So You Think You Can Dance - Is it HOT in here or is it just me?

Top 16 - Performance Night
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Adam Shankman

Vance here, but not really, because I'm away on vacation in Europe for the next 2 weeks and I will try to pop in and chime in with my own opinions (with some help of the net! thank goodness for the net!) but in the meantime, I have my wonderful guest blogger Linz from Linz McC's Completely Pointless Blog filling in for me while I'm away. So Linz, take it away!

The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Vance but I respect Linz and her opinions so it's cool, even if she didn't like Jamie :P!

Thanks for the intro, Vance (and, I am sorry, I just thought Jamie was too cheesy...)! I apologize to anyone used to getting this post earlier than now because I am on the west coast, and therefore subjected to several hours of waiting after the show has started for readers on the east coast. But I am going to try my darnedest so no one goes without some SYTYCD discussion. Let's get started now.

For starters, Cat is looking like she is ready to walk down the aisle 20 years ago with big hair and a mini-dress with wedding lace. But, alas, I am just jealous. Adam Shankman reveals that we can look forward to the Adam Sandler Christmas movie just so we can see some of our favorite dancers from previous years (I am SURE he said Travis...). Oh, Mary, she went crazy with the bedazzler tonight before the show. Yow!

The intro videos let the dancers tell us something we don't know about their partners.

Kherington Payne and Twitch
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Tabitha & Napoleon
Song: "Don't Touch Me" - Busta Rhymes

So first we find out that Twitch has a growly (bear-like?) laugh and Kherington really likes to shop. I really liked the choreography. Kherington let a couple of smiles in when she should have been looking gangsta, but for the most part, she was surprisingly good. And Twitch was plenty entertaining, as one would expect, but I found myself focusing on Kherington.

Grade: B+

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



Courtney Galiano and Gev Manoukian
Style: Rumba - Choreographed by Tony Meredith & Melanie
Song: "Wishing on a Star" - Rose Royce

So, Gev used to be a girl as a child and Courtney wants to be a special education teacher (good for her!). Gev looked really nice in his vest and tie. Courtney, in the words of my husband, was "yama hama." They had really good chemistry and I think this was due to Gev having a huge crush on her. I am totally surprised at how well they did the rumba. I would never have imagined they would have been able to pull this off and make it believable.

Grade: B

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



Comfort Fedoke and Chris Jarosz
Style: Jazz - Choreographed by Tyce Diorio
Song: "Beautiful People" - Marilyn Manson

Chris is food mooch and Comfort is a former pageant girl! I get nervous about prop dancing because I am not sure the judges are fans. So the "African jazz" choreography is very raw and down-n-dirty. I don't think of raw when I think of Chris. There are some other dancers in this competition that would have done a better job with this dance. Chris and Comfort weren't really in sync when it was needed and still don't have the chemistry they need to get people voting for them.

Grade: B-

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




Jessica King and William Wingfield
Style: Disco - Choreographed by Doriana Sanchez
Song: "Heaven Must Have Sent You" - Bonnie Pointer

Jessica is AKA Ariel because of her long red hair. Will is a gentlemen (I figured). Doriana choreographed this dance in order to put Jessica in the spotlight but I am still staring at Will. He could be a pro disco dancer. While there were some very impressive tricks (and a couple of painful-looking mess-ups), I felt this performance only showed how much better Will was than Jessica. Again.

Grade: B

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



Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame
Style: Contemporary - Choreographed by Sonya Tayek (a new choreographer!)
Song: "Wrestlers" - Hot Chip

Kourtni has a tat and Matt is a ninja. The pressure is on because both Kourtni & Matt are contemporary dancers. The choreography is based on a comic book and was very wacky. I liked their chemistry and their goofiness. It helped to show their personalities. They were completely in sync . Completely bizarre, but I really liked it. And Nigel doesn't give the public enough credit for "getting" dances that are different.

Grade: A-

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




Chelsea Traille and Thayne Jasperson
Style: Quick Step - Choreographed by Heather Smith
Song: "You Can't Hurry Love" - Phil Collins

Thayne loves fashion design and Chelsea steals flowers. Thayne is a dork and I like that. Thayne did a good job of leading Chelsea. They kept the appropriate cheesy smiles on their faces. Normally with these two, I stare at Chelsea the whole time, but this time I watched Thayne for the most part. It was a strange song choice for me, but overall I enjoyed the performance.

Grade: B-

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




Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanemura
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Napoleon & Tabitha
Song: "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis

Mark has crooked pinkies, and Chelsie is a tomboy. I was nervous about these two doing hip hop, even though I really like them both. This felt more contemporary than hip hop to me but I liked the choreography. They have great chemistry. Maybe they weren't technically on (I wouldn't actually know), but they were pretty equal on their abilities. I really liked this one (and they are my fave pairing!).

Grade: A

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




Katee Shean and Joshua Allen
Style: Samba - Choreographed by Tony Meredith & Melanie
Song: "Baila Baila" - Angela Via

Joshua is a softee teddy bear and Katie screams like a boy. These two sure looked smokin' tonight! Whatever concerns they had about their chemistry seemed to have disappeared. I am not a huge Katee fan but thought she was really good. These two were hot tonight! How funny was Nigel with "Did you get those buns from your daddy?"

Grade: A

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


Best Dance of the Night: Hmm... I can't decide: Katee & Joshua or Chelsie & Mark
Worst Dance of the Night: Comfort & Chris
Favorite Individual Dancers: Joshua, Mark, Chelsie H., Matt
Worst individual dancers: Chris
Dancers I Like Anyways: Joshua
Dancers I Do NOT Like: Not really anyone. Maybe Jessica.
Bottom Three Predictions: Comfort & Chris, Chelsea & Thayne, Courtney & Gev


For More So You Think You Can Dance:
Check here for the most Recent current postings and Latest News on SYTYCD

So You Think You Can Dance - Season 4:
Top 18 Performances, Results 18 to 16
Top 20 Performances, Results 20 to 18
Introducing the Top 20

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