. At least the costumes are cooler than the usual Broadway costumes on this show. Kayla's opening split on top of Brandon on the table was gorgeous. I didn't hate this number, but I'm not sure it really engaged me either. They danced it well, even if their side-by-side "pirouettes" (that's what I'm calling them anyway, Nigel called them a hopping something) got a bit out of sync (it might have been on purpose?). Brandon's sequined shirt/jacket reminds me of Chuck Bass.
• The judging: Adam, Mary and Nigel all love it. Nigel says Tyce has been amazing this season and that he's named for a cookie. Then Nigel tells an anecdote about the time he had a heart attack (because Brandon's character seemed to have a heart attack at the end of the number). So, heart attacks can be played for levity in Tyce's world, but cancer is serious. Ok then.

Jeanine's solo:

• The featurette: Sounds like Jeanine's mom decided that Jeanine would be a dancer. Oh no, we're talking about the Russian folk dance again. Let's let it go, people. Jeanine's favorite dance was the Travis Wall contemporary routine with Jason. She claims the kiss at the end of the routine was not choreographed.
• The solo: Using tango music and wearing the most bikini-like dress I've ever seen. I think I missed a lot her dancing because I spent most of the time she was out there trying to figure out what was going on with the "dress." Travis sighting! When she's done, everyone stands and applauds like they've just seen, um, I don't even know what could have warranted this sort of reaction. (Ok, yes, the pirouette was good, but it wasn't Danny Tidwell terrority or anything. Calm down a bit, people.)
• The judging: Shankers is beside himself over her pirouette. Mary says that solo was the best thing that Jeanine's ever done on this show. Uh, guess I should have paid more attention then. Nigel says Jeanine's "in the final two" as far as he's concerned. Um, yeah, he says that after only two people have done solos. What's he going to say after Kayla performs?

Brandon and Evan (Laurieann Gibson pop jazz dance battle):

• The featurette: Why do the top two boys always have to dance battle? Neil and Danny were battling princes. Josh and Twitch were battling Russian folk dancers. (But, really, wasn't Benji and Travis' non-battle nerd hip hop the best of the bunch?)
• The dance: This is kind of a weak dance battle--they weren't even looking at each other for the first chunk of the routine. They did eventually get around to some fake fighting that I didn't really buy. Seriously, dude, what kind of guys dance fight to Janet Jackson music anyway? This is so weird. Evan's actually dancing this pretty well, but there's something weird about Evan trying to have a "nasty groove."
• The judging: Adam thinks Evan "got a little dusted." Um, does Adam realize that pointing that out is just going to get all of the hardcore Evan fans to vote for him all the more? Mary wants to know what the nastiest thing Evan's ever done is. Evan says that he can't decide because "the list is so long." Nigel says Evan has a "choochy face." Frankly, if I were Evan, I'd be sooooooooooo tired of people saying how nice and sweet I am that I'd go punch somebody's grandma or something. Enough is enough.

Kayla and Jeanine (Mia Michaels contemporary):

• The dance: Um. Something bizarre happened with my FOX channel--the commercials break stretched waaaay too long and they finally cut back into the show for literally only the final 6 seconds of this dance. Uhhh, what the hell? Thanks, FOX Philly, that was so helpful. After this debacle, I don't know if Jeanine or Kayla should count on too many votes from the greater Philadelphia area...
• The judging: Adam says it was a concept piece by Mia. Mary says this piece is going to be remembered forever--not likely! I can't remember something I never saw! Mary says these two girls are the strongest girls ever in a finale. Not buying that one, and I take offense on behalf of Katee and Courtney G., Sabra and Lacey, and Heidi and Donyelle. Nigel says something pervy about how he wishes more of the girl's outfits had come off. Great, I'm so glad I got to hear that instead of getting to actually watch the dance. Thanks.

