Last night I snuggled under a blanket with a warm cup of tea and a box of tissues, and got caught up on this week’s Dance! Show! Canada! on CTV!

The dancing was a mixed bag.

The judging, as usual, made me angry. Why do I bother to watch the judging part? Sheesh. At least Mia Michaels, although toned down from her American-version appearances, offered some actual criticism. I love her. She can sit on my couch.

I told myself I’d just write a few quick notes on SYTYCD Canada this week, and then I composed this post in my head, and it was thirty pages long. When it comes to dance show, I cannot be contained! Somebody stop me!

Tara Jean and Everett did “theatre” — and a fair bit of tapping — with Sean Cheeseman. Big surprise here — I LOVED IT. I’m a tapper myself, and I’m so, so very happy to see someone tapping on dance show, but on top of that, the number was so fun and peppy and dynamic. Everett was awesome, of course, but TJ was really good, too.

Sean is now officially my most favourite choreographer on SYTYCD Canada. I loved this number so much, I rewatched it three times, and TJ and Everett vaulted over everyone else to become my two favourite dancers. The power of the CHEESEMAN cannot be denied.

Melanie and Cory did jazz with Melissa Williams. This one was only okay. I am SO over vampires. You wanna do something fresh? Try zombies or werewolves next time, Melissa. Anyway, Melanie was awesome as usual, and Cory was a little weak in technique — but still cute as a button. I do think they deserved bottom three, but it was a close call.

Austin and Corynne did a salsa with Tony Meredith and Melanie. Oh my God, people, this was SO BAD. It was quite possibly the WORST number I have ever seen on Dance Show, EVER. Corynne was just so awful! Her hips were frozen like an 80-year-old woman. She looked uncomfortable throughout, her sex factor was -10, and I don’t think she glanced at her partner throughout the whole routine. And Austin! The judges (stupid judges!) said that he was “committed,” but did they look at his face at all? Austin’s idea of “sex face” is something akin to my own “surprised to have stepped in a puddle of barf face” (sadly, I’ve had to use this face more than once this week). And as usual, Austin showed no interest in having a partner, no interaction with the audience, no chemistry at all. Good heavens, this was awful. I couldn’t even watch it a second time for amusement’s sake.

Kim and Emanuel did hop hop with Luther Brown. I liked the choreography here, and Kim was rocking as usual. Emanuel was dreadful, though. I am really starting to dislike him in a huge way. His ego is ballooning out of control — the size of his head will soon pass Austin’s — and he’s lost all sign of humility. He’s starting to believe that he can throw out any crap and Canada will love him — and that isn’t true, now, IS IT, CANADA? I felt strongly that this number belonged in the bottom three, and I was disappointed when Kim and Emanuel were safe. I hope everyone is voting for them just for Kim’s sake, and Emanuel goes home soon. If he or Austin wins this thing, I will be PISSED. OFF.

Jayme Rae and Daniel did contemporary with Blake. My mom hates Blake, but I really like him a lot. He’s my second favourite choreographer on the show and does some original and moving things. This piece was no exception, and I loved it. Stacey Tookey could learn a lot here — what makes this piece good is a specific idea (walking away from a wedding, as opposed to nebulous things like “remembering” or “breaking up”) combined with original movement and a perfect interpretation of song. I really like Jayme Rae and thought she was da bomb here. I also really like Daniel and I think he’s been a great partner and shown quite a lot of versatility. I would have rated this performance as the second best of the evening, and the fact that it ended up in the bottom three really worries me.

And I can’t even talk about the judges’ decision to send SOMEONE home. SO. WRONG.

Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t NOT talk about it. Taking Daniel out of the top 10 means that several fantastic numbers by Jayme Rae and Daniel are now not an option for the tour. Keeping Austin in the top 10 gives you nothing in terms of performances; Canada hates him and will probably vote him out right away; and dooms some poor girl into probably getting voted out because she was paired with Mr. NoChemistry. It’s not smart, it’s not fair, it’s not sensible. JUDGING FAIL.

Anyway.

Amy and Vincent did a jive with Tony Meredith and Melanie, and you know what? It wasn’t bad! Vincent was great, but Amy was also okay, for the first time this season. She seemed a lot more relaxed than usual and they had a bit of a spark between them, for a change. I would have put this number in the top 3 and I think they deserved to be safe this week. Crazy! I know!

I have to say, I feel like the women of the top 10 are much more interesting than the men. If only we could have a top 4 that was all female! In any case, here’s a quick seeding of the top 10 for the first week of individual voting:

1. Kim
2. Everett
3. Melanie
4. Tara Jean
5. Vincent
6. Jayme Rae
7. Amy
8. Cory
9. Emanuel
10. Austin

If only we could send four people home this week, my stress level would be so much lower.