So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Top 8!

Can you believe we are already at Top 8? It seems like just yesterday we were just watching auditions... ahhh how our little ones have grown...

Leah comes out in a dress that for the whole night I cannot identify the colour. Is it rose, is it purple, is it reddish, I just don't know. I don't really care what the colour was...it was all bad prom dress to me.

We get the usual recap of the prizes and the tour and the intro to our judges - and fantastic! Mia Michaels and Dan Karaty are here for the fun, along with Tre and JM.

Tonight each pair will be dancing twice, and the best part of that means no solos! I find that the solos don't provide me with much to work with, so I'm good without them.

Miles draws Allie out of the hat, and their first dance is the Samba, choreographed by Eric Caty. (Interesting that all three of them are from Calgary...)

Performed to Aguanile by Hector Lavroe, Miles and Allie are portraying Adam and Eve, complete with dancing barefoot. I'm wondering if that makes this particular style of dance more difficult. It looked like perhaps it did for Allie. She looked a little uncomfortable right off the bat.

Wow, there is so much potential in this one for Allie to have her pretty little head splattered all over the place, but thankfully Miles makes sure that doesn't happen. They both do a fantastic job with lots of neat moves, and Allie just has the most beautiful hand movements, a ballerina right down to her fingertips.

Oh, and did I mention? Miles. Shirtless.



Mia noticed. Tee hee. "You should wear that AAAALL the time" she says to Miles. And Allie too, because really? Walking around looking like that in shiny leaves would be nothing but a good time. Mia says that if Adam and Eve danced like that, then the world would be a very different place. The energy was amazing, it was grounded and earthy, and she loved it.

Dan comments how he remembers Allie from the auditions (I guess we're all doing some reminiscing tonight...!) and is not surprised she is still here. He says they both owned the stage, loved the partnering tricks and thought they did a phenomenal job.

Tre enjoyed it as well and says to Allie "Hold 'em down mama, 'cause THAT was sexy!" JM gives a shout out to Eric for the choreography and says that he's proud of a whole bunch of technical words that I just didn't catch, even when I played it back. He also says that now he knows the REAL meaning of the Calgary Flames, 'cause that was sizzling!

Next up we have Arassay and Izaak... I'm hopeful that Arassay can hold her own in this partnership.

Their first number of the night is a Lindy Hop choreographed by Benji, who informs us the Izaak has a winking problem. Huh. I actually had not noticed this.

Dancing to Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, my first thought is WOW! Arassay is just a bundle of dynamite out there! But I am quickly distracted by the music... I don't like when they take a traditional dance and punk it up like this - a punk Lindy Hop just doesn't... sit right for me. They did it with the Jive the other night as well, and I didn't like that either. I actually like it when the choreographer goes out of the box for song choice, but I think this one was a little too much.

Anyway, this one is definitely entertaining, if not just a little sloppy. I enjoyed the ending when they both jumped off into the crowd.



Mia says wow, that was hard. And a little sloppy. She calls Arassay a beast, in a good way, (I totally agree) and tells Izaak he needs to step up. He's adorable, but needs to be more physical and that there needs to be more reality in his performances.

Dan admits to being a little confused by the concept of this number. He feels that on a performance level, they kind of blew it, as the performance in itself did not make sense. When I hear comments like that, I think, now is that a problem of the dancers or of the choreography? However, he thought the dancing was unbelievable and thought they had a true partnership.

Tre didn't get the theme either, but said the dancing was "absolument". And that's it. JM said it was a bundle of energy, raw, mean and fun. He admits that possibly he was a little 'arsh on Izaak last week, but hey, that's tough love and done with the intent of creating a better dancer. Or at least a dancer who gets voted off this week. Oh, that last part? My words, not his. Not entirely inaccurate though.

Natalli and Vincent get to dance the Krump next, a number choreographed by Lil 'C. I notice right off the top that Natalli seems a bit more comfortable in front of the camera during the rehearsal part.

Dancing to Lost Boiz Anthem by Tha J-Squad, my main comment is... bad timing. They seem off all over the place. It's on the loose side with lots of rough edges. I thought Vincent was excellent. He was into it. Natalli seemed to light and was just not hard enough for this.



Mia says they got the faces down, they got the movements down, and points out that Natalli forgot a part, but we shouldn't judge her on that.

My turn to rant.

So tell me how this would work, because I'm not a dancer. But say I was. Just for fun. 'Cause I always wanted to be. Anyway, I go to an audition for some fantastic part. And I get up there, and then... I forget.

Would I still get the part? Say over some other dancers who DIDN'T forget what they were doing? Or would I get passed over in the JUDGING PROCESS that I'm sure happens when all the producers of said fantastic audition get together to make a final decision.

'Cause if you tell me I'd still get the part, I'm dusting off the old tap shoes and trying out for something - ANYTHING, just as soon as I possibly can. Watch for me on Prime Time.

So because I'm annoyed I kind of don't hear much of what Dan has to say, because it's pretty much the same as what Mia said.

Tre says she couldn't tell gender in this piece, which was a good thing, because then she could just focus on the dancing. But then doesn't say what she actually thought about the dancing. JM says that Krump is a bit like Contemporary, but in high speed. And then doesn't seem to give any actual feedback either. Huh. We, the audience, are left on our own to make a decision it seems. Which really? Not too hard.

