This past Wednesday the top 20 performed on "So You Think You Can Dance." After finally getting a chance to see all the dancers perform, I have new favorites, I have doubts about old favorites, and I'm left scratching my head on how some dancers (one in particular) made it through to the top 20. First to my new favorite...Joshua Allen. Joshua was paired with Katee, she's the dancer that almost talked herself out of a spot in the top 20. Katee wasn't a very sympathetic figure, a fact I thought would hurt Joshua by mere association, but thankfully their routine was so strong that they completely wiped the slate clean. They danced a moving hip-hop number choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha which was supposed to be about a soldier going off to war. While Joshua and Katee wowed me, previous favorites Kourtni (paired with Matt) and Courtney (paired with Gev) were a bit of a letdown. In both cases there appeared to be no chemistry or spark between the girls and their respective partners--especially Kourtni and Matt--and it shows. Now to the dancer that in my estimation doesn't belong, and that is Susie, the high school teacher from Miami. Despite a blah waltz, that included a flubbed lift, Susie and her partner Marquis, infuriatingly got mostly complimentary reviews from the judges. It's beyond me what they see in her, other than a pretty face and a great body, but I have no doubt that when she makes the bottom three her solo will make her lack of technique and skill glaringly obvious and they won't have a choice but to send her home.
On Thursday's first elimination night the bottom three couples were Kourtni and Matt, William (Debbie Allen's protege) and Jessica, and not surprisingly Rayven and Jamie. After each dancer performed their dance for their life solo, with a standout performance by William, the judges chose Rayven and Jamie as the girl and boy going home. This poor couple had everything stacked against them from the get go--each had barely been on TV in previous rounds, they had the first slot of the night, and then to boot part of their dance number included Rayven pulling down Jamie's pants, a fact which on elimination night Nigel said might have offended some viewers. He tells them this as if they had a choice in the matter, they were merely dancing what was choreographed for them.
Anyway, I'm hoping Joshua and Katee can keep up the great work, and that Courtney can ignite some heat and a little magic between her and Gev.
