Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Well…on the discussion post, I said that I might have to flip back and forth between the SYTYCD finale and the first Saints pre-season game. Well, the good news is that I won’t have to flip back and forth. The bad news is that my local FOX channel has pre-empted the SYTYCD finale in order to show the first Saints pre-season game. I won’t be able to see the show till 10:30 local time.

You have to understand that little else matters in New Orleans during football season. We love our Saints. Though, I’m a little ticked off with them at the moment.

My mom lives in Atlanta, so she’s gonna help me out with the music. If you can see the show and would like to help me, please do.

Top 3 Group Routine:
Choreographer: Christopher Scott from LXD
Song: My mom says it was Nation Lanier’s “Ra,” but I can’t find them on iTunes, so help me out if we got it wrong. Ha! Marianya just said it’s NATHAN Lanier’s “Ra,” which isn’t on iTunes, so try is “Invisible Children Theme” – instead. I know it’s not the same, but enjoy anyway.

Kenny Ortega’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo” from Damn Yankees –

Nigel’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Billy Bell
All-Star: Ade Obayami
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Michael Andrews ft. Gary Jules’s “Mad World” –

Professional Performance:
Dancer: Quest Crew!!!
Song: Caravan Palace’s “Suzy” –

Mia’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Adechike Torbert
All-Star: Comfort Fedoke
Style: Lyrical Hip-hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’” –

The crazy love and smooching montage was to “Love.” I’m not quite sure who the singer is, but maybe Keyshia Cole . Our commenter Natasha pointed out that it’s L-O-V-E by Joss Stone –

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Cha Cha
Choreographer: Jean Marc and France Genereux
Song: 3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha’s “My First Kiss” – , which was on my predicted music list.

Tyce’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Dominic Sandoval
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Basement Jaxx ft. Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk’s “Scars” –

Dance Day Recap:
Music: Flo Rida ft. David Guetta’s “Club Can’t Handle Me” –

Guest Performers:
Tappers: Luke Spring and the Manzari Brothers

Nigel’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Tango
Choreographer: Miriam and Leonardo
Song: Astor Piazolla’s “Oblivion” –

Adam’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Travis Wall
Choreographer: Contemporary
Song: Coldplay’s “Fix You” –

Professional Performance:
Dancers: Season 6 winner Russell Ferguson and Lil C
Song: Buckmouth’s “Hazardous” – which I haven’t found on iTunes yet

Mary Murphy’s Chosen Dance
Dancer: Jose Ruiz
All-Star: Dominic Sandoval
Style: Breakdancing
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: District 78′s “Battle for the Beat” –

Professional Performance:
Dancers: SYTYCD UK Season 1 winner Charlie Bruce and Neil Haskell
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Celine Dion’s “I Surrender” –
She and Drew danced this on SYTYCD UK, but I loved seeing her dance it with Neil, I have to say.

3rd Place goes to: Robert
Song: The Undeserving’s “Something to Hope For” –

Adam’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Twitch Boss
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Ludacris and Nicki Minaj’s “My Chick Bad” –

Cat’s Chosen Dance: (?)
Dancer: Alex Wong
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” –

Stacey’s Chosen Dance:
Dancers: Billy Bell and Robert Roldan
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul dev Mahajan
Song: “Ganesh” – from “Bombay Dreams”

Mia’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: DeVotchka’s “How It Ends” –

Musical Performance: Black Gold with Season 7′s elimination song “Shine” –

Check out this cute video of them rehearsing for the show:

Everybody’s Chosen Dance:
All-Stars: Twitch Boss and Ellen Degeneres
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: NappyTabs
Song: Lil Jon ft. LM*AO’s “Outta Your Mind” –

I’m not afraid to say it – I’m really excited for the first half of the finale tonight, as well as all the dancing and music we’re gonna be witness to. Hurrah!

