So You Think You Can Dance Top 14 Recap

SHOW 313/314
7/11/07

Hey Dance Kiddies, So You Think You Can Dance is back after the short Independence Day hiatus! You didn’t forget did you? Cat Deeley greets the crowd in her usual deliciously pleasant manner and intros the top 14 dancers; she’s got some kind of crushed sequin action going on. Joining the Nigel and Mary on the judging panel is Hairspray director Adam Shankman.

Let’s get right down to it with the first couple of the night – Lacey and Kameron. Mohawk Boy and Swing Girl will be doing the Hustle as taught by Maria Torres. Kameron is the first onstage, starting with a pirouette while lacey writhes on the stair railing wearing some tight black pants with some kind of diamond shaped chest shield. They waste no time partnering up and taking turns flashing sassy faces between spins and turns. This song has also activated Lacey’s problematic facial expressions. I say it’s a pretty rad number the judges will love, not to mention Lacey’s sexiest costume yet, which gives new meaning to “low-rise”. The judges all dig-it saying the style is deceivingly hard and they made it look easy. Hopefully the rest of the routines today are this good.
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Inner Life

Cedric and Shauna are up now to do a Mambo – both totally clueless to the nature of the Mambo. Me too, I thought it was a fruity candy. Alex Da Silva has been charged to set them straight on the Mambo. When Alex heard he had Cedric he brought in 2 extra assistants to teach the often intractable hip-hopper the Mambo. The dance starts immediately with Shauna and Cedric arm-in-arm pulling crazy Mambo tricks. Shauna is looking stunningly sexy in all white while Cedric looks to be the perfect Cuban gentleman, pork-pie hat and all. Unfortunately the couple’s moves are cumbersome and slow with only a few moments that really shine, with Shauna looking like the leader. Mary Murphy pulls a surprise punch and praises Cedric for making big gains in terms of improvement, keep in mind this is coming from the judge who definitively said Cedric shouldn’t be in the competition any more.
Flaute Y Timbal
Tito Peunte

The super sexy couple of Danny and Anya are up next. They will be doing a contemporary routine taught by Tyce Diorio. Tyce digs deep in his bag of metaphors for this routine hoping to get the ladies tear ducts popping. They’re each artfully dressed in all black doing lots of jumping on and off one another. Through in some pulling, sliding and a 15 foot aerial jump by Danny and there’s the routine. I can’t say I’m impressed, but I think judges and voters are going to eat it up. The Judges are all so impressed they don’t have much to say…wait, Nigel just said Adam Shankman is talking crap. Now the 2 engage in a little old mans argument about whether Danny is arrogant or just lacking the “it” factor.
Apologize
One Republic

The newly made couple of Pasha and Sara are up next doing some West Coast Swing choreographed by none other than last years champion, Benji Schwimmer, who just can’t seem to wean himself from So You think You Can Dance. It’s like the most fun any couple has had in choreography. They start off on the ever popular back stairs with Sara precariously teetering over Pasha, and then it’s onto the floor to start spinning and mugging to the camera. They look like the annoying high school couple who dominates the prom dance floor making everyone jealous of their moves. The crowd is going nuts. The judges are all love it, especially the chemistry. They end with a nice shot of Sara’s waistline showing off the four glittered stripes wrapping around her hips to tell people to vote for number 4. Nice one, wardrobe department.
The Rockafeller Skank
Fatboy Slim

Dominica and Sabra are teamed up to do a Shane Sparks hip-hop number. Shane Sparks is excited to choreograph the couple he feels has such great chemistry. The pair starts off sitting in white folding chairs with the lights low. They waste no time energizing the routine in perfect sync to some kind of spacey laser beam pulse in the song. The coolest move is a freaky looking duel handstand, def never seen that before. Adam Shankman says the couple injected a new flavor of emotion into Hip-hop. Mary breaks tradition by doing some kind of bizarre silent scream. Not to be outdone Nigel calls it terrible… terrible that is was so short. Whoa!!! A change up, Seacreast style. I tell ya, I couldn’t have been more surprised if I got shot in the ass with a rubber bullet.
Make it Work
Ne-Yo

Jaimie and Hok are up next doing the Waltz, also known as the more boring dance ever invented, basically why the puritans really left Europe. Choreographer Tony Reopath claims she will not be teaching the pair the traditional waltz, please prove me wrong Tony. The couple starts on the ever-popular stairs, lying on top of each other pretending to sleep until the siren of Lillith Fair awakens them. They start tromping around softly like sugar plum fairies in a like shower, which is easily the wussiest thing I’ve ever said. Basically it was a total fairy tell dance. But what of the Judges! Adam liked Jaimie’s lines but could tell Hok was not in his element. Mary says pretty much the same thing. Nigel compliments the choreography, but says the rest wasn’t really good enough. Teenage girls across the country shout collective boos.
Angel
Sarah McLachlan

The Final couple tonight is Lauren and Neil – both very determined not to be in the bottom three this week. Choreography genius, Wade Robson, will be teaching them jazz. With that I’d say they’re already safe, but they may find a way to mess it up. The black and white costumes motif is back in effect, this time a bit more other-worldly in the Robson way. Whoa, this is the first routine this season where I was so mesmerized I couldn’t type. Neil played some type of Dr. Jekyll character running after the innocent Lauren who turns out to have some pretty impressive moves of her own. The judges exhaust themselves with praise for this routine. These kids got what they wanted; I highly doubt they will be dancing for their lives tomorrow.
Night of the Dancing Flame
Roisin Murphy

There’s your show, people. Start placing your bets now; it’s going to be a tough eliminations round tomorrow.