Me!

So, on So You Think You Can Dance, Uncle Nigel’s hair finally completes its emotional journey, or it’s being properly medicated. Whatever the case, nice to see him looking relatively normal. Cat’s stylist, however, is on a journey too, and not a particularly good one. Roman Empire Toga meets Aunt Tilda’s Satin Draperies? Not a good look.

Okay, tonight things get different. The judges judge, but they don’t get to pick who goes home. That’s up to us. (Don’t screw this up, people!) What we get tonight is ten dancers doing the same solo routine to a Wade Robson design. (Three dances in and I felt REALLY sorry for the poor sap who had to go tenth. Man.) Also? Everyone gets new partners for their partnering routine. AND, you don’t vote couples tonight, you vote individual. I’m not sure if they still send one guy and one girl home, or just the bottom two, but I’m guessing they stick with the equal gender slashing.

Solo Routines:
I kinda liked Wade’s contemporary anti war idea here, but not sure I like seeing it performed ten times. I just don’t see where it’s fair to the poor dancers going later in the line up. We’re sick of it by then, it’s hard to make it fresh. But that notwithstanding and trying to look at each dancer with fresh eyes, these are my impressions of the remaining ten.

Jamie did a wonderful job, but no shock there.

Dominic gave it his all and did a pretty decent job, but it’s obviously not his forte. Ditto with Pasha.

I liked Sara with this, I thought she brought some credible street angst and held up to the contemporary constraints as well. She was the surprise for me.

Lauren did an okay job. More jock/athletic than dance for me. And the scream wasn’t so good.

Neil did a great job, but again, no surprise. I liked him in this. Dammit. (Good recovery on the stumble, too.)

Sabra’s turn and as it happens, the girl can dance AND scream. Who knew? She’s a bit more frenetic than I’d have liked from her, but of course, she’s great.

Now we get Kam who is very Kam-like and essentially proves that what the judges say is true. I personally like the guy, but if you’re going to be all nit picky about technique (and this is a dance contest) then, like with Hok, I have to agree with them. Still. I like the guy.

Lacey gave me the performance I thought I was going to get from Sabra. Very well done. Very. Great scream, too. If the judges were concerned about her not putting her true self into a routine, I thought this nicely disproved that. Best, along with Jamie, of the whole bunch. And going ninth? Double golf clap.

Poor Danny gets the uncoveted last spot. But damn he’s a gorgeous dancer. Best guy of the night by a ton and a mile and then some more. Beautiful to watch, I’ll give him that. His leaps are insane and look so effortless. And his lines are simply stunning. If there was more natural emotion (and a better scream) I’d give him a ten for this. Okay, so he brought it at the end. Best thing he’s done, I think.

Pairs:
Lauren gets Pasha for a Shane Sparks Hip Hop routine that I LOVED. I thought Pasha did pretty well, but I really liked Lauren in this. And I don’t usually feel all that much for her, so that was a breakthrough for me. Really enjoyed this one. Watched it twice.

Sabra and Kam get a contemporary routine by Tyce. Sigh. It was actually lovely and I thought they were adorable in practice. But I agreed completely with the judges. Yes, Emo Mia was harsh with Kam, and yet I respect her for not caring about being nice, but sincerely wanting to help him grow as a dancer. Might as well put it out there while she can, considering they don’t get to say who leaves. Sabra was stunning as always. She’s a true frontrunner in this competition for me.

So….we get Lacey and Danny. I was instantly intrigued by this match, because she’s probably the only one who can match him talent and stage presence wise and might lighten him up a bit, to boot. We’ll see. They get samba. Well, poo. Ah well. Maybe this will give us a chemistry check, though. That could be interesting. But wait a minute! BONUS!!! They get Dmitry from last season as their choreographer (WOOOOOT!) and so I totally don’t care now how they do. More Dmitry. Less clothing. That’s all I have to say. Damn, he still looks good.

Okay, so in rehearsal they have NO chemistry and I totally blame Danny. Lacey and Kam steamed up the place. These two? Danny seems like he could care less and is just not invested in trying to connect with someone he clearly doesn’t like all that much. No surprise there. A shame, because she can match him on the dance floor and he should take full advantage of that to try and win viewers over since they love her and him? Not so much. Maybe he just can’t fake the whole lust for a woman thing. I dunno. (And would it have killed Dmitry to at least take his shirt off? Dammit.)

So, the routine itself? Damn, Lacey. I was surprised we could see the routine for all the steam that had to be smokin’ around you. You go, girl. And go she does. I know the judges slam her for not being real, but being a stage pro instead. I say who the hell cares when she can act that well? Danny, for his part, could have been a teeny bit more alpha, but he did bring it more than I expected he would and I liked them together well enough. Mostly that was lacey’s doing though, as she just doesn’t take eh for an answer. She was making love to the audience more than to Danny, but that was probably because the audience might actually care. Loved Dmitry’s routine. It was hot and unique, full of samba, and a ton of fun to watch. Twice. And in rewatching, I’m reminded again just how off the charts both the talent and the choreo is this season. Amazing!

Yikes. Jamie gets Dominic. I was sort of hoping she’d get Neil, just to see their potential for grace. Ah well. This should be…interesting. And they get the Viennese Waltz? AND their choreographer wants to give it a Spanish flair? Wha? Jesus, why not just send them home now? So, I was hoping to be so wrong wrong wrong about this, but no, it’s a trainwreck for me. Her dress got in the way and camo’d her lovely lines. I have NO idea how to take the Spanish-slash-Viennese thing, it totally didn’t work for me, and neither of them looked remotely comfortable. Double yikes for me. Least favorite of the night. By far.

Last pair of the night are Neil and Sara. Hmm. Not sure what to think, but I cringe for them when I hear they get Disco. Dang. Poor them. I never think they choreo these particularly well, so I’m not hopeful here. And they get Doriana Elvira. Great. I think they should take this style out of this competition. It just doesn’t do anything for the dancers. Oh well. Here we go. The opening camera angle was…interesting. But good. And fun song. I’m ready to have my mind changed. They definitely bring the fun to this and it is, already, the best disco this show has seen. They’re stinking cute together and her dress is smokin on her and Neil actually pulls off the leisure suit look with cute humor. Okay, so maybe I was hasty. Good close to the show!

So….recap: I still thought Shane’s transformer routine was the best of the night. Wish it had been last so it wouldn’t be lost in the hours long show. Thought the samba was second best, and the disco third. (I know!) The waltz was the worst and the contemp next to last. But, as for dancers, here’s how I’d rate them based on tonight alone.

Girls: In order - Lacey, Sabra/Lauren tied for second, Sara, Jamie last (but only because of that atrocious routine.) I have NO idea who I’d send home of the girls based on tonight. No one really deserves it. I fear for Jamie. I guess.

Guys: In order - Neil(I know!), Danny, Pasha, Dominic/Kam tied for last. I’d send Dominic home, but I fear for Kam.

Discuss!

Don’t forget to enter this week’s SHaQ Attack contest. Tonight, 9pm EST is your last chance to enter. I realize I forgot to put my email in this week. Sorry! You can post here, that’s fine. But you can also send your entries the regular route: donna@donnakauffman.com with “Dance Dance!” in the subject line. (All previous entries are valid! No need to re-enter.) Winner announced in the morning, along with some more Dance MAC and a wee bit o’ Top Chef MAC if I get to watch it.

Tags: Writing //