Reminder of the season montage: Florence + the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over” – and Coldplay’s “Fix You” –

Dance: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: “Om Mangalam” – from Kambakkht Ishq

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Twitch Boss
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Kanye West’s “Power” –

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Mark Kanemura
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Devo’s “Whip It” –

Kent’s solo was to Train’s “The Finish Line” –

Dancers: Lauren Froderman and Robert Roldan
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Dee Caspary
Song: Cinematic Orchestra’s “That Home” –

Dancers: Lauren Froderman and Kent Boyd
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Huey Lewis and the News’ “Hip to Be Square” –

Robert danced his solo to The Postal Service’s “The District Sleeps Alone” –

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Joshua Radin’s “Sundrenched World” –

Lauren danced to Mary J. Blige’s “I’m Goin’ Down” –

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Spencer Liff
Song: “Cool” – from West Side Story

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Cha cha
Choreographer: Tony and Melanie
Song: Christina Aguilera’s “Not Myself Tonight” –

Dancers: Robert Roldan and Kent Boyd
Style: Malevos
Choreographer: Miriam and Leonardo
Songs: Taylor Long’s “The Chosen/Drum Addict” – NOT ON iTUNES! ARGGGH!

You can find all of Season 7′s music here.

Let’s jump right in, since I’m running late from work.

Group number choreographed by Tyce Diorio to “The Crapshooter’s Dance” – from Guys and Dolls.

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Tango
Choreographer: Miriam and Leonardo
Song: Astor Piazolla’s “Oblivion” – [I was running late and my mom was texting me the song titles of the first 2 songs - she said "steamy obsession" and I assumed that was the song title, lol.]

Dancer: Adechike Torbert
All-Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: African jazz
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Song: Ralph MacDonald’s “The Pain,” which also isn’t coming on iTunes. Try “Calypso Breakdown” for now.

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Viennese Waltz
Choreographer: Jonathan Roberts
Song: Anouk’s “Lost” –

Dance: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Courtney Galliano
Style: Disco
Choreographer: Doreana Sanchez (of course)
Song: David Guetta and Kelly Rowland’s “When Love Takes Over” –

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Ade Obayami
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Song: Kosheen’s “Hide U” – [The link is the regular version, not the remix they used on the show]

Dancer: Adechike Torbert
All-Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Contemporary?
Choreographer: Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden
Song: Melissa Etheridge’s “Fearless Love” –

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Dominic Sandoval
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Basement Jaxx ft. Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk’s “Scars” –

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: DeVotchka’s “How It Ends” –

You can find all of Season 7′s music here.

Every twelve hours for the next few days up until the day of the show after this post there will a post devoted to each of the Top 4 as well as some additional information…

But before talking about the Top 4 Dancers, let’s look at the All Stars this season and what I would like to see happen with the All-Stars in what could potentially be their last week as All-Star partners…

So now that seven weeks have gone by lets take a look at the All-Stars and what they have been asked to do on the show thus far (in regards to the performance shows… not the results shows)

Towards the bottom of the post there is a poll asking which of the following All-Stars would you like to see in the upcoming performance show (provided that the format won’t change).

Allison Holker
- Week 1: Contemporary w/ Alex Wong
- Week 2: Contemporary w/ Adechike Torbert
- Week 3: Jazz w/ Kent Boyd
- Week 4: INJURY
- Week 5: Contemporary w/ Robert Roldan
- Week 6: Contemporary w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 7: Broadway w/ Lauren Froderman

Allison has danced with everyone… and has been dancing almost every week (would have been every week had it not been for her injury). So if she’s to dance this week I would love to see her work with Kent again, maybe something cultural. Otherwise, give this girl a break…

Anya Garnis
- Week 1: ChaCha w/ Kent Boyd
- Week 2: Argentine Tango w/ Robert Roldan
- Week 3: Samba w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 4: INJURY
- Week 5: Salsa w/ Adechike Torbert
- Week 5: Jive w/ Billy Bell
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: ChaCha w/ Kent Boyd

The problem with Ballroom is that it is very rare to see a same sex dance. Male/Male Paso Doble is the easiest one to extrapolate, but what about Female/Female? I would love to see a pairing with her that would involve a Viennese Waltz or a Rumba.

