Of course, the big news this week is that Jessica has fractured one rib and broken two, so she's out of the competition. It doesn't stop her from strutting out on stage in high heels to explain the situation to us after she's conspicuously missing from the intro, so she must be a real trouper. I don't think she's faking, as some people do, since I truly can't imagine she'd quit now, even after the hard time she's had with the judges. The upshot is that Comfort, being the last woman eliminated, is back in the contest. Jessica says that she's resting so she can heal in time to tour, which I hope is the case. She earned that spot, and I wish her the best. I read a rumour that Will dropped her in a rehearsal, but they don't go into specifics on how she acquired the injury. Perhaps Comfort "accidentally" pushed her down the stairs, like in Showgirls. What? You've totally seen that movie, too.
Quick housekeeping note: I'll be taking over for Annie for the rest of this season. She went and got a life or something, but I have no such thing and will be here until we've crowned...America's best TV dancer, I guess? Not sure what their title will be.
Tonight the dancers have pulled new partners from a hat (a hat that suspiciously pairs short people Chelsie and Gev together) and will also be dancing a solo. Lil' C is the guest judge tonight, which is -- wait for it -- totally buck. Or something. Actually, tonight we discover that buck is defined as when "internal artistry meets physical expression." Deep thoughts for someone with "lil'" in his name.
Our first new pair is Courtney and Joshua, and Josh practically squeals with delight when he pulls hip-hop from the hat. As choreographed by Dave Scott, they play a mad scientist and Bride of Frankenstein, and it's a terrific routine. Very entertaining, and Josh in particular kills it. The judges agree, with Lil' C saying they added character, Nigel praising Josh and the routine while rightfully criticizing Courtney on a few points, and Mary screaming and telling them they have chemistry. Seriously, I think Josh would have chemistry with a tree. I bet Chris would like to put that theory to the test.
Courtney and Josh's second dance is a fantastic rumba by Jean-Mark Genereux, set to "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. He can be your hero, Jennifer Love Hewitt! Anyway, both dancers look smokin' hot, and dance it very well. Man, Josh's hips are just amazing. Lil' C asks for his asthma pump and praises both dancers, referring to Courtney as "eloquent." I think it's safe to assume he meant "elegant," since the most Courtney's said tonight was in reference to "trippin'" when discussing the earlier hip-hop routine. Nigel loved it and thought it fit Courtney and Josh's bodies perfectly.
Mary talks about how difficult the routine was, and thought they did a great job with fairly good lifts. What I really like about Mary is that she truly does know what she's talking about. When I first started watching this show, I had no idea what to make of her, but she's no Paula Abdul. Straight up.
Our next couple is Kherington and Mark, who pull a new discipline, the country two-step, from the hat. As choreographed by Ronnie DeBenedetta and Brandi Tobias, who appears about to give birth at any moment, it's a very tricky routine chock full of partner spins and turns. It doesn't go particularly well, and Kherington and Mark noticeably miss a turn and make little mistakes throughout. They do their best, but it's a hot, awkward mess.
I think Kherington is more to blame than Mark, and Mary and Nigel agree. Mary praises Mark's strong attempts at partnering, and acknowledges that this dance was very hard, and Nigel calls Kherington out on her spaghetti arms. Lil' C tries to be nice about it, but says they didn't nail it. Yeah, I'd say it was the opposite of nailing it. Screwing it?
Kherington and Mark's second number is a Tyce DiOrio jazz routine to Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat," which has a special place in my heart. (And no, I didn't forget you. God.) There's no story, just lots of running around the stage kicking, sliding and twirling. It's not great. Lil' C praises them, but notes that the lifts were too choreographed. They also landed with thuds, I must note. I'd have loved to see Mark dance this one with Chelsie, since I think Kherington has been going downhill. Like me, Mary wants to be jumping out of her chair, but she's just not. Nigel agrees and likens the routine to passing a driving test. They ticked off all the right boxes and passed, but it was just average. No victory lap tonight.
Third pair tonight is the resurrected Comfort and Twitch. You know, last week Nigel said they wanted to kick off two girls and keep Thayne, so it's a shame they didn't shake things up and bring him back instead. I'd love to see Thayne and Twitch waltz together, and I am not being facetious. Anyway, it's Comfort and Twitch smooth waltzing a routine by Hunter Johnson, awesomely set to "Open Arms" by Journey. Oh, Steve Perry. You never get old.
The dance is...eh, it's fine. Doesn't rock my world. Lil' C looks decidedly meh about it, but tries to be nice again. I really like that about him, and he has interesting and thoughtful things to say when he gives criticism. Mary drops the hammer and tells them the power and quality of movement was simply not there. Nigel agrees -- it's not good enough for the top ten. He does end them on a high note by praising the lift, wherein Comfort sits on Twitch's hand and he powers her straight up. Nigel makes a Dirty Dancing analogy and Cat declares that no one puts Comfort in the corner. Heh.
Comfort and Twitch's second dance is a Dave Scott hip-hop. I guess Tabitha and Napoleon were busy this week? It's a futuristic piece featuring silver costumes that look homemade. The routine features a lot of popping and is very good, although I don't love the Chris Brown song, "Forever," so it falls a bit flat for me. Lil' C declares it buck and that it's the best Comfort has danced yet. Mary is also in the buck camp, and bows down to Twitch and praises Comfort for being a fighter. Nigel also loved it, saying they looking as if they were dancing for the joy of it.
