SYTYCD7 - What Will The F8s Hold?

So You Think You Can Dance - Season 7 - Top 8 Performance Night - Ep. 712
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mia Michaels, Adam Shankman


Sadly, Alex has been hurt (with a possible ruptured achilles tendon) and won't be dancing this week. He will be automatically placed in the bottom 3 this week but if he cannot dance next week, he will sadly be out of the competition. Talk about bad luck.

On the bright side, watching the dancers in their interviews together is adorable.


Lauren Froderman with Pasha Kovalev
Choreographed by: Jean-Marc Généreux and France Mosseau
Style: Cha-Cha-Cha
Song: "Telephone" - Lady Gaga and Beyoncé Knowles
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Contestant: B+

I'm not a fan of Lauren but she's growing on me and she managed to steal my eyes for milliseconds from Pasha so that's actually a good sign. I don't know how good she was technically but she seemed to match Pasha quite well and looked great in that little dress that it made a nicely sparkly routine.

But you know, I was watching Pasha the whole time and he was awesome. I love how he can do those frilly moves and still look so manly.

Here's the video of Lauren and Pasha's Cha-Cha-Cha:



Jose "Full Deck" Ruiz with Lauren Gottlieb
Choreographed by: Mandy Moore
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Never Tear Us Apart" - INXS
Grade - Dance: C B
Grade - Contestant: C+ B-

Lauren looked great but it seemed like she did most of the work here, and Mandy Moore cleverly designed it that way. I thought Jose did a great job with what he was given, but he wasn't given much and you can blame/credit Mandy Moore for that.

I do commend Jose for bring a smoothness to the dance, but I wasn't as impressed as the judges and I wonder if Mandy Moore's "smartly choreographed" routine actually hindered Jose ability to truly shine.

Nigel heaps love on him again. Mia heaps love of him again. Adam heaps love on him again but notes (as a plus) that Mandy Moore choreographed the routine to his strengths. So I'm not sure it's really Jose's fault that I was less impressed than the judges.

Ok, I rewatched it now and revise my grade. It seemed better the second time around. I still think Jose seemed overpraised and much of the dance should really be credited to Lauren, but it seemed better than my first impression.

Here's the video of Jose and Lauren's Contemporary:



Kent Boyd with Comfort Fedoke
Choreographed by: Dave Scott
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "You're Not My Girl" - Ryan Leslie
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Contestant: B+

There were moments when I thought the white farm boy did quite a great groovin' job to match with Comfort's street dancing. Sometimes there were moments when the white boy came back, but like Moore's routine, Scott ingeniously designed a routine that worked towards Kent's strengths, but his attitude managed to grow into the role.

Adam says that he had growth this week and did a great job. Mia wasn't mad and while he could have been groovier like Dave Scott, he did good.

Considering how good Comfort is in her style, it's a testament, much like Lauren matched Pasha, that Kent managed to hold his own against such a terrific expert and not look like a complete fool next to Comfort. In fact, I really quite enjoyed him and as Nigel said, he did it without overdoing his cheesy charm.

Here's the video of Kent and Comfort's Hip-Hop:



Adéchiké Torbert with Courtney Galiano
Choreographed by: Mandy Moore
Style: Jazz
Song: "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby (Rae & Christian Remix)" - Dinah Washington
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Contestant: B-

If you regularly follow my blog, you know my penchant for the dudes (hello Neil! Pasha! Mark!) so I just have to get this out of the way. I was going to marry a woman, I would want it to be Courtney. Gawd, she's so sultry and dazzling. Loved her here. So sexy.

I loved the dance, and I loved Courtney in it, but I felt Adéchiké did a decent enough job dancing it but I was basically looking at Courtney the whole time.

Nigel loved it, Mia did NOT and thought it was mediocre. He had the physicality but lacked everything else and was full of emptiness. Harsh and to be honest, I kind of sit in the middle. I thought he did a decent job but Adam thinks he used the same characterization as last week. I just felt that he's a technically great dancer but lacks the star power needed to win this show.