Dominic Sandoval
- Week 1: NONE
- Week 2: Lyrical HipHop w/ Lauren Froderman
- Week 3: NONE
- Week 4: HipHop w/ Ashley Galvan
- Week 5: Breaking w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: NONE

Poor guy, he’s one of many male dancers that have only danced three times in this competition. Should there be a hiphop routine it usually goes to Twitch as a oppose to Dominic. He’s a sweetheart, so why not put that sweetness to work with a hiphop routine with another sweet guy like Kent!

Lauren Gottlieb
- Week 1: Broadway w/ Billy Bell
- Week 2: Broadway w/ Alex Wong
- Week 3: HipHop w/ Adechike Torbert
- Week 4: Contemporary w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 5: NONE
- Week 6: Jazz w/ Robert Roldan
- Week 7; NONE

My, isn’t she a popular one amongst the men? This is easy, pair her up with Kent Boyd. He has already done Broadway with Neil and HipHop with Comfort, Jazz with Courtney, Allison and Kathryn… the only times he has done Contemporary is with his fellow competitors… so why not a Contemporary piece with Lauren? It could be a story about Kent finding out that Lauren’s been going around with other men (as evidence of the fact that most of the guys are swooning over her) and she tries to keep him to her.

Neil Haskell
- Week 1: Contemporary w/ Ashley Galvan
- Week 2: NONE
- Week 3: Broadway w/ Lauren Froderman
- Week 4: NONE
- Week 5: Broadway w/ Kent Boyd
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: NONE

A great talent that is woefully underused. Unfortunately with the women getting more work than the men, the men are tied up doing male/male routines, which is fine by me. This is a dancer that needs to be used more often! And when I say more often, I’d like to see a Neil/Adechike routine. They are both very strong and athletic dancers… just think of the tricks that could come out of these two!

Pasha Kovalev
- Week 1: Jive w/ Melinda Sullivan
- Week 2: Paso Doble w/ Cristina Santana
- Week 3: Salsa w/ Melinda Sullivan
- Week 4: ChaCha w/ Lauren Froderman
- Week 5: INJURY
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: NONE

Awww Pasha, you sexy Ballroom dancer you. Without the Paso Doble there isn’t much more male/male dancing that can be done. Unless you want to do a Jive battle? or Samba battle. Ooooo how about him paired up with Robert Roldan doing the Foxtrot or Viennese Waltz… wait wait wait hear me out. Between the two of them a mannequin, and they are trying to “win” the mannequin’s affections… Ok I’m a nut, so sue me.

Comfort Fedoke
- Week 1: HipHop w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 2: Krump w/ Billy Bell
- Week 3: NONE
- Week 4: HipHop w/ Kent Boyd
- Week 5: NONE
- Week 6: Lyrical HipHop w/ Adechike Torbert
- Week 7: HipHop w/ Jose Ruiz

So which dancers have yet to be had by Comfort? ROBERT! Geez I’ve been using him a lot lately. Though, a Lauren/Comfort piece would be very very interesting too… Lauren is full of personality and Comfort knows how to bring the funk. I think this would be another female/female pairing that could go right for once.

Mark Kanemura
- Week 1: Jazz w/ Cristina Santana
- Week 2: Jazz w/ Ashley Galvan
- Week 3: NONE
- Week 4: NONE
- Week 5: Tahitian w/ Lauren Froderman
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: NONE

Ah yes, Mark, another dancer that’s being woefully underused, and not his fault. I think I would like to see a Jazz or Contemporary piece between him and any of the guys. Though if it were with Robert, then it’d be kind of difficult to figure out who is who. I’m kind of scared that Mark would overshadow Kent, but that might be a challenge worth looking into… Adechike I think could keep up really really well.

