"The Round of 14 (or
'Fourteen's Just More Lucky Than Thirteen Now')" -
August 24
Well, how do you do? It's So You Think You Can Dance.
This week, 2 are sent home and 14 will dance on. But it
only gets better. This week, the couples will pair up
and perform new styles to work on including a few ones
you've seen last week. Only the bottom 6 will pair up
alone in the solo round, and they'll fight for whatever
the public chooses. Who's the first 2 victims to go
home? Let's start off with a results segment I like to
call...THE ELIMINATION OF DOOM!
THE ELIMINATION OF DOOM
16 people are seated on the bleachers, but only 2 are
getting benched. The votes are in and it's 3 million who
cast it more than the AI premiere, In fact it's the #1
show premiere according to Lauren. As we roll he
highlight reel, Nick & Kamilah started things off with a
bang, but Michelle & Jonnis gave it a whimper, but
Jonnis apologized to the crowd for what happened. Mixed
results from the judges came in with Artem & Sandra's
dance routine, but it was all positive thanks to Jamlie
& Ashley's jive. Another couple that the judges didn't
like were Allan & Snow's hip-hop routine, but it went
back to mixed by Craig & Melody. The judges loved Blake
& Destini's lyrical routine, but the big highlight of
the night goes to Ryan & Melissa with their big jive
moves. As of tonight, 10 people are safe and 6 people
aren't, but only 2 will go home. Let's start with the
girls. First, Michelle, who started off with her mambo
partnered by Jonnis and did her own gymnastic solo,
Sandra, who did a lyrical routine with Artem and a
hip-hop tap solo and Snow who did some hip-hop with
Allan and did the same solo. Who was safe? It
was...Michelle. Nigel gave his critique on how negative
Snow & Sandra are in the finals race. Now it was the
guys turn. First up, Jonnis who did a mambo with
Michelle and a hip-hop solo, Artem, who did a lyrical
routine with Sandra and did a ballroom solo, and Allan
did a hip-hop routine with Snow and again on his own.
Who made the cut? It was...Artem. Brian then comments on
the negativity of Allan & Jonnis. We'll get to the big
cut in a minute, but first, we get an American Express
video from the Ford Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan
dancing to the Miracles' "Love Machine," where it's all
about people using steering wheels, breakdancers, and
what goes on in a plant. Now...the big cut! The girls
will go first again this time. It all comes down to Snow
& Sandra. Will the hot dancing of Snow be left out in
the cold or will Sandra's tap dancing be all tapped out?
The cut goes to... Sandra Colton! Mia gave us words of
wisdom on how she got here. And just like AI, she gets a
tribute video and one last tap dance with no music,
complete with a twirl and a knee bend. Now it's the guys
turn to come face-to-face with the mighty scissors of
death. It's all about Jonnis & Allan. Is this the end of
the line for Jonnis or is it all over for Allan? Only we
know for sure it's... Johnathan Tannis! Dan appreciates
him with some kind words on his journey. Before he heads
out the door, he gets a tribute video and one last
hip-hop routine doing solo kicks, arm bends, leg bends &
spins. All 14 have survived the elimination of doom,
meaning that it's time to start the party. Cue the
titles, let's roll!
Once again, the dancers do solo starting with Snow,
Jamile, Destini, Blake, Melody, Craig, Michelle, Nick,
Ashle, Artem, Kamilah, Allan, Melissa, and of course,
Ryan. All of them did a West Side Story-like group dance
by both genders, but Lauren Sanchez is here to break
things up. The judges are rotated this week, starting
with the show's big cheese, Nigel, Mary Murphy, the
ballroom dance teacher, and the hip-hop choreography
team of Dan Karaty & Brian Friedman. Lauren lets us know
that Allan has the most votes, but warns us that a twist
was coming. Allan decided not to choose Snow as her
partner. But all than can change as we mix up the
couples and blend in the dancing, because it's time for
the couples round.
