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This show dragged like none I've ever seen! Two hours is just too much for seven dances. The intros and the judges' comments went on for-ev-er. By the time they got into the piece on the Dizzy Feet Foundation, I was ready to throw something at my TV. Come on, guys! Shouldn't the dancing make up more than a quarter of the freaking show? And what was with the freaky looking people seated behind the choreographers? :hide


BRANDON & JANETTE - I definitely liked this routine, but not to the degree that the judges did. Brandon impresses me week to week. He is like a silent film actor who in every style takes on the role and acts it out with movement. Tonight, I was impressed that he was able to dance so TALL (then I noticed that his heels were almost as high as Janette's). Janette definitely makes sense in this style and did a very nice job, but she didn't sparkle and draw the eye as much as I expected. There was one moment where it seemed like a big trick or lift was coming but they stopped dead. It looked to me like they messed up or chickened out. Perhaps it was the choreography, but I found it jarring.

KUPONO & KAYLA - This one was kind of "meh" for me, and I don't really understand the judges' enthusiasm. I didn't get the story. Was Kupona a vampire and Kayla a living woman? If so, why did they dance so similarly? There needed to be much more difference between the two of them in characterization, style, and dance vocabulary. I would have liked it more if Kupono had done something arrogant and fluid and left the jerky motions to Kayla. The piece would have made more sense for me that way. Also, I found Kupono's movement to be very heavy. That doesn't work for a vampire, and it's just not as aesthetically pleasing in any dance.

EVAN AND RANDI - It was nice to see somebody other than Tyce do Broadway, and as a result, it was nice to see a piece that wasn't an embarrassing parody of the genre. I absolutely love the piece of music and I liked the first half of the piece. Then, I got bored. I couldn't disagree more with Nigel. Randi is definitely the weaker link in this pair. She did the moves, but she didn't make them pop. She is a serviceable dancer, but not a star. Evan always adds that extra spark to what he does. I understand that when somebody is great, you expect more, but it's not fair to act as if the mediocre dancer who met expectations is better than the amazing dancer who failed to exceed expectations…

JASON & CAITLIN - I have to say, this was by far my favorite performance by this pair. Forcing them to dance in opposition actually made them come together. Cool. Caitlin individually was WAY better than she's been in other pairs dances (maybe she just needs to lead) and I was impressed with how Jason followed. Overall, I'm liking Brian's choreography way more than when he used to do hip-hop. This was pretty good. I don't know what crawled up Mary's snatch and died (of loneliness?)… Her negative commentary didn't make a lot of sense.

PHILIP & JEANINE - I didn't go for this piece, but I blame the choreographers. It's not that the concept was bad, but they didn't do enough that was interesting with it. The chain was just sort of there as an obstacle for them to dance AROUND rather than to use as a metaphor for them being shackled together. There was no story! There was a brief section (starting maybe 2/3 of the way through) where the choreography got better, but that only highlighted how bland the rest of it was. Oh, and I don't like Kanye West's "music", so that didn't help.

ADE & MELISSA - Nigel says [something along the lines] of "Can you believe it? Only five seasons in and we have classical ballet?!" What I can't believe is that they haven't had it before. Yes, I know ballet requires a skill set that dancers train a lifetime for. So what? So do a number of other styles. If they're going to throw things like Bollywood and Crump at dancers who are completely unfamiliar with them, why not ballet? In this routine, Melissa was pretty much flawless. I wish I could say the same for Ade. In the parts where he danced alone, he was really impressive. As a partner, though, he let her down. His job, on these lifts, is to glide smoothly across the floor and give the illusion that she is flying. He bounced her so much that I was expecting to hear her teeth clattering! More importantly, though, I didn't buy his acting. There was so much smiling! From both of them. However, while Melissa's smiling was innocent and yearning and entirely in character, Ade's was showy and phony and just for the audience.

VITOLIO & KARLA - Well, this was a pleasant surprise! And I actually agreed with the judges here that Jean-Marc and France gave them amazing choreography. While neither of the dancers were great, neither was remotely bad, and that was quite an accomplishment (especially for two dancers who have been uneven at best). In fact, they were quite good tonight. My biggest complaint is that they both looked a bit scared and careful, and their faces never gave in to the fun their bodies were having. As a result, they came across a little robotic. Still, this was a big step up for both of them, especially Karla (who, IMO, could easily have been cut either week 1 or week 3).


I don't know that I've ever been as contrary to the judges' opinions as tonight. Interesting…

My Rankings:

1. CAITLIN & JASON (I originally thought they were only second best, but the recap reminded me of how much I enjoyed them)
2. JANETTE & BRANDON
3. KARLA & VITOLIO
4. RANDI & EVAN
5. MELISSA & ADE (his fault, not hers)
6. KAYLA & KUPONO
7. JEANINE & PHILIP

In neither of the bottom two pairs was the dancing bad. I just don't think they were ever able to rise above (or even make sense of) puzzling choreography.