Stephen “Twitch” Boss
- Week 1: HipHop w/ Alexie Agdeppa
- Week 2: NONE
- Week 3: HipHop w/ Alex Wong
- Week 4: NONE
- Week 5: NONE
- Week 6: HipHop w/ Lauren Froderman
- Week 6: Steppin w/ Kent Boyd (fill in)
- Week 7: NONE

After some mini-vacations early on, Twitch jumps in with two dances in one week. He’s had the most male/male dances, but granted considering his style it’s fairly easy to have male/male dances. Me, I’d love to see some heavy chocolate so a Twitch/Adechike routine would work, or a Twitch/Robert routine would be interesting… well that and the fact that Robert has yet to do a hiphop routine… so why not toss him with Twitch and see if he would sink or swim?

Courtney Galiano
- Week 1: African Jazz w/ Robert Roldan
- Week 2: Jazz w/ Kent Boyd
- Week 3: Jazz w/ Robert Roldan
- Week 4: Jazz w/ Adechike Torbert
- Week 5: Broadway w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: Jazz w/ Adechike Torbert

Ok folks… just to get this out of the way, Courtney is my least favorite All-Star. I never really “got” her, except in her Rumba w/ Gev, but I love ballroom in general so that’s no surprise. That being said, she’s managed a dance with every male contestant thus far, leaving Lauren… so another possible female/female pairing, but despite the other possible female/female pairings as mentioned earlier, I’m not too keen about this one happening. Though with my luck THIS would be the one that ends up happening.

Ade Obayomi
- Week 1: Pop Jazz w/ Lauren Froderman
- Week 2: Contemporary w/ Melinda Sullivan
- Week 3: Contemporary w/ Ashley Galvan
- Week 4: NONE
- Week 5: NONE
- Week 6: NONE
- Week 7: Contemporary w/ Billy Bell

He’s the most classical trained dancer of the group (I believe) and his style is so strong and upright… After seeing him in a piece with Billy Bell last week I’d love to see him with any of dancers again… though I don’t think I’d would like to see him with Lauren…

Kathryn McCormick
- Week 1: Jazz w/ Adechike Torbert
- Week 2: Bollywood w/ Jose Ruiz
- Week 3: Contemporary w/ Billy Bell
- Week 4: Jazz w/ Robert Roldan
- Week 5: Disco w/ Robert Roldan (fill in)
- Week 6: Jazz w/ Kent Boyd
- Week 7: Contemporary w/ Robert Roldan

Considering she was JUST a contestant not even a year ago, it’s amazing to see how much work is being thrown at her, not that she minds apparently. She has danced with everyone thus far (with the exception of Lauren) and has danced every week… I think it’s high time that she gets a break. What do you think?

So there you go, a quick update of what the all-stars have been up to on the show and what I would like to see for the upcoming week. Granted, not all of them would come to pass… but they are preferences on some level… it’ll be interesting to see how many of them would come to pass.

Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve had the pleasure of seeing the All-Stars dance during the results show.

Week 3: Mark Kanemura & Courtney Galiano
Piece: Sonya Tayeh’s “The Garden” from Season 4

Week 4: Pasha Kovalev & Anya Garnis
Piece: Extended Audition Cha Cha piece from Season 3

Week 5: Stephen “Twitch” Boss & Comfort Fedoke
Piece: Dave Scott’s Hip Hop piece from Season 4

Week 6: Neil Haskell & Lauren Gottlieb
Piece: Wade Robson’s Good vs Evil piece from Season 3

Which leaves:
- Allison Holker (Season 2)
- Dominic Sandoval (Season 3)
- Ade Obayomi (Season 5)
- Kathryn McCormick (Season 6)

So far the producers have used established dancers… but with the above four that are remaining it won’t be quite that easy…

But, let’s keep it simple… of the above four dancers which pairings would you like to see happen on an upcoming results show?

Once again, I’m going to combine my Top 9 performance thoughts and power rankings this week.

This one’s gonna be rough. Roouuuggggh. I’ve been reading a few of your comments to help me out here, but I’m still pretty confused.

