So You Think You Can Dance 9 Top 16 – Recap and VIDEOS

By On 07/25/2012 · 41 Comments · In So You Think You Can Dance

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Amber Jackson and Brandon Mitchell are eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance

Amber and Brandon danced BEAUTIFULLY tonight. I’m sad they left the competition. I would have sent Lindsay home instead of Amber–whom I think is a better dancer.  Brandon was a tough call.  Christina Applegate did a nice job at the judges table.  She’s not a professional dancer, per se, but she has performed on Broadway, so she’s got a valid perspective. I liked that she wasn’t afraid to constructively criticize.

I’m still have mixed feelings about smooshing the performance and results shows together. It makes for a snappy two hours of TV, but maybe a little TOO snappy. I don’t like that the entire panel knows who is going home before the dancers perform again. How do they keep that knowledge from coloring their critiques?

The Top 16 are dressed as Charlie Chaplins in this routine, shot in black and white save for a single red umbrella,  by Tyce Diorio. “The Here and After”

The dancers are introduced as couples.

There will be a two week break after tonight’s show. The Alvin Aily Dance theater is here tonight.

Tonight’s guest judge is Christina Applegate

Tonight’s video packages will feature

Tiffany and George – Hip Hop by Tabitha and Napoleon – “Out of My Mind” B.o.B and Nicki Minaj – So NappyTabs are pregnant, and they whipped up a dance with a babysitting theme. It was cute by half. Maybe too much.  But, the dancing rose above the choreography.  Nigel liked the routine. Very entertaining. He’d like to see grungier routines. He was surprised that George lost wind. Tiffany got down, he says. Mary thought it was cute and fantastic. George has not disappointed her. Also thought Tiffany hit hard. Christina called Tiffany “Tough and scary.”

Tiffany – 1-855-464-3701 – Text Tiffany to 83676
George – 1-855-464-4601 – Text George to 83676

Brandon and Amber – Jazz by Ray Leeper – Dr. Feelgood (Love is Serious Business) by Aretha Franklin – WOW. That was SUPER hot. Amber in particular was so sultry. Fantastic. These two lost their partners last week, but together they have some real chemistry. We’ve got a brand new couple here! Christina lets loose with a slew of bleeped words. “None of us should have been here watching you.” Thought Amber danced the best she ever has. Amber has “gut” she says.  She completely forgot Brandon is a stepper. Mary says “there was definitely some soul in that bowl” Sultry and soulful, she calls it. Nigel called it “baby making choreography”. Nigel thinks Brandon is strong, yet thinking through the lifts.

Amber – 1-855-464-3702 – Text Amber to 83676
Brandon – 1-855-464-4602 – Text Brandon to 83676

Before Janelle and Dareian take the stage, Cat pimps this Saturday’s National Dance Day. The DizzyFeet Foundation Gala is SOLD OUT. The Inspiration Award is going to Shirley MacLaine.

Janelle and Dareian – Cha cha by Pasha – “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen – Well. It had to happen. A routine choreographed to the summer’s biggest hit. But I didn’t expect a cha cha. Both dancers are performing out of their style. Janelle, as a belly dancer will NEVER dance in her style. Keeping that in mind, I thought the performance was OK. I thought they had more chemistry than the judges did. The music might have squashed the sexy. Mary thought a couple of the tricks were phenomenal. But she didn’t feel chemistry and the transitions weren’t good. BAD feet. Christina thinks both gave a best effort. She was distracted by Dareian’s hands. Nigel was surprised not to find Janelle sexy. No chemistry.

Janelle – 1-855-464-3703 – Text Janelle to 83676
Dareian – 1-855-464-4603 – Text Dareian to 83676

Lindsay and Cole – Contemporary by Mandy Moore – “Wild Horses” –  The lighting in this routine looked really dark, although by all accounts, it was beautiful in the studio.  Cole has a unique style and a very distinctive personality. He’s going to become a favorite, I think. Nigel LOVED the choreography. Also, the lighting was fantastic. Felt Lindsay’s spirit was in the right place tonight. Calls Cole meticulously neat and tidy. It could be boring but he has personality and is a genius. Mary admits she was faking at the Green Mile when she said Witney had more magic. Cole is versatile, extraordinary and nailing it. Christina says Cole is an enigma. Lindsay was a nice surprise and spoke so well through her body.

