So You Think You Can Dance - Starter For 10

Top 10 - Performance Night
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Lil' C

So now we know Jessica is out, Comfort is in. Let's not worry too much at this point this week on the girls side since Comfort and Jessica are the weakest of the remaining girls, but lets start panicking on the boys side where all 5 could be contenders (and Thayne could have been too). Though I was chatting with the always hilarious Joe from Low Resolution and he thinks that Gev and Mark might be in trouble since the other three have been propped up way too much (this was before the Top 10 episode) but I guess if I had to do a Sophie's choice, I would save Gev and Mark and Joshua over Will and Twitch.

In addition, Linz mentioned how unmemorable a lot of the previous dances were when I recapped the Top 16, 14 and 12 Weeks (the last 3 weeks) but I will say that even in past seasons, most dances are actually a bit unmemorable since we watch so many now and usually only one or two stand out each week at most. I also think those with more contemporary songs help (see my theory below in the Comfort and Twitch write-up) create a more memorable piece. That and Mia Michaels or now Tabitha and Napoleon choreographing probably help too.

Anyways, The Top 10 is on! Let's see if I change my mind with my loves and dislikes because it's a busy night with new partners, 2 dances each PLUS a solo!:

Courtney Galiano and Joshua Allen
1st Performance
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Dave Scott
Song: "Skippin'" - Mario

I thought it started off strong and Courtney kept along with Joshua but I felt like they seemed to get a little tired as the dance went on (Courtney more so than Joshua) and the hits were less hard than it probably should have been but they were probably saved by their fun characterizations.

Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Courtney and Joshua's Hip Hop performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Rumba - Choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux and France
Song: "Hero" - Enrique Iglesias

That was pretty awesome for a dance performed to that Enrique song. Joshua was passionate and smooth and Courtney was sexy and sizzlin'.

Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Courtney and Joshua's Rumba performance:




Kherington Payne and Mark Kanemura
1st Performance
Style: Country Two Step - Choreographed by Ronnie DeBenedetta and Brandi Tobias
Song: "Kick Back" - Ty England

It looked as if either Mark wasn't given much do to or seemed a bit nervous but he flourishes it enough that he can cover up that he was mostly there to be Kherington's spinner and lifter. Kherington seemed to fare better since she got most of the "tricks" but altogether, didn't seem as "quick" stepped as the judges described it should have been. I still love these two and think that this could be a power couple but country just wasn't their thing.

Grade: C+

Here's the video clip of Kherington and Mark's Country Two Step performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Jazz - Choreographed by Tyce DiOrio
Song: "Canned Heat" - Jamiroquai

Oh good, apparently they were saving it for this performance. It may have not been technically perfect (the lift could have been smoother and sometimes they were a split second off from each other) but at last these two strong dancers rebounded with a better performance. I still think these two need to connect better (it's too bad cause I thought they would) and be more confident but both have a certain stylization that they add to their dances that I enjoy watching, even when its not perfect.

Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Kherington and Mark's Jazz performance:



Comfort Fedoke and Twitch
1st Performance
Style: Smooth Waltz - Choreographed by Hunter Johnson
Song: "Open Arms" - Journey

Did anybody ever picture Twitch and Comfort dancing to Journey? And to do a reasonably good job? Not enough sparks that it needs at this point to start standing out towards Top 4 contention but cute enough in a Disney cartoon fairytale way (with little sexual passion basically but has all the steps down).

Grade: B-

Here's the video clip of Comfort and Twitch's Smooth Waltz performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Dave Scott
Song: "Forever" - Chris Brown

I love this song. Okay, so I think that when a team gets to dance to a current song that still is on the radio, before it has had enough time to cement an image in our minds, and letting the dance performance form the image of the song (think "Sexy Back", "No Air", "Bleeding Love", "Hide and Seek or Sexy Love"), gives a great advantage in creating a WOW performance. On the other hand, this is really Comfort and Twitch's thing and they did their THING well. It really did almost look too easy for them.

Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Comfort and Twitch's Hip Hop performance:



Katee Shean and William Wingfield
1st Performance
Style: Broadway - Choreographed by Tyce DiOrio
Song: "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat" - (Guys and Dolls) Sam Harris

I'm all for showing skin but that last rip of Will's T-shirt to a Guys & Dolls song is a bit weird. Okay, so as much as Will was propping up Jessica, Jessica was dragging Will down because paired up here with Katee, Will got to shine along side Katee. The key note though here is along side. I felt both did an amazing individual job and were matched equally side by side but I felt they didn't really connect together, though I'm not sure the choreography really required that either but I wish it wasn't just a parallel dance that they had to perform together (but I'm not sure if that's their fault, and I'm not as big on the Tyce DiOrio love train as the judges seem to be). Still, very well done though I'm not sure if it sparked a OH I LOVED THAT response from myself.

Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Katee and Will's Broadway performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Pas de Deux - Choreographed by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson
Song: "Imagine" - David Archuleta

Talk about perfect synergy! An amazing nearly perfect dance set to David Archuleta that makes a star out of all of them (see above with my theory on creating an image to newer songs (or versions of them)). A few mistakes and at one point they didn't seem to know how to put their hands together as if it was undecided but they just make it all look so good and breathtaking that the mistakes are forgivable.