Top Three

Alex – Is there any question? I think we can all agree on this one. And this is coming from me, the “hater” of hip-hop. Helllloooo…let’s just say I’m most likely to like hip-hop if it’s NappyTabs. And if Twitch is dancing, I’m always in love. But Alex is what made this routine, which was choreographed brilliantly for him and all, but he held his own with TWITCH BOSS! I mean, boss is in his name. And Alex killed it. Did you hear that audience? Cat kept saying it was the loudest crowd she’d even seen on the show. It sounded like they were in a stadium. I especially loved Mia’s, “Who the hell are you?” Even though, I’m not really that surprised Alex rocked because he’s just phenomenal. When I saw the SYTYCDism spoilers that Alex and Twitch were dancing together, I made very girly sounds.

Billy – The judges came down hard on him (but they kinda have to, since he’s been a judge favorite all along, right?), but it was a gorgeous routine. Billy still has a lot of fans and I thought the combination of his mentioning Legacy as his role model, dancing with Kathryn (who danced with Legacy) and a powerful routine from Stacey Tookey put him up top. He was a bit stiff and arrogant while getting his feedback, I think, which makes me like him less. But the routine was lovely and his solo was strong as well. Overall, I think the judges were hard on him because they’re trying to give him a possibility at a “journey/arch” that he might not be perceived as having since he’s so technically good.

Ashley – When Top 11 started after Vegas Week, I was thinking, “Who is this girl?” I had no idea who she was. But I loooooooooove her now. Yes, she needs to dance something other than contemporary. But she’s been able to show something different in this routine and it was a chilling and wonderful routine with Ade. She has quickly become one of my favorites and will be my biggest solace when we probably lose the girl who has been one of my favorite from the beginning.

Middle Three

Robert -I love him. He got BIG cheers, supported Jose (yes he can, when Cat asked rhetorically if Jose could hold his own) and had great chemistry with Courtney. But, he danced with Courtney again to a blah-ish Sonya (not her best, at least) routine that  happened earlier in the show, which makes it sadly a bit forgettable. He was compared to Mark, however, and I think he does suit Sonya’s choreography. I hope it doesn’t put him in danger cause I loved when Sonya was taking America to task for not voting for Robert. He definitely deserves to stay.

Lauren – I thought it was a fun Broadway, and though I don’t always love her personality, I do enjoy her dancing. I thought both she and Neil were technically strong and had great lines, but there wasn’t a lot of chemistry between them. She’s starting to get a lot of flak, but a lot of people still really love her, I think. Also, I think the wardrobe malfunction and the resulting brou-ha-ha (“I enjoyed that tremendously,” and “I bet you did”) will make her stand out. She got a lot of time – and honestly kudos to her for carrying on with her entire strap dangling. I think that would have been just a bit distracting.

Kent – This is a tough call. It’ll either be Kent or Jose in this or the first Bottom 3 spot, in my opinion. But, they’re kinda on the same level, I think. Both didn’t dance strongly this week, both have huge fan bases. I do have to say I don’t think enough has been said about Dmitry’s phenomenal choreography here – smart and sexy work. While Jose got better feedback (and I liked his performance better), I think Kent’s fan base is a little more rabid AND I think that he’s perceived to have danced better in genres outside his own…

Bottom Three

Jose – Whereas Jose has been giving a lot of “Legacy choreography” – stunts within the choreo that show off his skillz and remind us why he’s on the show. I liked Jose’s performance tonight, but I agree with some of the comments I’ve seen that he didn’t do a lot of real dancing, more like excellent partnering. I think the routine (and most of his routines) have cleverly disguised his weaknesses and the judges are mostly glossing them over. So while I think he may be in the Bottom 3 tomorrow night, I think he’ll be a the “top” of the Bottom 3, which will mean he’ll be back next week.