COUPLES ROUND
Last time, the guys chose the girls, and this week, the
roles are reversed. The girls will now choose the guys.
Snow will lead things off as she picks Jamile as her
partner, and what style did Jamile pick? Quickstep!
They'll work with ballroom teacher Glen Weiss to polish
off their moves. Jamile knows where the quickstep got
its name, but if you've been watching Dancing With The
Stars lately, you know how well it's done. It's a
hip-hop dancer and a ballroom-caliber dancer starting
things off with a quickstep to Geoff Love & his
orchestra's "It Don't Mean A Thing." Throughout the
song, they did great around the floor, and showed off
some fancy footwork and when it got closer to the end,
both did a head bob, a few swerves, and Snow doing a
spin while Jamile kissed Snow's hand and took a knee
bend. Will they run into safety or walk into the bottom
6 pool? Nigel said Snow's carriage was superb, and
Jamile wasn't good with his 5 points of contact, Mary
said it was a train wreck, but by looks alone, it was
smashing, Dan said it was boring, and the dance was a
little beyond that, and Brian agrees with the panel and
said it needs a lot more work. So like Mary said, Snow &
Jamile's quickstep was a train wreck, but there's still
plenty of dancing left.
Destini chose the fate of...Blake. As for him, he
chose...lyrical jazz. They'll work with Mia Michaels for
some instruction. Now it's time for Destini & Blake to
dance to Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You." To start
off, Destini did a spin around, and by the halfway
point, both spin and landed flat. Closer to the end,
both did a jump and ended with one kick and a falldown
by Destini. Was this their night? Nigel said they were
still brilliant, Mary said they brought it hook, line
and sinker, Dan said it gave enough credit to Destini
and Brian said it was raw & organic by Destini, and both
did a perfect technique. So Destini & Balke keep it
lyrical this week, and it was the 2nd week in a row that
they danced on stage.
Melody is up and she chose...Craig once again! Last
week, they did jive and this week it's...Hip-hop.
They'll work with Shane Sparks, who did some work on the
film "You Got Served." It's 2 lyrical dancers taking on
hip-hop to J-Kwon's "Tipsy." They both did some
swerving, but seconds later, Craig did a kick over
Melody, and they both did some popping fae-to-face. Both
did some knee work, and then Craig did a jump over
Melody and did a handstand to end the song. Now let's
turn over to the judges for a review. Nigel said they
were great dancers, Mary loved it but wasn't urban
enough, Dan said it worked against it but would've
pulled along and Brian said it wasn't enough hip-hop and
had no relaxation. So Melody & Craig wasn't relaxed with
their hip-hop routine, but there's another girl to take
the challenge.
Michelle is choosing Nick as a partner, and he chose
Quickstep as a style to master. They're the 2nd couple
to work with Glen Weiss. Take a hip-hop dancer, a
lyrical dancer, add Geoff Love & His orchestra's "It
Don't Mean A Thing" and what do you get? Their very own
quickstep routine. They both went around the floor, did
some nice footwork, and by the end, Michelle did a kick
& twirl around ending with a dip. How did they do? Nigel
said it looked great, and according to the routine, the
upper 1/2 was great, but the lower 1/2 wasn't relaxed,
Mary said the legs were too stiff, but was great for
time, Dan said it was noting dynamic and Brian said it
still brought it. So Michelle & Nick quickstep was a
little slow tonight, but there's another girl to bring
it to speed.
Ashle decided it was Artem's turn to join her and he
chose...lyrical jazz. They'll be the 2nd couple to work
with Mia. They both did great in Hollywood week
together, and now they'll be doing the same to "A Song
For You." To begin, Ashle did a spin around, and by
halfway, they did a spin & fall flat. By the end, she
did a jump, leg lift & carry ending with a 1/2 bend. Did
their hard work in the lyrical department pay off? Nigel
said they were a perfect couple, but Artem had all the
emotion, Mary said they're buying that...okay...Dan said
he disliked Ashle's outfit, but they did a great job,
and Brian said the technique was excellent and it made
Mia proud. So the A's (Ashle & Artem) hit a homerun with
their lyrical routine, and another girl is up to bat.
