Top 10 to Top 8: Thoughts and Rankings
I really don’t know where to begin, other than just start from the beginning. A very colorful hip hop routine opened up the show and I really did enjoy. Jamal Sims choreographed this number, he is also a choreographer for the Step Up movies. Speaking of Step Up the fifth installment hits this Friday with many familiar faces, including Emilio.
Back to the show, Tara Lapinski was the guest judge this week. We also welcomed back Tabitha and Napoleon, who just finished working with Derek and Julianne Hough on their tour. Oh and I can’t forget about the All Stars. Overall the show was probably one of the best this season. I almost don’t even want to rank them but I will try, with my thoughts on the eliminated dances at the end.
Top 3
Zack and Amy: The second time in the night the audience was completely silent while they danced. What can I say other than Sonya is amazing. There’s not much else to say other than I think Zack showed a lot of growth this week.
Jacque and Chehon: I have to say I was expecting a classical pas de duex not a contemporary ballet by Travis. It was a simple and beautiful routine.
Tanisha and Ryan: So good to see Ryan back and he was the perfect partner for this dance. Miriam and Leonardo choreographed another great argentine tango with amazing lifts.
Top 2
Ricky and Lauren: This dance suited their personalities. Ricky is just great at everything and I’m pretty sure he is at least one oth the top two boys.
Casey and Kathryn: Another great pairing and it is really nice to see Casey do well. Hope he can keep it up next week.
Bottom 3
Jessica and Twitch: I was worried about this but thankfully she proved me wrong. It’s like she finally realized that she needed to step up to stay in the competition. Oh and I so loved the concept too, old man Twitch is cute.
Rudy and Jenna: Well they definitely had the chemistry down and the dancing was great too. It just falls behind others that were slightly better.
Valerie and Ade: I could see where the judges were coming from, she didn’t quite get into the character but I still loved the dance though.
Eliminated
Emilio and Jasmine: Emilio went out with a bang and I wish the results show was still around. Love everything about this dance. Oh and Jasmine almost stole the spotlight.
Bridget and Brandon: A Bollywood disco, turned out to be a fun and fast fusion of two dance styles.
Next week All Stars are: Twitch, Allison, Ryan, Mackenzie, Comfort, Jamie (season 3), Nick Lazzerini, and Will (season 4).
I can’t believe you have a power rankings this week, I found it nearly impossible to rank the performances. This has probably been the best week so far (even better than the “meet the top 20” where they were all in their own styles). Only some trends:
GIRLS:
1. Tanisha killed it this week and was by a large margin the best performer of the night.
2. Jessica was also really good and finally she excelled in a dance style other than contemporary.
3. Jacque and Bridget were both brilliant except Jacque had a tougher routine. Got to love the energy and accuracy that Bridget bought though.
4. I think this might be the end of the road for Valerie, hers was the only performance that didn’t meet or exceed expectations this week.
GUYS:
1. Zack and Emilio were in the bottom but both brought their best performance of the competition. I would rate Emilio slightly higher because Zack’s routine was really showcasing why Amy won last year (she was outstanding) more than how good he is.
2. Casey, Ricky and Rudy were all very good at meeting expectations. In terms of difficulty, I would rate Casey slightly higher but there is nothing to differentiate. Judges are damn lucky they dont have to choose who to eliminate next week, if this level of performances continue.
Bottom 4: Valerie probably would go home and I would miss Rudy the least from the guys. Both these people are growing as dancers but the competition has got too tough for them to catch up.
The other two in the bottom might be Jacque and Casey. Unless, the judges praise curse works against Ricky next week. It would be very very unfortunate if Zack, Jessica or Tanisha end up here, they well and truly deserve to be in the top 6.
Finale note: I think Casey and Ricky in the finale would be ideal (assuming they continue to do well) and among girls, Tanisha needs to be there. Fourth spot will go to either Jessica or Jacque depending on who does better in the next week’s competition.
I didn’t really want to do one just because everyone was great, but I figured I challenge myself to at least try.
Oh and tour dates are up under the news section of the show’s site.
First of all I need to say I hated that the all-stars were ushered off stage and were not allowed to stay on stage for the judges critiques. I realize that the comments are to rate only the current dancers however I wait all season for the all stars to finally get back on the show and I personally think it’s rude not to let them on stage to hear the comments.
Now for the positive…Last night was probably the best show so far for me. I enjoyed all of the routines with the only exception being Rudy and Jenna’s cha cha. He ruined the routine once again for me with his antics. (glad to see Nigel also picked up on how they affect the routine negatively)
my top 4 routines in order were Zack and Amy (Zack completely changed my mind about his dancing), Jacque and Chehon, and Ricky and Lauren. Close behind was Jessica and Twitch.
Middle 3 were Tanisha and Ryan, Emilio and Jasmine, and Casey and Kathryn.
bottom were Rudy and Jenna, Bridget and Brandon and Valerie and Ade but in no particular order.
Not surprised Bridget and Emilio went home. Bridget has not been a fan favorite all season and while I wish Rudy had gone home instead of Emilio I think his days were numbered anyway.
Valerie had an off week but I think the strength of her season as a whole will save her next week.
Some interesting all star match-ups coming up next week…Jacque/Twitch and Casey/Comfort will be the biggest challenges. Must say something about Travis Wall. I understand why the judges always go ga ga for him. he’s like one of their children…last night’s routine he choreographed for Jacque and Chehon was a masterful blend of ballet and contemporary and showed me once again whey he is great.
So-o-o glad Nappy/Tabs is back…
that’s it for this week
I liked the opening group routine a lot. The bright color costumes were a neat idea and it made it easier to pick out individual dancers.
Tanisha was incredible in the AT. Sharp, precise and fast. It was good to see Ryan again.
I was hoping we would get a lyrical ballet piece, I just didn’t think it would come from Travis. Jacque was lovely in it.
I didn’t like the BollyDisco. Mostly because of the multi-colored flashing lights that distracted and somewhat obscured the actual dancing.
I thought Rudy did quite well with ChaCha. That was the first time I actually liked him. Then he had to go and ruin it with his over the top mugging antics during judging. I’m glad Nigel called him out on it. I get that the kid’s full of life, but he’s acting like that 10 year old boy who has to be the center of attention AT ALL TIMES! It’s annoying.
Sad to loose Emilio. He showed a lot of growth.
Zach is such an amazing dancer. He dances with everything he has to give. It’s inspiring. In fact I hope that Zach or Tanisha win this thing. I don’t think it’ll happen though. Ricky seems to have already been anointed the winner.
I didn’t like that the all stars left the stage right after they danced either.
Rudy doesn’t bother like he does some…lol…not sure why but I think he has a big fan base.
I’m always happy when favorite choreographers return to the show. Not many people realize that they do much more outside of the show and sometimes those things conflict.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson will be guest judge next week. Also, it’s a Michael Jackson theme week? I thought I head Cat say that. Excited about the all stars again. Especially when we get to see someone from season 1.