Adechike – A lot of people are raving about his Dave Scott hip-hop tonight. After watching it back three times now, I think he made *some* improvement. But you know what? He had all the personality of a prop, to me. He might as well have not been there. The only times I noticed him was when he was being sloppy and cheesy. It’s kinda the reverse of Melinda for me – I don’t get the hate for her and a lot of people probably won’t get (or agree with) me putting him in the bottom 3. But honestly, I think that any little sign of improvement was going to be seen as a huge step for him because he danced like a stick with two beautiful women in his own genre in the weeks before this. I think he should be getting a lot of heat for that and I don’t care if he danced a slightly better hip-hop this week. I would’ve rather’d seen that routine with *anyone* other than him. Even not always loving hip-hop, I could see how that could be a great routine. With somebody else.

Melinda – I love her, but… it seems like I’m one of the few left who do. Especially if you count the judges. I thought Mia’s comment was so gross. What is the constructive point of telling her “we might have made a mistake keeping you” on national t.v.? Why not, “You didn’t dance your best, or as strongly as you needed to”? And, after watching the routine back, it galls me to admit this, but it was pretty awful. I enjoyed it in the moment, I did. I thought there were some especially awkward transitions into jumps, lifts and tricks and a moment that might’ve been choreographed or might’ve been a colossal mistake. I think the only thing that could save Melinda now is the sympathy vote after Mia’s ugly, pointless comment or if ALL of Melinda’s fans stay up all night voting for her.

I’m not happy about it, but I think Melinda’s going home. (Or maybe it’s a plot to use reverse-psychology are the voting audience….) I hope that it’s two guys in the bottom with her and I’m fairly confident in my picks. Though, as I said earlier today, I think we’re ripe for a shocker.

Some last thoughts before I go -

-I love that Cat’s talking more than ever – especially about the routines. Even if she’s not a dancer, she should get to put her 2 cents in after all the years she’s hosted and participated in the show. I like knowing what she thinks!

-I thought the solos were all pretty strong and interesting. I wasn’t thrilled with Ashley using the same music as last week’s group routine – I think it was too soon and indicated (whether this is fair or not) that she didn’t try as hard to be unique. Same thing with Adechike – he used at least the same song as his dance for his life in Vegas and it might have been the same solo, I’m not sure. I thought Lauren had the strongest solo of the girls and I was very impressed by Kent’s solo (his “new Billy Belly status” has never been clearer). I enjoyed Jose and Melinda’s solos quite a lot as well.

-The minute Alex’s footage started and up to the last minute on screen was some of the best SYTYCD has ever had to offer. Pure enjoyment. Even though Adam’s “This is your world and I’m just visiting” comment was regurgitated (Marianya reminded me he said it to Ashleigh last season), I think the emotion behind it was truly genuine. How could it not be? You could see the mass hysteria going on in that studio. I think NappyTabs were incredibly smart to forsake an easy route “battle” dynamic for this routine and in doing so, they made this an incredibly memorable routine, one that showcased both of its incredible dancers. If this is the quality of dancing we have to look forward to, I don’t mind *as much* that we’ll probably lose Melinda and be at 2-6 girls and guys.

-You know…some of the problem with this season’s female-male dynamic may originate with the choreographers. Hear me out… I suspect that the choreographers are just plain more inspired by the guys and they’re using the choreography to showcase and protect the guys, yet they’re not doing the same thing for the girls. Especially when you consider the enormous amounts of ballroom that the in-danger and eliminated girls have danced. The ballroom routines usually don’t have intense back stories, are very technically fussy and difficult, usually have less appealing music (hey, I’m considering the types of songs YOU tend to click on) and are a hit-or-miss when it comes to audience appreciation.

-Did you see Legacy on stage with all the dancers at the end? He and Kathryn seemed to have a bit of a reunion.

Well, bring on my heat for all the cranky-puss comments about Ade. I know a lot of you are going to think I’m crazy for my power rankings this week, so time to hear it!

SPOILER ALERT

I’m gonna put a spoiler line, just in case. The music on tonight’s SYTYCD episode follows…

Dancer: Adechike Torbert
All-Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Hip-Hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Song: “Hot N Fun” – [My mom helped me till I could get home and she missed the artist - I believe it's N.E.R.D. ft. Nelly Furtado, so I'll link to that till I hear differently. 7:55 p.m. update: I've watched it back and confirmed that it is N.E.R.D. ft. Nelly Furtado].

