My Bottom 3 Prediction

I think Billy, Melinda and Lauren will be in the bottom, but in the end... Melinda will be going home. I mean, the judges said that they should have sent her home last week. I guess we will see!

Alex and Twitch perform a Hip Hop piece by Tabitha and Napoleon

I am so glad that they have decided to mix up the genders in the duets. I think it will bring out greater creativity if they choose to continue doing this in future weeks.

I actually think this might have been my favorite piece of the night. It was just so unexpected! Creative concept and choreography by Nappy Tabs! They gave them characters but kept the integrity of the concept and storyline without being cheesy. Great use of the chaise and chair to set a scene and create levels for the choreography. Alex was awesome. He totally held his own with Twitch. What a trip!?!? That was incredible! I loved how they mixed in a back attitude promenade seamlessly with the concept. Craziness!

Lauren's Solo

Hmmm... this solo looked very familiar. It looked just like her solo from Vegas on the last day when she got such rave reviews. This tells me that she is not a real artist because her movement was not inspired by the music. She simply matched her movement to a piece of music. They are interchangeable. That is not creation, that is not artistry, that is not enough. Yuck, I have a sickening taste of disappointment in my mouth. Blah... cough, cough...

AdeChike's Solo

Great night for AdeChike. Smart musical selection that commanded attention and created intensity that was artistically matched by his contemporary movement. Great job!

Kent and Allison perform a Jazz piece by Mandy

Wow! Mandy Moore didn't use 80s music... did she read by blog and decide to mix it up? Interesting musical selection. The disco undertones of this uptempo R&B piece was matched by the classical jazz costume styling.

Good, but not great. I don't know if this style shows off Kent's best qualities. I think the cheesy nature of his approach brought out his competition roots. Yuck Kent! What the heck are you doing? You are capable of so much more!!!

Melinda's Solo

Better connection to the audience than last week's "dance for your life" solo, but still a semi-yawn. The public just doesn't connect with her.

Jose and Anya perform a Samba by Dimitri

It was not as awkward as I expected. There were definitely some clumsy moments, but he tried real hard to absorb the style of the samba. It is a good thing that he has a captivating performance quality, otherwise he would be in some serious trouble. I think the viewers that are voting feel the same way as the judges... who cares about his lack of technique... he is fun to watch. He will be safe.

Robert's Solo

Robert does a great job of extending through his body lines and connecting his movement. He is so on tonight. I hope this will get him out of the shadows of the other guys.

Billy and Kathryn perform a Contemporary piece by Stacey Tokey

Stacey Tokey is amazing! That was some captivating choreography. I loved Kathryn's slide down Billy's back when he was in a long lunge. Great use of musical nuance to create dramatic moments.

I agree with the judges. Billy is technically amazing, but artistically growing. Kathryn was putting so much emotion into her performance and Billy was not able to match it on that level. I am actually disappointed with his performance on the show so far. He just needs to break through this brick wall that he is facing.

Ashley's Solo

Nice job, but nothing surprised or captivating. I am so over watching a series of straight leg foute turns. This is not StarPower Dance Competition people, it is SYTYCD... you need to up your game to a higher level of sophistication.

Lauren and Neil perform a Broadway piece by Joey Dowling

Debbie Gibson... really? Well, isn't that "Out of the Blue?" (Name of her pop album from the 80s) I didn't realize that Debbie was back on Broadway...

Another visually complimentary couple. Lauren and Neil look great together, but woa on the costume malfunction. That could have been...um... interesting.

Lauren did a good job. I was a little underwhelmed by her though. There is just something missing about her performance. Maybe her competition roots are still shining through? Hopefully she will work past it in the upcoming weeks.

Alex's Solo

There is no doubt that Alex is a ridiculously strong technical dancer. He leaves you speechless. I can't... I am amazed... his technique is just... WOW!

Kent's Solo

There is something so beautiful, gritty and honest about his performance. It was a 30 second solo and it had the integrity of a 3 minute solo. He set the tone, showcased his technical ability and drew you in with his emotional articulation of blissful movement. Loved it! I want to drink another nice cool glass of Kent!

Melinda and Pasha perform a Salsa by Fabian

Rough break. Getting your heel stuck on your costume in the very beginning of a dance does not exactly give you confidence for the rest of the performance! I think Melinda handled herself well, not gracefully, but well. She got her costume off her heel and moved on. However, emotionally I don't think she moved past it.

I agree with Nigel. Melinda's performance lacks a sense of flow and continuity. Perhaps the syncopation of tap permeates her articulation of all dance styles?

Wow, Mia and Alan were downright mean to say that they should have kept Cristina instead of Melinda. That was harsh.

Jose's solo

Jose has got some serious b-boy skills, but I don't know if his trick-filled solo can hold weight against the technical prowess of the other, highly trained dancers.

Robert and Courtney perform a Jazz piece by Sonya Tayeh

Robert and Courtney brought some serious chemistry this week. They compliment each other physically and artistically. Another great Sonya routine filled with creative interaction and non-traditional characters. I love how Sonya was able to bring an element of physical violence to the stage with such artistry. Hopefully Robert's strong performance will be enough to win him some votes and keep him out of the bottom.