Next up are Katee and Will, and I have high hopes for this pairing. Their first routine is a Tyce DiOrio Broadway number, and while I love Katee, love Will, and looove Broadway, I'm underwhelmed. The song is "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" from Guys and Dolls, and there's an actual rowboat on stage. Katee and Will ham it up appropriately, but there aren't a lot of actual dance moves that wow me. It's the choreography here that leaves me cold. I'm alone on that, though, and they rock the judges' collective boat. Lil' C praises Tyce, and Mary and Nigel are equally gobsmacked. Huh. I really don't get it in this case. I mean, it's not bad, but...eh. Although Will did rip his shirt open at the end, which is always an effective exclamation mark.
Katee and Will's second routine is another debut: a pas de deux. Awesome! It's choreographed by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, the latter of who was name-checked by Mia Michaels recently. In rehearsal, Katee stretches her legs in very unnatural ways and the routine seems very challenging. Set to "Imagine," by that American Idol kid David Archuleta, the dance is absolutely gorgeous and by far my fave of the night.
Will is shirtless, which is actually getting kind of old. Oh, who am I kidding? He's a Greek statue of a man, and Katee is also fetching in a short little onesie. The routine is filled with lifts and turns and emotion, including a very impressive move where Katee runs and jumps into Will's arms and then twirls in the air in his arms. It's hard to explain, but amazing and so hard!
Mary mentions this moment in her gushing review, calling Katee and Will exquisite and many other superlatives. Lil' C also loved it and praises their passion and commitment. Nigel takes a timeout to kiss Dwight and particularly Desmond's asses, but rightfully so. Nigel rambles on a bit and makes an analogy to Nureyev's appearance on The Muppet Show back in the day. I guess that makes Nigel Kermit, but I agree with him that it's great to get such high calibre contributors on the show.
That's what I really, really love about this program -- the passion and love Nigel and Mary and everyone involved has for dance. Like, I think Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson love their huge paycheques, and that Paula loves all the quaaludes she can buy, but I don't think they have a passion for music.
Nigel goes on to mention the one mistake Katee and Will made -- a noticeable one where Katee got a bit stuck in a turn, but it wasn't clear whose fault it was and they both hang their heads -- saying it's a good thing they made it, since otherwise they would have achieved perfection and could apparently just hang up their dancing shoes now, since they'd never scale such pinnacles again. Okay, I thought they were fantastic, but since there's strangely no Hot Tamale Train tonight, Nigel's apparently making up for it with the Hyperbole Express. A little early in their careers to be declaring perfection.
Last, but not least, are Chelsie and Gev doing a contemporary number by the mohawked Sonya. It's about two people in love but apart. Deep. Set to Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine," they writhe prettily, apart and together, and it's very engaging. Gev gets to show off his ability to flip around a lot and not injure himself, and he also does this neat crabwalk move. I quite enjoy this routine.
Lil' C could really feel Chelsie's yearning for Gev, and I agree that she's a terrific actress up there. Not that she couldn't really yearn for him -- no insult intended, Gev! Mary loved it, and Nigel thinks there could have been more passion from Gev, and that maybe he was still yearning for Courtney. Ha! I think he'll be yearning for her for years to come. But overall Nigel says it was a good job. I don't know, I thought Gev did really well and I liked him and Chelsie as a pair. I think Gev has picked up partnering very quickly.
Chelsie and Gev's second routine is a jive by Jean-Marc Genereux and his wife France. In rehearsal, JM likens the quick jive leg movements to shaking dog shit off your shoe. Sure enough, the imaginary dog shit is flying on stage, and they jive up a storm. Really fast, really fun number. All the judges agree that Chelsie out danced Gev, and I do think she was fantastic. No one tells Gev that she's holding Chelsie down, at least.
As for the solos, which are interspersed throughout the night, Chelsie is first. There's lots of hip swivelling and twirling, but Chelsie really shines when she partners. Her solo is pretty boring.
Gev's solo is a fun smorgasbord of head spinning, splits, handstands and other big tricks. Including taking his shirt off to reveal a tank top underneath and his tight little bod. Nice.
Courtney has been spending too much time with Jean-Marc, and dances to Celine Dion. There is much leaping, including one where she goes all the way from up in the air to on her bent leg on the stage. Ouch! I like it.
Mark dances to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and shows us his quirky side. I would have liked to see a bit more of the impressive dancing side, since this was only average. His personality does shine, though.
Comfort does another hip-hop routine that basically looks like all her other routines. Although the same can be said for most of the dancers, so.
Twitch does some great popping and has one of the best solos for sure.
Katee leaps and twirls beautifully to a cover of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work." Mia Michaels would probably say Katee was smiling too much during this, and I'd -- gasp! -- agree with her.
Will dances to Luther Vandross and leaps around as Will is wont to do. He truly is a technically gifted dancer, and seems like a total mensch to boot.
Second last (and least) is Kherington, who is definitely underwhelming me. She spins around and does a standard contemporary routine, but her heart doesn't seem to be in it.
Last is Josh, who dances to Michael Jackson and does some great hip-hop tricks. Entertaining as ever. He flashes a sign where he puts his hand on his shoulder and extends his fingers down. Comfort and Twitch did it earlier, and I am too white and too old to figure out what the heck it means.
Overall, the dancing tonight was a bit disappointing. Clearly it is a big challenge to mix the dancers up, and I think Katee and Will, and Courtney and Josh won the night. I think Kherington and Comfort are the most likely of the women to go, and Mark and Gev from the guys. Also, I'm hoping for a group Bollywood number tomorrow. Now that would be buck.
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