Well, it’s that week, both dreaded and anticipated by SYTYCD fans everywhere - the week when they start making everyone dance with different partners. It’s always interesting to see which dancers shine and which ones falter when they rip them apart from their original partners and make them dance with someone else. But before we get to that…
I noticed during the opening routine that something was a little off about the numbers and then wondered “Where is Jessica? Did the judges drive her away with their uber-harsh comments last week?” (Because y’all know I’ve never been a major Jessica booster, but they were pretty rough on her last week.)
Turns out she has broken ribs and is ooooout! So, to keep the numbers even, they decided to bring back the last girl eliminated, which was Comfort. Sigh… Why-oh-why couldn’t Comfort have been eliminated the week before so they could have brought back Kourtni instead??? Gaaahhh! Oh well, on to the dancing.
1a. Joshua & Courtney dancing Hip Hop. This was a routine based on a sort of funky Dr. Frankenstein and his (female) creation story, and I liked it a lot. I even liked Courtney in it! (I know, can you imagine!) I agreed with the judges that she wasn’t quite up to Joshua’s level, but considering that he’s a hip hop dancer and she’s a contemporary dancer, that’s not surprising and I thought she held her own quite well. Loved the humor in the choreography!
1b….and Rumba. I liked this one too, but not as much as their first one, and not nearly as much as the judges did. I thought they danced it well and looked really beautiful together, but I didn’t believe the emotion they were supposed to be getting across. They didn’t make me feel the passion. This one was middle-of-the-pack for me.
Joshua’s solo: Fab! I like his personality, cocky charm and all, and I love he way he moves.
Courtney’s solo: Surprisingly, I liked it. She will never be my favorite dancer in this competition, but I have to admit she’s growing on me as the weeks go by. (I wonder if they have some sort of cream or something for that?)
2a. Kherington & Mark dancing the Two-Step. Dear, sweet, merciful Zeus what a mess. Here is one of those surprising pairings that you would think, on the surface, should be fabulous and instead they both seemed utterly lost without their original partners. J and I used to go to a lot of country music clubs back in the day and I am (unfortunately) being completely serious when I say I’ve seen better Two Step performances on crowded dance floors in smoky bars. They were slow, sloppy, choppy, and utterly lost. By far the worst dance of the night, IMO.
2b…and Jazz. Meh. That’s all. Meh. Nigel’s driver’s exam analogy summed it up perfectly for me. In terms of dance technique, I didn’t see a thing to fault. They performed the routine they were given extremely competently and acurately…and extremely mechanically. I won’t remember this performance tomorrow.
Mark’s solo: It was fun, but I wish he’d chosen a different song. The solo he performed to Bohemian Rhapsody in Vegas was so unique and memorable that, while this one was fine, it suffered by comparison.
Kherington’s solo: See above re: competent but unremarkable. She has been in the top of the pack for me until this week, but without Twitch she seemed to just lose her spark this week and become bland and uninteresting. I hope she gets over it by next week. I hope she gets a chance to get over it!!
3a. Comfort & Twitch dancing Smooth Waltz. Again with the Meh from me. They tried, I’ll give them that, and they had some good moments. But mostly…meh.
3b….and Hip Hop. Now this, on the other hand, gave them a chance to shine. I thought he was fabulous in it! I thought she was quite good too, but not quite up to his level. I didn’t like her as much as the judges did, but she held her own.
Twitch’s solo: Loved it! I love his style and he always rocks the place when he does solos. Last night was no exception.
Comfort’s solo: It looked just like the one she did last week. You know, the week she got her ass sent home!!!! Yawn.
4a. Katee & Will dancing Broadway. I was so excited to see that Katee and Will got paired up this week, because I felt like she was one of the few female dancers this season who stood a chance of keeping up with him, and I think she did. I loved this routine! Loved the humor of it and I think they danced it with loads of style and personality in addition to great technique!
4b….and Pas de Deux. Wow!! Really. Just wow. Yeah, I caught the bobble by Katee (even without the judges pointing it out) but I still thought it was an amazing performance. Unlike the Jessica/Will contemporary routine last week, with this one I completely understood why the judges were so impressed! Best of the night, IMO.
Will’s solo: I have no idea why he is even on this show. He should already be signed with a professional dance corps. Seriously. But hey, I’m glad I get to watch him until someone figures that out and does something about it. 
Katee’s solo: I find I actually prefer Katee in partner dances rather than solos. I think her personality shines through more when she has someone else to interact with. That said though, I thought it was the best female solo of the night. (On the whole, I thought the guys’ solos blew the girls’ solos away this week.)
5a. Chelsie & Gev dancing Contemporary. I liked this just fine, but not as much as the judges did. I thought she outdanced him, so the whole thing felt just a bit uneven for me. This was a middle-of-the-pack number for me.
5b…and Jive. On the plus side, it was a waaaaaaaaay better jive than the one Comfort and Chris did the first week. That’s not that surprising though, considering that Chelsie is a Latin dancer. But this is another one where I agreed completely with the judges - she danced rings around him…way more so than even the first dance. I think Gev is really cool and that he’s done some amazing things on the show, but I think his lack of formal dance training was showing this week.
Gev’s solo: Fun! Loved the almost-split move and the shirt tricks. Not my fave of the night or anything, but fun.
Chelsie’s solo: Way more so than with Katee, I vastly prefer Chelsie’s dancing when she’s with a partner. I know her primary focus is Latin dancing, but having seen her come out and do contemporary, jazz, hip hop, and more in the past few weeks, and do it well, I would think she could do a little more for her solo than to simply come out and do that same “ballroom prance” that all the ballroom dancers seem to do for their solos. Disappointing.
My faves of the night: Katee & Will’s Pas de Deux, Katee & Will’s Broadway routine, and Joshua & Courtney’s Hip Hop, with an Honorable Mention (or close fourth place, if you prefer!) to Comfort & Twitch’s Hip Hop.
My least faves of the night: Kherington & Mark’s dances, both of ‘em, and Comfort & Twitch’s Smooth waltz.
Who do I think will be in the bottom three? My firm picks are Comfort, Kherington, Mark, and Gev.
I’m less sure about who I think will round out the bottom three for either guys or girls. My personal pick for the guys would be for Twitch to be there because I think Joshua and Will both had two really good routines, while Twitch had one good and one not so good. For the girls, I think I’d round out the bottom three with Courtney, but who knows. For me, it’s a close call between her and Chelsie if you’re basing it strictly on this peforomance show rather than the whole season.
Who do I think should go home? For the girls, if there is any justice in this world, they’ll send Comfort packing again. Sheesh. For the boys, it’s a much tougher choice for me because I like all the ones who are left. If we’re basing the vote only on last night’s performances, Mark could be in trouble. But looking at the season as a whole, I think it could be Gev’s time to go.
Here’s today’s Daily Art Thang:
“Pas de Deux” (This one is not clickable because I cropped so much to focus on this one section that it’s already almost too large a size for the resolution. But I had to post it. 
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My answers are in bold.
