The Screeching Was Halted

Top 10 Perform

ARTicle by funnygirl

I am so nervous coming into tonight's show. There is only one dancer left that I will have no problem leaving, but I really enjoy watching the remaining dancers. We will get to see them all shook up with new pairings. Cat starts the show and I'm watching the opening sequence and wait just a cotton-pickin' minute...somebody's missing. Good gravy, it's Jessica. The one dancer I was going to vote out tonight anyway. Where the heck is she. Just as I start to panic Cat takes the stage and points out the missing Jessica. She then invites Jessica to join her on stage so she can explain to us why she isn't dancing. Apparently, she has managed to break two ribs and fracture another. Okay so Jessica is not my favorite dancer on this show, but I give her kudos for displaying her athleticism and maturity. I saw the next part coming, but for those of you who didn't, I'll explain. We needed a female dancer to replace Jessica and the obvious choice was the last one to go and that would be Comfort!! So glad to see her given another chance. Oh yeah, just so there is no confusion, Jessica is resting up now so she can participate in the tour. I'm not sure if Comfort will be a part of the tour, but she does get to continue on in Jessica's place.

The Dance

In the past, I usually post the music each couple dances to, however, there are 10 couple dances and 10 more solo dances. I quit keeping track because it was not a good night to watch this show for those of us in the audience who are PMSing and feeling emotional. More about that later...

Courtney & Joshua Their first dance is a Dave Scott choreographed hip-hop number. Joshua is stoked since Dave Scott is one of his favorite choreographers and they share the same vibe. Courtney looks dubious at best, but I have faith. They do a Bride of Frankenstein type number with Joshua as Dr. Frankenstein. It's got some humor to it and I really enjoyed it. I thought Courtney held her own, but I really enjoyed seeing Joshua in his element.

Side note: Lil 'C joined Nygel and Mary on the judging panel tonight. He had some bizarre ways of explaining his critiques to the dancers. Some of it I got, some not-so-much. It was nice to have a new perspective though.

Their second dance was a Jean-Marc Genereux Rumba. Oh my goodness was this steamy. Any time you put Joshua in some ballroom dance attire, the place heats up about 40 degrees! Holy cow did these two hit it out of the park. They daned to the song "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias and although they had one awkward moment during a lift, I thought it was fabulous.

Kherington & Mark They are doing a new dance to the show, it's a western two-step. If anybody has ever tried country line dancing or even two-stepping, you know that it's a lot harder than it appears. This type of dance is made even harder since it's all about turns, tunneling and grapevining. The couple who choreographed the routine is Ronnie DeBendetta and Brandy Tobias and they are awesome to watch. Kherington made it blatantly obvious how difficult all of these moves are because she missed quite a few catches and exchanges. Mark held his own, but they were both moving way too slow.

Luckily enough, they get a jazz routine by Tyce DiOrio for their second dance. Immediately, I realized Mark was going to be in trouble. Tyce has decided that instead of telling a story he was going to choreograph a clinic of jazz moves. Mark is my favorite dancer only because he's such a great character on stage. With nothing to grasp to, his lack of training is painfully obvious. Kherington also struggled with putting pizzazz to it as well. The song they danced this to was "Canned Heat" from the movie Center Stage and the choreography was sic!

Comfort & Twitch How stoked was I that these two found themselves a couple in this competition. I did my own Snuggle-type happy dance. And then they danced... They danced a smooth waltz to Journey's Open Arms. I'm a child of the 80s so when I hear this song memories flood back and I mist up a little. This Hunter Johnson choreographed piece was mutilated by these two dancers and I was inconsolable. I gave Twitch a lot of credit for finding a character and maintaining it, but there was absolutely nothing between these two. In the mini-clip before the dance they were goofing around and talking about having to be in love. It just didn't happen.

HOWEVER, their next dance is a hip-hop routine done by Mr. Buc himself, Dave Scott!! They are doing a futuristic, hard-hitting piece. I'm so happy that we get to see the best hip-hop couple to grace this show, let us know how it's done! I liked it a lot. I didn't love it, but I do not blame the dancers. I blame the freakin' camera dudes. The angles sucked! I wanted to see them both dance the entire piece. I didn't need the close-ups of their faces, it's a freakin' hip-hop dance.

Katee & Will Nygel probably wet himself a bit when he saw this pairing. Two best technicians in the competition are paired up. We will first get to see a Broadway routine choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. I liked it. It was technically perfect, their characters were good, but it was missing that something, but I can't put my finger on it. I blame the choreography in the boat.

Again, Katee is involved in a new dance to the show. We are honored that Desmond Richardson agreed to choreograph a Pas de Deux for this show. I couldn't help but wonder if this was how these two ended up together. Because, quite frankly, I don't think any other two dancers on this show could have pulled this off. They had a little trouble with one of the intricate moves in the very beginning, but other than that, it was absolutely stunning. It has me tearing up again just thinking about it. Beautiful! A visual masterpiece.

Chelsie & Gev Our final couple of the evening. They start with a contemporary peice by Sonya. Remember the gal with the rockin' mohawk?! It wasn't what I expected from Sonya, but I really did like it. I thought Chelsie and Gev performed it very well. My eyes kept going to Chelise though. She really is a beautiful girl and lights up that stage with her presence.

Jean-Marc Genereux put together a jive for these two to finish the night with. Technically, it was a hot mess, however, Chelsie was amazing to watch so you kind of missed all the massive mistakes that Gev made.

All the dancers did solos in their own style of dance, but I"m only going to point out the ones that really stuck out for me. Mark's continuance of his "Bohemian Rhapsody" routine. LOVED IT! Twitche's hip hop to a Wade Robsen song was smokin'. Katie brought back the piece that got her sent to Vegas and it was even better on the big stage.

Poor Chelsie who is a ballroom dancer. There is not much that she can do in a solo routine but those fast footwork, hip slammin' moves. Kherington's dance looked like every other contemporary dancer's solo but it was lacking focus and energy. I fear for her this week. I did say early on she was the luckiest lady on the show being paired with Twitch since he was a crowd favorite going into this season. She kept up with him, but without him she seems to be suffering a bit. I know Will's technique is amazing, but I did not like this week's solo. It looked like every other solo he's done and thanks to Jessica there have been plenty. I was also a little disappointed in Joshua's solo.

It's going to be a tough loss tonight and I can't even begin to make a prediction. Feel free to voice yours though.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Per the title of this week's recap, there was no screeching woman on the judge's panel last night. Did somebody finally tell Mary Murphy she was making a giant asshat out of herself every week or was she coming down with the same laryngitis Nygel seemed to be facing? Inquiring minds want to know...

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