So You Think You Can Dance - Aces & 8's

Top 8 Performance - Week 7

Um, it just hit me that it is August 1st already (WHAT? What happened to July?) and So You Think You Can Dance Season 3 ends on August 16th. WHAT? ALREADY? ONLY 2 MORE WEEKS? (and I'm not even here next week. FAK...) I guess it makes sense but didn't the Top 10 last year seem to stretch out longer? This is going WAY too fast. I don't want the dancers to get cut and leave!!! (I'm a sentimental mush aren't I?)

The Judges tonight are: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and we welcome back Adam Shankman, here to promote... Hairspray again? Sing-A-Long opens this Friday. Sounds so gay. I SO want to be there (if I didn't want to be watching Bourne already).

So the last time the Shankman judged, he actually gave some thoughtful commentaries with the appropriate smackdowns when rendered necessary (unlike guest judges on American Idol). He took his words back on dissing Danny on the results show but I'd like to think it was because Nigel gave him a good shanking behind the scenes.

So it's down to 8 dancers, 4 pairs and that means 2 dances each with new pairings again this week. Talk about working these poor kids to death. WOOHOO!!! I've grouped the following blog post with each pair instead of the order on the show. No time to waste on the show so they get right into the dancing:

Sara Von Gillern and Danny Tidwell - Argentine Tango - choreographed by Alex DaSilva - "Whatever Lola Wants (Gotan Project Remix)" - Sarah Vaughan ft. Gotan Project

Here is the video clip of Sara and Danny's Argentine Tango routine:

Danny and Sara Argentine Tango
Sara Von Gillern and Danny Tidwell - Hip Hop - choreographed by Shane Sparks - "Push It" - Salt-N-Pepa

Here is the video clip of Sara and Danny's Hip Hop routine:

Danny and Sara dance Hip Hop
Is it me or does the judges seem to be really trying to sell us on Danny to make up for lost time? Yes, I know he's technically the best dancer but he seemed to do an awfully lot of turns and solo tricks in the Tango leaving Sara high and blind and I still feel he doesn't pair up well. He's not horrid but at his level, I still feel he is dancing for himself (which yes, is the point of the competition, but it shouldn't LOOK that way). Last week in the hot Hip Hip Chin Chin number with Lacey, he got raves, but I only thought it was because the number and choreography was hot and Lacey made it so. He hit his moves but I still feel nothing from him. I'm not sure it's a fair assessment since people complain that all Neil is a bag of tricks as well, but he's also an amazingly controlled dancer who uses his humour and geekiness to work along side his dance moves which makes a better package overall.

Meanwhile, I didn't think Sara's Tango was the greatess but at this point, she's still one of my favorites.

In the Hip Hop, if Danny did this separately, he could have gotten away with it, but unfortunately he was next to Sara who I think didn't even have to try, while Danny always looked like he was the little kid playing catch up to the cooler playmate. On a side note, I missed the start of the criticism because I got yelled at to turn to CNN and just saw the horrific bridge collapse in Minneapolis. My heart goes out to the people of Minneapolis, as I have this LOVE for that city. Seriously, I don't think I've ever encountered nicer people in an entire CITY.


Lauren Gottlieb and Dominic Sandoval - Krump - choreographed by Lil' C - "I Get Money" - 50 Cent

Here is the video clip of Lauren and Dominic's Krump routine:

Dominic and Lauren Krumping
Lauren Gottlieb and Dominic Sandoval - Rumba - choreographed by Tony Meredith - "Ain't No Sunshine " - Bill Withers

Here is the video clip of Lauren and Dominic's Rumba routine:

Dominic and Lauren dance Rumba
In the Krump, I'm not sure I totally bought white girl Lauren trying to be in 'da hood, but she tried and somewhat succeeded. While last week I praised her for being extremely controlled in her dancing, I felt that she was a bit TOO controlled in her Krumping which seemed like it should have been slightly smoother while still hitting the beats which Dominic seemed to be better at. I will say that I didn't notice Lauren falling and she covered well, and it took the third re-play before I even saw it (And no. I don't need glasses).

