I’m an obsessive list maker

For the third week I watched the routines on my own and then again with my good friend David in our PJs. I wanted to stand firm with my ratings but he made some good points and we swayed each other’s opinions and came to a great middle ground. I thought the judges (Nigel and Mary) had a perspective similar to David’s: they seemed to judge the pairs by their body of work and not just the routine they had just danced. For example, Twitchington have been one of the strongest couples since day one. I thought they did a great job but there were bad points, but the judges glazed over them because they are so minor in the big picture, but I also find that unfair to the couples that are rising the ranks because the ones at the top could never be cut down. I also kinda liked but also thought it to be a bit unfair that the judges gave extra credit to those who were feeling the pangs of lowered self esteem due to the competition. The self esteem that the judges gave them in this episode will hopefully give them the strength the be themselves and have the power to be their best. The guest judge, Adam Shankman, is growing on me. He is a bit wordy but he is giving these young dancers advice that is actually useful in this competition and in life. And he practically said that he’s openly gay this week (as if I had to be told), which was nice when all these gay contestants feel they have to conceal their true identity, on a show that demands we see your personality.

1. Mark and Chelsie did a very emotional lyric-like hiphop routine by Tabitha and Napoleon. They are rising the ranks for me. Progress gets extra points for me but they really were the most memorable routine and the best danced. Mark is a great dancer but he is so great about getting into his characters, especially those who are a bit dark (like him). And he really rubbed off on Chelsie. Chelsie was all passion. They were both fantastic. This week, we learned a few more things about Mark, whom I love. First of all his pinkies are crooked, which are weird and cool, like him. Secondly, he’s Hawaiian, which is also cute. We are still getting to know Chelsie but I like her more and more.

2. Courtney and Gev did a rumba by Tony Meredith and Melony, whom still makes me giggle when I see her from dancing with Pasha when Jessi was unable to perform (still, the greatest tragedy in SYTYCD history. She was my favorite of season 3.). This feel somewhere between a 2 and a 5 (between me and David). Ultimately we came up with almost identical lists except Courtney and Gev were switched with Joshua and Katee. They were smooth and tight and sexy. Courtney is just beautiful and Gev’s love for her is beautiful. The chemistry they seem to have for each other is real. Gev is really stepping up more than I thought he was capable of. They are so tiny. And they are really rising the ranks and, although they were never bad, they didn’t start out as strong obvious winners, and that has a lot of value in this. All these things reminds me how Gev reminds me of Dominic from season 3. Even Nigel said the same thing (it feel so good to be validated).

3. Joshua and Katee danced a samba by Tony Meredith and Melony. Joshua and Katee were number one every week so far. This week they hit somewhere between 2 through 4. I struggled with the idea that they were my number one until now and if that should give them more credit or less. Ok. So, they finally got a dance that is out of their comfort zone. Joshua is sick. SICK! I’m in love. I love his soft southern voice from such a hard looking guy and then he smiles and melts your heart. And then… and THEN, he does that samba walk and licks his lips at just the right moments. SO sexy. I didn’t feel that Katee hit her moves with a lot of intensity. Katee doesn’t seem like a sexual person and she voiced her concern about dancing a routine that twas so sexy. She totally pulled it off because even though she didn’t hit the moves that hard, she made it look so effortless and an easy sexiness and that is how she kept her personality in a dance genre she had never done before. If she tried to be sexier or more hard hitting, it would’ve seemed forced. Because Katee said she didn’t think she was sexy, ALL the judges kinda over compensated and told her how super duper sexy she was and Mary even put them on the hot tamale train. I think it was good to give her an extra dose of self esteem since they are the strongest couple from day one and shes going to be here for a long time, but I think she needed a more honest critique. For them, it was the weakest one so far, but they set the bar high and they still made into the top 3.

4. Twitchington danced a hiphop routine Tabitha and Napoleon. Twitchington is the other strongest couple since day one and the judges also put them on a pedestal a bit more than necessary. Mary gave them her patented scream. David loooved this dance and we struggled about its placement in the list. They were somewhere between 2 and 5. Kerrington did do so much better than I thought she could do in this genre. The problem I had with this dance was she was a bit too smiley. She pulled some good real hiphop faces which were totally cute and dead-on, but still a lot of smiling. So much smiling it was hard to watch Twitch sometimes, who was flawless. It seems really long and there were like no big tricks but they held my attention with the characters and the punchiness to the steps.

