Join me here tonight for some DANCE. Who is going home? Sound off in the comments!
Top 9 and The All-Stars- Yonte
The Top 9 are joined by their All-Stars for Yonte! It’s an African jazz piece, with some elements of hip hop thrown in. That was fun. Not super memorable, but a fun way to start the show. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
We’re down to the top nine. Kiki’s hair is incredible. Cat finds her way to the stage just in time to let us know that Luther choreographed that dance, and co-wrote the song. A requisite eclipse joke is dropped. Two more group routines tonight. Wow. Our judges are still Vanessa, Mary, and Nigel.
1) Logan and Allison- Jive with Sasha and Emma- 5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days
Logan talks about how devastated he was to be in the bottom. He’s doing a cheeky piece. He’s being given a Jive piece. I’m guessing they don’t want Logan to win. OK. So I rarely ever bring this up, but I have to for this dance. Logan is wearing a military outfit and dancing a period dance with a girl. He’s also doing it very effeminately. I need more masculinity from him in this dance. He’s too worried about the cheeky quality, and it’s making him look wimpy. Mary says this dance is supposed to be fun, and that’s exactly what they did. She loved the kick section, and the backbend roll over. Nigel didn’t know why he was in the bottom 3, and if he keeps dancing like this he should avoid the bottom 3. Vanessa says it was “so so good”. She says all the little girls fell in love with him. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
You can SUPERVOTE for Logan!
2) Kaylee- Wait For You
Again, I love Kaylee. I love that her solos are very different from what we normally get from contemporary dancers (too many pirouettes and leaps sometimes). This was very quirky, and I adore it.
3)Sydney- Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha
Sydney has found some PANTS tonight. That seemed really short.
4) Koine and Marko- Hip Hop by Dave Scott- You Don’t Own Me
SHE”S SO EXCITED TO SHOW AMERICA THAT PART OF HER. She’s gonna get DOWN. She’s a pageant girl in the dance, and she’s done being a trophy girl. Marko really has grown as a hip hop dancer. I forget this isn’t his style. Koine was sufficient. I thought she did what was expected of her. I wasn’t blown away, but it was OK. Nigel says Dave turned an innocent girl into a feral wild animal (with Koine). Nigel says it felt so natural to her. Vanessa thought it was incredible. She says she crushed it, and is so talented and diverse. Mary says she completely turned into another person, and she and Marko have great chemistry and compliment each other in every way. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
Don’t Forget to SUPERVOTE for Koine!
5) Dassy and Fik-Shun- Jazz with Ray Leeper- Bring The Funk Back
Ray wants Dassy to be sexier. The only moments of this dance I liked were the more hip hop elements of the dance, As far as the “jazz” parts, the choreo felt lethargic. Lots of standing and posing. Dassy should have been challenged more than this. I would have rather seen her fail spectacularly than have to dance this dull choreography where she has to break style in order to stand out. Vanessa says Dassy was sexy, and the dance was so much fun. Vanessa wanted a little more “RAWR!” from Dassy. Mary thought there was a quite a bit of “RAWR!” and they brought the funk into this jazz routine. She says the best decision Fik-Shun has ever made was picking Dassy. Nigel asks Fik-Shun if it wasn’t lucky getting choreography like this. Nigel thought they were clean in the routine. Cat thinks they’re a cute partnership.
SUPERVOTE for Dassy if you would like. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
6) Kiki- Love Potion #9
Again, I feel like Kiki makes more use of his ballroom solos than Sydney does. Which is odd, because in partnerships, usually the guy ends up playing second fiddle to the girls.
7) Mark and Comfort- Contemporary with Talia- Ending
The story is being with someone that you know is about to end. Talia wants them to be uncomfortable as possible. For me, this was an avalanche of a piece. The beginning was meh, but as the piece kept going, I kept getting more and more pulled in, and the dance got better and better. There were so many moments in the second half of the piece. I was genuinely moved by a piece whose first 10 seconds was very “meh” for me. Mary says it really affected her. The choreography is beautiful, and they brought it to life with a rawness. Mary said it was so believable, she actually was worried they would hurt each other. She calls it “special”. Nigel says they were both out of their style. He again praises Comfort. He says Mark put his whole heart into that. Vanessa says their chemistry is insane. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
There’s also a FOXNOW APP to vote for MARK!