Then Lauren ROCKED the Rumba. And Dominic wasn't too bad either. He was a little stiffer than what I'm guessing he should have been, but he was fine up there and the pair of them made an entertainingly sizzling number.


Lacey Schwimmer and Neil Haskell - Latin Jazz - choreographed by Maria Torres - "Acid" - Ray Barretto

Here is the video clip of Lacey and Neil's Latin Jazz routine:

Lacey and Neil dancing Latin Jazz
Lacey Schwimmer and Neil Haskell - Contemporary - choreographed by Mia Michaels - "Time" - Billy Porter

Here is the video clip of Lacey and Neil's Contemporary routine:

Neil and Lacey dance Contemporary
Um. HOLY HOT (Latin) JAZZ! Nigel and Mary didn't really like it because it was too performed, too high. Adam loved it but noted the disconnect between the two. Um,Me? Let me mop up my drool first before I continue... I could see the judges point but I still really enjoyed the (shirtless) dancing. I didn't feel Lacey connected with Danny last week but I blamed Danny for that. She was HOT with Kameron but I do feel at times shes a bit TOO showy, mugging for the camera like her brother but only in a more sexy manner. She's amazing so we've always bought it but I think that's also why she's still behind Sara and Sabra as my favorites. Meanwhile, Neil charms me (even before tonight) but I guess people haven't been liking him because he also performs to the camera instead of towards his partner, at least in the first few weeks. Mary caught him looking at the audience but I think he's finally proving himself as a worthy competitor over the last few weeks. Did I also mention I'm liking Neil's flatter hair?

Mia's routine was really beautiful and probably her most literal choreography we've seen from her in a while. I know she must have saved it for these two, because Lacey is the frontrunner girl and Mia has said that Neil has some of the best work ethics of the bunch. I thought sometimes the two were almost TOO strong in their dancing on a story about death and life, and Neil's shoulders do prop up just a bit in small moments, but I'm glad Neil is getting to shine like I knew he could, while Lacey is just consistent (and I mean that in a good way).


Sabra Johnson and Pasha Kovalev - Broadway - choreographed by Tyce DiOrio - "A Wild Wild Party " - The Wild Party Off-Broadway Cast Recording

Here is the video clip of Sabra and Pasha's Broadway routine:

Pasha and Sabra dancing Broadway


Sabra Johnson and Pasha Kovalev - Quickstep - choreographed by Tony Meredith - "Mr. Pinstripe Suit " - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Here is the video clip of Sabra and Pasha's Quickstep routine:

Pasha and Sabra dance Quickstep
The Broadway performance: Sabra. Perfect. Pasha. Love him. I didn't think Pasha was perfect but he's so much fun to watch, and I don't know why the judges seem to want to hark upon him but he's almost always great in every piece he does. He does tend to do that European mugging just a LEEEETle bit too much sometimes but its cute and at least it worked for Broadway. As for Sabra? Why do the judges always say she's a revelation? She's been so amazing since day one. She was a revelation a long time ago. At this point, she's reliably mesmerizing.

OH NO. THE QUICKSTEP. It's like the killer dance. And while I don't think Sabra and Pasha quite killed it, they maimed it pretty well onto life support and at least didn't get killed BY it. Sabra to me is already perfect and while I do know Pasha has his faults, I think I realised he's my favorite male at this point because he's kind of a mash up of last years Travis Wall and Benji Schwimmer. He's got the humility and charm of Travis and the flashy humourous mugging and likability of Benji with technical skills as good as last years Top 2.


Wrap Up

Best Pairing of the Night - : Pasha and Sabra
Best Dance of the Night - : It's a toss up between the emotional Contemporary (again, which Mia deserves SO much credit for) danced by Lacey and Neil or either of Sabra and Pasha's routines, the Broadway or Quickstep.