Kamilah gets Allan as her partner and he gets hip-hop as
a style to master. They'll be the 2nd to work with Shane
this week. Let's have the 2 hip-hop dancers get "Tipsy"
to hip-hop. They both did some swerving, but Kamilah did
a between the legs slide. halfway there, both did some
fine body work on the knee and shaking on all fours.
Allan ended the song with a slide through of his own.
Now let's see if the judges like it. Nigel said this was
hip-hop and the country loves Allan, but Kamilah was
amazing, Mary said it was fantastic, but Allan brought
it home, Dan said Kamilah was phenomenal, but Alan
appeared back on the scene after 2 weeks, and Brian said
Kamilah was flawless, but Allan was totally bad. So they
both scored a flawless victory with hip-hop, but there's
one more girl to execute a gameplan.
Melissa gets Ryan as her partner, and he chooses Salsa.
They'll work with Alex Da Silva and see what happens.
It's now time for Ryan & Melissa to tackle the salsa.
They both did some spins, and Ryan did a slide between
the legs. They both did some arm work by the halfway
mark of the song, but Melissa did a 1/2 bend while Ryan
did his own solo and used magic to bring her back up.
The song ended with Melissa doing spinning and a dip.
Now let's see if the judges were feeling the heat. Nigel
said Melissa was sensational, but it was fantastic, Mary
said Ryan pulled it off again, but it was an outstanding
performance, Dan said it was phenomenal, and Brian said
it was a perfect way to end with a standing O. So their
salsa routine was hot, but it's about to get cold as we
pick the bottom 6.
Nigel said they wanted the 6 based on execution and Mary
went first with Nick & Michelle, Dan came in with Melody
& Craig and Brian rounded it out with Snow & Jamile.
While all 8 are safe, the other 6 aren't, but only 2
will go home next week. They've got 45 seconds to
impress America as we start the solo round.
SOLO ROUND
Snow goes first dancing to Lucas Prada's "And She Said,"
and did some work with a red dress, did some turns and
floor work. Jamile comes in next doing "I Can make you
dance" by Zapp. He did awesome robot work, leg bends,
popping & locking and a scarecrow-like ending to run out
the 45-second dance clock. Melody's up doing an Etta
James version of Randy Newman's "You can leave your hat
on." She made fun with a hat, but wowed the crowd by
taking off her white coat. She also did a leg left, a
few flips, swerves and tossed her hat by the time the
horn sounded. Craig is up doing "Everything" by
Lifehouse wearing nothing but blue jeans...how nice...He
did some flips, twirls, bends, and in the last few
seconds, did a few back flips. Michelle's next doing
"Disco Club" by the Black-Eyed Peas, and did some flips,
kicks, turns, a swerve, great pumps, and a spin & split
at the buzzer. Nick is batting cleanup this round doing
another Lifehouse song entitled "Storm." He did some
great twirls, jumps to an air-split, and some kicks &
twirls for his 45 -second run. Nigel stood up for his
big solo performance.
To end the show, Dan said Craig should be worried, and
didn't showcase his talent, and Michelle reeked
desperation in her solo. But desperate times do indeed
call for desperate measures. For the next 2 hours, the
public will call 1-888-TEMPO-0# (position based on
tonight's solo round) and vote on who's staying here.
Let me remind you, it's not 800 or 866, just 888. All 14
dance off into the credits, and I'll say goodbye,
because next week, the top 12 dancers square off as they
couple up, try not to end up in the bottom 6 to go solo,
and 2 will be sent home. I'll see you next week for more
action. Until then, I'm Pierre Kelly saying dots & power
pellets, I'm out. |