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Karla and Vitiligo (because they just got HOSED with the obvious Quickstep, but I don't care either way because just cut them already)
Jason and Caitlin (the curse of Brian Friedman rides again)

and as a shocker.....

Melissa and Ade (since I heard no RAVE reviews on it, and even though Evan screwed up, his fangirls and fanbois will save him and his Thayne-like badonkadonk)

OK everyone, I'm back! It was such a great show, and I'm actually OK with them rigging the dances because it made for a very well-danced show. I'm going to post some quick comments about the dances first & then come back with the more detailed spoilers. I also have some more music selections to add to what IDF has.

During the "Judges Chat" at the top of the show with Cat, Cat asked Mia if she had changed her opinion on any dancers. Mia said, "Well that's a loaded question!" & then Nigel said "Who writes these questions?" As soon as Cat asked the question, the whole studio fell silent, which Mia noted. Mia said that yes, her opinion had changed about a dancer, for the better & then she was all, "and that's all I'm going to say about that". Nigel then said, "is it a male dancer?" Mia: "Yeeeessss" Nigel: "Does he have the initials Brandon..." At that the whole studio, including Cat, choreographers, & judges, cracked up. After the laughter died down, she said that yes it was Brandon. (BTW, the judges were on fire tonight, so freaking hilarious from the beginning of the show. I think it had to do with the fact that the 3 of them were in Phoenix this past weekend for S6 auditions so they had all sent a lot of time together.)

Brandon & Janette: Cha-cha-cha by Jean-Marc & France done to "Hush Hush" by the Pussycat Dolls. It was really great; both Brandon & Janette did a fantastic job. All of the judges loved it. While Mia was giving her critique, Brandon started to cry. Mia basically said that the reason she was so hard on him was that she sees amazing talent & potential in him & wants to make him a better dancer (or something like that).

Pono & Kayla: Jazz by Sonya. It was a vampire theme. They totally KILLED it!! It was soooooo good. Sonya was jumping up & down in her seat & then on her feet for them. The judges LOVED it; Mary put/kept them on the hot tamale train.

Evan/Randi: Broadway by Joey Dowling. Very Fosse-esque/inspired. A lot of similar movements as Liza Minelli in that "Blackbird" song (if you know which song I'm talking about). Definitely better than what Tyce would have choreo'd. The judges thought Randi was good in it, but they were a little disappointed in Evan- they thought he would do better. It was a great dance, but I wouldn't say it was one of my favorites or one of my top dances of the night.

Jason/Caitlin: Pop Jazz by BFree done to Santogold's "Creator". This was a weird concept: Caitlin was an alien who had just blown up Earth & had come to find the last man on Earth (Jason) in order to pro-create. Caitlin was in a weird-ass costume, all black leather spandex body suit with silver accents. I thought it was a good routine. Nigel & Mia really liked it, but Mary was like "WTF?"- she didn't really get the dance. I have a feeling there may be quite a few voters out there who won't get it either. I don't think any of the judges really liked Caitlin's costume (not that that's her fault). Mia kind of dogged Brian (I thought) by saying that she thought that Brian didn't go into it with the thought of creating the best dance of his career, but rather creating a fun dance.

Phillip/Jeanine: Hip Hop by NappyTabs done to Kanye's "Love Lockdown". It was a hard-hitting dance. P/J were connected to each other for the whole routine by a chain that was attached to their ankles. This made the dance that much more difficult. They did a great job & I thought Jeanine held her own against Phillip. The judges all loved it.

Ade/Melissa: Pas de Deux by some new choreographer, Thordel something. It was from Romeo & Juliet, where they first secretly meet, and Melissa performed en pointe, the first time it's been done on the show. This dance was absolutely beautiful; I got chills watching it. Melissa was wonderful (no surprise) & Ade was great too. There were some fabulous lifts. Like I said, just a beautiful dance. The judges all LOVED it. The only negative thing that was said was that Mia said that it was clear that Ade hadn't had classical training (she may have prefaced it with a lot of or very much) because his carriage wasn't totally perfect, but she was just nit-picking since they were amazing.

