SYTYCD Top 10: Performance Recap

Top 10!

Wow, hard to believe we're down to the top 10 already. This week Cat went for a simple green number, which was not too bad. I'm not always a huge fan of strapless dresses and I didn't love it, but other than that the style wasn't too bad. I wasn't sure about the black down the back that sort of came around the front. Nice to see Debbie Allen back as a guest judge. This week begins eliminations determined solely by votes as well as individual

Girl's Routine
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: 'Dholna" from Pyar Ke Geet (soundtrack)
I was excited to see a Bollywood routine with more people, because it's such a cool style for larger groups. I couldn't wait to see their routine! It was great, although the whole masks on the back of the head thing? Freaky. I thought they did a really good job. Really, Mary? "Bollywow?" You really needed to say that? Hm. She then proceeded to call the routine "young, hip and fresh" which I'm not quite sure about.

Kayla & Evan
Style: Viennese Waltz
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal
I liked Evan a lot at the beginning, but to tell you the truth, I'm sort of over him. He's just not one of my favorites, so I kind of feel like there is no point anymore. I do love Kayla though, there is just something about her. Her dancing, but also her personality. Also, she looked gorgeous in that dress, I loved the skirt. I thought the dance went so well with the music, and it was a nice change from the really soft slow stuff we've had paired with the waltz in the past. Nigel said he didn't see the Viennese in the Waltz. Mary said Evan lacked power in the steps, although his lifts were good. Debbie Allen seemed to be in love with Evan.

Brandon
Song: "In Your Eyes" by Jeffrey Gaines
It was good. Not spectacular for me, but good.

Jeanette & Ade
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo
Song: "Love Sex Magic" by Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake
What is with the tall/short height difference matches! Weird. I DO NOT accept calling Tabitha & Napoleon "Nappy Tab" or whatever the hell they are calling them. Just, no. I love that they made use of Ade's comb. I thought Ade was great, but I didn't feel the chemistry between them, and I didn't think Jeanette was as believable as Ade was. His costume was fabulous too. That move where she went back onto the floor was very cool though. Nigel enjoyed it. He especially gave Ade good feedback. Mary loved it too, as did Debbie.

Randi
Song: "Dream" by Priscila Ahn
I thought it was pretty, but it looked a little frantic to me for whatever reason. I wasn't wowed by this one either.

Kupono
Song: "Marina Gasolina" by Bonde De Role
I liked it. It was nice to see Kupono dance in his own style again and not feel like he was just doing tricks or whatever. I thought it was very good!

Jeanine & Jason
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: "If It Kills Me (The Casa Nova Sessions) by Jason Mraz
Talk about the cutsiest couple out there. Jeanine & Jason. They are both 'pretty people'. Not that that's a bad thing. It was nice to see Travis back! During the practice you could tell they needed to find a lot of chemistry to pull this routine off. I thought they were wonderful. They both danced beautifully, and the parts where they were in sync were really good and they stayed together. They had the passion, they danced it hard, and I thought it was wonderful. They got that chemistry down! Holy sexy. I rarely rewind during this show, but I HAD to rewind to see that kiss at the end! Holy crap! Standing ovation from the judges and the audience. I loved Jason tonight, and I don't always. Mary was SPEECHLESS. When does that ever happen?! This was the first really spectacular thing to happen during this show, and Mary got teary eyed. I agree with her that Jason went on to a new level that night.

Melissa
Song: "Gabriel" by Lamb
Melissa broke out her toe shoes again for tonight's solo. I love the way feet look with point shoes on, so pretty. She did great.

Evan
Song: "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" by Rufus Wainwright
I thought he was good. It's just so hard for me to pick the passion out when he's doing broadway with the silly faces etc. I want to see passion, and I just don't connect as much to this style when Evan is dancing.

Kayla
Song: "Rock Your Soul" by Elisa
Beautiful, as always. She has great lines and I love the way she uses her feet.

Randi & Kupono
Style: Pasa Doble
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: "Dies Irae" by Karl Jenkins
Slightly scary, I kind of wondered how they'd pick it up! Kupono has that intense look but Randi I wasn't sure about. And... she was wearing a wig. That was slightly distracting. I thought they danced it well, especially considering how the rehearsal was going. They definitely had some chemistry. I loved her skirt, because it really did go with the matador/cape thing. Sometimes it's hard to really critique when the music, the lights, and the costuming are so good that they're a little distracting. I agreed with Nigel (surprisingly) that Randi was the stronger of the pair, Kupono wasn't down into the floor enough. Nigel didn't think it was authentic. Like I said, the choreography and lights and music, sometimes it's hard to really judge the actual dance. Mary agreed that they were below where they should have been. She also called it "cautious" which I thought was a good description.

Ade
Song: "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers
Ade is a beautiful man. I thought he danced well, and at first I liked it then it went into trick after trick, and I wanted him to look passionate, for some reason his grin took something away from it for me.

Jeanine
Song: "Violento (Up Mix)" by Bailongo!
I thought she was gorgeous. Jeanine was definitely not one of my favorites starting this competition out, but now I really like her. She and Kayla are my top 2 girls at this point.

Jason
Song: "Train Fare Home" by Muddy Waters
I liked his choice of music and it was obvious that he put a lot of kthought into the choreography and the music. He was good, but it wasn't as stunning as it could have been.

Melissa & Brandon
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: "Aquarius" from Hair (The New Broadway Cast)
I like Hair. The musical I mean. It's interesting, it's not 'classic' broadway per se, so I thought maybe it would be a little more interesting and maybe a small departure from Tyce's normal stuff. Loved the costumes, totally fitting. I thought they danced it great, it was really entertaining! It sort of just made me smile. I thought they were believable as the characters. I loved when Cat said "Hey guys. Do you want to get up?" and sounded totally mellow and stoned. It was hilarious. Nigel also pointed out something I'd thought which was that as a mixed race couple it totally fit with the routine. It was my 2nd favorite routine of the evening after Jason & Jeanine. Those two routines were at the level I wanted at this stage in the competition, you know?

Jeanette
Song: "This is Miami" by Sander Kleinenberg
She looked hot, and had a lot of footwork in there. She just isn't my favorite, but she is a great dancer.

Boy's Routine
Style: African
Choreographer: Jeffrey Page
Son: "Balant Funk" by Ayanda Clark & Shawn Kelly
I was excited to hear they'd do an African dance, I love African dance. Much like African music, to me is so primal, natural and earthy. It's like the origins, when I hear traditional African music, it feels so much from nature that I get lost in it. So they were a good group. Well, there was Evan. I was a little concerned about Evan dancing this routine, but oh well. I liked when he said "You may not have noticed, but I am not... African." So funny. Kupono called it a "true" dance style, and talked about the rhythm. I heard the word "raw", which is a great description. I really liked it, but I didn't quite believe it totally. Poor Evan just stuck out like a sore thumb with his paleness, but he danced it okay. I guess I just wanted it to be more than it was, and I'm not sure I even know what I mean by that. The judges like it, and they talked a lot about the energy. I think this is one dance that it may have made a big difference seeing it live vs. seeing it on TV. Sometimes that's just the case.

Predictions for bottom 4: I can't remember how they do the eliminations at this point, so I'm going to predict the bottom 4 - two guys, two girls. For the girls, I'm gonna say Randi & Melissa. For the guys, I predict Evan & Kupono.