Here's the video of Adéchiké and Courtney's Jazz:



Billy Bell with Allison Holker Katee Shean
Choreographed by: Spencer Liff (HELLO AGAIN!)
Style: Broadway
Song: "Mactivity: The Mystery Cat" from Cats
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Contestant: A-

Sadly Allison gets hurt in rehearsals but Katee Shean comes in to save the day. Allison would have done an amazing job with this but boy, watching Katee dances makes me miss seeing her more often. She's just so fantastic. I SOOOO miss Katee!

And Billy and Katee? Looked fantastically smooth together. Billy's limber body is perfect for this Cats type of thing (even though I don't love the song) and he's just jazz handsy enough to make it all work. I wish he were more a bit more sly and mysterious like a cat (which Katee seems to perfectly portray) but he gets the right lightness to the piece.

And can we just say HELLO Spencer Liff!? Ok, first off, he's HOT. Second, his choreography puts a twist to Cats and I loved the stylistically simplistic routine that has some twists to it, and changes up the symmetry in a flash-free and simple way. Spencer Liff IN. Tyce OUT.

Here's the video of Billy and Katee's Broadway:



Ashley Galvan with Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval
Choreographed by: Napoleon and Tabitha D'Umo
Style: Hip-Hop
Song: "How Low" - Ludacris
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Contestant: B+

I thought Ashley could have hit some parts harder but I was surprised at how good she was here. Not Alex Wong great but pretty damn great still, especially for such a lovely lil' contemporary dancer.

The judges loved it.

Here's the video of Ashley and Dominic's Hip-Hop:



Robert Roldan with Kathryn McCormick
Choreographed by: Sean Cheesman
Style: Jazz
Song: "Sinking Feeling" - Róisín Murphy
Grade - Dance: A
Grade - Contestant: A-

Oh Sean Cheesman. How I love thee so. YAY CANADA! (Yes he's Canadian and from So You Think You Can Dance Canada). LOVED the concept and routine. Just made me smile.

And I thought Robert and Kathryn did such a fantastic job. I thought a couple of the lifts were a little shaky but the characters and performances were simply fantastic. It was quirky and the moments within the box were just clever and different and it played to Robert and Kathryn's perfect image (and considering they couldn't see each other, it was pretty impressive). Loved it!

Nigel brings up the issue of Rob's perceived arrogance and why he's constantly in the bottom 3 and the judges maintain his hard working and lovely personality. I can see why some might take his attitude as arrogance but if people REALLY understand the gays, they would realize he's just nervous and wanting to be liked and is actually quite a humble person (or that's the way I read it). Seriously people, it's time we realize that Robert is one of the best dancers here (and seems like one of the sweetest). RECOGNIZE!

Here's the video of Robert and Kathryn's Jazz:



Adéchiké Torbert and Alex Wong Marla Tejwani
Choreographed by: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Style: Bollywood
Song: "Mourya Re" - from Don: The Chase Begins Again
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Adéchiké: C+

While it looked like Marla missed a beat and was trying to catch up, she seemed so much sharper then Adéchiké and he just looked too loose. Granted the style sort of allows that attitude, dancing next to Nakul's assistant, it was an obvious difference between Adéchiké's flailing and Marla's tightness in the fun dance. He looks like he's having fun but having too much fun and not concentrating on the dance aspect of the routine.

Nigel basically points out the same thing.

I LOVE that Cat Deeley pipes up playing devil's advocate pointing out the inconsistent judgement from Nigel from Jose's performance. Mia defends it by pointing out that Jose manages to grab it with what is essentially his star power while Adéchiké is lacking.

I'll give it to him that the footwork in some parts were impressive though it felt more like Caribana then India.

