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Oh noes! Dancing has apparently gotten more dangerous.
Like last week, this week started off with me turning to my viewing companion and saying: "Hey, I thought this was the Top [fill in the number]. Why are there only [fill in the number, minus one] dancers on the floor?"
Yes, another week, another dancer down ... this time, Ashley. With a rib injury. Unlike Alex last week, she wasn't in the audience, and they didn't talk about potential prognoses. Which doesn't sound good.
Image courtesy Fox
I'm guessing we are all off the hook from eliminating someone this week, and she is going to be gone after tonight.
Which is, in a way, a good thing, because everyone did a pretty strong job last night, so it would be hard to pick!
Each dancer danced once with an all-star they hadn't danced with before, and one with another one of the dancers. Except Jose, who, through the luck of the draw, got to dance twice with an all-star.
DANCER/ALL-STAR ROUTINES:
1. Lauren and all-star Mark danced a Tiana Liufau Tahitian routine
OK, you might have been like me when you heard "Tahitian." You might have flashed back to the most memorable bad moment in SYTYCD history, the Russian dance. Luckily, Lauren and Mark got to wear a lot less clothing and do a lot more rump-shaking dancing Tahitian than they would have dancing Russian, so it actually worked out well. I, too, want to pull out such phrases as "hips don't lie" and "I don't think you're ready for this jelly," but the judges beat me to it. It certainly was impressive, and all those hip gyrations were almost hypnotic. So, you know, yay Tahiti!
2. Adechike and all-star Anya danced a Liz Lira salsa
This was indeed a very difficult salsa routine, full of lifts and tricks ... and hence was also just a tiny bit scary. I mean, Adechike is a strong guy, but that kind of partnering isn't just about strength. So the fact that they pulled this off was admirable. I saw plenty of imperfections, but Adechike had the spirit, and he had the guts, so he scores points with me on this one.
3. Jose and all-star Courtney danced a Joey Dowling Broadway routine
OK, yes, he showed some nice vulnerability and commitment to the character. But where was the dancing? And while the judges blamed Jose directly, I didn't think there was a whole lot of there there when it came to the choreography. I mean zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Right? Not just Jose, btu Courtney too. What the hell was she even doing, prancing around in those feathers and posing. Did they blame her for not doing much dancing too? I blame the routine as much as Jose.
4. Robert and all-star Alison danced a Travis Wahl contemporary routine
I'm glad Nigel mentioned Tyce's cancer routine and Mia's addiction routine, because they were all I was thinking about during the first half of this routine about a sick mother. In fact, I was going to chide Travis pretty strongly for really going over the line from an homage to a copycat routine -- until the second half broke into the more fast-paced and intense sequence. That was more uniquely his. And I think Robert will fare well this week, because finally he has gotten to dance an emotionally resonant piece that people will feel something when watching. They must have been reading my recap last week, eh? Great job from both dancers.
Image courtesy Fox
5. Billy and all-star Anya danced a Louis Van Amstel jive
Billy has terrific sharpness and accuracy. He can keep up with the speed of a jive. But even though I am no jive aficionado, I could tell he wasn't getting the very nature of the jive. His knees were almost never bent; there was no bounce. He was dancing, but he wasn't jiving.
. Kent and all-star Neil danced a Tyce Diorio Broadway routine
Honestly, I don't get what all the fuss was about. Yes, there were tricks, but I didn't feel much different about this than I did about Jose's Broadway routine: Where was the dancing? This was a lot of tumbling and tricks and acrobatics. Or maybe it was boring enough that I couldn't really pay attention. Maybe I missed all the great dancing parts while picking at my hangnails or something. (Does anyone else sometimes find their hangnails to be the most interesting thing in a room?) Was it just