Lindsay – 1-855-464-3704 – Text Lindsay to 83676
Cole – 1-855-464-4604 – Text Cole to 83676

Amelia and Will – Jazz by Mandy Moore – “You” by The Creatures – This routine is all about how opposites attract. I really loved this quirky routine. It was right in this duo’s wheelhouse. Both have great personalities and they connect to each other on a very fundamental level. Christina calls them “The Dream Team” loves their chemistry. They embrace different styles effortlessly. Nigel wasn’t feeling it this week. No connection between the couples. He loves them both, though. Mary is somewhere in the middle. Not as strong as other numbers they’ve done this season, but it isn’t bad. Will is a great partner.

Amelia – 1-855-464-3705 – Text Amelia to 83676
Will – 1-855-464-4605 – Text Will to 83676

Audrey and Matthew – Salsa by Liz Lira – “Cinco Salsa” –  They both looked entirely out of their element, admitting in their video package that they were struggling.  These two just didn’t register with me tonight. They are still one of Mary’s favorite couples, but didn’t feel they were on fire. Christina thinks they are amazing, but was distracted by the music, maybe they were too. Nigel felt it was too slow and not sexy. There wasn’t enough going on for him.

Audrey – 1-855-464-3706 – Text Audrey to 83676
Matthew – 1-855-464-4606 – Text Matthew to 83676

Witney and Chehon – Contemporary by Stacey Tookey – “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston – The story is about a couple who need to be together, but can’t. It’s the type of emotional routine that grabs votes and I wonder if Nigel made sure this couple, who were in the bottom last week, were taken care of. Having said that, the routine was beautifully choreographed and danced. Chabon is strong and amazing. Witney has already proven that she’s she’s got something special.  THAT got a standing ovation. Christina is on the verge of tears. You weren’t just the muses, but the painters too. Mary is teary too. It brings her great sadness and joy to hear Whitney’s voice. The catch-lift was memorable. Most defining moment for the couple. Nigel is proud to have saved them last week. Flawless routine. (Nigel kept using the word “Oscar” when he meant “Emmy.” A little confused?)

Witney – 1-855-464-3707 – Text Witney to 83676
Chehon – 1-855-464-4607 – Text Chehon to 83676

Eliana and Cyrus – Hip Hop with Napoleon and Tabitha – “Toxic” by District 78 with Ceesa – Eliana plays a robot sitting atop a music box. Cyrus is pretty close to his style here, and he’s watchable as usual. Eliana is surprisingly hard hitting in this hip hop routine.  Another standing ovation! Mary calls it fabulous. Feels it’s a privilege to watch Cyrus and Eliana, the ballerina was getting down. Both on the train. Christina feels Eliana is one of the best dancers she’s ever seen. Christina notes that Cyrus has NOT picked contemporary yet. Hm. Nigel is pleased Cyrus pulled this routine. He asks Eliana how a ballerina gets swag. He thought Eliana was better in spots!

Eliana – 1-855-464-3708 – Text Eliana to 83676
Cyrus – 1-855-464-4608 – Text Cyrus to 83676

All the dancers gather on stage.

Tonight’s bottom 3 dancers are: Amber, Lindsay, Eliana, George, Brandon and Dareian.

This week, Nigel wants to see Amber, Eliana, Brandon and Dareian dance again!

Solos: Amber is up first. Brandon is next “I Want it All Back”, Eliana takes the stage “Near Light”, and finally Dareian “Ordinary People”

The Alvin Ailey Dance theater is next “The Hunt” Choreographed by Robert Battle

The Girls: The  judges will be saving Lindsay because she has more room to grow. Elimination was between Eliana and Amber, which is why Nigel asked them both to dance again, In the end, it’s Amber who is heading heading home. “Free” by Haley Reinhart plays during her goodbye video!

The Boys: George is SAVED. Nigel was impressed with Dareian’s solo. He loves Brandon, but will be letting him go tonight, while saving Dareian.

 
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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JJF3IHG7GX37RXG3BRNH4ZPPHE Renata

    Thks, MJ!!

  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    I am a bit confused here.  Didn’t all of the judges love Amber?  I thought she was interesting and certainly a good dancer.  I was shocked.  I was wondering if they didn’t like her attitude?With Brandon, I feel he has already made it by being in the Step Up movie.  He has some nice moves and body. 

    I feel so sorry for Eliana being partnered with Cyrus.  What will happen when they get a contemporary or ballroom dance? He’s going to pull her performnce quality down.  For some reason, I am just not enjoying the show as much as in previous seasons.  And I do miss the second day results.

