There are only 8 dancers left? How did that happen? It’s like So You Think You Can Dance season 9 is almost over or something. And two more dancers are going home tonight? Let’s check out the craziness now with this So You Think You Can Dance Top 8 recap!
Just as a bit of a disclaimer, I wasn’t able to find out too much about this Top 8 show. You know, other than the obvious stuff about dances and eliminations.
Thus, it’s very appropriate that the show opens with the Top 8 doing a mysterious and creepy dance. This is also a pretty cool dance — it has more of a big-performance feel than many of the artistic dances we usually see. Kind of a cool change.
Every single dancer comes out making a bird shape with their hands. I don’t know what this means either. Seriously, this recap is coming to you from a place of utter ignorance.
Hey! The All-Stars are back! I figured they probably were, but I didn’t want to say until it was confirmed. Also, we get the return of Jesse Tyler Ferguson (of Modern Family) as a guest judge with Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy.
Tiffany is up first. She’s from Florida. As a child, Tiffany and her sister were insanely adorable. I’m not sure why this beloved sister isn’t in the bio package, but whatever.
Tiffany Maher — Solo
We haven’t actually seen Tiffany solo since… Um, well, forever, I guess. The dance is good — very dramatic, involving kicks in roughly every direction on the stage.
And hey! The sister is in the audience.
Witney Carson and Twitch
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Luther Brown
I don’t know what “ratchet” is either.
Dark lighting and black costumes make this dance kind of hard to see well. Witney does a good job moving quickly. She and Twitch aren’t always in perfect sync. But Witney is definitely giving it her all. The girl looks a little insane, actually. In a good way.
But my goodness, those shoulder pads.
“Do all young, 18-year-old Mormon girls dance like this?” — Nigel Lythgoe
Nigel is happy the judges have saved Witney. Mary claps her hands at Nigel and screamed. Jesse has his own interpretation of “ratchet.”
Will is the next dancer getting a bio. Apparently he was a chubby kid out in the country. Then he found dancing, and all was good. He was even Homecoming King.
Will Thomas — Solo
This would be another new solo experience. Too bad. Will is cool. Despite the intense contemporary dancing, there is definite humor mixed in throughout. The guy can, in fact, dance.
Cole Horibe and Alison
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Cole has no soul here. This is going to make for some interesting post-dance interviewing… The dance is odd, but kind of incredible. Quick moves are interspersed with moments of motionless pauses. The anger and hostility couldn’t be more obvious.
Oh thank goodness. He isn’t staying in character this time.
Jesse praises the acting of the dancers, comparing them to an American Horror Story promo. Mary thinks its Alison’s best and projects Cole’s presence in the finale. Nigel is almost overwhelmed by the quirkiness.
Lindsay pretty much grew up in a dance studio. And she’s buddies with Mark Ballas.
Lindsay Arnold — Solo
This ballroom(ish) solo is kind of exotic. Like Lindsay was taking lessons from Janelle before the belly-dancer was eliminated. It’s not belly-dancing, mind you. Just a funky version of ballroom.
Eliana Girard and Ryan
Style: Quickstep
Choreographer: Jonathan Roberts
It’s seriously cool when Eliana kicks the chair out from under Ryan. And talk about a dancer who disappears into her performance! I don’t think I’d even recognize Eliana here. The quickstep even looks pretty darn good. Not that I know what the steps are supposed to look like. I do know that I like the dancing, the humor and the crazy tricks.
Mary sounds almost disappointed that Eliana wasn’t thrown by the quickstep. Jesse goes with “Holy smokies.” Nigel is shocked by the sheer technicality of the performance.
Chehon was born in Chicago, where he was adopted by Swiss parents. Then he went to London to study ballet.
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp — Solo
Awww… Chehon looks sad. But then he does jumps and spins, so forget about that. You can’t be sad when there are jumps and spins. The solo gets a standing ovation from the judges. No one resist the power of the Chehon solo!!!
Lindsay Arnold and Alex
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
It’s the Gotye song! Finally, SYTYCD… This would be one of those dances on the weird end of the Sonya Tayeh spectrum. I think the dancing is good. Although the choreography is quite honestly distracting. Lots of big, over-dramatic steps and stuff.