Our last duo is Lisa and Nico, and their first dance is Jazz Funk choreographed by Blake McGrath. Performed to When I Grow Up by the Pussycat Dolls, this one is cool. A hot shot model and a (sexy) photographer. It's high energy and all full of attitude and sass. I think I said Wow! about 11 times. And of course, by the end all I can say is that Nico can pull my hair like that any old time he wants to. By that I mean, if he finds himself just sitting around thinking "Huh, I really feel like pulling someones hair right now, all rough and sexy... but... who to call...?" ME. Call ME. The lip biting just about killed me. I'm lucky the bottle of water I had in my hand had a cap on it, because I dropped it. I also think Lisa was so well suited for this dance. It's the one scenario where her ego helps her.



Mia calls Blake a dirty, dirty, filthy, filthy man. Says it was hot, danced amazingly, they hit it, they killed it, and was pretty certain she has more to say... but she forgot. Yes, Nico has that effect.

Dan points out that there are clearly different rules in Canada regarding censorship, because no way could they get away with something like that in the States. Yep, we pretty much rock up here... He said they were performers first and dancers second, and that they really turned it (and me) on. And if the goal was to entertain, they did a great job.

Tre admits to being entertained and then she growls at Nico. Tee hee. I know, Tre, I know. I laughed when she said "when I grow up I wanna be y'all!" JM says that Blake moved them from Stars to Superstars, that they were crazy and totally embraced it. And then he asks my favorite question of the night.

"Would any girls here like to pose for Nico tonight?" Okay, remember? I said ME. Call ME.

Time for Allie and Miles to perform their second number of the night, and African Jazz piece choreographed by Vicky Lambert. I think I got the song right - Shosholoza by the Soweto Gospel Choir.

I love this one. It's joyful and pure, and again, I just marvel at Allie. She is such a beautiful, organic dancer. And Miles was fantastic. They had great timing and played off each other perfectly. I adored this. It was so well done that I could see the train station around them.





Mia tells Allie that for a ballerina girl that was amazing. And tells Miles she is his biggest fan. Now THAT'S a compliment. Dan calls it a beautiful feel-good piece, and that this time, Miles owned the stage.

Tre says it was grounded in feet, body and emotion, and she loved it. JM said it was perfect in "some ways"... I don't really know what he means by this, and he doesn't elaborate. But he says that the combination of B's (B-Boy and Ballerina) gives them an A+.

Arassay and Izaak perform their last number for the night, a Tango brought to us by Alex daSilva. They are dancing to Pa' Ballar (Instrumental) by Bajofondo.

They both look the part, but I notice a few things that aren't working particularly well. The drag across the stage looks a bit stiff to me, and it seems that Izaak is concentrating too much, and making it look a bit awkward. Arassay pulls off a neat move, basically the splits while Izaak spins her around, but then she seems to land with a bit of a bump and a pause while Izaak recovers himself. The only thing that saved this dance is the fact that Arassay is such a strong dancer that you're forced to watch only her. She could've been out there entirely on her own for all the 'partnering' Izaak gave her. He was there for the lifts but just screamed 'out of my league'.

Mia gives a shout out for the choreography and says that Arassay has so much passion, and was trying so hard to connect with Izaak, but... she says there's just a numbness about Izaak's performances. Makes the comment we already know, that he has so much potential, but he's just not there yet.

Dan thought it was good, and was speechless over Arassay. He tells Izaak that he needs to dig in more, and that he needs to not worry so much about himself and pay more attention to his partner. Overall though, he found it entertaining.

Tre tells Arassay there's nothing she can't do and compliments Izaak on keeping a strong frame. JM comments on the fact that this was a difficult routine (unlike all those easy ones they usually hand out), and tells Arassay she's all about spice. And many other things. Yuck. I don't like it when he says things like that.

Last piece for Natalli and Vincent, a contemporary number. This one is choreographed by Stacey Tookey and danced to Happy Ending by MIKA. I see the same thing as I saw in their first routine. Out. of. sync.

Besides that, it has some interesting moves and some great catches, and overall I was alright with it.

Mia says the two of them danced it brilliantly and praises Stacey Tookey for growing into a beautiful choreographer. Dan keeps it short and to the point - the best performance of the night. I disagree with Dan here. It was a good routine, but nothing I'm still squee'ing over today.

Tre loved it, and says that she loves everything they do. JM is giving a standing O. And he's almost in tears. Which I don't get. I mean, it was good, but it wasn't something that would get one all choked up. Trust me, I would know. I cry over everything. Diamond commercials, that stupid show Full House (don't ask) - but this one didn't bring me even close to a teary moment. Oh well, to each their own.

Last dance of the night - Nico and Lisa doing hip hop to a Luther Brown piece. In the rehearsals, Nico confesses that while the choreography is going well, they are having some issues with their props. We then get to see suitcases flying all over the place. Could be dangerous.

Dancing to Whatever You Like by T.I., I am, for a change, able to suspend my schoolgirl crush on Nico and actually watch them dance. Like, in a non-biased, take off your shirt kind of way. And holy smokes. Nico is an absolutely fantastic dancer. Lisa certainly holds her own next to him, but some of his movements are so Wade Robson (as I've said before), and I think he has an enormously successful future ahead of him, regardless of the results of this show.

Mia says the style was ridiculous, it was fun and they danced it "just awesome". Dan says of all the shows he's judged that the Canadian show is second to none. I so hope he's not just saying that for effect, cuz I pretty much burst into patriotic tears with that one. He said they had unison, feel, flow, and that it was an amazing performance.

Tre loved it, said it had swagger and confidence and that she wanted to see them in the Top 4. JM sings for us a little bit and then says it was fun and down to business.

My predictions to go home, you ask? Izaak and Natalli. I don't know who will be the other bottom two, and it almost seems irrelevant, as long as they aren't the ones to leave.

Kim will be adding her comments and doing the results show tomorrow night, so we'll see y'all then!

And Nico? Call me.