This week’s dance show was fantastic. Loved it! Let’s rank!

1. Alex. Returning triumphantly to the number one spot, Alex RULES. He is the master of the house. King of all dance. His hip-hop with Twitch this week was legend… wait for it… DARY. I could not stop squealing with joy the whole time it was playing. I watched it a second time immediately afterwards. CRAZY good. There’s no question that Tabitha and Napoleon and are the absolute best at taking the dancers they have been given and working with their strengths.

Or are they? Do you think NappyTab had the idea for a number with Alex and Twitch a few weeks back, and then the show fixed the so-called “random” pulling from the hat? Or did they really get handed Alex and Twitch, and then come up with a brilliant concept and all the choreography in literally one day? Discuss.

On top of rocking the hip-hop, Alex’s solo was so incredible. It was gorgeous, as expected, but what really impressed me was the way it was so perfectly choreographed to the music. He even managed to incorporate the “so you think you can dance” chant at the end so it felt like a natural, organic part of his number. AMAZING. He is so my favourite right now.

2. Kent. I don’t get Kent at all. His innocent farm-boy thing is wearing thin on me. His solo this week was dazzling, and I loved it, but I didn’t “get” his routine with Allison. I felt no spark from him and it just didn’t seem like anything special – in fact I’d call it one of the weakest of the night. Still, there’s no denying the screaming girls who practically hump the stage every time his name is mentioned (attention, humping teenage girls: you may be humping up the wrong tree. Not for fact, just speculation, for your consideration). They say that reality shows are decided by the 14/40 — 14-year-old girls and their 40-year-old soccer moms — and Kent has that demographic solidly squared away. Blech.

3. Adechike. Oh, how I loved his strut and funk in his hip-hop with Lauren this week. He was just so sparkly. And his solo was lovely. I like him! I admit it! I think he’s great and has real potential, and I predict top four for him.

4. Lauren. Not quite as great as last week, but I was still impressed. I thought the judges were way too harsh on her — I loved her dancing and thought she showed fairly good chemistry with Neil. I really, really dislike choreographer Joey Dowling, and yet, I still thought this piece captured some of the real spirit of a 40s musical. My eyes were on Lauren all the time and she really owned the stage. Her only real weakness this week was her solo, which was a little unfocused, and GOOD GOD, involved the breaking into disco during the “so you think you can dance” ending. HATE THAT. However, she’s still the best girl.

5. Jose. Oh Jose. He was just so bad this week. And yet — I loved his number with Anya. What? Up? First up, I loved the choreography – inventive, interesting, and Dimitri obviously worked hard to fit in some special moves for Jose’s talent specifically, which I admire and respect. Secondly, Jose seemed fully committed this week, unlike last week when he had a whole, “What am I doing up on this stage?” vibe during Bollywood. Thirdly, this was the first time I watched a number with Anya in it where I spent at least as much time, if not more, watching the man. Jose was more than just Anya’s prop-boy, and that means something. Sure, his dancing kind of sucks, but with crowd-pleasing solos and a crowd-pleasing style, I think he’s bound to stick around for a few more weeks yet.

6. Billy. The middle rankings here are kind of hit and miss, but I’m putting Billy up here because mentioning Legacy as his dance inspiration was, well, inspired. Legacy is still quite popular and well-remembered, and he was even in the audience to cheer Billy on, which — well played, Billy, well played. That said, his number this week with Kathryn was forgettable and passionless – he’s no Legacy, see what I did there? – and his solo, while really powerful and impressive, didn’t stand out for me as much as others. So, overall, meh.

7. Robert. Oh Robert, how quickly I have grown tired of your “wacky guy” persona. Your interviews bug and your solo was good but forgettable. On the other hand, your number with Courtney was BANG ON. As Nigel said, not everyone can do Sonya, and you did Sonya proud. Only the fact that you have landed in the bottom three twice already puts you lower than Billy on the rankings list – America seems to have it in for you and even great dancing can’t save you.

8. Ashley. Why, oh why, is Ashley avoiding the bottom three week after week? I just can’t respect America’s voting stupidity and rank her any higher than eighth, because seriously, SHE DESERVES TO BE EIGHTH. She’s had THREE WEEKS now of dancing IN HER OWN STYLE (which: TOTALLY UNFAIR), and yet, I still don’t see what the big deal is. That seems to imply that my opinion of her can only get worse as she moves on (EVENTUALLY) to other styles. What is with the 14-year-old girls? They’ve let me down.

I just thought of something while writing about Jose…who is going to be on tour this year? Usually the top 10 make the tour… so does that mean that all the new dancers from this season will be on tour? Or will only the top 5, with a variety of all-stars? If they are not touring the all-stars, will the tour recreate routines from the season but with only new dancers, or will they create new routines for the new dancers?

Either way, it could make the tour more interesting than usual. Hm.

And in other news, I did think the Melinda put in her best performance this week with Pasha — she really seemed to throw caution to the wind and let herself go, and for the first time I felt I was watching her a) enjoy herself and b) actually be herself, instead of some phony made-up “cool chick and all-around entertainer” personality. So the judges could have been a lot kinder to her, instead of raining all over her parade. Still, it made sense to send her home and I was happy to see justice served. It sure will be interesting if we end up with only six guys on the show — do you think they’ll do more guy-guy numbers with the all-stars, just so we can see them in action?

Interesting. Can’t wait for next week!