Top 8 - ummmm Top 7 Perform

last week Melinda was finally voted off

*****

This week, the contestants were to perform 1 number w/ the All Stars (one they'd never danced with before) & 1 number w/ another contestant.
For my comments, where there are two contestants, I will use the "&" symbol versus the "+" symbol.

News Flash: Alex Freaking Wong is injured during dress rehearsals! He has a possible ruptured Achilles tendon. He is out for this week (at the least) & will automatically be in the Bottom 3. Also injured is All Star Allison.

1- Lauren + Pasha
choreo-Jean Marc, style-cha cha, song-"Telephone" by Lady Gaga
First of all, Pasha makes everyone look better. Lauren was wearing a white fringed semi-dress & looked hot. She twisted & shook her fringe - but this was no remake of Melinda, cuz this girl can dance. Even though she's never done cha cha - she worked it out. It was good, she didn't twist her hips as much as a full-on ballroom dancer - but she looked good.
Nigel said she looked like a 'full-bodied woman.' <--dirty old man. Mia said she was so hot & danced like a woman. Adam said Lauren made him want to swear (in a good way) & he was proud of her. I like that Adam, for a gay guy, he can appreciate the fairer sex.

2- José+ Lauren
choreo-Mandy Moore style-contemp
Jose's goal was to look intimate w/Lauren (not a problem for the straight guys, as she is bootylicious) and he wanted to look like a contemporary dancer. Mandy said the dance was about soulmates. Like a usual contemporary dance, there was a lot of lifts and leg lifts. This benefited José, as he was required to lift Lauren and not do much dancing himself. He was camouflaged sort of. Of course the judges heaped praise on their little pet. Their bias towards José is very unfair & obvious.
Nigel again commented on Jose's naiveté; Mia on his 'lack of ego.' Adam said José showed his passion and is uninhibited.

3- Kent + Comfort

choreo-Dave Scott, style-smooth hip hop
There were a lot of eyebrows raised when we saw Kent had to do hip hop this week.
Dave Scott said Kent needed to get rid of his (now-famous) 'deer in the headlights' look. Kent said he was going to copy Comfort's face exactly.
The dance was a smooth, groove hip hop, very Justin Timberlake. In fact, Kent wore JT's style of hat, which helped to cover his white boy face & upped his cool factor. There was a step in the dance where Kent spanked Comfort's butt -cute. Kent did well dancing in the JT style. I liked it.
Nigel said Kent didn't overact, which was good. Mia said she 'wasn't mad' at Kent, he was cool but not as cool as Dave Scott (duh). Adam said he saw growth in Kent's performance, and that the small style of his moves drew them in.

4- Adéchiké + Courtney
choreo-Mandy Moore style-jazz
The storyline of this dance was that Courtney was at a bar at closing time & looking for a man. Adéchiké was the guy working at the bar. They used an actual bar & stools for a prop. In fact, most of the dance involved Shortney dancing & wiggling on the bar stools & on the bar. There was maybe an 8-count where they danced jazz side by side. Mostly it was acting – not dancing – but that’s not Adéchiké’s fault.
Nigel mostly thought he was good, more or less, after his breakthrough last week. Mean old Mia said he was mediocre & that his character was the same as last week’s. Adam said Chiké needed to get lost in the music, not the choreo.
Cat actually had to interrupt the judge’s comments as they were being so negative! They love to pick on Adéchiké.

5- Billy + not Allison, but KKKKKatee, the Queen of Season 4! She was brought in special to replace Allison this week (lucky for Billy). choreo-Spencer Liff (a guy that looks too young to be a choreographer) , style-Broadway jazz, song-"MacCavity' from "Cats."
I am one of the few that are into dance that haven't seen "Cats," and if that song is an example - I'm not missing much. The two wore black & silver 'Fosse-esque' outfits & did your typical high-leaping jazz stuff. This was right up Billy's alley (cat-heehee)& was a duck in water dancing this style with She Who Can Do No Wrong at his side. They were excellent, of course- two technicians snapping it out. Nigel said it was Billy's best dancing aside from his solos. Mia wasn't bitchy & said he was 'fabulicious.' Adam loved it too.

6- Ashley + Dominic

choreo-NappyTabs style-hip hop song-"How Low' by Luda

The theme of this number was that the two of them were ninja assassins, which would be a stretch for pretty lil Ashley, as no one sees her as intimidating. But I say, don't count the girl out, she is a fighter, she wants this. Ashley did really good-her pelvic snaps were snappin', she hit it. Not too Contemporaryish. She had a step where she did a lifted leg split down into a floor split - wow! All 3 judges liked it.

