So You Think You Can Dance 7/25. The Top 10 Try To Out-Solo One Another

Opening: Sara spins. Kameron doesn’t do much. Lacey spins her leg. Neil does what he’s always accused of doing. Sabra looks like she’s having fun. Pasha looks like he’s having even more fun. Lauren makes a hideous facial gesture. The other 3 don’t do enough to earn their own sentences. Cat comes out, does her judges stick (I still don’t know why they respond), congratulates Mia, and then goes straight to hocking the tour. Now that that business was out of the way for the first of many times tonight, we’re on to the show. The new twist now that we’ve made the top 10 is that everyone performs the same solo, a Wade Robson routine. This could be interesting if we’re judging everyone on the same routine. Wade Robson is spouting more gibberish about peace, war, and a list of good things. Ooh, and there’s spraypainting!

Lauren and Pasha: Lauren is very pleased to work with Pasha, who doesn’t look pleased to work with. They’re doing a Shane Sparks hip-hop routine. Shane’s worried about Pasha not getting into it enough. I can slightly see where Shane is coming from, but I still love the routine. Starting amazingly with their bodies intertwined and working together, and ending the same way, the routine is energetic, fun, well choreographed, and entertaining. Lauren is the better of the two, surprisingly enough. Nigel calls them human transformers (plug to the Fox movie!). He says that Pasha is the best Russian hip-hop dancer he’s ever seen, and says he’s glad they kept Lauren. Loved it and thought that their partnership was so together from the beginning. Mary loved Pasha, also plugs Transformers (I guess the movie disappointed last weekend). Mary scares us by seemingly threatening a scream, but doesn’t to the relief of everyone. Mia was terrified that Pasha was doing hip-hop but she liked it and deems Lauren as blowing up.

Jaimie: I like the routine, and she looked good doing it, but it felt a little forced. She also doesn’t emote/act that well. But it was definitely good. Just that though, not great. Just good. Nigel compliments Wade first, then moves on to everyone. Jaimie has a single emotion, and she needs to bring more dynamism to her emotions. Mary loved her expression and thought she was believable. Mia thinks she danced it well, but she did plateau.

Dominic: Wade Robson’s movement doesn’t look organic coming from Dominic. He overacts a large portion of it as well. A disappointing showing. Nigel thought he was tight in his movements, and he was technically lacked. Mia thought he showed a lot of emotions but was technically lacking. Mia thought he got the message right but that he didn’t make it his own.

Sabra and Kameron: I think Sabra is one of the most talented dancers in this competition, and this week she’s partnered with Kameron. They’ve got a Tyce Diorio contemporary routine. I honestly think that Tyce’s choreography is some of the worst on the show, and this routine doesn’t make me think that any less. It’s very dance school to me for some reason. It was, however, reasonably well danced. Sabra pulled it off a lot better than Kameron, who seemed to be dancing choreography instead dancing a story. If that makes sense. I doubt it does. Nigel thinks it was well danced, but he didn’t believe Kameron’s emotional journey, which Sabra did. Mary thought they danced well, but it wasn’t magical. Mia thinks that Kameron exposed himself tonight as an immature dancer, she said there was no breakthrough and it was hard for Mia to watch. Mia loved Sabra though, calling it Sabra Full Of Grace and says that she can’t wait to get her hands on her one day.

Sara: Her movements aren’t as graceful as Jaimie’s, but the choreography seems to flow out of her as opposed to being danced. She also emoted well. The best solo so far. Nigel says that Sara’s a small person, and she has to make her dancing bigger. Mary thought she was terrific. Mia felt her.

Pasha: Pasha is good. But not really good. It’s a little disappointing. The movement feels really forced at time, and he also overacted slightly. Nigel thinks it showed he was out of his league. Mia thinks he missed the emotions but was technically good. Mia found it overdramatic and awkward.

Lacey and Danny: The siblings of last season’s finalists are working together on a Samba from last season contestant Dmitry and apparently Heidi. I have to admit that I missed parts of this dance, because of a food delivery. But from the parts that I saw, it wasn’t spectacular. To me, Danny lacked the masculinity for the dance, which is surprising because he’s had that in the past. Lacey looked good and natural though, but she knows this genre of dance, so that wasn’t surprising to me. I missed a large portion of Nigel’s comment, but I cam back when Nigel says that what Danny lacked in technique he made up for in performance. Mary though Danny lacked enough technique for it. However, she thought Lacey was amazing and that the wind is blowing her towards the finale. Mia thinks it was the sexiest dance so far this season. Mia loves the way Danny carries himself and that Lacey was ridiculous. Mia sums it up as awesome.