Evan's solo:

• The featurette: Evan's favorite routine was the Mia Michaels butt routine with Randi. Evan says he's "dropping the hammer" tonight. Lol.
• The solo: He's got the fedora and a tie but no suspenders. I think I enjoyed that solo more than Evan's other solos, but maybe he's just finally worn me down and is building me back up to like things I didn't use to like?
• The judging: Adam points out that this solo was a variation of his audition routine and calls doing that a calculated risk (meanwhile, Brandon did his audition solo last week and no one seemed to have a problem with that). Nigel agrees that Evan is special and entertaining, but doesn't think that Evan has grown as much over the course of the season as he would have liked. Ultimately, I agree with that assessment. (Not that I feel like any of the Top 4 have "grown" a whole heck of a lot over the course of the season, actually. I'd say they're all about as good as they were all along.)

Kayla and Evan (Tony and Melanie jive):

• The featurette: Didn't Evan already jive this year? Let's see if we can finally get a good jive this season to make up for the two bad ones.
• The dance: Why is Kayla jiving in cowboy boots and a frilly tutu? I think something about Kayla's arm movements while jiving looks very bizarre--she looks like she's flailing around a broken arm or something. I'd say that they started out pretty strong but the middle and end weren't great. The choreo kind of petered out after the cartwheel/lift sequence. There didn't seem to be much going on after that.
• The judging: Adam doesn't think that was a "finale-level routine" in his opinion. I also found it to be a little lacking, but Mary liked the choreo. Mary doesn't think that Evan has the jive kicks right yet. She also criticizes arm movements, but fails to put out that it was KAYLA's arm positions that looked so bizarre and then says that Kayla stole the show. Unbelievable. This is why Evan's going to win, people--the judges need to stop picking on him! Even I feel sorry for him now, and I thought he should have been out of the competition weeks ago! Now Nigel says that Kayla hasn't been showing personality this season up until now? Wha!? He's never complained about her not showing personality before that I recall (he did say her hair was in her face once).

Kayla's solo:

• The featurette: We get to spend a little more time with Kayla's grandparents. One last time for their cuteness to get her some votes. Kayla's favorite routine was the addiction piece with Kupono. Kayla says she's not just a dancer and always "reaches out and pulls people into the performance" or something like that. Well, that was modest.
• The dance: To "Sweet Dreams" and the strong music helps her through her iffy solo composition tendencies. It was good, but there was one leap in there that didn't look up to her typical standards.
• The judging: Adam compares her to some of the best dancers ever on the show (namely Travis, Will, and Danny). The judges all say nice things about her, but no one flat out says she should win (like they did about Brandon and Jeanine). I guess they realized that they've been backing a losing pony this whole time?

Jeanine and Brandon (Louis van Amstel paso doble):

• The featurette: To big it home one more time that the powers that be at SYTYCD want Jeanine or Brandon to win, they give them the coveted final performance slot. (It probably would have been more fair to end with the four-dancer group number, but I guess they figured that immediately after watching that cheerleader routine, people might have refused to vote for anybody.) We're ending the finale performance show with a paso? That's a bold choice. It's a good think Debbie Allen isn't here.
• The dance: Oh, it's just an excuse to get Jeanine in another bikini top. I think that this very dramatic music and strobe lighting would trick you into thinking this is a great routine even if it's not. Luckily, it does seem to be going much better than the other paso dobles of the season. Ok, the performance was good; the judges are going to be beside themselves though and I don't think it warrants that.
• The judging: Shankers thinks that what makes a champion on this show is the transitions and the small things in a dance (which, by the way, was what was missing in Kayla and Evan's jive). Mary lets out a scream because she's somehow forgotten to do that all night. And then she lets out about six more screams. Nigel also tries to scream. Nigel again goes waaaaaaaaaaay too far in regards to Jeanine and what he'd "like to do to her." You can literally hear the audible discomfort of the audience members.

Cat wants the judges to pick the winner and Adam just compliments everyone, to which Cat replies, "Mary, can you be more of a man than Adam?" HA! Go Deeley! Nigel takes a quick second to plug the fact that Evan's brother will be in season 6. (So, um, can we assume that Ryan's going to make the Top 20, because if he doesn't this is really ridiculous.) Nigel calls it for Brandon or Jeanine and Evan and Kayla look pissed off.

My favorite routines: ??? Um, I guess I'll go with the Broadway (did I just say that?) and the paso.