Here's the video of Adéchiké and Marla's Bollywood:



Lauren Froderman and Kent Boyd
Choreographed by: Travis Wall
Style: Contemporary
Song: "Collide" - Howie Day
Grade - Dance: A-
Grade - Lauren A-
Grade - Kent A-

Man, I LOVE this song.

Nigel realizes what a really good contemporary dancer Lauren is. What a really good contemporary dancer Kent is. What a really good contemporary choreographer Travis is. I totally agree.

Lauren finally nailed the emotions there, and danced it lovely. Kent was beautiful and matching him with Lauren finally brought out some magic in Lauren.

And yah, Travis did a great job with his routine, putting in some unexpected but special moments within the dance. Adam mentions that it almost seemed too personal and that they danced it so well that it felt too honest to be watching from the outside.

Here's the video of Lauren and Kent's Contemporary:



Ashley Galvan and Robert Roldan
Choreographed by: Jean-Marc Généreux and France Mosseau
Style: Quickstep
Song: "Man with the Hex" - Atomic Fireballs
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Ashley B+
Grade - Robert C+

Oh great, Robert gets the dance of death. How fair.

As Nigel and Mia says, Robert got through it. It wasn't a disaster, though his technique needed lots of work, and he looked freaked out through the whole thing, but luckily his lines are usually so good that he managed to survive.

Ashley faired better and looked more naturally suited for the quickstep.

Mia and Adam thought the song didn't help the Quickstep and felt better suited for something else.

Here's the video of Ashley and Robert's Quickstep:



Billy Bell and Jose "Full Deck" Ruiz
Choreographed by: Sean Cheesman
Style: African Jazz
Song: "The Drum" - Mickey Hart
Grade - Dance: B+
Grade - Billy B+
Grade - Jose C+

Well, if all else fails, Billy can always run away and join the Cirque du Soleil. The acrobatic nature of his body is just astounding.

I agree with Nigel though in that Billy's feral cat was a bit more Broadway than African Jazz. And yah, I thought Jose would have been hitting it harder here especially since this seemed closer to his style.

Mia loved Billy even though he missed a few optimal physical moments, and thought Jose tried but missed the mark.

Adam thinks Billy should have actually let go of his line while Jose should have hit it harder.

I love that the judges (Particularly Mia's comments, though hers are meant in the positive sense) basically skimp around the fact that Billy danced it gay in an already homoerotic dance. Jose probably didn't hit the beats hard just to avoid getting too into it all. Ha. Just sayin'.

Here's the video of Billy and Jose's African Jazz:



- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Final Roundup:

The Dancers - Pairs Routine:
Best of the Night: Robert (with Kathryn)
2nd: Kent and Lauren
3rd: Billy (with Katee)
4th: Kent (with Comfort)
5th: Lauren (with Dominic)
6th: Ashley (with Pasha)
7th: Adéchiké (with Courtney)
8th: Billy and Jose
9th: Jose (with Lauren)
10th: Ashley and Robert
11th - Worst of the Night: Adéchiké (with Marla)

The Routines:
Best Routine of the Night: Sean Cheesman's Jazz (Robert and Kathryn)
2nd Best Routine of the Night: Spencer Liff's Broadway (Billy and Katee)
3rd Best Routine of the Night: Dave Scott's Hip-Hop (Kent and Comfort)

The All-Stars:
All-Star MVP: Courtney
All-Star MVP 2: Katee
All-Star MVP 3: Comfort
All-Star MVP 4: Kathryn
All-Star MVP 5: Pasha


The Predictions:
Bottom Three: Robert, Adéchiké and Alex is automatically in already.

Going Home Adéchiké

Anyways, at this point, this is how I rank all the dancers overall (#position from last week in parenthesis):
Overall Ranking:
1. Alex (1)
2. Kent (3)
3. Robert (4)
4. Billy (2)
5. Lauren (8)
6. Ashley (5)
7. Jose (7)
8. Adéchiké (6)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
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