Season 5 - So You Think You Can Dance - Top 16 Performance Show!

I must say, it’s not nearly as much fun watching So You Think You Can Dance sans side kick Jo Jo. This Wednesday I watched the show solo. Luckily, I had the pleasure of watching many great performances. The ‘hot’ definitely outweighed the ‘not’ this week, what a treat!

I’ve reviewed the performances below. The final results from Thursday are at the bottom (don’t peak), but it was fairly easy to predict the outcome based on the caliber of the performances. Did you guess correctly?

The Hot

Melissa and Ade danced the Rhumba. Wow, this is officially my favourite couple. Their strong connection brought the dance alive. Melissa’s form was immaculate. Her strong legs looked amazing juxtaposed with her sensual hips. Ade was a solid partner and danced this style wonderfully. Plus, what a body! I just loved his sexy fitted black pants and open black shirt, hot! This was one sexy routine. I look forward to watching these two make it to the top 4.

Brandon and Janette danced a hip hop routine choreographed by Dave Scott. Finally, a hard-hitting hip hop routine. They nailed it. Brandon’s hip hop moves were fluid and Janette didn’t disappoint either, she was just as sharp. It’s challenging to have a great connection in hip hop but these two were totally connected. A routine well choreographed to highlight their ‘street’ personalities, Brandon as a junior 50 Cent (I’ll take 50 Cent over Carlton from Fresh Prince any day) and Janette as a mini Cher, stole the show. The song they danced to was great and had a hard-hitting and challenging pace but they kept up with the fast pace of the music. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this routine.

Next, Kayla and Kupono danced a Viennese Waltz choreographed by Jean Marc. This was beautiful. Not the most challenging routine, but it was nevertheless danced very elegantly and endearingly. As a new couple, they partnered each other amazingly. Kayla exuded elegance and beauty while Kupono supported her effortlessly. Both had great lines and extensions. However, the fluidity and beauty of this routine was quickly shattered by Mary’s screams as she gave them first class tickets on board the Hot Tamale Train! Congratulations Kayla and Kupono!

Randi and Evan were graced with a quirky Mia Michaels contemporary routine and they told the story perfectly. That being said, I have a hard time expressing how I feel when I watch Evan perform. Off stage he’s a little cheesy, actually, I’ll be blunt, he’s corny, but the minute he starts dancing he reels me in. His ability to tell the story with his facial expressions, topped with his skill for pacing his moves and his ‘always there for you’ partnering blows me away. Wow, I think this hobbit is starting to turn me on! Of course, this is how I feel when Evan is dancing with Randi. They are a great match, but it could be a completely different story with a different partner. But for now, I’m loving these two. They have yet again taken the choreographer’s dance and made it their own.

Caitlin and Jason danced a Jean Marc pasa doble. Caitlin and Jason danced this quick, passion filled dance well. At first I thought ‘wow, I love it’ but those feelings quickly faded. Caitlin and Jason did a great job. They pushed through the entire routine and stayed in character for its entirety but it lacked a ‘wow factor’. There’s been so many amazing Pasa Doble’s on SYTYCD it would take a lot for them to raise the performance bar for this particular style. I’d rank this routine as warm, just shy of hot.

The Not

Karla and Jonathan danced a smooth hip hop style routine also by Dave Scott….smooth like a Sunday school picnic according to Nigel. The routine fell flat. The performance had an immature, juvenile quality to it that stemmed from Jonathan not grounding to the floor. The permanent grin on his face didn’t help either. Personally I thought Karla did a great job, but the connection between the two was definitely missing. The highlight was Jonathan’s tumbling mid-way through the piece. But (yawn) we already know he can do flips at this point but what about dancing? Nigel bet the audience this couple would be in the bottom three and right he was.

Asuka and Vitolio danced a Mandy Moore jazz routine. I don’t even know where to start with this one. At first I was waiting for the dancing. It started out with a lot of slow, simple movements around the stage. Half way through they started ‘dancing’ but they weren’t synchronized and the jumps looked amateurish. To my surprise Nigel loved it, but Mary and guest judge Toni Basil thought the performance was only okay.

Jeanine and Phillip danced a vaudeville routine. It was cute. But, there were some amazing dances that preceded it tonight and so, this cutesy performance probably won’t get them far. But, you never know…Phillip’s underwear flash (can anyone say tighty whities) thanks to the tear in the bottom of his pants may help them get through to the next round. Gotta love those wardrobe malfunctions.

Bottom Three and Who Got Voted Off

Karla and Jonathan, Asuka and Vitolio and Caitlin and Jason found themselves in the bottom three. Asuka was sent home from the girls. Her solo just didn’t make the cut and Nigel said that she just hadn’t grown enough as a dancer during her time on the show. In my opinion, I think that Asuka was keeping Vitolio back and that with a different partner he would never find himself in the bottom 3. Nigel thought otherwise, and felt that Vitolio’s performance wasn’t strong enough. What the heck? Vitolio’s leaps are amazing and his technique is commendable. However, and thankfully, the judges recognized that Vitolio has talent and deserves to stay, which lead to Jonathan being sent home instead. Jonathan was cute but cute's not enough when you up against some phenomenal dancers.