8) Taylor- Escalate
Taylor will be doing a Samba later. right now, we get a boring Contemporary solo. Like, I get to see her technique, but I still have no idea who this girl is from this dance.
Maddie Ziegler is in the audience. Maddie has been watching this season. She is here to promote Leap!. She gets to talk for A WHILE about the movie and her experience. Cat’s like hosting a talk show now or something. And then a sneak peek at Leap!
The All-Stars- Strange Fruit
Travis Wall choreographed a very interesting dance with the All-Stars and a tree. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
Apparently there’s a Presidential address that’s going to happen at 9PM, and my station is carrying it, but will resume the show after. I’m going to assume this is happening to most of you, so when this happens, I will be back AFTER THE ADDRESS to finish wherever we leave off.
9) Lex and Gaby- Broadway with Warren Carslyle- Miss Otis Regrets
Lex actually was on tour as a kid in Billy Elliot. Is there any style this kid isn’t trained in? Lex says this number takes him back to his childhood. That was fun. Gaby was great. I still think Lex can have more fun. Standing O from the judges though. Nigel says wow wow wow. Nigel just saw Bette Midler in Hello Dolly. Nigel says they have to breathe at the beginning and the end. Nigel says Lex’s personality was there. Vanessa says it was so good, it was amazing. It surprises her that Lex has so much control over his body, and makes it look so easy. They absolutely crushed it. Mary says they danced their patootie off. This number had everything. Pure entertainment. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
You can SUPERVOTE for LEX!
OK. A reminder. I will be back after the Presidential Address. I have no idea how long this will be. Bare with us. Hopefully your networks are showing it from where we left off.
And it’s over. Only 30 minutes. Not too bad.
10) Logan- Otherside
This was a bit more typical contemp, but DAMN. Holy shit those fan kicks and leaps. He gets so much air.
11) Sydney and Paul- Hip Hop with Luther- Really? Yeah!
Last week Sydney was great. Can she continue her upward momentum? She’s got Hip Hop with Luther. I’ve never really thought Paul was strong at Hip Hop either. This should be interesting. OK, well, I love the costumes. It’s not like really gangsta hip hop. It’s kinda silly hip hop, which helps these two out of their styles. Paul is really committed, but Sydney not so much. She’s like 60%. There are moments where she could have given more personality wise, especially since Paul is going so hard. At times she bored me. One step forward, two steps back. Vanessa liked Luther’s choreo. She says it was a lot of fun, and they were having a great time. Vanessa wanted more of a stank face, and it felt cute at times. Mary “sick, frozen, lit”… maybe not, but she thought for two ballroom dancers they did a respectable job. She wanted Sydney to sit down in it more. She thinks Sydney is too nice. Nigel noted that Luther gave them a quirky routine that they had to add the stank to it. He thought the style didn’t sit comfortably on her tonight. He thought Paul really got down into it. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
You don’t need a Presidential Address to vote for SYDNEY!
Cat announces the tour is back. The entire top 10 is touring. Some of the All-Stars will be on tour too. Tour starts Oct 5th.
12) Koine- Confidently Lost
I really liked her solo last week. This week, not so much. That was a bit boring.
13) The Top 9- Hey Pachuco!- Choreo by Chris Palmer
It feels kinda Broadway. I’m not crazy about it. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
14) Kaylee and Cyrus- Jazz with Spencer Liff- Less Talk More Art
It’s a prop dance. They have bowler hats. It’s old school jazz with a futuristic feel. The odd thing is, I think Kaylee outdanced Cyrus, who seemed stiff at times to me. She was really full out, offering everything she had, and he was a little uncomfortable at times, yet still really entertaining. I liked this dance. I didn’t feel like, unlike the last Jazz dance, that it was padded with n hip hop to cover for the dancers. This was all jazz. Mary says it worked out for Kaylee tonight. She says there were a couple places where it felt labored because of the high heels. Nigel says he thinks Spencer found a great quirky style for her. She reminded him of a great Bob Fosse dancer on her. Nigel though Cyrus was eclipsed tonight by Kaylee. Cyrus applauds that. He’s a good sport. Vanessa says Kaylee killed it. She loved the character she put on. So trancing. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
If you’re still tranced, you can SUPERVOTE for Kaylee!