Vitolio/Karla: Quickstep by Jean-Marc & France to "Puttin' on the Ritz". I thought it was going to be a disaster, but it was actually very good. I'd say the best QS ever done on SYTYCD. The choreo & idea was way better than anything the other choreographers have done, and V/K pulled it off very well. The idea behind it was that they were in a museum, after closing, & Vitolio was a statue & he came to life. There was a really cool trick done in the middle of the dance; I didn't want to spoil you guys b/c it was awesome, but it looks like someone on IDF already did. The dance ends with Karla becoming the statue with a snap of Vitolio's fingers. The judges loved the dance. Mia pretty much said that Jean-Marc "made them" (as in choreographers can either make you or break you).

I think it's going to be hard to figure out who should be in the bottom b/c it was a great show.

OK, here are the more detailed spoilers.

Cat was looking lovely as usual in a hot pink strapless, short dress with a wide black, rhinestone-studded belt. Random audience sighting: Scott Bakula. And Jonathan & Ariel Coker (sp?) were also in the audience. Oh, & it was Karla's birthday, so we all sang Happy Birthday to her after the show was over. The intro packages were pretty much a review of the dancers' season so far: what were the highs & lows for you?

Brandon & Janette: He was in a white sleeveless top & black pants, she was in a hot pink, sparkly dress with a lot of skin showing. I thought that this was a great way to open the show. Brandon & Janette did a fabulous job. It started off a little slow (as in the music & therefore choreo was slow, not it took a while for them to get into it), but then after a few 8 counts, it picked up to a normal cha-cha speed. It looked to me like there was quite a bit of actual cha-cha in it, but I'll leave that judgement up to our ballroom/latin experts. Their footwork was good, the lines were great & there were some really cool tricks & lifts. They did that one move where he stands behind her & spins her around & around with his finger (I forgot what that's called). The audience really got into the dance. The judges all loved it; they thought (not necessarily expected) Janette would be good in it, but were pleasantly surprised at how well Brandon danced it. Nigel said that Brandon had really good feet; he said that sometimes Mary comments that dancers need to paint the floor with their feet in the cha-cha, their feet need to be paintbrushes and that Brandon did that. He said that Brandon was Michaelangelo on the dance floor. Mary made some comments about the technique & steps of the cha-cha & how they did them well, but I can't remember what they were. She also put them on the hot tamale train. B/J went crazy at that, jumping all around. Mia pretty much said that she thought they did a great job & explained why she was so hard on Brandon in Vegas. I thought the judges kind of ignored Janette in their critiques. I thought the judges comments were all deserved, although maybe a little OTT. This was one of the better dances of the night IMO; I really liked it a lot.

Kupono & Kayla: In the intro piece, Sonya said that they were going very dark in the routine. I missed a little bit of the explanation, but I think Pono is supposed to be a vampire trying to bring Kayla over to his side, & Kayla is "turning away from death". So the dance is kind of a struggle between them. I really don't remember their costumes very well. Kayla's wearing a lot of black & white. Her costume looks like what ballet dancers wear- a leotard/bodice & tutu, but the tutu is longer in back than in front & is black & white tulle. I think the bodice may have been black. Pono is in tan (I think) pants and a white short-sleeved shirt that looks like the sleeves have been rolled up to right under his deltoids. He has on something over the shirt too, a vest maybe? I don't remember too much about the details of the dance, except that it was very good. I was expecting that, & for them to have excellent technique, and they both did. There were some great lifts and some gorgeous pictures made. If you liked The Garden, you'll probably like this one. Sonya was so awesome during their dance; she kept bouncing around in her seat, saying "Yes, yes" everytime they got something right/did something she loved, & was pumping her arm in the air. At the end, she jumped out of her seat with her arms in the air; she clearly loved how they performed the dance, and didn't think there were any mistakes. The judges thought so too; they had nothing but praise for the pair of them (that I remember). Mary thought that Pono really came into his own in this dance. She said that they had great chemistry together, even when they were dancing on the opposite side of the stage from each other. Put them on the hot tamale train again (or just kept them on). Mia noted that Pono has taken every note he's been given since his audition & done it. She loved the choreo, costumes, make-up & said that this was the best dance Sonya has choreo'd. Mia thought that they did a fantastic job with this dance. I loved this dance so much. Sonya is amazing & I think she brings out the best in her dancers. It was one of my favorites of the night & I really hope they don't end up in the bottom- they don't deserve to.

