So You Think You Can Dance is bringing you all new performances by the top eight dancers tonight.
It’s getting nerve-wracking now on So You Think You Can Dance now that we’re down to the wire with so few dancers left. Last week was the first round of cuts that truly saddened me; I was heartbroken to see Kherington Payne and Gev Manoukian go. Tonight, I’m not only excited to see what fabulous routines are in store for us, but I’m terrified about which two are going to be eliminated tomorrow.
Welcome to So You Think You Can Dance!
Tonight, the guest judge joining Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy is Toni Basil.
This week, Will and Courtney have a samba from Jean-Marc. Will’s got to loosen his balletic hips for a sexy Latin dance tonight. And wow, Will sure learned quickly how to move his hips. Courtney looks smashing in a dress that is made of basically one giant yellow feather. They have great chemistry, and it’s a very entertaining performance.
Comfort dances the very first solo of the night. I know I’ve been hard on Comfort these past few weeks for her solos, but I’m pleased to see that she’s worked on her choreography this week. I think this is her best solo so far this season.
Twitch picked Katee this week, and they’ve got a contemporary piece this week, choreographed by Mia Michaels. Aww, Katee and Twitch are so cute together. They’ve known each other for a long time, even before the show, so they definitely work well together. In their performance tonight, Katee plays the part of the psychotic ex-girlfriend, kicking down the door. She really gets into character, and Twitch works off of her equally well. I’m amazed at how creative Mia Michaels can be. I’m going to remember this routine for a while.
Will dances the next solo. He wears a pin-striped suit and a wig, and his dance is pure funk. He’s like James Brown’s grandson here. By far the most personality that we’ve seen from him. As if we didn’t all love him enough.
Mark picks Comfort to be his dance partner this week, and they’ve got hip hop first. Tabitha and Napoleon D’Umo give them a routine that brings them back to detention in school. They do this awesome series of movies at the beginning while sitting side-by-side in school desks. I’m impressed with how down and dirty Mark is looking in this hip hop, and of course, Comfort is right in her element. For her sake, I hope she gets to dance hip hop a lot. For our sake too, because she’s definitely more fun to watch when she’s comfortable with the material she’s given.
Katee dances her solo to “Taking Chances” by Celine Dion. As much as I love Katee, though, I can’t get too excited about this performance because everything about it was just generic contemporary, from the song choice to the jetes across the stage.
Josh picks Chelsie and they’ve got the Argentine tango first. Dmitriy Chaplin from season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance returns to choreograph the routine. Wow, these two have amazing chemistry. It’s palpable even when they’re not even anywhere near each other on stage. Just the way they look at each other is pure Latin sexiness. I love the Argentine tango for the all the playful interplays of leg kicking, and these two do a great job at it.
The second half of tonight’s program begins with Mark Kanemura’s solo. It’s really high-energy, kind of weird and entertaining, but I really think he should work harder on his solos. He’s sporting a faux-hawk and ad-libs a cute dance to Cat’s spiel about voting.
Courtney Galiano and William Wingfield have a slow, lyrical hip hop choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha D’Umo. The theme of their dance is turning back time to get one last chance to spend with someone you love. (This reminds me of that Angel episode when Buffy goes down to L.A. and Angel turns human, but then makes a deal with The Powers That Be to turn back time and avoid becoming human because he needs to be the world’s champion. Makes me cry just thinking about it. Anyway. Back to the dance! It’s beautiful! Courtney, I think, is just as good as Will in this dance. It’s really emotional, and they move together so well. Mary Murphy fakes everyone out by pretending to be disappointed at first, but then shrieks.
It’s Chelsie Hightower’s turn to do her solo. She dances to “Damaged” by Danity Kane. It’s her 19th birthday today (Happy birthday, Chelsie!) but I still can’t get it up for ballroom solos.
Katee Shean and Twitch Boss have a Tyce Diorio Broadway routine to “Sweet Georgia Brown.” In this routine, Katee plays Georgia Brown, who likes Twitch, but Twitch doesn’t like Katee back. Katee’s hair and outfit is adorable, and she starts out the piece with her goofy little signature arm move. Wow, in the middle of the song, the dancing gets fast. But both Katee and Twitch stay in perfect rhythm. It’s wonderful to see. And as if it couldn’t get any better, they have a huge lift at the very end!
Joshua Allen takes the stage next for his solo. (Before he does, we see footage of him telling the most adorable story about how he got started in dance, and it involves doing the moonwalk to the principal’s office. How cute!)
Next Courtney performs her solo. She’s a great dancer – one of my favorites – and I especially appreciate that she puts a lot of advanced thought into her solos.
Twitch Boss shares with us that he’s been to South Korea to appear and choreograph some music videos there, and I think it’s time for me to share that my cousin is a pop singer in Korea. (His name is Lee Jung.) I wonder if Twitch worked with him!
Comfort Fedoke and Mark have a foxtrot from the mind of Jean-Marc Genereux. Comfort, decked the nines with feathers, is Lady Luck in this dance. She still looks uncomfortable wearing heels, but I definitely see improvement. They dance too carefully, though, and the judges don’t have many good things to say about it.
Chelsie and Josh have a Dorianna Sanchez disco routine for their second performance. They dance to “Everlasting Love” by Gloria Estefan. Josh has tight white pants again, but he has a few missteps at the beginning. But all of that is forgotten because they have some fabulous and groovetastic lifts in this performance. Chelsie just shines, and Josh has the strength of ten men.
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
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Staff Writer, BuddyTV