15) Mark- I See Fire
Mark decided tonight to go full B-Boy on us. I gotta say, while it was pretty standard B-Boy, I loved seeing it. He can’t do that every week, but he needed to do that at least once.
16) Taylor and Robert- Samba with Jean Marc- Bun Up The Dance (not a typo on my part)
Taylor hasn’t really done ballroom before. Jean Marc has thrown in a lot of “urban vibe”. Jean Marc wants it to be super hot. For me, this felt a bit like a mid-competition performance on Dancing With The Stars. Like, the technique isn’t quite there, but she got enough of it right that I’m still moderately impressed? I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. Somewhere in the middle for me. Nigel thought Jean Marc gave them an interesting routine. Nigel thought it was strong, sharp, and lovely smiles, but he didn’t feel a spark between them. He says they have to keep the standard every week. He calls it a “damp rocket, nothing took off”. Vanessa says she’s never had a samba class before, and that Taylor faked it till she made it, and didn’t get all her connections, and wanted more fire from Taylor. Mary says it’s not easy being at the top. She says the samba is the most technically challenging latin ballroom dance. She said it wasn’t all there, but there were moments. Mary says, can she do more? You bet. She thought they performed great, but could also have had more chemistry. – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
If you’re playing with your chemistry set, don’t forget to SUPERVOTE for Taylor!
17) Dassy- Soundclash
Another fun solo from Dassy. She’s nothing if not consistent in her solos.
18) Lex- Trndsttr
Lex’s solos are always interesting, and full of unique movement. This one felt more planned and thought out than last week. I’m fairly certain that wasn’t a freestyle.
19) Kiki and Jenna- Contemporary with Mandy Moore- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Jenna calls Kiki the dark horse. Kiki wants it to be powerful and show a different side of himself. Mandy says the piece is about the moment you see someone, and you immediately become intoxicated. Kiki got the pimp spot, so he must be good. A beautiful piece, and certainly a redemption for Kiki. Not my favorite piece of the night, nor even my favorite contemporary piece. However, Kiki and Jenna do have a connection. I thought they were both very good in this. He’s a really strong partner for some very beautiful lifts. Probably in my top 3 for the night, definitely top half though. I would save Kiki after that, if it came down to that. Vanessa says it was amazing, and calls Mandy an absolute genius. She thought their chemistry was insane and radiant. What they did was so special. She didn’t expect to get emotional, but she did. Mary agrees. She says Kiki found himself and lost himself in the same piece. He was masculine, tender, and loving. She didn’t know he had that in him. She starts to cry during her critique. “That was the best ballroom dancer doing contemporary that I’ve ever seen on this show”. Nigel says Jenna was fabulous. Nigel says a few weeks ago he was rubbish at Hip Hop and Contemporary, and look what happened tonight. He was a star tonight. They did kiss at the end of the routine. Nigel makes a joke about Val not being happy. Are Val and Jenna a thing? – Click to Watch Performance and Solo VIDEO
If you enjoyed that kiss, you can SUPERVOTE for Kiki!
The top nine come back on stage. Who is in danger?
The bottom 3 are: Dassy, Sydney, and Mark.
WOW. What? Bye Sydney.
Mark steps forward first. Nigel saves him first. Nigel says this is never an easy situation. Nigel says it made it easier knowing that the eliminated dancer would come back for the tour. Sydney steps forward. Nigel tells Sydney that she showed a different side of her last week, and that’s why she was saved. This week though, she’s being eliminated.
ELIMINATED: Sydney – Click to Watch Elimination VIDEO
VOTING IS OPEN FOR TWO DAYS!
Kiki escaped the bottom 3 after that awful hip hop routine. Wow. So who will be in the bottom 3 next week? Join me again next Monday when we lose another dancer, and see our Top 8 continue to battle it out.
What was your favorite routine of the night? Don’t forget to sound off in the comments, and vote for your favorites!