Evan & Randi: In the intro package, Joey Dowling said that it was supposed to be a very powerful dance; they were supposed to be fighting/battling. Both were pretty much in all black. Evan had on a suit & was wearing leather gloves. Randi looked very flapper-like, with fishnets, short fringe on/for the skirt. She had something on her hands too, almost like fingerless gloves. There was a table & 2 chairs on the stage. Like I said earlier, it's very Fosse-esque. You can see just about every famous Fosse step in the dance. Evan started the dance with a slo-mo cartwheel/planche over the table. I thought that they both did a good job of remaining in character. I was expecting a lot from Evan, but my eye kept going to Randi for some reason. I'm not saying that Evan was bad, I just wasn't as wowed by him as I was expecting to be. Maybe I'll fell different on re-watch. The judges liked the dance, but they thought it could have been better. Nigel said that he thought Evan would be "up here" - complete with hand placed at a certain height - but that he was actually "down here"-hand just a tad lower than it was before. I kind of forgot what Mary said. Mia said that she thought they danced heavy. She told them that because of their lack of height, they needed to make their movements/lines longer. Basically, Mia thought that some aspects of the dance just didn't quite make it "right there". I'm not explaining it very well, but I understood what she meant as she was saying it. It's like if they had just taken it to the nex step, given it a little more "oomph" it would have been better. Mia also told Randi, that she needs to bring a different character to each dance. She thought that Randi's character this time was too much like last week's. The judge's critiques weren't horrible, but they weren't like some of the others either. Overall, I thought it was a very good routine, & I enjoyed it so much more than most of Tyce's stuff. It wasn't my favorite though.

Jason & Caitlin: I already explained the concept. Caitlin's body suit also had a hood attached so all of her head was covered except her face, and she had on black gloves too. The top of her head had these silver spiky things attached, as did the gloves. Jason was costumed in light colors (white or tan). He had on ripped, ratty pants and a sleeveless, open shirt; pretty much the closest thing you can get to being shirtless, without actually being shirtless. This dance was very BFree; if you like his stuff, you'll probably like it, if you don't, you probably won't like the dance. I absolutely love the song Brian used, and I thought he did a good job choreographing to the music. The concept was pretty weird, but I thought that Jason & Caitlin pulled it off. I wasn't close enough to see their faces, so I'll have to see if they did a good job with that. Both of them had really good technique and did a really good job with the dance. I was watching Brian with this dance too, & he was acting like he really liked it & thought that J/C did a great job. He's not quite as animated as Sonya, but he would say "yes" a few times when they did certain difficult parts of the dance. I don't remember too much of the specifics of the judges comments. They all pretty much thought it was a weird concept. I know that Nigel liked it and Mary didn't quite get it. Mia liked it too and though it was fun. I don't remember there being any negative comments, but I could be wrong. I have to preface my comments with the fact that I love Brian's work & I really liked Kayla & Max's routine. That being said, I didn't like this one as much. It may have been the costuming, or trying to figure out how the dancers were interpreting Brian's "story", but I felt like something was detracting from the actual dance part of the routine. I'm going to have to re-watch this one to get a better feel for the dance. I think that Jason & Caitlin could end up being in the bottom. It wasn't a horrible/bad dance, I just don't know if people will vote for it.

