So You Think You Can Dance 7/16- The Top 10 Perform

Cat’s gold dress has a lot of awkward creases. Seriously, like 6 of the creases seem to converge at her nether regions. She looks good it in, but she may want to hire a stylist who is on more than 50% of the time. In the intros, Gev, Joshua, Twitch, and Will are the standouts. Which is not a good sign for the girls of this competition. Jessica is missing from the intros, which is because she’s been forced to leave the competition due to an injury and Comfort has been brought back. Jessica comes on stage to explain that she has two broken and one fractured rib, which means she can no longer compete. But she will be a part of the tour. She doesn’t get a video tribute of her best moments, but I wonder if she’ll get one tomorrow. Our guest judge tonight is Lil’ C. Oh, and everyone has to dance two routines and a solo.

Courtney and Joshua- I’m kind of pumped for this pairing. Their first routine is a Dave Scott hip-hop. We all know Joshua can do hip-hop and Courtney owned her last one, so I have high hopes. It’s Frankenstein themed, and I enjoyed it. Joshua owns all his bits, which is good since Courtney is given little to do and she doesn’t do it all that greatly. She’s good, but not great. Joshua draws the focus though, and he does really rock the routine. Lil’ C enjoyed it and also thinks Joshua owned it. He tells Courtney she did good and praises their comraderie. Mary employs a dramatic pause before calling it a lot of fun and also thinks they paired well. Nigel thought that they were good but thinks Courtney could have been a good bit better (which I agree with)

Chelsie- Her solo, like most ballroom solos, is not all that interesting to watch. She seems to have good technique and she uses the stage really well. It’s not the best solo we’re gonna see on the stage, but I doubt it’ll be the worst.

Kherington and Mark- Their first number is a Country Two Step with new Country/Western two step choreographers Ronnie and Brandi. They seem unprepared, but I really want this couple to succeed. It’s kind of entertaining to watch and there’s a bunch of entertaining tricks, but it doesn’t come across as amazing in any sense. They lack chemistry and Mark seems really uninvested in it. Lil’ C calls it fun and he thinks they tried but maybe they approached it from the wrong angle. Lil’ C thought they brought themselves but they didn’t nail it. Mary calls it a tough number and thinks Mark did a lot better than Kherington, whose arms get really criticized. Nigel thinks the problem is that there were a lot of trust problems and thinks Kherington screwed up a lot more than Mark. He thinks it’s good, though, that they didn’t let the routine get to them.

Gev- Gev’s solo is full of really fun tricks. But it does just seem like a lot of really cool tricks strung together. I dunno. It was entertaining, but I don’t think I’m gonna remember it.

Comfort and Twitch- They’ve got a Smooth Waltz with Hunter Johnson. Comfort is happy to be back. The routine requires a lot of closeness and romance, which both ham it up about. Ok, wait, first off, seriously? You choreographed a smooth waltz to Journey? No offense Hunter Johnson, but Journey? It’s reasonably elegant, and it’s certainly an accomplishment for two hip-hoppers. Overall, it probably won’t be memorable, but it was nice to watch. Lil’ C enjoyed it but thinks they weren’t feeling the routine fully enough. But then he commends them for dancing it really well. I’m a little confused. Mary wasn’t feeling it, and thinks it was lacking a LOT of power. She uses a whole lot of a bad adjectives and ends by saying it was “just not there”. Nigel thinks it wasn’t strong enough and thinks it was nowhere near strong enough for a top 10 routine. Although he loved the lift at the end.

Courtney- Her solo is dynamic and full of energy. There’s a decent bit of standard contemporary leaps and twirls, but there’s enough different movement in there to make it interesting.

Katee and Will- They’ve got a Tyce Broadway routine, and I’m wondering how bad Tyce’s post-Adam and Eve fall will be. I’d say this one of Tyce’s best Broadway routines, mainly because Will is just an incredible dancer. He completely sells the dance. Katee is also really good too. Although it’s starting to look like Will is going the Dmitry/Pasha open shirt for votes route. Lil’ C praises Tyce’s versatility and thinks they were explosive both in acting and dancing. He calls it buck, which I’m guessing is the first time Broadway has ever been called buck. Mary loves it, especially Katee. She also loved that Will was able to ham it up and calls him fantastic and asks him to keep showing his abs. Nigel calls it terrific and thinks they are the strongest technical pair on the show. He thinks Will is starting to display charisma and thinks the pair just showed up everyone else.

Mark- I love Mark. His movement is so different. He’s unlike anyone else on this show. He could have maybe gotten into the dancing a little quicker, but he rocks.

Chelsie and Gev- They’ve got a Sonja Tayeh contemporary routine. I loved her last routine, so I have high hopes for this routine. I actually love this routine. Sonja is definitely my new choreographer to watch. The movement is all beautiful, they both seem committed and get the emotion across and I love love love classic soul, so I’m pumped to hear Otis Redding on SYTYCD. Lil’ C liked that the routine allowed him to feel something, because that means they committed to it. He thought that they both danced it well too, especially Gev. Mary believed it and thought their chemistry rocked and Gev stepped it up. She calls it terrific. Nigel felt the routine (even though he seems to have misinterpreted the meaning of the routine) and thinks Gev didn’t sell it enough. He liked Chelsie though and loved the choreography.

Comfort- She’s got energy, but it’s nowhere near as impressive as her solos have been. She didn’t seem to have a lot invested in it.

