SYTYCD - Top 18 Performance!

Jeez Louise, what a crazy week - I still haven't had a chance to watch the results show from last week! It's on my list of things to do for tomorrow... me and Kupono, two peas in a pod, I tell you...

I don't think I like Cat's dress tonight.

Lil' C is our third judge tonight, and boy does he beat the roller coaster metaphor to death, telling us about all the twists and turns and loops we're in for this season. And oh, snap! Was that just Cat taking a crack at Mary for her recent botox treatment? I think it was!

So the filler for tonight is... secrets. What we don't know about our Top 18 dancers.

And we'll start with Randi. She has a dog. That she treats like a child. And that she speaks to on speaker phone. And Evan, he's a gearhead who built his own car from scratch. Me, I don't even bake from scratch, so I'm pretty impressed with this.

Randi and Evan have been dealt the jive for tonight, choreographed by Louis Van Amstel, and 'fun' is apparently the buzzword - let's see how many times we can say it! It's fun, I tell you, so much fun! Dancing to Shake a Tail Feather by Ray Charles, the two perform with lots of energy, so much so, I think it looks a bit manic at the start... but they hold it together really well, and it sure looks like they are having... fun...!

Lil' C says they came 'out da box widda bang', but that while Evan has a certain divinity to his movements, he needs to sharpen it up a bit, attack it more. Randi is a firecracker, and it was a solid beginning to the night. Hey, and Mary thought it was fun x 15, I think was the final count on that one... She thought they were built for the jive, but it fell a bit short for her, saying that Randi hit it, but Evan not so much because his feet were a bit sloppy, but overall it was good. Nigel agreed that it was fun, giving a shout out to Louie. He thought Evan's performance should have been stronger, that his retractions could have been sharper, but as a couple, they were tremendous.

Melissa and Ade are up next, and Ade tells us that Melissa's sister is married to Melissa's husbands brother... I think... she reiterates that yes, two sisters married two brothers. Then Melissa tells us that Ade's full name is... yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't catch it at all. Maybe if they had used subtitles I would have been able to.

The two of them pull Jazz with Sonya and the rehearsal looks very strenuous.

Dancing to 24 Hours by Terry Poison, this one is sharp and edgy and very in sync. I quite liked it, much more than I thought I would for some reason.

Lil' C says it was buck and that Ade should be considered everybody's competition and he's willing to put his name on the line with that prediction. He says that he is 'modifying your manipulation of movement'... wow, say THAT 5 times! He adds that while Melissa looked a bit timid during rehearsal that she came out and did a great job. Mary starts off by saying it was time for some tough love... by which she means that it was tough for her to find anything she didn't love, followed by a nice long scream. She said the style and technique were fantastic, that everything was very detailed. Nigel says that although Sonya is quirky, she choreographs in such a way as to allow the dancers to show us their technique.

Next, Catilyn exposes Jason as a young Michael Jackson fan, complete with video. Too funny. I should get in touch with him, maybe we can compare scrapbooks. Jason tells us that Caitlyn likes to talk in baby voices, but she also does a great impression of a velociraptor. Huh.

These two get hip hop with Shane Sparks, and dancing to to Missing You by Trey Songz, you can see right away that this dance was not designed to be hard hitting. There isn't much to say about it one way or another in my opinion. It was alright.

Lil' C feels the same, saying he didn't love it, and it left him feeling a bit perplexed. Caitlyn looks stricken as he goes on to say it came off corny. Mary says it was like watching Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, by which I take that to mean a bit generic. She says that the chemistry just didn't work this week, which was so confusing because last week they really had a good connection. Nigel says he wasn't shocked by the performance, 'not at t'all', that he felt Shane choreographed it that way so it would suit them better. He liked it. I'm putting them in the bottom 3.

Janette and Brandon are up next and we learn that Janette had really bad teeth as a child and that Brandon has never worked out a day in his life. Really? Wow. That's... incredible!

Out of the hat they pull Disco with Doriana Sanchez who has Dirty Dancing on her resume - huh! I don't think I knew that!

Brandon catches on quickly during rehearsal, but Janette is struggling and teary.

Dancing to Loving is Really My Game by Brainstorm, I thought this one was great. Really fast paced, lots of energy and some very neat flips and turns. For someone who has never been to a gym, man is he strong!

Lil' C says he believes he just witnessed the birth of progression. Tee hee, I love the things that come out of his mouth. And I love that he is coming around to Brandon. He says that he was phenomenal, and that while Janette stumbled once, she never broke her character. Mary says, without moving her face at all, and after a lot of screaming she says that they nailed it, they were getting down out there, yes they were! Nigel says that he would scream like Mary if he could, but he can't, so he won't, but that it was the best disco routine they've seen on the show to date.

Asuka and Vitolio are out to reveal the deep dark secrets next and we learn that Vitolio is obsessed with motorcycles, and that Asuka can make... spit bubbles.

Another piece choreographed by Louie Van Amstel, a waltz, and during rehearsal they learn another secret - Asuka is not attracted to Vitolio, making this a little difficult. Huh. So instead of a love story, Louie is designing a lyrical, spiritual waltz, full of pain, to mark Vitolio's journey through life.

