So You Think You Can Dance - "A"ight Is Enough

Top 8 - Performance Night
Judges: Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Toni Basil

So I was thinking I've been pretty nice on everyone and that I'll need to get meaner with my ratings and harsher on the dancers to start differentiating them from each other since at this point, I still love all the boys and all the girls (yes, even Comfort to a degree, although I did do a double take when I totally forgot that Gev and Kherington were no longer in the competition and realised I had only moved from the anger phase to the denial phase).

And then they all performed last night. And I just started handing out A's and A-'s as you'll notice below. Maybe I was still high from seeing Hair in the park, but I was loving EVERYTHING from this week. Even Comfort and Mark doing the Fox Trot! Which wasn't the total disaster I thought it would be, especially when pairing up the bottom 2 dancers in a dance most people never get right in the first place... (and which leads me to believe the conspiracy theories out there but more on that later).

Anyways, if I DO get nitpicky, I will say that in a few pairings, I think the girls outrocked the guys but other than that, everyone had a good night whether it be in the pairs, solo or both!:

Courtney Galiano and William Wingfield
1st Performance
Style: Samba - Choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux and France
Song: "I Fell In Love With The DJ" - Che' Nelle

Will is a great dancer and though sometimes his smiley mug might seem a bit plastered on, his moves are pretty great and you can't really knock it. That being said, I barely noticed him because Courtney danced the storm off him and took all the eyes away and onto her yellow backless dress. Holy smokes, Courtney is fighting to keep in this and I'm in awe!

Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Courtney and Will's Samba performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo
Song: "Like You'll Never See Me Again" - Alicia Keys

It was great but I didn't think it was as great as the judges and thought Will was a split second out of step. Or Courtney too fast? I watched it again and I think Will missed it a few times by a split second. Or maybe I was a bit too nitpicky here?

Grade: B+

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



Katee Shean and Twitch
1st Performance
Style: Contemporary - Choreographed by Mia Michaels
Song: "Mercy" - Duffy

At first glance, Twitch didn't have all that much to do except to kiss Katee, slam the door on Katee (was anybody else half afraid someone was going to get hurt with that contraption?), and drag Katee away, but after a second viewing, I did notice Twitch danced it well in the second half, but really, this choreography was all Katee again and for a reason.

Again, maybe the show is stacking the deck for Katee but she also keeps living up to the promises and her performance with Twitch was sizzling!

Grade: A

Here's the video clip of Katee and Twitch's Contemporary performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Broadway - Choreographed by Tyce DiOrio
Song: "Sweet Georgia Brown" - Bubbling Brown Sugar (Original Soundtrack)

Pretty great dancing again on a pretty good (but not great) choreography (again, am I the only one that is always slightly disappointed by Tyce's choreography?).

Grade: A-

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



Comfort Fedoke and Mark Kanemura
1st Performance
Style: Hip Hop - Choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo
Song: "Parthy People" - Fergie feat. Nelly

That was AWESOME and I'm so glad Mark rocked it hard. Oddly pairing the bottom 2 together (hmm...) DID spark the fire underneath them because this was one of my favorites of the night.

Grade: A

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


2nd Performance
Style: Fox Trot - Choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux and France
Song: "Lady Luck" - The Brian Setzer Orchestra

The judges came down hard on them but I, though no technical expert, thought it was pretty delightful and thought they did a pretty good job. Yes, Comfort could have exteneded her hands a bit and there were a few misteps but overall they hit their marks and looked graceful enough to fool me.

Grade: B+

Here's the video clip of Comfort and Mark's Fox Trot performance:



Chelsie Hightower and Joshua Allen
1st Performance
Style: Argentine Tango - Choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin
Song: "A Los Amigos" - Forever Tango (Original Cast)

Again, whereas Mark is so unique that he stands out on his own, Joshua is a great dancer, like Will and Twitch, and become strong male partners but sometimes get lost besides their sexy counterparts and again here, the dance was programmed to showcase Chelsie and Joshua got the bum end of the stick. So that the judges only noticed his bum. (ba da bum...) I did notice he was a bit clunky when he tried to turn Chelsie but other than that, I think he did a solid job, at least when my eyes weren't on Chelsie who was fabulous as always!

Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Chelsie H. and Joshua's Argentine Tango performance:


2nd Performance
Style: Disco - Choreographed by Doriana Sanchez
Song: "Everlasting Love" - Gloria Estefan

Like Tyce, Doriana is a bit overated and usually has one GREAT routine our of the 4 she's given and I didn't LOVE this one either but it was good and Joshua and Chelsie disco'd the heck out of it so that it was still fun to watch.

Grade: B+

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


Each dancer also had to perform a solo:

Comfort Fedoke - Solo
Song: "I Got This Down" - Simian Mobile Disco

I know Nigel later criticized her solo's but I actually thought this one seemed planned and choeroegraphed the most of all her solo's which made for a better routine. I think I would have still preferred Kherington to be here over Comfort but she sure shows why she deserves to still be here.
Grade: A-

Here's the video clip of Comfort' performance:



William Wingfield - Solo
Song: "Get Up Offa That Thing" - James Brown

That was great! Totally threw some performance and personality into his dancing which is sometimes a bit lacking from the highly technical and versatile dancer! I wanted more!
Grade: A

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



Katee Shean - Solo
Song: "Taking Chances" - Celine Dion

More of the same contemporary stuff, rolling around, flicking away yada yada... but when you do it the way Katee does it you sort of can't blame her for going with the same old same old.
Grade: A-

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



Mark Kanemura - Solo
Song: "Creator" - Santogold

Like I said last week, he doesn't have as many tricks to rely on or any of the fancy stuff that usually oohs and aaahs us but I always feel like he has more of a choreographed routine put together that makes his solo's more cohesive but I guess that's the only way to put his unique personality on display properly.
Grade: A-

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



Chelsie Hightower - Solo
Song: "Damaged" - Danity Kane

She just turned 19??? ONLY? Well, at least everyone gaping and gawking at her is not illegal or anything. It's always hard for a ballroom dancer to impress in the solo's but she still manages to.
Grade: A-

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



Joshua Allen - Solo
Song: "Shawty Get Loose" - Lil Mama feat. T Pain & Chris Brown

Last week I thought he relied too much on the pumping chest thing and he still did it a bit but at least he threw in a better overall routine for the bulk of it and finally impressed me with his solo.
Grade: A-

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



Courtney Galiano - Solo
Song: "Where I Stood" - Missy Higgins

Courtney really is fighting/dancing her way to the top isn't she? I thought it would be between Katee and Chelsie but I think Courtney is not having any of that and proving herself to be worthy of the final 4.
Grade: A

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



Twitch
Song: "Go to Work" - KL

Like Joshua this week, Twitch finally proves himself to me in his solo without relying on some of the pumping tricks.
Grade: A

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



Best Pairs Dance of the Night:
Katee and Twitch's Contemporary and Comfort and Mark's Hip Hop
Best Pair of the Night:
Katee and Twitch
Best Male in a Pairs routine: Mark in Hip Hop
Best Female in a Pairs routine: Courtney in Samba or Katee in Contemporary
"Worst" Pairs Dance of the Night:
Comfort and Mark's Fox Trot or Chelsie and Joshua's Disco (and really, both only got a B+ with me so this was a tough night to pick a loser)
Best Solo by a Male: Will
Best Solo by a Female: Courtney

Bottom Four Predictions:
Mark and Comfort just based on history.
Will and Chelsie just based on gut feelings.

Going Home Predictions: Mark (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) and Comfort (Wait, didn't I say this last week?)

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

Or something like that. Honestly, it's all pretty much tied for 1st and 2nd at most really.

For More So You Think You Can Dance:
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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