Honestly, right now I can't really pick who I want to win because I just feel annoyed with this episode and this season. During this performance show I went from being neutral/apathetic to kind of detesting the dancers, the judges and even the show in general. And I am not used to detesting this show; I don't like feeling this way about it. When pressed, I guess I'll go with Brandon for the win, just to compensate for all of the other fantastically-skilled boy contemporary dancers who got shafted in seasons past (Travis, Danny, Will). However, if for some reason SYTYCD forgets to announce the winner tomorrow night and we all just forget this season ever happened, that's totally fine with me too.

SYTYCD: Crazy Eights

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 8 Performance Show"

Yea, it's SYTYCD night! Even though I haven't loved this season as much as past seasons, I still look forward to Wednesday performance nights each week. I'm now officially glad that there's going to be a fall season of SYTYCD this year--I do not like being without this show.

Top 8 night can be tricky--we lost Will this time last year. Will there be any surprise exits this year?

The play-by-play:

• Yea for FOX for not preempting SYTYCD to show Pres. Obama's prime time talk. I hate presidential prime time talks (and I was a political science major). My reaction to the time that Pres. George W. Bush preempted The O.C. was not cute. They should make a rule that says that unless there's some sort of national disaster, presidents only get three prime time talks each year or something.
• During the introduction solos, I thought the dancers were trying to see who could do the most boring solo until Brandon got out there and really shook it.
• Cat's dress is stunning. I'm not entirely sure if it is stunning in a good way or a bad way yet, but it's definitely something. It looks like expertly-draped liquid metal. She has paired it with a sleek pony tail and chunky silver bracelet.
• Oh yeah, I forgot that Ellen DeGeneres was on the show tonight. It's funny that they put Mary in between Mia and Ellen to break up the spiky-haired blondes. It seems like there's a hair theme tonight, and I feel like now we just need to get Kate Gosselin up there. (She'd certainly be able to come up with some critical things to say about something.)
• Ellen says she learned her dance moves on the street of her gated community :-)
• I think Mary just said that this year is "crazy off the chain." That was a very poor use of late '90s slang...
• IT'S TRAVIS WALL AGAIN!!!!!!!!! Choreographing a group number! Wohoo! It's getting close to be Travis-overload these two weeks, but I love it!

Group number:

• The featurette: The concept is a rave in the year 2200 or 2300. I guess raves won't change much in those 100 years...
• The dance: Is Nigel going to bitch about these costumes? They look a little alien-ish, and we all know how he feels about that. It is kind of hard to tell who is who. Besides for Evan and Kayla, they all kind of bend in. I think I missed some of the little individual showcases. I caught Brandon's there at the end. Overall, the dance was pretty good. It wasn't exactly up to Travis-Wall-orgasmic-awesomeness levels though.
• The judging: What the hell does Travis have on his hands? I guess they are the little light things that the dancers have. Nigel says he LIKES the costumes! What?! I'm getting the picture that Ellen's job tonight is just stalling. Mary's still trying to sell this load-of-crap line that all of these dancers are equally good. Mia recruits Ellen to wear one of these costumes with her on Thursday.

More musings:

• Where does one pick up a copy of Dance Spirit magazine, anyway? Not that I really want a magazine with one of these people on the cover...
• Wow, Wade's going to dance in "Ramalama" tomorrow! Woooooooo!

Evan and Janette (Sonya Tayeh jazz routine):

• The featurette: This combination of dancers and choreography could either be awesome or absolutely horrendous.
• The dance: The beginning was pretty good. In the middle it looked to me like Janette was really out-dancing Evan. I don't think he's got the arm motions quite right. Nevertheless, it wasn't a disaster by any means, and I really liked the Sonya choreography. I especially liked when Janette jumped up and Evan caught her. I would have loved to see this routine danced by some legit contemp/jazz dancers.
• The judging: Nigel says that he's finally getting "more" out of Evan. Do you think Ellen will say anything negative about anyone tonight? How, Mary, is this "way out" of Evan's specialization? This was jazz. He does Broadway-ish jazz, right? It was "way out" of Janette's specialty maybe. Let's home Mia smacks some truth back into these proceedings! Mia says Evan has gotten by on his adorable face. Mia says that Janette is her favorite, favorite, favorite this season. Whoa!

