SYTYCD: Week 5

WHOA!  Okay, two things:  Where is Ashley?!  And...

CAT JUST SAID JUDGES!! That is her first time saying that word in like 3 entire seasons! I'm so happy right now, I could just float away.

I'm a little sadder now, hearing about poor Ashley - this show is becoming a deathtrap!! Audition at your own risk. ;)

Now that they're all doing 2 dances & pairing with All-Stars and each other, I've officially decided that I ginormously LOVE this new format! We get the old style plus the new all-star pairings, which allows for things like guy/guy or girl/girl (hopefully, in the future) numbers - so fun! Also coming up is a full B-Boy routine, should be dope - and a Tahitian dance?!! This week is made of AWESOME! Okay, so let's get going already, Kristen!!

Lauren & Mark: Whooo-eee, Polynesian dancing on SYTYCD!!! I totally loved it, even though there are a few things I could pick on - mainly, that Lauren just isn't "Poly" enough for this. haha  But being that they've never done this before on the show, and it's such a specific style of dance and performance, I'm just gonna clap & wish that I could do a Fa'arapu like Lauren! lol And I also have to say, I wonder if Mark's had previous experience in this because he was just INSANE doing that.

"WhatThe" moment of the night: Mia's impromptu discussion of ducks in heat. ???????

Adechike & Anya: Well, they're off to a very nervous & very day-glow-yellow start. And as one might've predicted, that wasn't the recipe for a smash hit. That was a frighteningly difficult number, and the tricks went off alright; but the rest of it, all the actual dancing in between, was barely par. Adechike's style was less Salsa and more African dance, and I just... well, I just didn't really like it. Apparently the judges did - yay for them.

Jose & Courtney: Dear America - Will you please, pretty please with a baseball-sized cherry on top, PLEASE put Jose in the bottom 3 this week???  I'm not trying to hate on Jose, I'm sure he's a great person & a hard worker... it's just time. Also: I love Adam; he really knows his dance.

Robert & Allyson: Travis Wall for president. 'Nuff said. At the very least, that had better get Travis an Emmy - heck just give him like 3 for that! (Sidenote: I love how that outfit on Robert instantly communicated that he was playing Travis, it's like the quintessential "Travis" look.) To comment on Robert (& Allyson), the emotions in that performance were so perfect without being melodramatic or silly at all, and the biggest compliment that I can give the dancing is that it allowed that piece to be everything that it could've possibly been - their individual talents added to it greatly, and there were no flawed movements to take away from the experience. Bra-vo. *tear*

Billy & Anya: I don't think Billy's used to having to count quite so tightly with his steps; he had quite a few little missteps throughout the number. His jive technique, however, was actually pretty good, I was impressed with that; and throughout the whole dance, he seemed really comfortable with the style and with Anya as a partner (actually "handled" her better than several of the other male contestants!), so overall I give that dance a pretty positive review.

Kent & Neil: (I just giggled typing that, because that's too awesome.) Okay, so here are the ingredients as I understand them: Kent. Neil. Tyce choreographing. Broadway. Old-time baseball theme - mixed together, equals....  Grand Slam!! First off, Kent gets extra points for that sweet series of Russians in... sneakers?!  Crazy. Neil & little Neil-in-training going head-to-head, trick for trick?! YooHoo-Crazy! Baseball jerseys with "SYTYCD" across the front?  WHERE CAN I BUY ONE?!?! Aaaaaaand.... rewind.

Happy moment of the night: Neil in a dirty baseball uniform. :D Gets me to thinking about my other make-believe boyfriend, and that's no bad thing.

Okay, thank you SO MUCH All-Stars - now it's time for those contestants to get it crack-a-lackin'!

Billy & Lauren: LOL  As soon as Mandy started talking about shoes getting together to dance, I said (outloud, Colby can back me up) "I so hope the music is 'Boogie Shoes'." Holla! I'm psychic. ~~ Man, it's like Lauren was made for dancing Mandy Moore numbers or something, she does everything just right. Billy stepped right in too, and the shoes fit, yes they did!! (Oh dear, ghost of Mary Murphy, "yes that was!!"  Ick, need to go wash my hands now...) Mia said it perfectly, "quirky and groovy." And Cat, yes! totally modern-day Mickey & Judy! That was fun.

Jose & (stand-in contestant) Dom: Oh heavens, the rehearsals for this must've been ridiculously fun for them. East meets West, battle for the sword - sadly, at the end of the dance, Jose needs to step down from the little podium and hand that sword right over to Dom, 'cause he got majorly slayed. I'm gonna go ahead and get a little unpopular right now - that was really subpar from Jose, considering this is his thing!! Hok, Legacy, Twitch, Joshua... any of them would've been beat-for-beat killing it with Dom, and that dance would've been legend! But what I saw there was just sad. For me, that is the final nail in Jose's coffin - and if he's still here next week, it's gonna be Comfort: The Sequel, baby, frozen turkeys!!!!! (And judges, you're getting real close to my bad list; you stop pandering to Jose right now or else, I am mad-serious...)

Adechike & Kent: Well I certainly have no complaints with either of the boys, or their dancing. They are both stellar in what they do & I love them both. I will give an extra kudos to Kent, I think he gave more connection in his performance. ~ ~ I do have some issues with the dance concept itself; two guys pretending that two chairs are girls? It didn't translate for me, I wish that the whole thing would've been based around a different story - maybe like the chairs representing a job or opportunity, and them battling for that? I don't know. But the boys, I love.

Robert & (stand-in contestant) Kathryn: Okay, I'm not got say anything bad about this. Not even the fact that there's plenty I could say. Oh wait, that was saying something bad, wasn't it?  Well, no more than that - because considering they had a whole like 2 days to put that together? That's rough. So, great job. *Okay, of course I can't just leave it at that; so I'll just ditto exactly what Mia was saying, which was SPOT-ON (and a perfect example of why I love her as a judge so much, she uses phrases like "the texture of the movement" - so brilliant.); to do a disco, in the Saturday Night Fever trademark look, and to pull it off, you have to move/dance/SWEAT macho. Robert didn't.*

What a great night! These were so many memorable dances, I think I just might keep this recorded a watch a few again sometime. Perhaps after a rewatch my opinions will change, but for now here's where I believe it stands:

Bottom 3 - JOSE!!! (saw that one coming, did ya?), Ashley (sadly, that's a given), and I kinda suspect Billy again, not that I agree with it. I would say Adechike should be there, based on that poop-terrible Salsa; but my spidey-senses are whispering Billy to me. Hopefully the fact that I'm not actually Spiderman will translate to me being wrong!

Thanks for tuning in, now back to our regularly-scheduled cute kiddo programming!