Season 8 Top 10 Thoughts and Discussion

SOOOOOO extremely happy to see Neil Patrick Harris as the guest judge. I adore him and I’m not surprised he’s a fan of the show or of Cat Deely. She cracked me up when she said, “You’re not popular at all,” after all the cheering for Neil and then told Nigel the audience didn’t have any energy left for him. Lol.

My live thoughts follow, so I guess I’ll put in a spoiler space here…

While I really enjoyed Marko & Chelsie dancing that Jason Gilkison samba, I wish it had been danced by a female contestant and male All-Star because it was allll about showing off the girl. Just as a dance, I loved that because Chelsie is amazing to watch, but I don’t really think it was fair to any male contestant. However, Marko did a great job keeping up with Chelsie doing Jason’s choreography. Marko looked so scared with Neil called him the guy to beat and his expression actually reminded me of Kent Boyd at that moment. Nigel had a point when he said that Marko had lost a great partner, but was dancing with the stars now. 🙂 And Cat was hysterical when she said that Chelsie was like a Bond villain. Actually, they should make another Bond movie JUST so they can cast Chelsie as a Bond villain. 🙂

Sasha’s solo was alright. It seemed a little spastic, but was also really athletic. I loved her expression when she hugged Cat. It was like she was saying, “Yup, I’m gonna hug on Cat all I want cause she’s distracted talking to y’all.”

I can’t stop being annoyed by Jordan’s leg. I wish I could get over it. But she danced beautifully with Brandon, I admit. They had perfect unison in the middle section and that wonderful long, transitioning lift at the end.

In between spins and tricks, Jess’s solo was a bit boring occasionally, till he knee-walked across the stage at the end. It was meh for me, but then I’m not a fan of him. I AM a fan of Cat and I think she did a good job of making him more likable by interacting with him. “Who’re all these people in our rom? Help me up cause I’ve got on these silly shoes.” Lol.

I didn’t really like the Chuck Maldonado hip hop routine because it felt really slow (as in labored) at the beginning and then later, in the faster middle section, the choreography didn’t really match the music and they just seemed off. I couldn’t tell if their timing was off, but they didn’t seem well matched in parts. In others, I thought they were actually well-matched, so it was just confusing. I’m ready for the disagreement, though…

Melanie’s solo rocked. It was like a mini routine. She put a lot of intention into her solo, I think and it had depth. It wasn’t the same moves over and over for 30 seconds.

I actually really like Mitchell dancing Broadway, but I did not like that routine at all. I saw a lot of possibility in Mitchell’s performance for a future career, but he had 0 chemistry with Melody and it was really awkward. Without just calling Tyce out, I think most of the judges still blamed the choreography (or at least Neil did). It kinda sucked. I’ve seen Tyce do way better than that, but I suspect Mitchell may suffer (and the Melody curse may continue). Though, I have to say that I looove that Mitchell pulled out the “bougie.” Lol. That would be the ATL way of saying bougeois, don’t you know.

Was not all that impressed with Rickey’s solo, either. It’s probably the least cohesive of his solos since being on the show, but that may be because he’s not dancing for his life for once. Maybe he was saving his energy for his routine later. Once again, Cat was really cute and helped him out. When he left the stage too quickly, she called, “Rickey! Rickey! To me!” and then, “Nobody noticed.” Too funny. This woman better win an Emmy. She’s been charming and smoothing over awkwardness for 7 seasons now and has no match.

I was surprised by Clarice’s solo. It reminded me a bit of a Sonya routine. But, I kinda hated her smiling the whole way through. It made everything feel too one-note.

OH MY GAWD about Caitlynn and Pasha!! “Pasha will do that to a girl,” indeed. He really brought out a different side in Caitlynn, but she’s been becoming more of a favorite of mine since Top 20. I think they achieved their goal of making us feel like we’re spying on an intimate moment.

I really liked Mitchell’s solo, but hated that his shorts looked like a giant diaper.

