Before I get into that, my favorite dance of the night was Noelle's and Russell's Afro-Jazz. "Do you hear it? Do you hear it coming?" Yes, Mary Murphy put krumper Russell on the hot tamale train with this piece and crowned him "king of Afro-Jazz." Noelle also surprised the judges in this piece, as she was able to keep up with Russell and the quick choreography.
My second favorite piece was Ashleigh's and Jakob's jazz routine. It's always fun to see dancers work with props in their performances, and this was one of those pieces. The prop? A cane. And the couple definitely conquered that cane as Ashleigh hoped they would. As judge Adam Shankman put it, "a matured and studied but fiery performance."
Other memorable performances (and couples I voted for):
- Karen's and Kevin's Hustle: Though hip-hopper Kevin had a wee bit of trouble in this way-out-of-his-element genre, he pulled it off...as did Karen, which pretty much goes without saying. (Yes, we LOVE Karen.)
- Kathryn's and Legacy's Broadway: Ok, so if we were voting for individuals, I would have not voted for Kathryn. I agree with Shankman: the performance was adorable, but I'm not sure that's what it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be sassy - a "vixen" - but Nigel Lythgoe said Kathryn seemed childish in this performance. However, she will be saved by her partner, Legacy, who was praised by all the judges for his continuing growth and always surprising ability to take on any genre thrown at him (all of which, so far, have been out of his "b-boy" element.)
- Channing's and Victor's Contemporary - This new couple (both their partners were kicked off last week) are definitely a good fit, and they're chemistry showed. Though the fact that they were both in their element probably helped with that. Murphy said it "didn't take [her] to a level where it touched [her] soul," (usually contemporary pieces on this show do take you to that level). Lythgoe didn't get carried away emotionally either, but he said the technique was good. Personally, I didn't feel as emotionally effected as I have with other contemporary pieces (enter last season's "addiction" piece choreographed by Mia Michaels and performed by Kayla and Kupono...and Jeanine's and Jason's Travis Wall contemporary piece last season...and Travis's - same one - and Heidi's bench routine in season 2, also choreographed by Michaels...ok I'm done), but this dance almost took me there, which is good enough.
- Peter and Pauline (Quick Step) - It was cute. It was fun. The performance/story was good. But the actual dancing? Eh, it was ok. They "pulled it off" according to Murphy, but the technique was far from perfect. However, Lythgoe said that their great performance and personalities will make people pick up the phone for them anyway (well, not me.)
- Ryan and Ellenore (Hip-Hop): As soon as I heard that this was a Lil C routine (and then, when I heard the music), I thought, this needs to be hard and dirty and buuuck. Was it? No. The perfomance was...ok. But I really wish I could have seen a couple with a hip-hop dancer in it perform this piece. Ryan and Ellenore would have been better off with a Nap and Tabs piece, which is usually a safe hip-hop routine for non-hip-hop dancers to get. But, you can't help what you draw out of the hat, can you?
- Molly and Nathan (Salsa) - This was pretty much tragic. And I'm not saying that because I don't like this couple (No, I don't. They're too young. Yes, there have been other 18-year-olds on the show, but these two are too young maturity-wise.) I was hoping so badly to be impressed, after their Bollywood performance last week. But I was not. They were stiff. They looked awkward. There was no energy, no technique, no performance. They, particularly Molly, looked like teens trying to be cool and sexy at prom...which makes sense considering what I said before.
Watch the elimination episode Wednesday November 11 at 8 p.m. to see which couple will leave the competition.
And look for videos of this week's best performances later in the week!
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