Dancer: Ashley Galvan
All-Star: Ade Obayomi
Style: Conteporary
Choreographer: Dee Caspary
Song: Florence + the Machine’s “Cosmic Love” –

Billy solo: Amanda Blank’s “Something Bigger, Something Better” –

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Courtney
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: M.I.A. “XXXO” –

Jose’s solo: James Brown “Super Bad” –

Dancer: Melinda Sullivan
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Salsa
Choreographer: Fabian Sanchez
Song: D.L.G “Magdalena, Mi Amor (Quimbera)” –

Kent solo: Jay Sean’s “Down (Candlelight remix)” –

Alex solo: Danny Elfman’s “Rule the Planet” – from the Planet of the Apes soundtrack.

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Joey Dowling
Song: Debbie Gibson “Let Me Entertain You” –

Ashley’s solo: Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy’s “Royal T” – [Again! This song was also used in Sonya's group routine last week.]

Dancer: Billy Bell
All-Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” –

Robert solo: Ray LaMontagne’s “Hold You in My Arms” –

Dancer: Jose Ruiz
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Samba
Choreographer: Dmitry Chaplin
Song: Shakira’s “Long Time” –

Melinda’s solo: Alicia Keys’s “Empire State of Mind Part II: Broken Down” –

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Allison
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Alicia Keys’s “Heartburn” –

Adechike’s solo: Craig Armstrong’s “Ruthless Gravity” – [This is the same song he danced for his life to in Vegas.]

Lauren’s solo: Cyndi Lauper’s cover of “Unchained Melody” –

Dancer: Alex Wong
All-Star: Twitch Boss
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: NappyTabs
Song: Lil Jon ft. LM*AO’s “Outta Your Mind” –

You can check out all Season 7′s music here.

Hi all! So I know it’s the day of the show, but I’ve searched high and low this week for the spoilers and I finally found them! Courtesy of our fabulous friends at SYTYCDism

Read more…

SPOILER ALERT

I’m gonna put a spoiler line, just because of the West Coast. Click through if you want to see tonight’s featured music.

Dancer: Cristina Santana
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Paso Doble
Choreographer: Jean Marc Genereux
Song: James Dooley’s “Ira Deorum/Sanctus” –

Dancer: Adéchiké Torbert
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: D.H.T. ft. Edmee’s “Listen to Your Heart” -

Dancer: Alex Wong
All-Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Sylvestor “Summertime” –

Dancer: Ashley Galvan
All-Star: Mark Kanemura
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: Annie Lennox’s “Wonderful” –

Dancer: Billy Bell
All-Star: Comfort Fedoke
Style: Krump
Choreographer: Lil C
Song: Tha J Squad’s “So U Think U Can Krump” – probably made for the show. Can’t find it yet. Still looking…

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Argentine Tango
Choreographer:
Song: Bond Quartet’s “Libertango” –

Dancer: Melinda Sullivan
All-Star: Ade Obayomi
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Skunk Anasie’s “Squander” –

Dancer: Jose Ruiz
All-Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: Billu Barber “Marjaani Marjaani Kasame” –

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Dominic Sandoval
Style: Lyrical hip-hop
Choreographer: Tessandra Chavez
Song: Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy” –

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Courtney Galiano
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Amy Winehouse’s “Amy Amy Amy” –

For music from earlier episodes, check out all Season 7′s music.

Sooo normally I don’t have an opinion when it comes to dances and emotion and what not, but there was so much going on that you can’t help but react, so I’m going to give it a shot… Just a quick warning, chances are high I’m not going to react to the actual dances as much as some other things that have happened…

Overall Show format

Marianya’s Reaction: Now I’m really digging this All Star format, I think the All Stars are really a big help in helping the dancers get acquainted with unfamiliar dances… but another week I think will help me refine that opinion.

Dancer: Billy Bell
All-Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Broadway

Marianya’s Reaction: Ok, Billy is a beautiful dancer, no question… but he seems to have lost a bit of that luster from Season 6. Though I’ll admit this is one of the better Broadway routines.