OH MY GAWD again about Sasha and Twitch. First of all, anybody getting Twitch has an enormous edge. And then Twitch says that if he doesn’t bring it, he’ll get danced off the stage by Sasha. And you know what? They were so well-matched. So much chemistry. It was a sexy piece and I’m glad the judges loved it, too. And that was the best couples routine I’ve seen from Christopher Scott. It was phenomenal. I want more like that from him. Loved that he wore an LXD shirt in the rehearsal. 🙂 Also, that Mary called it a “hot-ass” routine. Do you think they forgot to bleep her because they didn’t expect that from Mary? They showed Christopher Scott’s face right after she said it and I think he was surprised.

Also, I know I’ve been talking about Cat a lot, but she’s in top form tonight. But what is with her picking on Nigel so much? Like when she said to Mary after Tadd & Comfort’s hip hop, “He’s on the edge, just push him off. No one will notice.” Lol. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but he IS her boss.

I could see Jordan trying REALLY hard not to rely so much on her single leg tricks. I thought it was probably her best routine, reallly smart. Still annoyed by her leg, though.

When I heard that Jess was dancing with Kathryn, I was really worried (and disappointed, to be honest). I actually agree with the judges that this was his best performance and that it was a SMART choreography from Stacey Tookey, who was so funny (and right) when she said that “Kathryn can practically levitate. If he can’t lift her, he’s in trouble.” And he did far better than I thought he would do, but I was mostly watching Kathryn if I’m honest. I can’t help wishing it had been danced with a different contestant. Sorry to the Jess fans.

I can’t NOT mention that Stacey used another piece of Christina Perri music. I love this song and I picture a routine to it in my head every time I hear it. Loooved how Stacey used it.

ADE sighting! My mom and I texted each other at the same time. He’s her all-time favorite and one of the sweetest dancers I’ve been able to meet so far.

Looved Tadd’s solo. He really used the stage, the way dancers used to when we had Our Beloved Old Stage. It was musical and entertaining and just really awesome. He definitely reminds me of Dominic – so cheeky.

I’m not normally the biggest fan of most Viennese waltzes, but I really loved this Jason Gilkison. Part of it was I love both of the dancers and they were so fluid together. Imagine having to “lead” Pasha in a routine! And the judges were right about the lifts. They looked effortless. Loved Neil’s comment that Melanie looks like she’s from the past and dances like she’s from the future. My mom texted and said that she hopes Melanie wins. 🙂 She and I are on the same page.

Caitlynn’s solo was probably her best. It was competent, but didn’t take my breath away. Loved the song choice, though. Except it’s been used so many times that you’d really have to knock it out of the park to make it memorable, I think.

Rickey was adorable in his fandom of Allison. I loooved when he was supposed to whisper “I’m your worst nightmare” into her ear and he whispered, “I love you,” instead. Lol. It was a great routine, but it reminded me so much of Mia’s Kayla/Kupono addition routine, right down to the costumes. That was a bit distracting to me. Also, Nigel totally gave Tyce a backhanded compliment when he said he likes when Tyce isn’t constrained by choreographing within a Broadway style and is “free.” I think that when Tyce has two routines to choreograph in one episode, one routine usually suffers while one is much better. I’m a BIG fan of the variety of choreographers that we saw tonight and I love when we see different choreographers than we usually see. Every episode should have at least this much variety, in my opinion.

Marko’s solo was really good, showed a lot of strength and personality.

I love Bollywood routines and I think Clarice did a great job in the really difficult one that Nakul choreographed for her and Robert (Robert!). I thought that some of her movements were incomplete and lacked strength, especially when she was connecting with Robert. But overall, it was a great routine. Bollywood movies almost never have kissing, though that’s changing more and more. I especially liked Clarice’s expression after Robert kissed her – it was very fitting for a Bollywood star.

Well, those are my thoughts. I’m going to go vote and get my Power Rankings post going. Tell me what you think?