So You Think You Can Dance (season 5) - Top 8

Big week on the show. Top 8 perform, Emmy noms abound, Ellen is guest judge and tomorrow is the 100th show (which looks fantastic). Oh, and Cat looks gorgeous as usual.

INTRO – Did anyone else notice that everyone’s intro 16 counts was horrible with the exception of Ade and Brandon? It’s like they were all in slow motion. Did Mary really just say “off the chain?” Where is she hanging out to learn such terms. Love that they’re changing up the format a bit with a group number on competition night.

TOP 8 – Fusion / Travis
I love that Travis is on the show. His piece last week was fantastic and this one was fun and creative. I look forward to so much more from him. BUT – I hate that song (Let it Rock – Kevin Rudolf).

SOLOS
Kayla gets my vote solely on her use of an Imogene Heap song. Plus, the dancing was great.
I do not understand Janette’s solo – some weird, slow Celine Dion song, a latin looking costume and something like contemporary choreography even though she’s a salsa dancer. Can anyone explain what that was?
Ade – very strong and powerful. I love watching him.
Loved Jeanine’s solo. It was a unique expression of the music and showed off her creativity and technique.

JANETTE & EVAN
Jazz / Sonya
These are the two tiniest people I’ve ever seen on this stage. Cool routine from Sonya with a lot of great partner work and lifts. Janette really stood out and Evan had to be a good partner to make it work, but I’m done with him. He bores me. Would have loved to see Kupono do this piece. Holla at ya Nigel for telling Mary to shut up!
Rumba / Tony & Melanie
Really? We have to watch Evan Rumba? This is going to be so awkward… All right, I’ll admit, it wasn’t as bad as I feared. Janette was gorgeous and Evan wasn’t a total distraction. He does look ridiculous in that costume, though. I love this Kris Allen version of Heartless.

JEANINE & BRANDON
Waltz / Hunter Johnson
I was really excited to see these two dance together. Sadly, I’m bored. The music made it so hard to get into. Nigel seems to be my buddy tonight. First he tells Mary to shut it, now we agree on our comments. This is a Nigel I can get on board with.
Pop Jazz / Laurieann Gibson
This piece had so much emotional intensity and strength, but the lack of interaction between the two really confused me. It would have been a great solo. The 10 seconds of partner work was fantastic, but just left me wanting more. Great costumes, powerful energy, good song, but the disconnection between the dancers kind of tainted it for me. I’m conflicted.
These two amazing dancers deserve better than both routines they got tonight.

MELISSA & ADE
Cha Cha / Tony & Melanie
That was not hot. Apparently “naughty ballerina” doesn’t seamlessly translate to a hot cha cha. Melissa was really distracting and boring. The choreography was strong, I just wish someone else had been dancing it. This was just not good. I still love Ade. I hate that he was in the bottom two last week. I hope he makes it through.
Contemporary / Tyce
AMAZING! Tyce is on fire tonight. That piece was packed with emotion, technique, amazing body positions by both dancers, a great song and perfect execution (not to mention the tears streaming down my face). Can you say Emmy? Congratulations to all three! Again, please.

KAYLA & JASON
Broadway / Tyce
This piece showed off the dancers really well – Jason's strength and technique, and Kayla's incredible performance/connection with the audience. I don’t know that it was really a WOW piece, but it was solid, had some great moments and they danced it well. I liked it.
Hip Hop / Shane
I normally think this show is very well produced, but this was hard to watch after being emotionally drained by the previous piece. I think if it could be separated from that, it was really good. But I won’t know until tomorrow when I watch it again. Thoughts?

I wanted to share a quick note about how I write this blog, especially since my comments tonight are nearly identical to Nigel’s (yikes, that’s a scary thought). I would hate for you to think I just sit here and regurgitate the judges’ comments. That would be stupid. I watch the video package and the routine, pause it and write my comments, then listen to the judges. If I’m confused by the judges’ comments (like if it’s 180 degrees different than what I thought), I usually watch the routine again and sometimes edit my comments.