Kayla's solo: Dances to Imogen Heap while wearing a very pretty sparkly dress. This solo was eons better than most of the other ones she's done! She actually danced during this one, instead of just doing a rapid succession of splits and kicks. And there's her grandpa!

Brandon and Jeanine (Hunter Johnson waltz):

• The featurette: This looks like a power couple! But they drew the waltz... The two seem to be having major difficulties picking up the dance during rehearsal, and Brandon mentions something about thinking about birds and bunnies.
• The dance: I like Brandon's dress-shirt-and-vest look. This routine seems very slow. I'm getting a bit sleepy... It's not bad, but it seems like it could be better. Brandon namely looked a little awkward at times.
• The judging: Nigel says that routine was extremely demanding. He says that the music was "like pulling teeth" and like "music for insomniacs." His eventual point was that because the music was so slow, they needed to be extremely good and they just weren't as good as he wanted them to be. Ellen continues to say only irrelevant things. Mary confirms that that waltz was slooooooooooow and probably the slowest one of the show ever (yea?). Mia says that maybe if Brandon wasn't dreaming about birds and bunnies during rehearsal, the dance would have been better. Mia now says that she wanted more because these two are "the tops."

Jason's solo: Does a few really nice switch-leg splits. Not a whole heck of a lot else to write home about though. Jason points out his brother in the audience. And, is it just me, or has Jason become a heck of a lot hammier in the last few weeks (since about the time Caitlin got the boot)?

Ade and Melissa (Tony and Meredith cha cha):

• The featurette: Ugh. This pairing feels like a tired rerun. Poor freaking Ade--it's back to shlepping Melissa around the stage for him. (Couldn't they have put Ade with Kayla and Jason with Melissa so everyone could dance with someone different? I don't get it.) At least they're doing a cha cha. There haven't been enough spicy Latin dances this year.
• The dance: The highlight is that Ade's wearing bright red pants! Something about Melissa isn't working quite right in this style. She can do the hip-wiggle turns okay, but when she has to move around the stage, it looks wrong. Ade looks okay to me. Geez, there haven't been many spicy Latin routines this year, and there really haven't been many good spicy Latin routines. (Have there been any good ones at all?)
• The judging: Nigel says they did well but then proceeds to kind of pick them apart a bit. Ade's smile is adorable! Ellen: "Are you two carpenters? Because you nailed it!" Mary says she feels like everything is in slow motion right now and that allows us to really notice technique. Ade's bum was too high. Melissa was turning her feet out too much and then turning them in too much. Mia thinks this was Ade's worst performance of the season. Mia says that Ade's movement "is so thick anyways." Mia gives Melissa a free pass because she's a ballerina.

Janette's solo: Dancing to slow music in the most clothing I think I've seen her wear all season. It was a very nice solo--she managed to contemporary-up her salsa moves a bit with some spiffy leg extensions.

Another musing:

• I wish Glee would just go ahead and start back up already. I'm getting really sick of hearing about it during every single SYTYCD commercial break. And I want to seem them perform "Gold Digger."

Jason and Kayla (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Ugh, it's Broadway and Tyce. The routine is about a guy who is caught up in the music and a girl who wants to capture his attention.
• The dance: Kayla's dress is gorgeous. I'm really liking Kayla in this style. I think the dancers are doing a great job, but the routine looks a little under-choreographed. When the music was really pounding, Jason was just kind of standing there for a couple seconds.
• The judging: Nigel says that Jason's toes and feet were absolutely terrific, and at times Jason reminded him of Gene Kelly (take that, Evan supporters!). Oh my freaking heck, Mary has an actual train whistle! The interesting thing is that the whistle is far less annoying then her screaming. Cat suggests that Mary could sell her own line of train whistles. I'm not sure if that would catch on. Mia says that Jason needs to open up his upper body. Now Mia says that if Kayla can act and sing, she'll take Broadway by storm. So, basically, it sounds to me like Mia can't make up her mind of who her favorite actually is (Janette, Jeanine, Brandon, or Kayla).

