So You Think You Can Dance Canada - Sweet Sweet 16!

Top 16 - Performance Night - Ep. 109

Judges: Jean-Marc Genereux, Tre Armstrong, Paul Becker, Kenny Ortega

I had already commented on the Top 16 in my spoilers on Monday after attending the taping for the performance night but here's the full recap with new commentary and new grades based on how the routines looked on the TV screen.

And I thought I was just on a high from seeing it live but after watching it again on TV, I think this episode might be one of the best So You Think You Can Dance episodes ever, with much thanks to the choreographers and for a really strong remaining Top 16.

As everyweek, I'll throw the videos up as soon as I find them. Look for updates here UPDATE: Videos are up!.

Lara Smythe and Miles Faber
Style: Krump
Choreographer: Lil'C
Song: "Tiny Ram Anthem" - The J-Squad

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: B+, maybe A- (but I want to make sure my score isn't just elevated from my blood pressure after seeing Miles' half naked).

Original Comments: Seriously. Sick! Totally Buck. The judges all loved it (and said Buck a few too many times). I felt there were mistakes and it wasn't technically perfect but Miles and Lara put all their energies into the dance that as always, you can't help but love these two because they always make their performances fun fun fun to watch. Plus, Miles. Abs. O. M. F. G. I think I'm in LOVE!

New TV Grade: A

New TV Comments: Boy, it looked even better on TV except there weren't enough close ups! And the energy of seeing it live translated onto the television set! It looked a little more together than seeing it live, although there were a few spots that weren't perfectly in sync but who cares, Lara and Miles threw themselves at Krumping and it was terrific.

Video of Lara and Miles Krumping:


Kaitlyn Fitzgerald and Izaak Smith
Style: Cha Cha
Choreographer: Benji Schwimmer
Song: "Make Me Sweat" - Basement Jaxx

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: B

Original Comments: I love Izaak but as many of the judges mention, Kaitlyn dances circles around Izaak here and he's clearly the weaker link here. She's totally fab in Benji's high energy and fun routine but it's somehow slightly disappointing because of the imbalance in the team. Is essentially the weakest of the night.

New TV Grade: B+

New TV Comments: It looked better on TV than it did live and Izaak seemed more on par with Kaitlyn here on screen. There are some times he still seemed like he was trying to catch up to her, but it looked more prominent seeing it live. Still love Benji's choreography though.


Video of Kaitlyn and Izaak's Cha Cha:


Lisa Auguste and Vincent Noiseux
Style: Afro Jazz
Choreographer: Sean Cheeseman
Song: "Hlohonolofatsa" - Soweto Gospel Choir

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: A+

Original Comments: WOW. That was so beautiful and Lisa and Vincent totally sold the Afro Jazz (it really felt Afro... AND Jazz!). They are such beautiful dancers that they had BETTER NOT BE IN THE BOTTOM 3 again this week. In fact, this was probably the best dance of a mostly strong night.

New TV Grade: A+

New TV Comments: Still. WOW. Vincent is AMAZING. Lisa is AMAZING. Great routine. Great execution. Vincent was just so INTO it and he moved with far more flexibility than I thought he would.

Video of Lisa and Vincent's Afro Jazz:


Tamina Pollack-Paris and Joey Matt
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Luther Brown
Song: "Ditch That..." - The-Dream

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: A-

Original Comments: Boy did these two kids get lucky. Everyone I know thought they should have been eliminated last week. And just as Comfort had gotten Hip Hop on the week everyone thought she was next, Tamina is one lucky girl. Cause she rocked it this week and was solid, and even made Joey seem pretty solid. The judges loved them and while I still saw a bit of contemp white boy in Joey, he was a LOT better than I imagined and the two still made the routine pretty damn good, saving themselves for another week, this time on their own merit!

New TV Grade: A

New TV Comments: Joey didn't look as "white boy" on screen here and between the edits and everything, the routine looked fantastic on TV. They missed a better angle on seeing the floor slither that was really really cool to see live, and you only got a little sense of it but the routine still looked really great here.

Video of Tamina and Joey's Hip Hop:


Natalli Reznik and Francis Lafrenière
Style: Rumba
Choreographer: Gustav Vargas
Song: "Perfidia" - New 101 Strings Orchestra

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: A

Original Comments: Smoldering hot. The judges loved these two as they were made for each other. And made for ballroom. Francis still has that ballroom plastered smile/look a bit too much sometimes which he doesn't need to always do with his handsome face and tall frame but whatever, he dances so well with Natalli that one can ignore it enough to enjoy the two. Another strong night for these two, who thankfully got paired up together last week.

New TV Grade: A-

New TV Comments: I noticed a few tiny tiny flaws on TV more than I noticed seeing it live, plus some of the moves, particularly from Francis seemed extremely exaggerated that didn't seem as extreme live.