Billy's Solo

Ok, so doing a flawless triple turn, controlling the ending, staying on releve and extending to a side tilt is so not that hard. Come on Billy, show us something impressive next time please...

Ashley and Ade perform a Contemporary piece by Dee Caspary

Welcome to SYTYCD Dee! I still remember taking my first class with Dee at a West Coast Dance Explosion Convention in northern Virginia. I feel in love with his creepy, intense style of jazz and contemporary choreography. I immediately searched out the imported Tori Amos CD that he used for his piece and danced to it constantly.

OK - I am freaking out a little bit because I have been listening to Cosmic Love by Florence + the Machine continuously for the past 3 months. I even did a little combo to it earlier this month with one of my jazz classes. I have been holding my breath hoping that no one on SYTYCD would use the song so that I could choreograph to it this fall. DAMN IT DEE! Cosmic Love is my song!

It was a good piece, I liked the choreography, Ashley did well. I hated the cut of the music that they used though. It totally disrupted the intensity of the music in my opinion.

Is Dave Scott wearing an ascot?

Maybe it is a scarf, but I think it is an urban, modern ascot... how dapper!

AdeChike and Lauren perform a Dave Scott Hip Hop piece

This character hip hop piece really showcased AdeChike's goofy personality. I enjoyed watching a hip hop piece that didn't require contemporary dancers to act "hard." Smart, creative choreography by Dave Scott.

AdeChike needed this dance to bring him to the forefront. Great night for him.

Top 9 Dancers Perform Tonight

I am really enjoying only eliminating one dancer a week. I can't wait for tonight's dances!

Cristina goes home

I am shocked that they are sending Cristina home instead of Melinda. I can't say I am upset. From what Nigel mentioned, it sounds like some choreographers may have been disappointed with Cristina's lack of eagerness in the studio. I would guess that had a strong influence on the judges decision.

Guest Artist Debbie Nova

What an awesome way to use the all stars! It makes the musical performance so much more fun to watch and is less of a shameless promotional piece for the guest artist. Great idea producers and great performance all stars!

The solos

Cristina - another boring ballroom solo... eh

Melinda - I don't think her tapping is going to keep her on the show for another week. No one really gets how impressive her tapping is. She needs a larger, more engaging personality to come through in her dance... unfortunately, this solo did not show any personality at all.

Robert - great music selection and fairly strong solo. It will be enough. The judges aren't going go to send him home.

Guest Artist Remote Control

They are completely unreal! The descending head and body rolls by the guy on the left of the screen at the end of the dance was out of control. I loved his hinge!

My prediction before the solos

I think Melinda is going home tonight. They need to keep the ballroom dancer around a few more weeks and frankly, the just really like Robert.

Sorry Melinda! Another tapper bites the dust!

The Bottom Three

Cristina is in the bottom despite her outstanding ballroom performance. Perhaps viewers are having a hard time connecting to Cristina... I am...

Melinda is the in the bottom due to her awkward performance of Mother Earth. The fake flowers and vines obviously did not help her win any votes. I don't think she did a bad job, I think she just has a hard time connecting emotionally with the audience. I wasn't drawn into the performance... I guess other viewers weren't either.

Robert is in the bottom despite his strong ballroom performance with Anya. I just don't think viewers have noticed Robert. He is completely overshadowed by the uniqueness of the other guys.

Thursday, June 24 Results Show

I love the intense red flood lighting on the beginning of the opening number. What a cool effect! Awesome choreography by Sonya. I could tell it was her piece after about 10 seconds. I adore how affected and stylized her choreography is. It is so out of the box, innovative, athletic, musical and creepy! I adore the unconventional nature of her inspiration.

My Bottom 3 Prediction

I predict that Melinda, Cristina and Robert will be in the bottom 3. I don't think they had the worst performances, but I think they do not have a big enough fan following to pull them through.

Kent and Courtney perform a Jazz piece by Tyce

How adorable is Kent?!? He is so funny. I am just glad that he is also immensely talented.

I loved his performance. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty captivating. He was stronger and more masculine in his performance than I expected from him. I think this is a classic example of what I would like to call the "All-Star-Complex." If Kent just had the same performance with another contestant I think the judges would have been much more complimentary of his performance.

Lauren and Dominic perform a Lyrical Hip Hop piece by Tessandra Chavez

Lauren is a prime example of the technically strong, artistically weak competition dancer. Her performance last week really brought this out. However, we saw a little growth with this performance.

I agree with Mia. I did not see enough of the "abuse" coming through during the piece. It never traveled beyond the choreography to a deeper, more artistic level.

I think Lauren needed this so clearly defined and easy to understand on a surface level character in order to convey some drama on stage. I am not sure that she will be able to pull off a character with more subtle attributes though.

Jose and Kathryn perform a Bollywood piece by Nakul

I am still trying to digest that performance. I don't think it was bad. Jose did a pretty good job getting the rhythm of the movement, but he definitely struggled with the precision of the movement. There are some serious details that were missing. He tried really hard though and sold it the best he could.