Nigel likes the technique but not the sexual tension. Mary agrees and invites the booing. Jesse calls Lindsay “ding-dong-dorable.”
Will Thomas and Lauren
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Will doesn’t look happy at all in this. So well done, Will! It’s a cool routine — Lauren almost looks like the devil sitting on Will’s shoulder the way they’ve set it up. He is believable in how not realizing that she is even there. The dance is better in the dark, angry beginning than in the happier ending, but the whole thing is quite entertaining.
Mary praises Will’s precision. Jesse calls Will some sort of infinite-puppy goodness and then talks about the arts in schools. Nigel likes that Will contained his exuberance.
Witney has a really big family. Like scary-big. Her dad is cute about Witney’s sexiness.
Witney Carson — Solo
Witney pretty much shimmies onto the stage as the solo begins. And, unfortunately for her father, this is full-on sexy. It’s maybe not quite as exciting a solo as some of the others, but it’s fun.
He was a shy kid. Sad. Then he became rather kickass. And of course he’s interested in acting.
Cole Horibe — Solo
Cole doesn’t even wait for the music to start before he kind of explodes. It’s cool to see the full-on martial arts stuff again. Really, explosion is the only word that appropriately describes any of this.
Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer and Melanie
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Melanie is back!!! Yay!!!
This is the sexy kind of jazz that makes you think about people having sex and doing other dirty stuff. Cyrus is maybe not quite smooth enough next to Melanie, but he has gotten rather impressive at picking up steps and styles as this competition goes on. I’m not so sure about the choreography choice that makes Melanie a lot more prominent though.
Jesse praises Cyrus’ charisma and his pants. Nigel calls Cyrus a “little people magnet” and then seems kind of disappointed that the boy doesn’t know about Bob Fosse. Mary fakes some punching and expresses admiration.
Eliana has a big family too. Not that she lived with them all. She obviously did some ballet on the subway, which is cool.
Eliana Girard — Solo
Yes, this is the same person who did a quickstep a little while ago. I don’t know how this ballet compares to your standard professional ballet, but it’s awfully good for So You Think You Can Dance.
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp and Anya
Style: Tango
Choreographer: Miriam and Leonardo
Good choice, mystery choreographers, letting Chehon start the dance with leaps. This is a good dance for Chehon, even when he has to stay on the ground. He looks right, and the ballet stiffness fits with this style. It’s a very sparse dance, but the performance makes up for that well.
Mary thinks the moment is special and is amazed. It’s her favorite number of the night. Jesse, deafened by Mary’s shrieks, invents a hot jalapeno bus. Nigel is completely pleased with the dancers’ connection.
Cyrus thought his dad was super-cool, but unfortunately he died when Glitch was 10. And then his mother started his dance education.
Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer — Solo
What is there to say about a Glitch solo? The guy is pretty much incredible at his robot/animation stuff. Nothing about that has changed.
Tiffany Maher and Aday
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
It is a catchy song. Fortunately, Tiffany manages to not sing. Instead she dances. Oh she dances! This is kind of incredible. Tiffany kind of looks like a leaf getting thrown around by the wind. The jumps and the lifts are shocking in how good they are. Tiffany has been good all season, but this is quite probably her best dance.
And she gets a well-deserved standing ovation from the judges.
Jesse sings his praise to the song. Mary agrees that this is Tiffany’s best performance of the season. Nigel quotes One Direction: “You don’t know you’re beautiful.”
Now comes the sad part…
Bottom Two Dancers
Girls
Lindsay Arnold
Witney Carson
… It’s a little, blonde, Utah, ballroom battle!
Guys
Will Thomas
Cole Horibe
Wow. This one is going to be tough.
Eliminations
Seriously, do they really have to eliminate someone? That sucks.
So…
Lindsay Arnold has been eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance.
I am seriously not OK with the guy pairing for the elimination. These are my two favorites of the men. Sigh… And…
Will Thomas has been eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance.
Well that isn’t much fun.
This means that we are now down to the So You Think You Can Dance season 9 Top 6 dancers: Eliana, Cole, Tiffany, Cyrus, Witney and Chehon. Who will win? Who most deserved to go home? Are you OK with this week’s eliminations? Leave your comments below!
(Images courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