Grade: A

Here's the video clip of Katee and Will's Pas de Deux performance:



Chelsie Hightower and Gev Manoukian
1st Performance
Style: Contemporary - Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Song: "These Arms of Mine" - Otis Redding

I thought that was kind of a wrong song choice somehow but Gev and Chelsie danced the heck out of that routine which I think was wonderful in an unmemorable way (does that make sense?). Chelsie was just bundle of raw energy and emotion and Gev is really stepping it up and performing with all his might and the two looked great together.

Grade: A-

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


2nd Performance
Style: Jive - Choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux and France
Song: "The House is Rockin'" - Brian Setzer

Gev and Chelsie are kind of like the energizer bunny aren't they? Do they drink Red Bull all the time? I thought Gev was better than the judges said but I did notice that sometimes their joining together seemed a bit nervous. Chelsie is really starting to pull ahead in the competition though.

Grade: A-

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


Each dancer also had to perform a solo, as if they didn't have enough to deal with this week:

Chelsie Hightower - Solo
Song: "Pon de Replay" - Rihanna

Look at those hips go! I think I was entranced by those frilly things moving all around.
Grade: B+

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



Gev Manoukian - Solo
Song: "Hello/Goodbye (Uncool)" - Lupe Fiasco Feat. Unkle

Um, how did he get that shirt off? For the first second I thought I might not be that impresses but there were some tricks there that I have never seen.
Grade: A

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



Courtney Galiano - Solo
Song: "I Want You To Need Me" - Celine Dion

Can we redo Flashdance with Courtney? That would be hot! That was hotter than I thought it would be!
Grade: A

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



Mark Kanemura - Solo
Song: "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen

More "character" than tricks in the solo dance but the guy is so odd that I love him all the more for it.
Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Mark's performance:



Comfort Fedoke - Solo
Song: "Need A Boss" - Shareefa feat. Ludacris

There's a reason she made it to the Top 20 but there's also a reason she barely made the Top 10.
Grade: B

Here's the video clip of Comfort' performance:



Twitch
Song: "I Question Mark" - Wade Robson

I thought it started off strong but then relied to much on pumping his chest at the end. Still, it was a good reminder at how good he can be.
Grade: B+

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



Katee Shean - Solo
Song: "This Woman's Work" - (MTV Unplugged) Maxwell

You know, maybe Katee did have the right to say she wouldn't re-audition if she didn't make it into the show this year because if this show didn't want her, she should have just moved on to a professional group.
Grade: A

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



William Wingfield - Solo
Song: "Dance With My Father" - Luther Vandross

That "so you think you can dance" ending is sometimes a bit too abrupt as I was just getting into Will's solo.
Grade: B+

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



Kherington Payne - Solo
Song: "Breakin' Dishes" - Rihanna

I love her so I wish it was a better solo. Not bad, but not a wower.
Grade: B

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



Joshua Allen - Solo
Song: "Jam" - Michael Jackson

There were some neat tricks but I felt like it was more a few sets of "tricks" than it was a unified dance which sort of is disappointing coming from Joshua who is always so good.
Grade: B

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



Best Pairs Dance of the Night:
Katee and Will's Pas de Deux
Best Pair of the Night:
Chelsie H. and Gev
Most Disappointing Pairs Dance of the Night:
Kherington and Mark's Country Two Step
Best Solo: Gev

Bottom Four Predictions:
This is killing me to say this but I think for the boys, Mark will be in the bottom 2 and maybe Joe was right. Mark may be in danger this week. AGHHH... Except despite tonight's lackluster performances, he's still one of my favorite dancers because he has this quirky sytle and he really gets into his characters.

I think Twitch Joshua Twitch Will Twitch should be in the bottom 2 out of the strong 5 males but for some reason I have a feeling Joshua might be in danger this week.

As for the girls, while Comfort really started fighting for it, I think it's still too late and I think she will be joined by Kherington in the bottom 2.

Going Home Predictions: Mark (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) and Comfort

Can we have another week with everyone and not vote someone off this week? PLEASE???

Individual dancers in order of Favorite to Least for this week (which is a combination of performance and likability and how it gets added to the past) (Last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Chelsie (4)
2. Katee (2)
3. Courtney (9)
4. Gev (6)
5. Mark (1)
6. Will (8)
7. Kherington (5)
8. Joshua (4)
9. Twitch (7)
10. Comfort (10)

Again, I keep switching the order and in DRASTIC differences so this is just the list for the moment I've decided to post this. It will probably change every few minutes in my head. Either way, whoever gets kicked off this week will make me sad no matter what.

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 16, 14 and 12 Weeks Recaps by Vance again
Top 12 Performances, Results 12 to 10 - Guest Blogger Linz McC
Top 14 Performances, Results 14 to 12 - Guest Blogger Linz McC
Top 16 Performances, Results 16 to 14 - Guest Blogger Linz McC
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