Season 5 - So You Think You Can Dance - Top 10 Performance Show with Results!

Thank gawd for PVR!

Bella and I were able to record an earlier airing of the show and we watched SYTYCD sans commercials. However, we actually finished watching the show at the same time as if we had watched it at the regular time, hmmm. Go figure, it must have been a result of all the times that we re-watched performances. Some of the routines were so good, don’t you think?

Things are definitely heating up on the So You Think You Can Dance stage. We haven’t placed any bets for a definitive winner yet, but some stars are definitely emerging. How exciting!

The night started with the top 5 girls performing a Bollywood routine. In the immortal words of Mary Murphy, it was, “Bollywow!” Really, Mary – could you not think of something more intelligent or descriptive to say? It’s been five seasons, for goodness sake! You think she could have picked up a thesaurus by now. Mary’s lack of eloquence aside, this was a great routine. Each of the dancers performed with style and panache and seemed to have embraced the challenging technique by channeling their inner Bollywood princess. Each dancer held her own and it was a treat to watch. It was especially delightful to watch their beautiful saris twirl.

This week the dancers were paired up with new partners. Here’s the new lineup:

Evan and Kyla – Kyla just had to pick the shortest guy from the group! Poor Evan, I’m sure he wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect of dancing with the tallest girl. But, what could have been a nightmare ended up being pretty good. I’m sure the fact that Kyla was in bare feet and Evan in heels helped. This new partnership especially showcased Kyla’s mile-long legs and her amazing extension and lines. Her legs are probably as long as Evan is tall! Evan partnered her well, but didn’t stand out on his own.

Ade and Jeanette - Ade seemed to light up when he heard that he would be dancing with Jeanettte. His fun-loving personality seemed to come out more with his new partner. Methinks that perhaps his old partner Melissa was a wet, controlling, no-fun blanket (and I’m not talking Michael Jackson’s kid here either), but you never know, they could have similar personalities. But I digress. Anyway, my point here is besides the dancing, it’s also interesting to see how people’s personalities change when paired up with someone new. Their performance was all right; the judges for some reason couldn’t stop gushing, but their movements weren’t completely synchronized. Ade was also towering over Jeanette, which was distracting. Murphy’s Law strikes again (and we don’t mean Mary, either): shortest girl just had to pick the tallest guy.

Randi and Kupono – They did an awkward Paso Doble which lacked connection and chemistry. Randi’s personality is such that she’s unlikely to trust her partner right away. She needs time to feel comfortable with him. This came out in their awkward lifts and partnering. Straight up, Randi didn’t trust Kupono. Mind you, I’m not sure I would either, come to think of it. But, that being said, with a little time they could grow as a couple. But the question is, will the audience give them that time? These two might be going home this week. And what was up with that wig?!

Melissa and Brandon – Yawn. I think these two have potential, but their Broadway routine inspired by the 60s Hair musical was plain boring. Not memorable at all. I think Brandon has enough of a following that he will be safe, but we think this performance will put Melissa in danger.

Jason and Jeanine - Our official favourite new couple! Jason and Jeanine both stepped it up in this week with a Travis Wall routine (remember him from Season 2?). It was a blessing in disguise that these two lost their lame partners last week and were paired with each other. Luck and timing were also on their side. It was the perfect time to showcase their abilities and it helped that they picked both their own contemporary style. Their performance made them top contenders for the final 4. And how hot was that routine? They might need to have a PG -13 warning at the start of the show from now on if they continue with dances like that. The choreography even involved the ripping of each other’s clothes! If we were judges on the show, our only feedback would be for Jeanine. “Jeanine! Next time, we’d like to see greater ripping of Jason’s clothes please. Don’t hold back! Pretend it’s a medical emergency! We need to see that level of enthusiasm from you.” If only…. Oh and check this out - A conspiracy theory that it wasn’t a coincidence that Jeanine picked Contemporary in the top 10 week. Click here (after you’ve read our blog, that is). I think she might be on to something there. "Things that make you go hmmm."

The night ended with a challenging African number for the boys. I’ve done African before and I totally felt their pain. For a start, African movement is very challenging technically. It’s very low to the ground and if you’re not used to it, your thighs will burn for days. Add to that a lack of traditional counting paired with the music, and you get a massive headache for the traditional background dancer. Dancers are forced to figure out how to pair movement to rhythm. The boys pulled it off in the end, though and it was incredibly entertaining.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, starting this week, each dancer gets to perform their own solo. Can someone puh-lease help the dancers with their choreography? It was abysmal! All of it! I mean, these kids can dance, but they obviously can’t choreograph, yet! Yikes! Here’s what we would have said if we were at the judges table. Hey, we can dream, can’t we?

Brandon – One word, spastic. Actually, I’ve got more than one word - Slow down there, Mr. Bolt! You have more than 30 seconds this time around. Relax and let us take you in.

Randi – Fingers. You’re not having tea with the queen. Your erect pinky is ruining your line and you don’t have a very long line to begin with given your short stature. Tape it, or something.

Melissa – Boring. Light a fire underneath your butt or something and show us some passion!

Kupono – BOR-ing. x2. Show us what you can do. We know how deep you can plie, please do something else. Hell, anything else!

Evan – Swoon. It is such a treat to watch you dance in your own style. Again, please.

Jason – You need some structure to your movement. It was a little all over the place.

Jeanine – Oh, oh…finally! Someone who can choreograph a SYTYCD solo! You gave us reflective moments, showcased your technique and had a few jump and spin highlights. Well done!

Ade – Pretty good. You had a bit of the Brandon nerve fever, but you redeemed yourself with that awe-inspiring back flip.

Jeanette – S’alright. She’s from Miami, right?

Kyla – You also need a lesson in choreography. As an aside, the word ‘choreography’ is a b$tch to type and spell, for that matter. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.

Who’s going home?

We narrowed our picks to Randi and Melissa for the girls and Evan, Kupono for the guys. And our assumptions were pretty close. We were right about the bottom 2 girls, but it was Ade rather than Evan in the bottom two guys with Kupono. Shocking! In the end, Kupono and Randi went home. Neither of them seemed that upset. Actually, they both looked kind of relieved and happy to be going home. So, I guess it was a good choice.

Given the performances this week, have any of your favourites changed? Jeanette and Jason are definitely rising in our opinion. What do you think?