Ade's solo: Is pure awesomeness. The music is just tones and rhythm, and he choreographed his moves well to it.

Evan and Janette (Tony and Melanie rumba):

• The featurette: Well, let's see if Janette can bring the sexy out of Evan. If she can't do it, no one can. Sorry, Evan, but I think most everyone falls into the sexy Latino mindset easier than you.
• The dance: Performed to a heavily-orchestrated version of "Heartless." Geez, I hate rumbas! They are so slow and boring that it looks like two random people off the street could do one after a half-hour of practice. I realize that that's not the case, but that's what it looks like. Aside from boring me to tears, the dancers did pretty well. Evan wasn't ridiculous at least.
• The judging: I think Nigel just acknowledged that people don't vote for rumbas because they're boring. Nigel doesn't think that there's anything passionate in Evan's face, and that he has heavy eyelids that make him look sleepy. Ellen says she loves Evan's eyes, and sadly that's the closest she's come to giving a substantive critique all night. Mary commends Evan for not losing his balance at any point, which does seem to be the general idea... Mia says that not everyone has to be a sexpot. Mia says that Evan was using a Zoolander face.

Melissa's solo: More interesting in the first 15 seconds than her entire solo was last week. Looks like Debbie Allen's comments hit home. The solo still didn't seem to be jam-packed with great stuff or particularly awesome for any reason, but at least it was less boring than last week's solo.

Brandon and Jeanine (Laurie Ann Gibson pop jazz)

• The featurette: Whoa, Laurie Ann is no joke! She's working them hard and reaming Jeanine out!
• The dance: This is some sort of military-themed routine that would be a lot cooler if it weren't set to a mawkish Jordin Sparks song. The dancers are trying to infuse it with a lot of strength and feeling and emotion but the song just doesn't go there with them. The dancing was good but the song ruined it for me.
• The judging: Nigel says this has been the flatest night ever on SYTYCD until this routine (which is an odd thing to say since he's given most everyone decent critiques up until now). Ellen says that they made it look appealing to join some sort of armed forces. After a long build up, Mia lets out a few loud screams. Mia says Brandon is such a powerhouse (I don't understand why she sees this now, but hated everything about him a few months ago).

Evan's solo: Hey, look, he's wearing a fedora, dress shirt, tie and suspenders. Who'd have thought? He accidentally drops the fedora, but covers it pretty well. The solo was charming, but nothing we haven't seen from him before.

Jeanine's solo: Very fun, different, nice solo to "Let the Drummer Kick" by Citizen Cope. I would have liked to watch another few minutes of this one. The girls' solos have been better over all this week, I'd say.

Ade and Melissa (Tyce Diorio contemporary):

• The featurette: The routine is designed to be a powerful piece about a woman battling breast cancer.
• The dance: Melissa's wearing a head scarf like a cancer patient would. Some gorgeous lifts and jump/catches. Not sure I really "got" the full story there though. I could tell Melissa was fighting something, but I didn't really get why Ade was there. I didn't really understand the resolution either.
• The judging: Nigel is almost in tears and says that he'd be surprised if Tyce doesn't get an Emmy nomination for this. He thinks it was one of the most memorable routines on the show ever. I'm not sure I agree. I've been more touched by other SYTYCD routines (and I honestly don't really feel the need to be "touched" by SYTYCD routines anyway). Ellen says it was the "most beautiful thing she's ever seen." Maybe it looked better in person? Mary is in tears. I'm not really understanding this "thanks to Tyce for shedding light on this situation" stuff either--yes, it's a tough subject, but it's not like breast cancer is something no one has ever heard of before, you know? I do agree that it's a good thing for us all to think about, but please don't act like none of us knew about how devastating cancer is until Tyce depicted it for us. Mia is also in tears (her dad passed away due to cancer). Tyce is crying too. One of the girls in the audience looks really familiar, like Sarah Drew from Everwood maybe. (BTW, when I Googled Sarah Drew to make sure that was really her name, I read that she is Ben McKenzie's second cousin!)