    BTW, who is up for an Oscar?

  • Anonymous

    Well, I think Amber was not one of the judge’s favorites. She also wasn’t cast to be there for the long haul. I think as soon as she ended up in the bottom, Nigel knew he was going to get rid of her. Which is obvious by what happened tonight. The fact that Nigel took the time to call Amber unattractive and admonish her on the first live show was the writing on the wall. I mean it was suppose to be a celebratory show. It was suppose to be positive and showing off the cast but instead he had to show Amber off in a negative light. And that was the first time that the audience got to know Amber.  It tainted her to the audience. And I think he knew that there was no way she was going to be in the bottom after that performance so he had to get rid of her now if he was going to do it.

  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    Thank you KrisKD for explaining that to me!

    dance4love, I’d love to see Cole matched up with Eliana, too.  She has so much energy and potential to get better.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/FRGTHETA4DV6Z6TGXDCLULH64E brittneybabyy

    I personally think Lindsay should have gone home, and I agree with sending Brandon home. He was good, but he knew it was his time to go. 

    I absolutely HATE this new format. If you’re going to eliminate individuals, it’s not fair to pair up the people who lost their partner that week, like Amber & Brandon. While they had good chemistry together, they were at a serious disadvantage and that may not be the case for every new couple. The newly paired couples that get stuck together have to develop chemistry within a week when everyone else has had multiple weeks together. If they’re going to keep this terrible format, it’s only fair to shuffle the remaining contestants into new couples every week. But will that happen? Of course not.
    Also, what gives with not letting everyone dance solos? It makes their choices much more obvious and seems to make an uneven playing field. Did I mention that I hate this format? Bring back the All Stars, man! Are they even doing All Stars again this year? Ugh, I hope so. That was a wild success, in my opinion. I feel like I’m all over the place in the comment, so I apologize, but I guess I’m just trying to emulate the show I just watched.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t like this new format either with Nigel knowing so much in advance so he has extra time to manipulate the dancers, so that his least favorites will have a more difficult time.

    I hate how he keeps mentioning how he knows everything so early and has talked about them to the choreographers, etc.  He’s so full of himself and the power.

    He’s bugging a lot lately.  I am actually hoping that he’s eliminated from Idol and we get another Fresh Face!

    Go Cole, FTW!  :)

  • http://www.fatladysings.us/ TFLS

    I’m a real Eliana fan.  I hope she gets a chance to dance all out sometime soon.  I like Cyrus too – but he’s not up to Eliana’s level.  I’d love to see her with Chehon.  All that power and grace.  With Cyrus’s limitations, I’m afraid she’s gonna get lost in the shuffle. 

  • Anonymous

    Expecting anybody to dance convincingly in a hot, passionate latin style to Call Me Maybe is probably barking up the wrong tree. 

    I would have gotten rid of Lindsay rather than Amber. But over the years, I don’t think Nigel’s been an Amber fan. Very glad that she got to show herself off in that dance tonight.

    At least Nigel mentioned that Nappy Tabs’ soft hip-hop is kind of too much like baby mush. Where’s Lil C? Or *somebody.”

    Love Christina Applegate.

  • hcpoirot

    What wrong with viewers votes?

    Last week George dance a great fox trot and find himself in bottom 3. With this week forgettable  Hip Hop, he will be back in bottom 3.

    Meanwhile Cyrus dance a poor JIVE last week and still not find himself in bottom 3. With this week standing ovation from the judges, he will probably will be save again.

    The most pimp couples had to be Whitney and Chehon. They got a pimp spot last week and now got the second last routine. They are so safe next week.

    If Lindsey find herself in bottom 3 next week, she will be gone cause Nigel only want 1 ballroom dancer in top 5 and she is Whitney.

    Though SYTYCD is a very good show but over the years, the judges had more and more control in deciding who stay who goes. And thats what Nigel like the best. Controlling.

  • V Jemmy

    If you’re going to eliminate individuals, it’s not fair to pair up the
    people who lost their partner that week, like Amber & Brandon. While
    they had good chemistry together, they were at a serious disadvantage
    and that may not be the case for every new couple. The newly paired
    couples that get stuck together have to develop chemistry within a week
    when everyone else has had multiple weeks together.