5. Matt and Kourtni did a contemporary routine as cartoon characters by a new choreographer Sonya Tayeh (we’ll get back to her in a moment). Kourtni and Matt aren’t doing so well for me in this competition, but this week was the best they have danced and the best characters for them. Matt is a great technical dancer but hes just not a great actor although he has an interesting dry sense of humor when hes not dancing. So, Kourtni is so big and lifts are so difficult the routines are usually more personality driven. So to compensate for her issues, his issues are being highlighted (unfair). So many good dances this week. For me they were between number 3 and 5. I want to give them more cause I loved this dance and they are getting better, but I just cant do any better for them and Im sorry. I suppose I can’t get over the bad dances of their past and I don’t like Kourti (sorry. I’m sure you’re a lovely person). Matt is silly and a bit dry but it doesn’t come across in his dancing enough and the judges think his personality is just whatever (maybe too dry for tv). He did a cute bit last week with singing badly and this week with a ninja mask. The ninja mask was kinda trying too hard, but the judges did tell him to try harder to show his personality so i cant blame him. its a weird catch 22. Ok, now onto Sonya, the new choreographer. Shes got a mohawk and a long mane in the back, a la Jane Child. This dance was not only great, it was a different type of contemporary than what this audience is used to seeing and she picked a hot Hot Chip track for it. COOL! And I liked that she said it was her dream to be on this show – first time I remember that type of reaction from a choreographer. Cool chick. The judges always support the choreographers if not for anything to enforce that any fault you may have with the dance it should be on the dancer’s shoulders. Similarly with wardrobe, although Adam commented on the terrible outfit they put Kourtni in, which I think was a result of none of the teany tiny dancer outfits fitting her. In the wardrobe’s defense (as if I really need to), the latin and ballroom dresses get more and more stunning.

6. Will and Jessica did a disco routine by Doriana Sanchez. The segment started with Jessica feeling bad for herself because Will can do no wrong. She’s a great dancer and is super cute and has a great fun personality, but she needs to dance with every part of her body – from the top of her head to her pinky toe. She’s a little goofy and he’s all business and they need to meet in the middle, but instead it looks like shes not taking it seriously. Will seems really supportive and, just like Jessica said, like his momma raised him right. But because she was low on self esteem, the judges put her on a pedestal and said she was terrific and I don’t think she was terrific but I think she may have it in her and she just needed to hear that shes great and maybe now she can be the best she can be. This dance didn’t get high ratings for me but only in comparison to the enormous talent on the show this year. It is very hard and I wanted them to get higher on the list. Maybe if her extensions were more deliberate and she seemed to take it a bit more seriously.

7. Chelsea and Thayne danced a quick step by Heather Smith. First, let me start off by giving a recap. First week they danced the samba and got on Mary’s hot tamale train. Second week they had that fosse king number that was just a flop. Now this week they need to prove that the second week was a fluke, but then they get the quick step, the hardest dance anyone could get on this show. So unfair. Mary officially took them off the hot tamale train, which I’m not sure has been done before. As she says, its a special train. The dance was really all over the place, but Chelsea in particular was a trainwreck. Nigel pointed out that the reason we love Chelsea is because of her personality and not only did she dance it lousy, she lost her personality in the dance by going through it with a fake smile, which in my opinion is kind of how the pros do it.

8. Comfort and Chris did an african jazz number by tyce diorio to Marylin Manson’s Beauiful People. There were no tricks in the dance so they needed to bring it extra hard with the characters and personality. The song is so hard and driving and dark and they needed to overpower all of that. You know how people say “You’re not wearing the dress, the dress is wearing you”? It was like that, but with this song. They weren’t nearly as animalistic as they needed to be. As usual, Comfort was very good and Chris dragged down the routine with low power. In past seasons, if a partner was dragging down the pair, the judges would say so but maybe they learned their lesson with Cedric last season when the judges singled him out the voting became about something else over than dance. They hardly seemed to feel as strongly about Chris as I do, but I could understand the harm to the show in being too harsh on a contestant. But every week he was the weakest and would drag them down together. And he’s corny. I’m sorry, I’m just so sick of looking at him. On a completely different note, Comfort used to be a beauty pagent girl. I’m really not sure how I should feel about this and it gives me a completely different perspective on her that I’m not sure what to do with, but i have to admit seeing those pictures of her when she was like 4 with those big eyes and all that makeup – precious.

Bottom three were…

5. Kourtni and Matt – they did a lot better as a pair this week than they had in the past. so growth is points right there. Matt’s solo was the best of the guys. I didn’t really like Kourtni’s solo so much, but then again I don’t really like Kourtni so much.

7. Chelsea and Thayne – they are just doing worse and worse. Chelsea’s quick step was terrible and the judges said she lost the fire which was her get out of jail free card. Her solo was a bit better than Kourtni’s but Comfort’s solo was the best of the girls and if you add up 1. that Chelsea is getting worse and Kourtni is getting better and 2. if you are elliminating a girl to give Comfort a new partner (cause face it, if they are splittin up couples Chris is out of here – sorry for the spoiler) Thayne is a better choice than Matt. So Chelsea was cut. Thayne and Chris are the bottom 2 guys and when Thayne lost energy in his solo cause he was winging it and kinda didn’t know where to go for a few seconds, I thought it was over and I thought I’d have to live with Chris for at least one more week, but Thayne was saved.

8. Comfort and Chris – I pretty much gave it away in the last two paragraphs but Comfort was the best of the female solos. They have finally cut a boy and a girl from separate couples and started by freeing Comfort, who has all this potential, and now pairing Comfort with Thayne. And you guessed it, Chris is out.