Brandon's solo: This week he's wearing no shirt, which is far more Brandon-like than his fully-clothed look last week. And this solo is really good, complete with nice dancing, fancy tricks, awesome splits and a slammin' series of back handsprings into a huge back layout.

Jason and Kayla (Shane Sparks hip hop):

• The featurette: Jason is a zombie who beats Kayla up. This seems like a very strange choice for a follow-up to the cancer routine (and a little bit insensitive). This will give both Jason and Shane the chance to redeem themselves for that horrendous hip hop routine they did with Caitlin a few weeks ago. And just for the record, so far this year we've had vampires, aliens and now zombies. What's left--werewolves?
• The dance: Zombies and dancing is very "Thriller," which Jason (the MJ fan) should like. I'm enjoying this routine a lot. They're hitting the moves well and syncing well with each other. My favorite part was Jason's little solo dance after he knocked Kayla to the ground. That was so cute! This was the first time Kayla's done hip hop, and she was great. And Jason was definitely way better in this than he was in his previous hip hop number.
• The judging: Jason is really into this zombie thing. Nigel likes the routine. He says that he's been a bit disappointed with the hip hop this year, but this one was really good. Ellen says if they keep dancing like that, they'll have their own talk show some day. Mary thinks Jason, her "little puppy dog," must have gotten rabies. Mia says this is her favorite Shane Sparks routine on the show ever and that she especially liked the strangling pose at the end.

Favorites: Jason and Kayla's hip hop, Evan and Janette's jazz, Jason and Kayla's Broadway

In trouble:

The guys: I honestly don't know who is going to get this boot this week. Personally, I'd go with Evan, but he seems to have a substantial following, so he might get through. So that would mean that the guy going home would be Jason? Maybe Ade? Maybe Brandon if people forget to vote for him? I have no idea.

The girls: Send Melissa hoooooooooooome. Her cha cha was no good, her solo was okay, and her contemporary was lovely, but the other girls are better.

SYTYCD: Contemporary Masters

So You Think You Can Dance: "Top 10 Performance Show"

My predictions for the night: Jason and Ade bust out.

The play-by-play:

• Cat appears wearing a form-fitting multi-tiered (pleated?) green frock. I think this maybe be my favorite of her dresses this season. It's rather mermaid-y.
• The third judge is...Debbie Allen! I was wondering when she'd show up.
• Cat addresses the height issues associated with pairing up some of the Top 10 (a.k.a. Evan).
• Debbie Allen says that in the past few weeks, some of the comments by the judges have caused her to throw her Haagen-Dazs at her TV screen. I wonder if Haagen-Dazs had to pay for that mention or not.
• I feel like Cat's teleprompter is just flashing "Stall!! Stall!!" at her because we are going NO WHERE fast here tonight.
• We're starting the night off with a group Bollywood number with the girls. Did they do gender-based group numbers in previous Top 10 shows? I'm not convinced it's necessary. (After some quick research, it seems last season they did gender-based Top 5 numbers during the Top 10 results show. So they did them, but they didn't affect the voting.)
• What would SYTYCD do if they actually had an Indian or Indian American dancer on the show one season? That poor kid would probably end up doing Bollywood numbers week after week after week. I mean, yes, Bollywood is cool, but we may be getting close to overdoing it.

Girls' group number (Bollywood):

• The dance: One thing about Bollywood numbers is that most audience members don't understand enough of the nuances of this style of dance to know if the dancers are doing it well or not. Plus it's so fast that it's hard to tell if there are mistakes. Example A: Jason and Caitlin did a Bollywood number that the judges thought was amazing and the same judges hated (or didn't love) everything else those two subsequently did.
• The judging: Nigel says the girls are beautiful. That's pertinent, Nigel, thanks. Nigel puts the girls on his "Hot Bangers and Mash Train." Ugh. Mary thinks any of these girls could be in the final. Debbie thinks this is the strongest Top 5 girls in the show's history.

