SYTYCD - Top 10 Performance & Results

Hi! Carly here, recapping last night's SYTYCD Top 10 performance show - I'll also be covering the results show later tonight.

To get things started lets go over some of the changes Tuesday's show brought: This show is the first of the season where America votes who goes home. The guy & girl with the least number of America's votes will be leaving us tonight - and from the cheering at the judges table, I'd say they're relieved. Also, the couples we've grown to love have been separated and each dancer will be dancing with a new partner this evening. I was very excited to see what kind of fun these new partnerships would result in. Remember though, America is voting for their favourite individual dancer - not couple.
Each couple was given two routines to perform and each dancer had a solo as well. Now we must remember that I'm not a huge fan of the solo dance aspect of the show, so the recapping there will be slim - BUT I did enjoy several of the solos tonight and I'll comment on those.

On to the show - and boy was I pleasantly surprised when I noticed that there was no 'filler' before each routine (more on that later).

Noelle & Ryan
'Give It To Me Right' - Melanie Fiona
Napoleon & Tabitha Dumo/Hip Hop

I thought that this was well done, though something about Ryan's performance was a bit conservative - and I'm not talking about the costuming. It felt like he got all the steps and movement - but he wasn't loose enough and I got the impression he was holding back. Noelle looked and performed better in this. She looked great and threw herself into routine with abandon. As a side note to this routine - while I was watching this I thought to myself 'Gosh, this seems a little familiar. Was there a desk used in another routine that is making this seem already done?' And sure enough, I was right. Kim was quick to point out that this routine was a rip off of the routine Mandy Moore choreographed for Sabre & Neil, set to the song 'Sweet Dreams' by the Eurythmics (please don't ask me what season - it was before my time). The routine was featured in the "Best Dances" episode, and that's where I saw it. I'm not going to say that Napoleon & Tabitha 'borrowed' from Mandy Moore - but the implication is there.

Ashleigh & Legacy
'Poison' - The Prodigy
Garry Stewart/Contemporary

What a refreshing change of contemporary pace! I REALLY liked this. Contemporary pieces can sometimes (well a lot of the time) feel like servings of flowy, happy (or maudlin), touchy feely plates of beautiful goodness. Not that I'm complaining - contemporary pieces are almost always my favourites. BUT this, more aggressive, offering was certainly fabulous. I loved the push/pull between the dancer's throughout the whole routine. The movements where these two used each other's bodies to fly into a spin or push into the next move were great. There was definitely a fabulous Capoeira feeling to this choreography. The 'fighting' elements were awesome and the finishing headstand was incredible. These two dancers couldn't be more different but they really pulled this off. And I'll say it again ~ I LOVE me some Legacy! That said up front (because I wanted to put my bias out there), has anyone else noticed that while Legacy continues to show a tonne of talent to pick up new styles easily - when he's provided with a contemporary routine he truly shines. Great job!

First solo of the night is Mollee - and I'll just repeat what I said last night, out loud, to my TV 'Crap! Filler!' I'm not going to recap any of that - it's all just blahdeblahblah to me.

Solo: Mollee Song: 'Rock the Beat' - LMFAO
There was nothing really special or mind boggling in this solo. In fact it felt like a lot of jumping and running around the stage. Meh.

Solo: Russell Song: 'Outros' - Black Milk
I really like Russell, so I wish there was something here that I could praise (or even snark on) - but there wasn't really. We know this guy is an amazing krumper - and this was just a re-assertion of that.

Kathryn & Nathan
'Choreography' - Danny Kaye
Spencer Liff/Broadway

This was cute. That's it - cute. While this definitely made Nathan seem more mature, I couldn't get past the goofball look on his face. I think that I just don't like Nathan and that's tinting my view a bit. Kathryn continues to be my favourite girl in this competition and she outshone Nathan tonight (for me) by a mile. Overall this was a nice routine - but certainly not overly memorable.

Ellenore/Jakob
'Four Brothers' - Manhattan Transfer
Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin - Quickstep (or DDD - Dreaded Dance of Doom)

I'll repeat myself - I know nothing about quickstep. However, even I could tell that this was very well done. The judges agreed. I like Ellenore & Jakob together. They fit well. They pulled the DDD and came out smelling like roses. Very well done!