Kathryn wasn't that great either so don't feel bad Jose!

Melinda and Ade perform a Contemporary piece by Stacey Tookey

Man Kind vs. Mother Earth

Hey costuming department... could you get a little more literal when you create a mother earth costume next time please? The fake flowers and vines from JoAnn's really didn't communicate the message.

Another good job, but not great. I feel like there was a disconnect between body, mind and spirit of her performance. There were some nice moments and impressive body lines, but it didn't all come together for me.

I think she will be in the bottom again. I don't think it will be memorable enough to grab her votes.

The New All Star Format

Ok - I love watching the all stars perform again. However, I think it is creating an unfair evaluation system for the contestants. The all stars have had the chance to grow through the competition and since the competition. So the all stars are not only dancing in their style of expertise, but they are also better than they were during their own season. As a result, the contestants have to shine at the same level of the all star in order to stand their ground and not suck. Well hey, that is a tough position to be in especially when performing a foreign dance style. I think the judges end up with unrealistic expectations of the contestants. Any contestant is going to pale in comparison to the all star when performing outside of their trained dance style.

In previous seasons, I think many performances that were criticized tonight would have received acclaim if the contestant's partner was a fellow contestant instead of an all star. I just think we need to take the new format into consideration a little more when passing judgment on these new contestants.

Robert and Anya perform a Tango by Jean Marc and France

They both performed that tango extremely well. It was pretty captivating and I am not a ballroom fan. As mentioned last week, Robert is a sleeper in the competition.

Mia's comments were interesting to me. LOVED Anya's response! Feisty!

Billy and Comfort perform a Krump piece by Lil' C

It is good to know that Billy had a strong elementary school study of Backstreet Boys hip hop. That clearly helped him in this piece ;-)

Ok, Billy did MUCH better than I expected... but I didn't expect much so I don't know what that says. Hey costuming department... the skinny jeans did not give Billy much street cred. Can we please think twice before doing that again???

I think he did a great job of getting the physically movement down, it just lacked the authenticity and artistry of the style behind it. I think he did the best he possibly could in the short amount of time he was given. The dance was pretty darn clean though. He didn't totally screw it up.

Ashley and Mark perform a Jazz piece by Travis Wall

Ashley and Mark physically complement each other really well. Their coloring and body lines were very aesthetically pleasing.

I think Ashley did a good job, but she clearly needs to artistically mature a bit. I think we have that problem with a lot of these contestants. I will comment more on that in a future post though. Good job, not great. There could have been more articulation of the rhythmic, sharp moments to create greater dimension in the piece.

Nigel, you should keep your constructive comments for the choreographers for behind the cameras. I found his comment to Travis completely inappropriate. The choreographers are not on trial here, the dancers are.

Alex and Lauren perform a Fosse inspired Broadway piece by Tyce

Alex received rave reviews for his performance of Sonya's contemporary piece last week, but he was not able to continue the trend this week.

I think he did a good job. The dance simply was not as stunning as last week's piece. However, you can tell how talented his is technically and musically. He captured some of the stylized tension and release of the Fosse style, just not in every moment. There was a disconnect between different dance phrases. I was not impressed by the transitions out of his trick steps. It was like "trick step" - "stop" - "back to the dance now" - "stop."

I am not worried about him though. He has enough fans, even this early in the competition, to keep him out of the bottom. I am sure that there are plenty more people out there like me who were super excited to see him return this season after being heartbroken last season when he couldn't get out of his Miami Ballet contract.

AdeChike and Allison perform a Contemporary piece by Mandy Moore

No storyline for Mandy Moore... is she feeling ok? At least she stayed true to her love for 80's music... otherwise I would be worried.

Loved Allison's dress, hated AdeChike's pants; awkward and super high-waisted. I will try to get past that though.

Allison totally over shadowed AdeChike in this piece. He simply does not possess the stage at the same level. I agree with Mia, his expressions seemed forced and fake. I got caught up in the bits of choreography and never got to the artistry of the piece. There was a lack of intention behind the movement. I don't know if I would blame the choreographer or the dancer though....

Cristina and Pasha dance the Paso Doble

I best she was excited to get a ballroom routine this week after her unimpressive performance last week. As one would expect, her comfort with this fierce Paso Doble was clearly evident. Stunning choreography and great music selection by Jean Marc. Cristina did an outstanding job executing the technique of this style as well as the character. Kudos. Hopefully this will keep her out of the bottom this week!

Side note - there is something about Cristina that doesn't sit right with me. She seems really sweet, but something about her just sort of bothers me. The worst part is that I have no good reason to feel that way. Sorry Cristina!

Panel of Judges for the Season

I am so glad that Mary Murphy got the judge boot and was replaced by the much less annoying Mia Michaels! I can't say that I will miss the hot tamale train.

First Blog of Season 7

I am super pumped to bring back my SYTYCD blog for season 7. I am one episode behind thanks to an amazing vacation in Hawaii, but don't worry... I have caught up on previous episodes. Speaking of which, how outstanding was the Wade and Amanda Robson opening routine two Thursdays ago???!!!