Performing to Dreams are More Precious by Enya, this piece is lovely. Asuka has fantastic arm movements, and the two of them glide about in an effortless manner.

Mary is charmed almost to a point of being speechless, and she's almost in tears until Nigel breaks the moment with theatrical sobbing... good ole' Nigel and his comedic relief. Mary goes on to say that she didn't feel the pain, but it was painfully beautiful, and that it was the most honest she has seen Vitolio dance so far. She says that Asuka was endearing and believable. Lil' C says that the choppy steps were compensated by the authenticity of the performance and that Asuka was great at dominant submission. Nigel felt that you would have to be heartless not to have been touched by this performance.

Ummm.... I hate to do this, but I start a brand new job in the morning... and I have to get some sleep! So I promise I will finish off as soon as I get home tomorrow, before Kim gets to posting the results show.

Until then!

Alright, I'm back and ready to go!

Our next couple is Max and Kayla, and from them we learn that Max loves to play the housewife, making sure everyone is happy and well fed, and Kayla, well she can text at the rate of about 100 words per minute!

Brian Freedman has choreographed a pop jazz number for them and instantly I like the song that he has chosen, Hot Like Wow! by Nadia Oh. This is a great piece and I loved the costumes! It was very quirky and edgy and I thought they both did a great job.




Lil' C says something about dancing being a language that they have picked up with no problem, telling Max that he was very good and that Kayla was so good he couldn't even critique her, which has her grandparents grinning from ear to ear. Mary isn't thrilled with Max's costume, but says that the quality of the performance surprised her. She screams that Kayla nailed it and keeps her on the hot tamale train for yet another night. Nigel acknowledges Brian Freedman and says he is happy to have him back on the show. Kayla, he says, is a front runner in this competition and Max has to work hard to keep up with her.

As a side note, during the commercial break, I saw an ad for the Much Music Video awards, and it looks like Nico and Natalli from SYTYCDC will be performing! Fun - I need to look up the date of that so I can mark it in my calendar!

Back to the show with Jonathan and Karla, who tell us that Karla is a bad ass hip hopper and Jonathan loves to sing... but maybe he shouldn't...

And speaking of SYTYCDC, it's Stacey Tookey choreographing the next contemporary piece to Falling Slowly by The Frames. This was very well done, and I think they have redeemed themselves from last week. They had a lovely connection and Jonathan did much better than I anticipated.

Mary says she has never before said that someone did so much better in a style other than their own and that Jonathan was fantastic. She says she was spellbound by the performance, saying that Karla had beautiful lines. Nigel compliments Jonathan on his amazing centre of gravity. Lil' C says they danced it beautifully, with emotion, technique and athleticism - it was buck...

Phillip and Janine are up next and we find out that Phillip is a super nerd, at one time having as many as 40 reptiles in his room. Gross. Janine has a teddy bear named Spanky that she says makes the perfect boyfriend. Huh!

Their rehearsal looks very tough, with Phillip suffering some injuries we'd prefer not to speak about.

Tony Meredith is the choreographer for a Tango danced to... I think it was called Violento, not sure by whom, and I forget to go back and check. If you caught it, let me know!

I enjoy this one! I thought it was a really good effort by the both of them. But I am on my own in this opinion, apparently.

Mary gives an A+ for attitude, but not so much for technique. She says that while Janine pulled it off, Phillip's footwork was sloppy. Lil' C acknowledges that he is a fan of Phillip's but that a lack of confidence is the biggest anchor and it was all over Phillip's face. He says he was disconnected from the performance, and that his knees were bent all the way through. Mary interrupts and says his knees were supposed to be bent. Cat calls interference and asks Tony to be the referee on this one - Tony gives his blessing on the bent knee issue. Nigel says he loves the way Phillip had his knees bent... Tee hee, that made me laugh. He critiques Phillip for showing strain on his face during one of the lifts, which of have to say I didn't notice until they did the replay - eek! Not good! He says that technically it was a no, but gives them a yes under the entertainment category, and hopes that the audience will give Phillip the opportunity to continue to learn and grow. I think they may end up in the bottom 3 regardless.

The last couple of the night are Kupono and Ashley and thank goodness the secret telling is almost over! Kupono apparently has OCD and likes to keep his closet colour coordinated. And poor Ashely, she vomited on her classmates on story telling day in Grade 1.

This hip hop piece is choreographed by Shane Sparks, and it's a number where Ashley has to be Kupono's shadow, so it has to be perfectly in sync going a 100 miles an hour. Yikes, good luck with that!

This is another one that I like, danced to Imma Be by the Black Eyed Peas, I thought it was really cool. I didn't see that the choreography was designed so much to keep them in sync though...?

And then we learn that they weren't in sync because it sucked, apparently. Huh. I just didn't see it that way. Mary says it was okay, neither here nor there, and certainly not memorable. Lil' C says that Kupono struggled, and that he needed to find his serenity inside the chaos, but he was good with Ashley. Nigel says he had just started to enjoy it as it ended, and it left him feeling underwhelmed. Another potential bottom 3.

If I am right in my predictions, we stand to lose a great guy on results night - Kupono, Phillip or Jason, and I can't bare to see any of them go at this point. So hopefully I'm wrong.

I guess we'll find out once Kim has done her posting!

Until then...!