7- Robert + Kathryn

choreo-Sean Cheeseman , style-jazz song-"Sinking Feeling"

In this dance, the two characters were toys, dolls in a box that come alive at night. The doll boxes were "Bob" & "Kathie" <- as in, nicknames of the two dancers, cute. At the beginning of the dance, and for a while, they danced in their boxes. Robert looked goofy & did well at this. When they got out of the boxes, they did some lifts & danced a wee bit. Robert is spot on as always-he's one of my favs. Afterwards, Nigel did some P.R. for Robert, saying he didn't deserve to be in the Bottom 3, and that he'd looked at message boards to see what people were writing about Robert. The word was that people were saying that they think he's arrogant. What? He's clearly a hard-working goofball - not arrogant. Mia concurred w/Nigel and vouched that Robt. is hard-working & said that this dance was tailored to Robert. Adam said he's so great, stellar.

now to the Contestant-Contestant section

8-Adechike & Not Alex - but assistant Marla

choreo-Nakul, style-Bollywood

This dance didn't have a storyline like the Bollywood numbers usually do, instead it was a devotional dance to a god. Both Alex (earlier in the week, pre-injury) & Adechike had to learn the finger shapes & gestures, which are unfamiliar to most dancers.

Since Alex got injured (during this very dance) Nakul's assitant stepped in. The dance went from fast to Adechike taking off his vest to be bare-chested and then VERY fast dance steps. The finale was Adechike doing 7 split jumps IN A ROW! What?! So hard.

Nigel said 'Chike needed to do deeper plie's, had to be sharper in his movements. I'd like to see that old man do Bollywood. Mia said Adechike looked more like he was doing African dancing. Is that because she's a predjudiced bitch? Then she had the NERVE to say she missed Alex in that number so much. Adama said he had power but lacked finish in huis lines. Adechike looked like he was holding back tears. Cat, again, had to stand up for Adechike and remonded the judges back to when their pet Jose did Bollywood & wasn't that good, how they said he put his own spin on the steps - something they were faulting Adechike now for. Mean Mia was so out of hand that Cat had to speak up twice. Bring back Mary!!!!!

9- Kent & Lauren

choreo-Travis Wall, style-contemp

This number was suited for the Teen Dream Team - it was about the prom couple & young love. Kent reminded us that he recently was Prom King - awwww. laurem was afraind the teeage girls won't vote for her becuase they'd be jealous she was getting to act this out w/ our favorite Farm Boy. Their dance was sweet as first love. Kent lifted Lauren, looked tenderly into her face, they rolled around together, ran into each other's arms. I replayed the dance & looked at Kent's face- it was so full of love, he got into the character. The kids did great in this. At the end of the dance was a real, full-on kiss. sigh

Nigel commented on Kent's hard work & that he felt Lauren's heart (which he doesnt usually). Evil Mia said Lauren was perfect in this number. Adam felt weird becuase he said the number was too initmate & I guess he felt like a peeping Tom watching the two of them.

10- Ashley & Robert

choreo- Jean Marc & France, style-duh, duh, duh, dum...the Quickstep (AKA the Kiss of Death dance) music-Big Bad VooDoo Daddy

I have to say Ashley & Robert are another two that are suited to each other. Both are Brunette & good-looking & do contemp & worked hard-are driven. Yep, they were a match. Unfortunately for them, they had to do the Quickstep, which is hard, & something the SYTYCD audience doesn't appreciate. The vooDoo music had a strong beat which either helped or hurt the dance, depending. The theme was that Robt had a voo doo stick cane & the girl wanted his power. That did not come across in the dance, sorry Jean Marc. The pair did their best efforts in the Quickstep......

Nigel said Robert's elbow needed to be up, but said Ashley was lovely. Mia got thrown by the music. Verdict-not the full Kiss of Death...

11- Billy & Jose'

choreo-Sean Cheeseman, style-Afrojazz

In this dance, the storyline was that Billy was a jaguar & Jose was the hunter. Billy did a lot of assisted lifts & throws with Jose throwing him. They two did stallker & the stalked type of movements & leapt around. Jose did some b-boy flips. Billy did some weird-looking, lizardish poses, not very jaguar-like. Meh.

Nigel finally did some critiqueing of Jose & said he wasn't powerful enough. Mia loved whatever animal Billy was (but that he wasn't a jaguar). Adam said Billy needed to let go of his lines in this style. Jose needed to hit it harder.