    This comment struck me as odd.  Last season, which was the first season I watched, the biggest complaint that I saw was that the individuals who ended up being eliminated were all in couples (meaning that the two people who got booted happened to be in the same couple instead of different couples), rather than in years past when individuals were booted and new couples had to be formed.  The main component of that was that you couldn’t see how the dancers handled getting tossed with other partners.  I’m not one that missed it, since season 8 is the only other season that I’ve watched.  Either format works for me.

    I actually really like the format that they’re using this year.  It’s quick, though it can suck if someone who had a great performance that night is kicked out because of something that they did last week.  I also like that the judges know beforehand who is leaving because then they can use the dance that they are doing that evening as a ‘save me’ dance if they are pressed for time.  I don’t think that the judges comments colored this week’s performances as much as last week.  I completely thought that Janelle was toast, but only Dareian was in the bottom three.  I also don’t care if Nigel knows beforehand.  We all know that he knew beforehand in seasons past, he’s just admitting to it now.  I like the way it’s being framed and I like that the voters say who are the least favorites, but that the judges have the final say. 

    And honestly, Chehon and Witney have been doing fantastically, so it doesn’t bother me at all if they’re favorites.  She’s doing a heck of a lot better than Ryan last season who stayed well past her sell by date.  I’m glad that they didn’t end up dragging Alexa out this season like they did with Ryan.

  • Anonymous

    Further thoughts this morning.  The camera crew still SUCKS beyond belief.  They were terrible last year and haven’t improved this year.  Honestly, could someone fix that mess for the viewers?  It makes actually _watching_ this show tedious and  really hard to concentrate on uuuh, the dancing!

    I have not been impressed with NappyTabs for some time now and am still disappointed in what they bring thus far.  New hip hop breathing into the show would be a good thing.  Also really miss Wade & Mia (although she did give us that first group piece).

     

  • http://www.facebook.com/maria.romeo.900 Maria Romeo

    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I FANGIRLED SO HARD WHEN THEY STARTED PLAYING FREE!

  • V Jemmy

    I’m generally oblivious to this sort of thing, so I have to ask..  What is the camera crew doing that is wrong?

    ETA: It is possible for Janelle to dance in her style at some point, though I agree that it’s unlikely to happen. Some of the best belly dancers are men though admittedly you generally only see them in conferences on this side of the world. I can hold out hope that she’ll get high enough that she’ll be in a female duet/trio in that style.

  • Sarah

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much overpraise for a routine as the “I Will Always Love You” routine. I mean, it was good, but it felt like the cancer dance to me… Blatantly playing on viewers’ emotions with the song and story. But they acted like it was all relevatory and stuff. I’m sorry, the hummingbird & the flower is an example of a dance that was relevatory. I guess Nigel’s pets ending up in the bottom 3 the first week out scared him – like others have said, Witney & Chehon were pimp spotted last week & 2nd to last this week. Let’s see where they end up next week. I was ambivalent on them to start the season, but Nigel, as he so often does, is turning me off of them with the favoritism.

    Brandon seems like a nice guy & has an awesome personality, but rewatch that dance. He didn’t do much actual dancing. I think he’s a star though… He will definitely get more work.

    I love Eliana. Voted for her a lot last night – my first time voting this season. Also like Matthew & Cole a lot. I love good ballroom, but Nigel’s making me not like Witney, and Lindsay is good, but not quite there. So I guess Eliana, Cole, & Matthew it is!

  • Listening

    ummm I gotta ask is anyone else disappointed with the choreography besides me. I mean when they introduced the top 20 it was awesome routine after awesome routine.  Now I look at the routines and i’m like ehhh I really don’t feel it or close but no cigar. I don’t think the dancers are performing well, especially in hip hop last night was a joke but the judges loved it. I’m tired of them raving over average even bad performances. I’m like is it me are my standards too high am I absolutely crazy and no one else is seeing what i’m seeing.

    I’ve only really loved one performance Will’s and Amelia’s House Cat/ Cool Cat dance. That was AWESOME. There’s probably a few contemporary performs and a couple ballroom dances I enjoyed but I DON’T recall so that speaks of their memorablness. Yesterday was the straw that broke the camels back. I was bored w/ the entire night I’m like nope.

  • Anonymous

     V Jemmy – where do I start?  Their cuts are so frequent and fast and illogical.  Never do they spend more than a few seconds with one shot.  Extreme zooms on backs of dancer’s heads.  Extreme wides when a couple is in an intimate, intricate routine.  The list goes on.  They are a tiny bit better this year compared to last, but just try and watch The Hunt over again and see how often the dancers aren’t framed properly. 

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