So You Think You Can Dance - For Better Or For Better

Top 18 - Performance Night
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, Mia Michaels

It's Best thing/Worst thing week where the dancers must tell the camera the best things about their dancing partner and the worst thing about them that annoys them to no end. And of course, everyone brilliantly rants about amusing things as the "worst" things. That's an A in PR! Matt and Kourtni's answers to Matt's singing was particularly hilarious. Cute. Prepared, but nonetheless, very funny.

Anyways, I'm jetlagged and confused so pardon any confused sentences. I'm not all here right now so let's check out the dances!:

Chelsea Traille and Thayne Jasperson
Style: Jazz - Choreographed by Mandy Moore
Song: "Untouched" - The Veronicas

I didn't love the choreography from Mandy Moore but I thought Thayne and Chelsea did a decent job with it. I was still totally struck by Chelsea who just seems to have a pizazz about her and Thayne is pretty good but they still haven't seemed to completely gel yet. I do really like these two dancers though.

Grade: B

Here's the video clip of Chelsea T. and Thayne's performance:



Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura
Style: Argentine Tango - Choreographed by Alex da Silva
Song: "Mi Confesión" - Gotan Project

While I didn't find it a "hot" performance, I thought it was truly solid and even though I still feel like we don't really know these two dancers yet, I really really like them both. Those kicks within each other were so precise and quick! But I agree with Nigel in that I didn't find that sleezy passion in the performance but I did think Mark really stepped up the game and matched Chelsie's spark.

Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Chelsie H. and Mark's performance:



Jessica King and William Wingfield
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Cisely Bradley and Olisa Thompson
Song: "Whatever You Like" - Nicole Scherzinger

I don't have anything against Jessica but if I'm going to pick one person that I dislike the most this year from a strong Top 20, it's going to be Jessica. She's lucky though that she's paired with Will who I think is one of the strongest dancers this year. And yet again, he's AMAZING while Jessica looked more like she was just trying to keep up. In a typical year, she would be considered fine, but I think beside Will, her small faults get emphasized even more. So she lucks out for having Will be a strong partner but it's also a disadvantage because it makes her weakness even more glaring (which the judges pretty much repeats what I was thinking too, with Mia saying Jessica needs to step it up a LOT). That being said, her Hip Hop wasn't horrendous or anything.

Grade: B

Here's the video clip of Jessica and William's performance:



Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame
Style: Fox Trot - Choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux
Song: "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" - Michael Bublé

Boy did Matt sure make up for everything last week! I was totally mesmerized like I was watching an old Hollywood movie (hey, which Mia just said too!). Mary totally blasts the footwork and apparently I saw something totally different than her. I still don't think these two are working perfectly together and this week I was watching Matt way more than Kourtni and she is slightly the weaker link this week (I agree with Nigel and Mia's assessments that she works her strong points like kicking up her leg but still hasn't learned to fully utilize her long body), but I totally loved the performance.

Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Kourtni and Matt's performance:



Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian
Style: Contemporary - Choreographed by Mandy Moore
Song: "Lost" - Anouk

I like Courtney but as Mia said, sometimes she seems to jazzify it too much. I know she was trying to get into the emotions and she mostly did, but there were tiny moments where I felt she was "showy". That said, it was another good contemporary piece and Gev did a good job. I thought they did a good job of an okay choreography. I love Mandy Moore's stuff but so far this year, I thought her pieces have been a bit too simple, and I'm wondering if she is making it a bit easier to fit the dancers? Or is she just uninspired?

Grade: B

Here's the video clip of Courtney and Gev's performance:



Katee Shean and Joshua Allen
Style: Broadway - Choreographed by Tyce DiOrio
Song: "All For the Best" - 2001 Broadway Cast Recording of Godspell

The power couple do it again with another great routine but before I get to that, what's with the Jazz Hands talk during the pre-taped portion? I don't think I've EVER seen Jazz hands in a Broadway show. And I'm currently at around 90 musicals so far (that I've seen live on stage). Now, I don't know if I was as excited about Joshua and Katee as the judges were as I thought they weren't as together at some minor moments and I thought Joshua was a little better than Katee (though she's still making up for her Vegas blunder which lost her some sheen (how appropriate)) but it was a fun routine to watch and there was tons of energy!

Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Katee and Joshua's performance:



Susie Garcia and Marquis Cunningham
Style: Salsa - Choreographed by Alex da Silva
Song: "Aguanile" - Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe

I thought it was pretty good but nothing wow except for that piggyback twist off the head thingy that they did near the end. I know Mia was dissappointed in both, but especially Marquis but was it me or did Marquis seems a bit better than Susie? Though I do admit he didn't seem to partner well. It felt like he was concentrating so much on making sure he was keeping up with the dancing that he forgot about Susie. On the other hand, I felt that way with Danny last year and the judges seemed to love HIM.

Grade: C+

Here's the video clip of Susie and Marquis' performance:



Kherington Payne and Twitch
Style: Viennese Waltz - Choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux
Song: "A New Day Has Come" - Celine Dion

Twitch has to do the Viennese Waltz. So he keeps his shirt open. Smart move to start with! I'm not sure how Viennese Waltzy it was, but from the flowy costumes, the blue mood lighting (what's with the projections this year? It's all the rage on Broadway and last week's Susie and Marquis routine) and the Celine Dion schmaltzy song, the whole thing looked wonderful and I thought Twitch and Kherington did a wonderful job and I couldn't tell if they did anything wrong. Did it really matter? They looked really in sync and they looked mesmerizing!

Grade: A

Here's the video clip of Kherington and Twitch's performance:



Comfort Fedoke and Chris Jarosz
Style: Krump - Choreographed by Lil'C
Song: "Come And Get Me" - Timbaland feat. 50 Cent and Tony Yayo

I still think this is the oddest pairing and they have a lot more work to do because of it but considering the size differences, it was kinda hilarious. Like a baby and a big version of each dancing with each other. Comfort looks like this was way too easy for her and that she "dumbed" it down to match with Chris but at least they actually kept more in sync than I thought they would and Chris did a pretty good job for a white dude (which they hilariously mention on the show as well! Okay whew, it wasn't just me thinking that!). Maybe it wasn't hard enough but I enjoyed it.

Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Comfort and Chris' performance:



Another week and not one is really heinous, which makes it all the harder to weed dancers out this year. There's no one I truly dislike still, though dancers are slowly pulling ahead as favorite dancers, and best dancers (there's a difference sometimes). Last week I thought the girls in general faired better than the boys but this week, I think the boys stepped up their game and did really well.

So just like last week, these judgements are all pretty close and by the smallest of margins:

Best Dance of the Night: Kherington and Twitch

Worst Dance of the Night: Susie and Marquis

Favorite Individual Dancers: Chelsea T., Chelsie H., Kherington, William, Joshua, Twitch, Kherington, Matt, Comfort, Mark

Worst individual dancers: Jessica

Dancers I Like Anyways: Thayne, Kourtni, Gev, Courtney G., Chris

Dancers I Do NOT Like: I guess if I had to pick, like everyone else on the web it seams, I would pick Jessica or Susie

Bottom Three Predictions: Jessica and Will, Susie and Marquis, Chelsea and Thayne


For More So You Think You Can Dance:
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So You Think You Can Dance - Season 4:

Top 20 Performances, Results 20 to 18

Auditions:
Callbacks in Las Vegas - The Top 20 Revealed - What Happens In Vegas
Milwaukee, WI - How The Midwest Was Won
Charleston, South Carolina and Washington D.C. - S.C.D.C. The New Electric (Boogaloo) Term!
Salt Lake City and Dallas - Yeehaw Utah!
Los Angeles - It's Time To Put On Those Dancing Shoes Again Kids!

So You Think You Can Dance - Season 3:
Live Tour - Toronto, Pasha's Solo Video, Neil's Solo Video
Finale - Winner Result
Top 4 Performances - Finals
Top 6 Performances, Top 6 Results
Top 8 Performances, Top 8 Results
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 2006 - Toronto
Live Tour 2006 - Buffalo, Pics, More Pics