Twitch- It’s pretty cool. There’s some awesome slide stuff in there, and also appears to be a bit of contemporary thrown in. It’s not his best solo, but it’s still really good.

Courtney and Joshua 2 The Streets- They’ve got a Jean Marc Genereaux rumba. Courtney and Joshua seem to have some serious concerns about the routine. I don’t’ see why though, as they pull it off with aplomb. They look beautiful and elegant. The lifts and turns are all beautifully executed. Lil’ C thinks he might need his inhaler because they took his breath away. Awww. He thinks they’re both great and elegant (although he may have said eloquent). Mary thinks they nailed it all, the nuance, the footwork, the sexiness. Overall, it was just fantastic. Nigel thinks the routine fit their bodies so well and thinks they were technically great. Multiple jokes are made about Joshua and whether or not he will have a shirt on in the future.

Katee- It’s an interesting solo, although it seems to be the standard contemporary template of leaps and twirls. Although hers are different in an interesting way. That’s not very informative I realize, but I’m having a hard time describing it.

Kherington and Mark 2 The Streets- They’ve got a Tyce jazz routine with no story and a lot of sliding. I’m worried. As I should be. The routine is like a bad disco number by way of a bad 80s number with some bad jazz thrown in. They seem to be trying their hardest, but they can’t do much with the pretty weak choreography. Lil’ C thinks it was good and it allowed them to show off the dance. He thinks they did a good enough job. Mary thinks it wasn’t bad, but she’s not jumping out of her seat either. She wasn’t feeling fired up by it, and thinks Mark was lost without a story. Nigel compares it to a driving test and thinks it lacked heart and passion and thinks it’s not gonna inspire people to vote.

Will- I gotta say, I was expecting more from Will. There’s a beautiful leap or two, but I’ve seen 200% better from him, so I dunno.

Comfort and Twitch 2 The Streets- They’ve got a Dave Scott hip-hop and I expect this to be amazing, since both dancers are at home and high energy. It’s really cool and fun. They both seem to be the most at home they’ve ever been. I would have liked to see more tricks, but otherwise, it’s pretty awesome. Lil’ C calls it really buck. He says Twitch was like a spitting image of Dave and thinks this is the best Comfort has ever been. Mary also thinks it was buck and thinks they both had it. She says Comfort stepped up and bows down to Twitch. Nigel thinks it looked like they were dancing for the joy of it and thinks Comfort was excellent and thinks she finally earned that early praise he gave her.

Kherington- It’s kind of poppy, and it’s, again, entertaining. But her solo last week was a lot more dynamic and interesting. She’s had a bad night, folks.

Katee and Will 2 The Streets- They’ve got another new style this week, the Pas De Deux, from two new choreographers whose names I missed. Apparently, Katee needs to be elastic this week. If there’s any girl in the competition who could pull that off, I think it’s probably Katee. Ok, well, this is kind of ridiculously beautiful. There’s big surpluses of grace, elegance, and jaw-dropping awesomeness. Banoodles. I also don’t think anyone else could have pulled this off. Massive kudos all around. Although I take points off for Will being shirtless again and the fact that it was to a David Archuleta cover. Lil’ C thinks they danced with commitment and passion and fervor and that everyone will appreciate that routine. Mary calls it so beautiful and calls it something along the line of artistic mastery. She seems to be on the verge of tears. Nigel takes a moment to honor the choreographers because they’re dance huge-shots (bigger than big shots). Nigel agrees with Mary and says it may be the best routine ever on the show. He points out their one mistake and says it’s a good thing because if they’d nailed everything they never would have been able to top it.

Joshua- This is kind of ridiculous. His movement is so interesting and dynamic. He’s got great musicality. One of the two best solos of the night, by far (The other being Mark).

Chelsie and Gev 2 The Streets- They’ve got a Jean Marc Genereux Jive this week. I think this should be suited to Chelsie since she’s high energy and has the ballroom background. It’s fun, high-energy, and entertaining. She absolutely owns it, and Gev is good, despite being kind of clearly out of his technical league. He tries his hardest, and he nails a lot of the footwork, but there’s also areas where he doesn’t. Lil’ C thinks Chelsie outstepped Gev. He says Chelsie danced with extreme confidence and it made up for Gev’s weakness. Mary thinks it was a great way to end the evening, and agrees that Chelsie stole the show. She calls Gev amateur, but in a better way than it sounds, calling him respectable and praising his partnering skills. Nigel was entertained and agrees that Chelsie was outstanding. He thinks Gev was a little too staccato, but thinks they did a really good job.

My Ranking of The Routines:
1) Will and Katee’s Pas De Deux
2) Chelsie and Gev’s Contemporary
3) Comfort and Twitch’s Hip Hop
4) Courtney and Joshua’s Rumba
5) Chelsie and Gev’s Jive
6) Katee and Will’s Broadway
7) Courtney and Joshua’s Hip Hop
8) Kherington and Mark’s Country Two Step
8) Comfort and Twitch’s Smooth Waltz
10) Kherington and Mark’s Jazz

My Ranking of The Dancers Overall:
1) Will
2) Chelsie
3) Katee
4) Gev
5) Joshua
6) Mark
7) Twitch
8) Courtney
8) Comfort
10) Kherington

In Trouble: Comfort is likely done, although Kherington bombing may actually save her. In terms of guys, I’m kind of at a loss. Mark was weak, but I really hope it’s not him. Gev is also probably vulnerable, even though he shouldn’t be. It could also maybe be Twitch.