Dancer: Cristina Santana
All-Star: Mark Kanemura
Style: Jazz

Marianya’s Reaction: Took me a while to realize that Cristina was wearing a body suit and not body paint >.< But dang Mark was flirting with the audience as he walked off stage... with the finger pointing and the semi-Elvis semi-The Fonz look... such a ham.

Dancer: Jose Ruiz
All-Star: Comfort Fedoke
Style: Hip Hop

Marianya’s Reaction: Jose looking all werewolf-y yeeeaaah, didn’t expect that, but I think Jose got cut a break with a good portion of his dancing being more breaking than actual dancing… he’s better on the floor than on his feet… and doesn’t necessarily work in dancing, in other activities I’d agree, but not dancing.

Dancer: Adéchiké Torbert
All-Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Contemporary/Jazz

Marianya’s Reaction: This had SO MUCH potential and it felt flat. I mean COME ON, I work in the office and I have fantasies of being able to do that to a couple of guys, but this routine is a man’s fantasy not a female’s fantasy. Seriously dude.

Dancer: Melinda Sullivan
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Ballroom – Jive

Marianya’s Reaction: *Squee* Pasha’s back, I’m a Pasha fangirl. I was going to say something about the routine but Adam totally made me forget what I wanted to say when he said, “look in here please don’t look down here…” with his fingers aiming towards his family jewels… so he had to add to that, “and by that I mean your legs and feet”. I love Adam… I don’t care which team he bats for.

Dancer: Alex Wong
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Jazz

Marianya’s Reaction: O.M.G. Where the hell did that come from!??!?! I’ve never see Nigel speechless… and I swear I thought Nigel shed a tear or two or three… One thing I noticed is that Alex held Allison for a very long time… almost as long as Neil and Ashley later on… but that was such an emotionally driven piece that they needed a bit to calm down. Oh and SONYA ROCKS tonight… I’ve never been a huge fan of Sonya, I am now.

Dancer: Alexie Agdeppa
All-Star: Stephen “Twitch” Boss
Style: Hip Hop

Marianya’s Reaction: Shankman of the 90s scares me, and instead of the girl barging through the door it’s Twitch barging through the window… He so suave in that dance, he could sneak through my window any night. Though, I totally would love to see the extended clip of Shankman in Star Search.

Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Ade Obayami
Style: Contemporary

Marianya’s Reaction: As much as I love Ade, Lauren totally killed the routine for me. I ended up fast forwarding through the routine because Lauren seemed to be a dancing Barbie doll. It’s pretty and all but there’s no substance behind the pretty face and lines.

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Ballroom

Marianya’s Reaction: OMG I know what Kent needs to do in order to remain on top… he needs to enjoy dancing and not think! I love, LOVE, LOVE his last back bend and when he gets out of it and looks at Anya, did anyone notice a bit of a flick of his tongue out the right side of his lips? OMG. Forget the lips puckering or his Jessica Rabbit impersonation. And then he went from being a “man” to being a “boy” again… it’s like *blink* I’m a kid again. And Mia and Adam’s reactions to the cougar exchange… priceless!

Dancer: Ashley Galvan
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Contemporary

Marianya’s Reaction: Another strong emotional routine, right up there with Alex/Allison. But for more of my reaction, go to this exchange between myself and Emilie.

Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Courtney Galiano
Style: African Jazz

Marianya’s Reaction: Courtney’s my least fav All-Star… so you could bet I was a wee disappointed that Robert didn’t “really” kill Courtney I watched Robert primarily through this whole thing. This is a dancer that’s like Ade where you know almost nothing about them at the beginning but their dancing spoke for them… and his exchange with Mia was entertaing… RAWR! Though Adam’s assessment of Robert would be interesting considering there’s Kent and Billy there too… I’m beginning to understand way there are so many male dancers, it just made me wonder how did Anthony Burrell do in the other styles that forced them to let him go because that has GOT to be the reason they didn’t keep him on…