Solo: Ryan Song: 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' - Scorpions
Okay WTH? This was just weird...and that's all I have to say.

Solo: Kathryn Song: 'Beautiful' - Bethany Dillon
While Kathryn certainly was 'Beautiful' here and it was a lovely solo, there was really nothing spectacular to report.

Mollee & Russell
'It Must Have Been Love' - Roxette
Mandy Moore/Lyrical Jazz

First off I have to say that when I was a young teenager (oh so many years ago), Roxette was my absolutely favourite group. So when I heard the first few notes of music here, I shouted 'Woot!'. My husband came in from the next room and asked me what the hell I was doing. Unfortunately - while the song used here was one of my favourites (and maybe because of that) I noticed all the glaringly bad edits to cut the song down to the required 90 seconds (?it's still 90 secs right?). Anyway - Mollee & Russell were wonderful together. Mollee came across as more adult being partnered with Russell. The lifts were well executed and there were some very creative movements included in the choreography. I loved the backward jump, linking elbow lift/drop move (really technical sounding right? LOL). A great partnership - too bad this is the only week they'll be together.

Solo: Nathan Song: 'Golden Train' - Justin Nozuka
Alright I'm going to mention the profile clip here: Are you kidding me Nathan? Crying? This wouldn't happen to be the result of Adam Shankman's comments about how you need to be a bit more careful about how you come across in your profile clips would it? Perhaps you think if you can show a little emotion you'll generate more fan feeling? Gah - I can't even comment on his solo because I was so disgusted about the profile clip I didn't watch it.

Back to the top of the list for the next round of couples routines.

Noelle & Ryan
'Jeau d'eau' - O (Cirque du Soleil Soundtrack)
JT & Tomas/Smooth Waltz

This was very pretty. Excellent lifts and wonderfully smooth & lightweight movement. I'm not really surprised because Ballroom is Ryan's forte. Noelle is lovely and was good with this, but I couldn't help feeling like she was just following Ryan's much more talented lead. In this, Ryan dominated no doubt about it.

Solo: Ellenore Song: 'Beatbox Harmonica' - Yuri Lane
What a great solo! Quirky and fun, this showcased Ellenore's unique personality perfectly.

Ashleigh & Legacy
'Slow Down' - Bobby Valentino
Dave Scott/Hip Hop

I think this was supposed to be vampire-esque. Legacy was costumed to look like an old-school vampire {and by this I mean he wasn't dressed as Edward Cullen ;)} He did really well with the cape as a prop, and it didn't seem cumbersome at all. Unfortunately - this is the end of my good commentary about this routine. I think I understand that while Legacy was the vampire, Ashleigh was supposed to be the girl he wanted to...uhh...entrall? I didn't get her costume because other than the colours it didn't seem to fit in with the 'story'. I didn't really get the whole story anyway - I don't think. This was the one point in the evening where I wished there had been a rehearsal clip before the routine. I'm going to stop here and just quote some of the judges comments, because they really summed up how I felt about the entire routine. Nigel said he "didn't feel it" and that there was "not enough dancing" throughout this routine. He did seem to place the shortcomings firmly on Dave Scott's shoulders - for which I am glad. Adam also summed things up nicely when he said he felt this routine was "not challenging enough" at this point in the competition. This shortfall is certainly choreographer error in my opinion and I just hope it doesn't reflect badly on Legacy & Ashleigh.

Kathryn & Nathan
'Walk on By' - Aretha Franklin
Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin/Rumba
This was nice - but I certainly didn't feel any chemistry between Kathryn & Nathan here. Nathan does seem more mature with Kathryn as a partner, but everything he does just comes off feeling disingenuous. Both dancers danced well, but individually. There was no real partnership feeling to me. Hopefully Kathryn will be luckier in her choice of partner next week and to be honest, I hope Nathan isn't here next week.