Lauren: Lauren is the best so far. She’s the one who I feel most got the message of peace across. The movement just naturally flowed out of her, and she had the emotions just right. Nigel thought she highlighted the musicality and that she was the first person to come forward with hope. Mary thought she continued her blossoming tonight. Mia makes a heart and calls it great and fabulous and every other praise word.

Neil: Neil hits the trick parts best, like the complicated leaps, but the emotional message of the dance is missing. The guys are disappointing so far. Nigel tells him to watch his shoulders because it makes his arm movements look ugly and that he missed the emotion. Mary tells him to bring up the other side and the emotion. Mia says ditto.

Sabra: Sabra’s solo is disappointing to me. The movement works, and she nails the scream part, but her face is rigid the entire time. The message only partially gets across. Nigel thinks she danced so large for being a small girl, and she came forward with hope as well. Mary threatens a scream again but instead just bows down. Mia calls Sabra her favorite after tonight. Sabra looks so happy.

Kameron: Meh. His was neither good nor bad. I just didn’t buy the message he was giving out. The movement didn’t flow. Nigel finds he’s been let down by Kameron in the past but that his solo was realty good. Mary connected with his emotions in the solo. Mia totally agrees.

Jaimie and Dominic: This pairing doesn’t do much for me. Yes, Jaimie has amazing lines, but that’s the only thing I can say about her. A lot of Dominic’s good stuff was due to good partnering with Sabra. They’ve got a Toni Redpath Viennese Waltz with a Latin twist. The piece is wildly overacted by both, to the point of farce at times. Their dancing was also really technically shoddy, with poor footwork to boot. The only positive thing about this dance, for me, goes to whoever chose Jaimie’s dress, because when she twirled, that thing was magical to watch. Nigel starts by warning that they’re overlapping styles, which is difficult, which was bad for Dominic because he wildly overacted, and, as a result, Dominic was a massive failure for him. He had problems watching Jaimie because it was wildly overacted. She looks heartbroken. Mary also found it to be over the top, and the technique was poor, and they completely lacked chemistry. Mia points out that Dominic had one bad week. That being said, this is a BAD week. His technique was abysmal basically. She thought that Jaimie’s lines were, as always, great, but she needs to stop opening her mouth.

Lacey: Definitely one of the better solos of the night. She also nails the emotions, and the movement seems to be more natural than learned. Very good from Lacey. Nigel tells Lacey she has everything and that she was tremendous. Mary absolutely agrees and tells her she has it all. Mia totally agrees again, but thought she missed a little bit of emotion.

Danny: Danny is tops for the guys tonight. The movement looks amazing out of him, nailing all the steps and leaps. He doesn’t quite get the emotional message of it though, looking hard at times. Nigel thinks that Danny was the only one who was smooth with it and put himself into it, but he lost the music. Nigel promises they’re chipping away at his emotional shield, but says he still needs more emotion. Mary thought he was more different than anyone else, and she felt his emotion. Mia has been trying to break Danny down emotionally. Mia tells him that he has the potential to make history if he removes those boundaries and shields, calling him beyond several times in a row.

Sara and Neil: Sara and Neil are together this week, with a Doriana Sanchez Disco routine. Neil and Sara seem to be having a lot of fun in training. Neil continues to make bad jokes. Neil is clearly going for Benji this week. He’s playing up the dorky sexuality. That being said, the dance is a lot of fun and they’re having a blast on stage. This is the most comfortable I think I’ve ever seen Sara on the stage. Technically they leave a little to be desired, but the tricks that she throws in there for Neil absolutely distract from those. Nigel says that it’s great to see them have fun, and that they entertained everyone. Mary loved it as well, calling it corny, cheesy, and fun fun fun. She compliments Neil for his tricks and his lift strength. Mia loved it calling them the biggest dorks in the best possible way.

Rankings For The Night (Based on Both Factors):
1)Lauren
2)Lacey
3)Danny
4)Sara
5)Sabra
6)Pasha
7)Neil
8)Jaimie
9)Kameron
10)Dominic