Kayla and Evan (Tony and Melanie Viennese waltz):

• The featurette: To prove that the producers "aren't fixing the couples," they let tall Kayla pick short Evan's name out of the hat. And then we get to hear about the height difference for about 5 minutes.
• The dance: Kayla's not wearing shoes so there's not that much of a height difference after all of that build-up. I really like the dance--Kayla looks lovely in this style. I don't love the faces Evan's making--he keeps pulling out this strange forced smile that doesn't seem to fit with the music.
• The judging: Now as they're waiting for their critique, Evan looks taller than Kayla. In a semi-lengthly exercise in irrelevance, Nigel goes on and on about how he didn't see the difference between their "Viennese waltz" and a "fast waltz." Mary says that Evan's "natural turns" were slightly painful to watch. Go Mary! The gloves are off, as she says. Debbie tells Evan that he "handled [his] big woman." Poor Kayla--under no one's definition should she be considered "big."

Brandon's solo: Very strongly choreographed to his music ("In Your Eyes," I think it was the Jeffrey Gaines version). Packed a surprising amount of movement into a stripped-down acoustic version of the song. Also surprising was that he was wearing pants AND a shirt instead of the tiny spandex shorts he usually wore for solos during auditions.

Janette and Ade (Napoleon and Tabitha hip hop):

• The featurette: This could be a super couple. But, yet, there is more bitching about height differences (Ade is tall; Janette is short). Ade seems kinda happy to not be dancing with Melissa anymore, but I might be misinterpreting him. And the boy finally gets to do some hip hop! It's a banner day for Ade. But then Nappy-Tabs shows up... (Seriously, are those two blackmailing Nigel or something? Nobody choreographs as much as them.)
• The dance: For having no funk, Janette's pretty good at butt wiggles. Ade should have kept the frumpy outfit on Janette because once it was off, she's started stealing the show. Ade finally got to wear his hair pick during a routine. And he got to do something other shlep his partner around the stage.
• The judging: Nigel just wants to say "Nappy-Tabs" again. ACK--Nigel just said that he's going to try to talk Mary out of her clothes later. Cat: "That's a terrible visual." LOL, Cat! Now Mary says, "We've got to get serious and cut the crap." I guess there's a first for everything.

Randi's solo: It was ok, but ultimately rather similar to every other generic girl contemporary solo ever.

CAT SAYS THAT AFTER THE BREAK WE'LL SEE A ROUTINE CHOREOGRAPHED BY TRAVIS WALL!!! And suddenly I don't care about anything else regarding this competition and am only thinking about how much I like Travis and that his hair is dark now. It might not be a good strategy by the producers to remind audience members how much more they liked the contestants of past seasons (like Pasha last week). I'll take it though. This Travis appearance will help to tide me over until I get to see The Bench Dance and "Ramalama" next Thursday!

Kupono's solo: Holy crap, it looks like he spent more than 5 minutes planning what he was going to do in this solo! What a nice change of pace! And he made his costume himself. (Meaning that he ripped up a wife-beater, I guess.) Is there no end to this boy's talents? Lol.

Jeanine and Jason (Travis Wall contemporary):

• The featurette: The two dancers who lost their partners last week got paired together anyway this week. Jeanine thinks she and Chbeeb stole the show with the Russian folk dance last week. Lol. I think it's appropriate that Travis is choreographing for Jason, since I pegged Jason as being a student of the Travis Wall School of Dance the other week. I think Travis might be trying to kill the dancers with this choreo.
• The dance: Ok, I love this because the movements they're doing look like Travis movement. And, whoa, there were some borderline softcore porn moments toward the end there. That Travis is pushing the envelope a bit.
• The judging: The judges all give a standing ovation. Nigel begins by raving about Travis' choreo, saying that it was only bettered by the dancers who performed it. And I was right--now the judges think Jason is awesome. Mary's fighting back tears over Travis' evolution into a top-notch choreographer. (Frankly, it wasn't that much of an evolution, since back in Season 2, his solos were always well-choreographed.) Debbie's reminiscing about when she first saw Travis when he was 14-years-old. Jason's brags about what a good job he did of tearing Jeanine's dress. Combining that performance and those critiques with the residual Travis love, there's no way either Jason or Jeanine goes home tomorrow.