Phillip & Jeanine: There wasn't too much of a story behind this dance, other than them being chained together for the whole dance. I don't really remember their costumes at all, other than they were both wearing #*@+!. Phillip might have been wearing a hat. I initially thought that this dance was going to look/be awkward because of the chain, but it really wasn't. They did a really good job working with the chain & incorporating it into the dance. Of course, they could only dance about 4 ft apart or so. They would use the chain to pull each other. Any of the turning around/turns they did had to be exactly as choreo'd or they would wind up tangled up. Phillip's signature move was of course in the dance. At the end of the dance, Phillip offers Jeanine a key to get out of the chain, but she doesn't take it. NappyTabs loved them in this routine, & so did the judges. Nigel said that Jeanine held her own against Phillip. I don't really remember any other judges comments except that they were all good (I'm sorry). I thought that they did a great job in this dance, but once again, I was more impressed with Jeanine, since I know that Phillip can (only?) do HH. I hope next week they get a contemporary so Jeanine can finally show off her skills & to see if Phillip is good at something else. All of the dances were so good, so there's not really a wide gap between them, but I'd say this was one of the middle of the pack dances for me. That's just my preferences & favoritism kicking in. Other people are going to think this dance was one of the best of the night.

Ade & Melissa: The "story" behind this dance is not too complicated- it's when Romeo & Juliet meet for the first time secretly. Ade is shirtless & wearing white pants. Melissa is in a pale pink nightgown-looking dress. I know I already said this, but it was such a beautiful dance. I love classical ballet pieces & I'm so glad that they did this one; R&J is one of my favorite ballets. I was expecting them to be great & they didn't disappoint. Fabulous technique, graceful, beautiful lines, control & power, and some great lifts. Ade really makes the lifts look effortless. Melissa of course has been practicing all her life for a dance like this, but Ade was wonderful too. Mia said that he lacked a tiny bit on his carriage, but I honestly didn't see it. I was too caught up in the dance. All the judges went ga-ga over Melissa/Ade & the dance. They praised the technique, the lines, the lifts, pretty much everything. Mia only had that one critique, but she conceded she was nit-picking. As you can tell, this was one of my favorite dances of the night. I really hope they aren't in the bottom 3 this week; I don't think they deserve to be.

Vitolio & Karla: I've already described the story behind the routine. Vitloio was in a tuxedo (I think) & had a top hat & a cane. Karla was in a black dress with big white polka dots on it. The feel of this dance was very 40s I thought. Vitolio starts off on a box behind a rope (the kind they use to rope off entrances to clubs & other exclusive places)- he's a statue remember. He comes to life & starts dancing & gets Karla to dance. They have that trick, and then they go into traditional quickstep work. I thought that there was quite a bit of QS in the dance. There were some cool lifts and both V & K have such beautiful lines. The dance ends with Vitloio putting Karla up on the box & snapping his fingers to make her a statue. Nigel started off the comments by saying wouldn't it be great if you could actually make a woman be quiet by snapping your fingers. He snaps his fingers & Mary freezes. Mia then claps her hands twice, "awakening" Mary, and Nigel snaps his fingers again. They repeat this a few more times. When he actually gets down to critiquing them, he says that it's the best QS that's ever been done on the show. He thought they did a great job. Mary thought they did a great job too, and mentioned a few of the steps that they did right. And then Mia gave her comment about Jean-Marc "making" them. Like I said before, I thought that this was a great QS (& this was before the judges even started commenting). I couldn't see their feet all the way through the dance, so they might have had some issues there; I'll have to check when I re-watch it. Even though it was a great dance, I think Vitolio & Karla will be in the bottom 3.

All in all, it was a really great night for dancing. The routines are all really close together in terms of technique, execution, performance, etc so it's hard for me to rank them. I can only go by my personal preferences & use my biases to choose the best & "worst". I would totally understand if people had a completely different opinion than mine.
Kupono/Kayla & Ade/Melissa
Brandon/Janette
Vitolio/Karla & Phillip/Jeanine
Evan/Randi & Jason/Caitlin