Worst of the Night - Sara and Danny, and entirely due to Danny trying to Hip Hop and a lack of personality this entire season.

Best Male of the Night - Neil (Seriously. Again. Okay, the lack of shirt helped as did the preppy hair but overall he was GREAT though Pasha could give him a good run for the finish line).
Best Female of the Night - Sabra

So I LOVE the boys in this. Let me just say this first. But at this point, I don't want ANY of the girls to go. They are all AMAZING. AMAZING. All the girls at this point are fantastic and while I mentioned it at the start of the competition, I've refrained from bluntly saying it again until now: The girls are better than the boys this year. As for the boys, well, here's my pov. Neil and Dominic were to me, the underated underdogs when the season first started. They were both the Ivan's of this year, in that, I knew they had it in them to be amazing well-rounded dancers despite our reservations. Dominic shot right out of the gate proving us wrong and that he was actually a terrific dancer with versality, while Neil did okay but people chocked his success on his show to his blond good looks. I'm glad though that in the past few weeks, he has proven to us why he is in this competition, excelling in most of the dances he's been given, which leaves us with 2 successful underdogs in the final 4 boys. As for Danny and Pasha, I've said it many times before (as have the judges, but Danny is indeed excellent and technically the best just like his brother Travis was last year. Unfortunately, Pasha owns Travis' charm and humility and like I mentioned above, still has the goofiness of Benji, and thus makes Pasha VERY VERY likable and incredibly entertaining to watch. It doesn't hurt that his technical skills are still high, but he doesn't jump like a gazelle like Danny does. So we have the early strongholds at opposing likeablility ends, then the two underdogs coming up from in between and if this competition lasted a few more weeks, I think audiences could connect and love the guys and the guys could perfect all the dance styles (I bet you the tour is going to be STELLAR) but this year, the girls are ALREADY there so I think it's theirs to lose this year.

Favourite Male - From Favourite to Least (last week's position)
1. Pasha (1)
2. Neil (2)
3. Dominic (4)
4. Danny (5)
My order within the males still hasn't changed but 1,2 and 3 are OH so very close.

Favourite Female - From Favourite to Least (last week's position)
1. Sabra (2)
2. Sara (1)
3. Lacey (3)
4. Lauren (4)

But Alas, Here's my OVERALL List:
1. Sabra
2. Sara
3. Pasha
4. Lacey
5. Neil
6. Lauren
7. Dominic
8. Danny

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Dominic, and don't worry, there's a HUGE gap still between Dominic and Danny in terms of being my FAVOURITE. Again, this is just who I would want to see that takes into account the skills and the personalities of the dancers. Yes, that's how much Danny has annoyed me throughout the season that even though he is supposedly the best dancer EVER on this show, and his personality has improved VASTLY over the last 2 weeks, he still has a lot of catching up to do to win me over. Also, Lacey and Pasha could basically tie for #3 at this point for me, I really wouldn't know who to pick. I keep switching their places back and forth and just left it on my last switch again.

Who do I think will go tomorrow? I hope it's not Sara because I have a bad feeling right now and if she does, I'm completely blamming it on Danny. I also have a bad feeling that Dominic will be the next male to go. Though anybody at this point, is going to be a harsh cut. Even Danny, though less harsh than the other three boys.

For More on Season 3 of So You Think You Can Dance:
Check here for the most Recent current postings and Latest News on SYTYCD
Top 10 Performances, Top 10 Results
Top 12 Performances, Top 12 Results
Top 14 Performances, Top 14 Results
Top 16 Performances, Top 16 Results
Top 18 Performances, Top 18 Results
Top 20 Performances, Top 20 Results
For So You Think You Can Dance Season 2:
Favorite Video Clips
Song List
Live Tour - Toronto
Live Tour - Buffalo, Pics, More Pics

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