Melissa's solo: I'm not impressed. I think she could get more extension in her leaps and she spent about 70% of the time just doing a lot of Bourree-ing, which I learned in my beginning ballet class at the Y when I was 3-years-old. (Granted, we weren't on pointe in the beginning ballet class, but you get my drift. Also, this girl I just found on YouTube's Bourrees blow Melissa right out of the water.)

Evan's solo: Well, at least he did an 180-degree split. But, yeah, I'm over Evan's shtick. (Although I was never especially taken with it, I guess.)

Kayla's solo: She's definitely got the leaps and the extensions, but I think she could used some choreography help with the solos.

Randi and Kupono (Tony and Melanie paso doble):

• The featurette: Um, on-paper this is like the opposite of a power couple tonight. Unless they get an awesome dance, these two might be heading straight out the door tomorrow night. The concept of the paso doble is confusing Pono. The practice session was rough.
• The dance: Randi's got some killer hair extensions and doesn't even look like herself. With the help of her extra hair, I think Randi's doing a surprisingly good job of selling this. Pono, however, I'm not so sure about. When he's just standing there giving attitude, he's good. When he was dancing by himself, he was ok. But when he was dancing with Randi, I wasn't impressed with him, and he could barely handle the most basic of lifts.
• The judging: I think Nigel's blaming the routine's lack of passion on Randi's wig? I think Pono's jig is up tonight. This is what happens when he doesn't get to do contemporary routines, people! I think Randi got thrown to the wolves with this partnering, but she was probably in trouble anyway.

Ade's solo: Attacks "Unchained Melody" with a kind of reckless abandon that probably could have used a little restraint (there were some bent knees in jumps, etc.) The highlight, though, was a very speedy succession of pirouettes.

Jeanine's solo: Redeems herself for her lack-luster solo-in-hooker-outfit last week with a nice solo featuring leaps and spins and kicks to some fiery Latin music that I'm sure was someone's floor exercise music. (I think it was Alicia Sacramone's music, which--heaven knows--should be engraved in my consciousness by now.)

Jason's solo: Also better than his solo last week. Tonight, he seemed to relax and just do a nice
Southern-inspired dance that showcased both his technique and his musicality without the near-panic and slight desperation of last week's effort.

Melissa and Brandon (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Dear Lord, now Melissa's bitching about height differences too! We don't care anymore, people! Aaaaaaand it's Tyce. Who is here to choreograph a number from "a very famous musical called 'Hair'." Thanks for being so educational, Tyce. I'm sure few of us have ever heard of "Hair" before (eye roll).
• The dance: The routine started out definitely not being the typical Broadway style, but then it kicked in. I kind of hate this version of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"...so much so that I'm having problems watching the whole routine.
• The judging: Nigel tries to continue the history lesson by pointing out that the '60s was the first time period that white girls danced with black guys. In the over-statement of the evening, Mary says the routine was "unbelieveable."

Janette's solo: Janette powers through her solo, refusing to buy into the idea that ballroomers can't do decent solos. And she isn't even relying on the help of a fringed costume.

Guys' group number (Jeffrey Page African dance):

• The featurette: Um, poor Evan just does not scream "African dance" to me. Pono: "It's just rhythms, a true, true dance style, and I just cannot get it!" So Pono just admitted that he doesn't have rhythm and can't handle true dance styles?
• The dance: This looks like one massive aerobic exercise. I'm having a similar issue with this routine that I had with Bollywood: I just don't know what it's supposed to look like. Were the arm motions supposed to be more fluid like Jason's or more abrupt and staccato like Brandon's? In any event, it looked freaking exhausting and they all deserve credit for just making it through. And, damn, how hot did Jason look during that?
• The judging: Nigel and Mary call more attention to Evan's lack of African-ness. It's generally agreed that they were all wonderful and no one in particular stood out. Nigel can't result throwing in one more quip about how much Russian folk dances suck. He's going to have a Russian-American boycott on his hands if he doesn't watch out.

My favorites:
Couple dance: Jeanine and Jason's contemporary (followed by Evan and Kayla's waltz and Ade and Janette's hip hop)
Guy solo: Jason
Girl solo: Jeanine

And I just want to take the opportunity to gloat one more time about the fact that my prediction that Jason would kill tonight (which I first made last week) was spot on. Booya!