Video of Natalli and Francis' Rumba:


Allie Bertram and Danny Arbour
Style: Quick Step
Choreographer: Pierre Allaire
Song: "The Boogie Bumper" - Casa musica Sound Studios Dusseldorf

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: A

Original Comments: I was thinking it might be the best Quick Step we've seen on the show from what I can remember and Jean-Marc Genereux states the exact same thing. Allie and Danny seemed nervous at first but who wouldn't when they have the Dance of Death to perform. The killer dance that has killed other great couples. Yet the supercute Allie and Danny prevail and survive the Quick Step still smiiling and even if they didn't get all the steps right (though from what I could tell, they seemed to do pretty well), they made it fun to watch without any cringeworthy moments.

New TV Grade: A

New TV Comments: I couldn't really see the feet live so I was watching them closely here, but other than one moment of separation at the start, they pretty much kept in step together the rest of the time! Danny's face still had that smile-big-to-hide-my-intrepid-fear-of-screwing-this-up but whatever, he didn't screw it up and other than that look of fear in the eyes (despite the big smile), he was great. Allie didn't even look like she was sweating it!

Video of Allie and Danny's Quick Step:


Arassay Reyes and Nico Archambault
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Blake McGrath
Song: "Let Me Leave" - Marc Broussard

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: A+

Original Comments: Another week, another blow out performance by hot couple Nico and Arassay! This time they're fighting and the sparks are flying! To the point where Arassay accidentally knocked her head so hard into Nico's head in rehearsal that Nico had to pop his nose back into place.
Last week they jerked around a lot and they made it look fantastic, this week they seem to jumping and grabbing each other a lot but they still totally sold it. Amazing. From the screams in the crowd, this couple is definitely one of the faves, and definitely one of mine.

New TV Grade: A+

New TV Comments: I got nothing new to say. My mouth is still gaping open. Though while the camera captured angles I didn't see from where I was standing, it also missed an amazing view I had from the floor and I wish this could be shown from all the cameras they had because it was simply unbelievable.

Video of Arassay and Nico's Contemporary:


Caroline Torti and Jesse Catibog
Style: Rock
Choreographer: Melissa Williams
Song: "Miss Murder" - AFI

Original Grade from Seeing it Live: B

Original Comments: Just like Kaitlyn and Izaak, the girl here dances circles around Jesse. I usually love Jesse but I barely noticed him here as Carolyn takes over as the devil and burns the boy good. Because of the imbalance, the dance still feels as one of the weakest two of the night, despite it being a very good routine, but clearly the others now are surpassing Carolyn and Jesse who have so much potential but have yet to still truly display it to us.

New TV Grade: B

New TV Comments: There were more mistakes than I thought, which the camera really zeroed in on that I totally missed live. Caroline was fantastic but as much as I love Jesse, he looked like he was playing catch up the whole time. The little moment where he got to B-boy was awesome but he looked behind in any moments he was to be in sync with Caroline.

Video of Caroline and Jesse dancing Rock:


My original roundup:
Favorite Pairs Dance of the Night: Lisa and Vincent
2nd Favorite Pairs Dance of the Night: Nico and Arassay
Other strong teams: Danny and Allie, Miles and Lara, Natalli and Francis
Worst Dance of the Night: Kaitlyn and Izaak and mainly because of Izaak.

Bottom 3 Predictions:
Caroline and Jesse
Kaitlyn and Izaak
and ???

My revised roundup:
Favorite Pairs Dance of the Night: Lisa and Vincent
2nd Favorite Pairs Dance of the Night: Nico and Arassay
Favorite Individual Boy of the Night: Vincent
Favorite Individual Girl of the Night: Arassay
Other strong teams: Danny and Allie, Miles and Lara, Natalli and Francis, Joey and Tamina
Worst Dance of the Night: Caroline and Jesse, and mainly because of Jesse.

Bottom 3 Predictions:
Caroline and Jesse
Kaitlyn and Izaak
Allie and Danny Natalli and Francis

And even though it was a great night overall, I think I've formed my Top 10 in my mind. In team alphabetical order order:
Allie and Danny
Arassay and Nico
Lara and Miles
Lisa and Vincent
Natalli and Francis

Joey and Tamina still have 2 more week to overcome their last 2 weeks but if they keep up the good work of this week, they could slip in. Caroline and Kaitlyn are strong dancers but I tend to forget about them once the show is over. Meanwhile, I liked Jesse and Izaak when the Top 20 started but they've been inconsistent and lack that certain spark needed to continue on at this point.

Of course, leave it to the Canadian judges to pick every single remaining team as their "favorites". Either way, it's going to be painful cuts every week isn't it?

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

For more on So You Think You Can Dance Canada:

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

For more on So You Think You Can Dance Canada:

Top 12 Performances, Results 12 to 10
Top 14 Performances, Results 14 to 12
Top 16 Performances, Results 16 to 14
Top 18 Performances, Results 18 to 16
Top 20 Performances and Results
Introducing Canada's Top 20

Auditions:
Toronto Week - The Cut to the Top 20
Vancouver, Halifax, Calgary, Montreal - West, East, Middle and Quebec
Toronto - Toronto's Best Foot Forward
The Judges, The Host, The Teaser, All Photos from CTV

The Judges
The Host
The Teaser

So You Think You Can Dance - Season 4:
Finale
Top 4 Performances
Top 6 Performances and Results 6 to 4
Top 8 Performances, Results 8 to 6
Top 10 Performances, Results 10 to 8
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