Solo: Legacy Song: 'No Air' - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
This was awesome. It's no secret I love Legacy, but it's really the his true joy of dancing that comes through every time he steps on stage that I adore. I smiled the whole way through this solo. I smiled even more when I heard that Kathryn was offstage "screaming her head off" during the whole solo. Okay I admit it ...I want these two to Lurve each other...and there are rumours that they are. (small squee)

Ellenore & Jakob
'Tore My Heart' - OONA & Dave Tweedie
Sonya Tayeh/Contemporary

This routine was interesting. I'll admit that I had to watch it twice before I decided that I really liked it. The pairing of these two dancers is really fabulous, and their performance was the best of the night. I still can't decide how to describe this - Matador-esque, dark, gothic, Victorian - it had elements of all of these. Ellenore's quirky meshed with Sonya's quirky and they dragged Jakob along for the ride and he loved it. Incredible dancing - incredible routine. Loved it. They deserved the standing 'O' they got from the judges.

(I've loved a lot tonight - I'm sorry - I'll try to bring more snark next time)

Solo: Ashleigh Song: 'Batacada Por Favor' - Bob Azzam
Yeah this was a ballroom solo - and while Ashleigh looked great in her dress (though it kind of reminded me of a 1970's lampshade) there wasn't anything to make it stand out.

Mollee & Russell
'Land of 1000 Dances' - Jimmy Barnes
Anya & Pasha/Jive

The joy Russell brings to every routine makes every routine he dances a joy to watch. Mollee was really cute here too and did a good job keeping up with Russell. Mollee certainly mastered the shimmy and shake. This routine was great and a lot of fun to watch.

Solo: Jakob Song: 'Always Midnight (Acoustic)' - Pat Monahan
In typical Jakob fashion this was very nicely danced, but again was just another solo to me. Not much else to report other than the shorts he was wearing were god-awful.

Okay - that's it for the performance show. I'm not going to predict who will go home tonight because it's just too hard to tell at this point. I have my picks as to who I WANT to go home, but we'll see how things turn out.

And now - because it's taken me all day to get this portion written I'm going to pull a Kim and add the recap of the results show to the bottom here.

Results Show
This is going to be short & sweet people. You don't need a lot of filler from me. :) I'm recapping on the fly as well - so you'll see my instantaneous reactions.

Cat Deeley looks incredible. Holy crow her wardrobe budget must be amazing!

Group Routine - Choreographed by Tyce Diorio
'It's Still Rock & Roll To Me' - Billy Joel

Fun! This routine gave a lot of the dancers a chance to individually shine while still allowing them to play off of each other throughout. AND lest we forget - it also gave Ryan & Ashleigh a chance to not only dance together, but to make out in front of millions of viewers. *rolling eyes*

Cat moves right on into the recap of last night montage...and because I just recapped the entire show myself - I skip through it.

Up first the bottom two girls are revealed. We are reminded that the bottom voted dancers will dance solos again tonight but the solos cannot save them. They are simply a chance to perform one last time.

Oh - they're all still costumed from the group number. Interesting.

Ellenore - Safe
Mollee - Safe
Noelle - Not Safe - Bottom 2
Ashleigh - Safe
Kathryn - Not Safe - WHAT??? No!
**added note: Kathryn looks almost unrecognizable in her costuming & makeup - awesome but unrecognizable.

Now we've got the guys:
Ryan - Not Safe - Bottom 2 - Uh Oh could our marrieds be separated tonight?
Russell - Safe
Jakob - Safe
Nathan - Not Safe - YES! oops sorry to all those Nathan fans out there.
Legacy - Safe (thank you thank you thank you)

Up next a performance from the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers - dancing to 'Yellow' by the Vitamin String Quartet, a great cover of the Coldplay song. This is a melding of classical dance with hip hop, b-boy and contemporary movement. Wow. This was incredible. And I promise this is the last time I'll gush my love tonight - but I can really see Legacy being a part of this troupe in his future.

Solo - Solo - Solo - Solo

Snoop Dogg - Ugh. Moving On.

Okay taking a deep breath before the results.

Girls first: Noelle is going home - Oh thank the Goddess! Okay look - Noelle is lovely, but she's not as good as Kathryn. Period.

And the Guys: **crossing fingers - knocking on wood** Nathan is going home. *fist pump in the air* Uhhh yeah, just didn't like this guy.
Loving Ashleigh & Ryan embracing off stage...a close call for them. Sickening - but sweet.

That's all folks. Thanks for joining me tonight for this combined recap. I'll be back next week as my lovely sister is going to New Orleans for a few days to celebrate her birthday (or hide from it).

Have a good weekend and I'll see you all next week!

Carly